Next Stop: Buffalo

The Washington Capitals, minus Alexander Ovechkin, head to Buffalo for a Saturday night match-up with the Sabres. The Sabres (6-2-2) come into Saturday nights game having lost three straight. The Capitals (5-3-1) will try and build on the win against Nashville, a 4-3 shootout victory, from Tuesday night. This will mark the second straight game that the Capitals will be without the services of Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin remains in Russia with his ailing grandfather and is not expected to return to practice until Monday.

Alex Semin, who had a goal, an assist, and a shootout goal against Nashville on Tuesday, continues to lead the Ovechkinless Capitals. Semin is currently tied for the league lead in points (16: 8G, 6A), with fellow countryman Evgeni Malkin. Tom Poti is also expected to return to the lineup against Buffalo, which should help the Capitals cut down on Mike Green's minutes. Poti will also help the Capitals improving penalty-kill. Poti will be paired with Jeff Shultz. Poti's wellness means that the Capitals have sent Tyler Sloan back down to Hershey. Sloan played admirably in his four games with the Capitals, scoring his first NHL goal the other night in Dallas. You can expect to see more of Tyler, as the season progresses. The Capital's power-play unit continues to improve it now ranks 16th (17.8%), while the penalty-kill continues to do the same, ranked 20th (78.8%).

Buffalo looking to get off their three game losing streak, will try and pick up a win at home, before heading to New Jersey on Monday. The Sabres leading scorer this year is Thomas Vanek (12 pts: 9G, 6A). The Sabres are an extremely fast team with a lot of talent, including guys like Maxim Afinogenov, Jason Pominville, and Ryan Miller. The Sabres power-play has been very good this year ranking eighth (21.4%). This should be a good test for the Capitals to see just how much have they really improved on the PK early in the season. The Buffalo penalty-kill is even better ranking third (88.6%) and again this should be a good barometer for the Caps to measure their power-play against.

The lines should look the same as they did against Nashville on Tuesday, the only exception being the addition of Poti and return of Sloan. Jose Theodore should get the start. The Capitals have had a pretty easy week, only two games, and they don't play again until Tuesday, in Ottawa.


Laich-Backstrom-Kozlov


Steckel-Federov-Semin


Fleishman-Nylander-Clark


Brashear-Gordon-Bradley


Green-Morrisonn


Poti-Shultz


Erskine-Jurcina


Theodore?/Johnson?

The Capitals will be looking to do exactly as Tampa did on Tuesday night, pepper Ryan Miller with a lot of shots. Buffalo gave up 45 shots to Tampa last night, in a 5-2 loss to the Lightning. Shots on the road this year for the Capitals have not come easily, so it will be important for them to throw a lot of rubber at Buffalo, in order to have a chance. The Capitals special teams play will also need to continue to improve in order for the Caps to remain towards the top of the southeast division standings. Finally, it will be important for the Capitals defensemen to not get caught up ice with all the speed that Buffalo possesses.

More tomorrow.

Happy Halloween!

Go Caps!

-Bagasome

News Around the League

Not a whole lot going on today on the Caps front. Poti practiced today, hopefully he will be back in the line-up on Saturday night. Poti's presence should help cut down on the excessive minutes Mike Green has been playing recently. There were a few good articles today, one on Semin and one on Ovie. Hopefully, we will learn more tomorrow. Looking around the league, Stamkos looks to have found the net for the first time as an NHLer, as he has scored twice tonight for Tampa, through two periods. Enjoy your hockey.

-Bagasome

Caps Rank #26

The Caps rank #26 of 30 teams in the NHL, in terms of overall value, according to Forbes.com. Their value, as a franchise, has been on the rise over the last few years. One has to imagine, some guy named Ovechkin and a playoff berth last year helped, at least a little.

Go Caps!

-Bagasome

Shanahan To Test Market

Larry Brooks, of the New York Post is reporting, Brendan Shanahan has apparently told his agent to consider all open offers. Shanahan told his agent he is tired of waiting for a roster spot to open up with the Rangers. It looks like he will probably not be going back to the Rangers then.

Shanahan has always been considered an offensive threat, but as he has aged he has become more of a power-play specialist. Shanahan was making two and a half million, but one would have to think he will take a pay cut in order to play this season. The changing economic conditions around the world have all the NHL teams tightening up, especially in the new salary cap era. Teams that may consider Shanny would have to be those that have injury issues or need desperate power-play or offensive help. Shanahan will be 40 in January so any deal will probably be for one or two years maximum.

Looking around the league at teams with players his age, San Jose's Jeremy Roenick stands out. Roenick is making 1.1 million, so one would have to think Shanny's salary would probably be around what Roenick is making where ever he ends up. Pittsburgh would be a nice fit for Shanny as they continue to struggle to find offense from anyone who is not named Malkin or Crosby. Shanny would look nice in a jersey he once wore, the new look Whaler uniform (Carolina). The Hurricanes are struggling on the power-play, early on this year, and he would definitely help them there. The 'Canes also have plenty of salary cap room. Other ideas? Feel free to post them in the comments section.

-Bagasome

A Classic Country Western Shootout

The Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators battled back and forth like prize heavy-weight fighters in DC on Tuesday night, trading goals on three different occasions. It was Michael Nylander who delivered the knockout blow for the Capitals in the fourth round of a shootout. The Caps never trailed and head to Buffalo with a big two points.

The Caps got on the board first at 12:13 of the first period on a goal by Viktor Kozlov, his first of the year. It was not much more than a minute and a half later that Nashville would answer on the power-play. Ville Koistinen took a pass from J.P. Dumont and hammered the puck from the point past a screened Jose Theodore. Theodore got the start even amongst reports that Brent Johnson would be in goal. The Caps responded just two minutes later with Nashville on the power-play when Alex Semin hit David Steckel coming off the bench. Steckel came in all alone on Dan Ellis and scored his second goal of the season, short-handed. Nashville would respond in a sleeper of a second period when Jason Arnott scored his fourth of the year. The Caps would rally back in the third on the power-play when Semin found the net, his eighth. Semin took a nice cross-ice feed from Nick Backstrom and put it home. Jason Arnott would strike again at 13:24 of the third, with assists to Ryan Suter and J.P. Dumont. After sixty minutes and five minutes of four on four hockey, nothing was solved. The Caps and Preds headed to a shootout. Viktor Kozlov and Radek Bonk went first in the shootout, both came up empty. Next it was Semin's turn and he didn't disappoint beating Ellis on a nice move. Dumont went second for Nashville and couldn't beat Theodore. Nick Backstrom with a chance to win the game couldn't beat Ellis. Nashville's chance to tie was given to Ville Koistinen and he beat Theodore glove side to send the game to extra shooters. Nylander skated in and beat Ellis high, and Theodore stopped Martin Erat to preserve the win for the Caps.

The Caps went one for five on the power-play, even without power-play quarterback and scoring sensation Ovechkin. The Caps penalty-kill continued to improve, killing off six of seven. Alexander Semin kept on doing, as he has all year so far, he had a goal and an assist. He now leads the league with 16 points. Jose Theodore played another strong game, especially down the stretch and in the shootout. He stopped twenty-three of twenty-six shots he faced. Dan Ellis, in a losing effort, for Nashville also played extremely well stopping twenty-nine of the thirty-two shots he faced. Theodore and the Caps regained the top spot in the Southeast with the win, as Carolina lost in a shootout to Montreal. The Caps have a few days off to get some much needed rest after playing four games in seven days. The Capitals next head to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Saturday night at 7pm. Ovechkin is not expected to be in the line-up for a second straight game as he continues to remain in Russia with his ailing grandfather. More to come later in the week.

-Bagasome

Round the Ponds

Anaheim 3
Columbus 2 F Highlights


Ottawa 5
Buffalo 2 F Highlights


NY Rangers 4
NY Islanders 2 F Highlights


Chicago 2
Minnesota 3 F Highlights


Boston 1
Edmonton 0 F OT Highlights


Detroit 4
Los Angeles 3 F SO Highlights

Home Sweet Home

The Capitals are finally back home after a three game road trip out west. The Caps went one and three on their road trip to Calgary, Phoenix, and Dallas. They picked up two points on the trip, while they would have liked at least three points, they remain tied for first in the Southeast with Carolina. The Caps play the Nashville Predators Tuesday night at 7pm, however, the game will not be televised because of exclusive television rights to Versus. A few things stood out over the last week on the road. First off, Jose Theodore has established himself as clear number one, after solid performances on the road all last week. Second, the defenseman still need to tighten up and pay more attention to their own zone. Third, Semin and the second line continued to impress. Semin's (7 G, 7 A) two assists and game winning goal tied him for the scoring lead with Pittsburg's, Evgeni Malkin. Finally, the power-play and penalty-kill continue to improve.

The absence of Ovechkin will certainly shake things up with the lines this coming week. The Caps should look at this as an opportunity to see what they are really made of without Alex.
The Caps have only missed Alex for one game as a Capital. Guys like Brooks Laich will take this opportunity to play on the first line and improve on their numbers early on this season. The lines should look like this tomorrow against Nashville:

Forwards:
Laich-Backstrom-Kozlov
Steckle-Federov-Semin
Fleishman-Nylander-Clark
Brashear-Gordon-Bradley

Defense:
Morrisonn-Green
Sloan-Shultz
Erskine-Jurcina

Goaltender:
Brent Johnson

Brent Johnson will get the start after Theodore played all three games last week on the road. Johnson so far this season is 1-1-1 in three games this year. He has a 2.71 goals against and an .885 save percentage this season. In his last start, against New Jersey, Johnson played well keeping the Caps in it even in losing effort in overtime. He has also always played well in his career against Nashville. In eight starts against Nashville he is 5-2-1 and has a 1.60 goals against average and .937 save percentage.

Nashville comes into tomorrow nights game four and four on the season in a tie for tenth place in the Western Conference. Defenseman Shea Weber leads the team in points with nine, while Martin Erat leads the team in goals with four. Their power-play is operating at 17% and the penalty-kill at 75%. The Predators are the third worst team in the league in goals allowed so it will again be important for the Caps to win the puck possession game and get to the Nashville goalie early. Puck possession will also cause Nashville to take penalties allowing the Caps power-play chances against the 26th ranked Preds PK.

The game is a 7 pm start tomorrow at Verizon Center. See you there. Be sure to Rock the Red!

GO CAPS!

-Bagasome

(thanks to Paul Nichols for his wonderful art!)

Ovechkin Heads Home to Russia

Alexander Ovechkin returned to Russia yesterday to be with his ailing grandfather. There is no time table for his return. He will miss tomorrow's game for sure, and it remains uncertain whether or not he will return for Saturday's game against Buffalo in New York. The line-up is still uncertain, but for the latest visit the Tarik El-Bashir Washington Post Blog.

Go Caps!

-Bagasome

(Thanks to Paul Nichols for the art)

Sunday Update

Sorry guys, just got back from Ole Rocky Top, and boy was it ugly in the Tennessee vs. 'Bama game. That's a story for another day. The Big Hit of the night was in the Carolina game at the Islanders. It came when Doug Weight lined up Brandon Sutter. Sorry for the poor coverage over the weekend. Things will return to normal on Monday. Glad to see the Caps pulled it out. Congrats to Sergei Federov for becoming the highest scoring Russian ever and how about Semin's game winner, wow.

Go Caps!

-Bagasome

(thanks to Paul Nichols for the art)

Kozlov and Erskine (The Million $ Man) Return

Per Tarik and Corey, Kozlov and Erskine will be in the lineup tonight and Theodore will start.

Kozlov will return to the first line and Fedorov will skate with Semin and Laich on the second line. Nylander will move down to the third line. Erskine will be paired with Jurcina. Also, Steckel will sit this game out. Boudreau is unhappy with his play and hopes that a night off will help.

Hopefully the reinforcements will help spark the Caps play. The team's play against Phoenix was dismal.

(Thanks to Paul Nichols for the great art!)

Milan Lucic Strikes Again

Check out this video.

Third Time Not The Charm

For the first time in the Bruce Boudreau era, the Washington Capitals have lost three straight games during the regular season. The Caps travelled to Phoenix on Thursday night and lost 2-1 to Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes came back from a 1-0 deficit and scored two unanswered goals in third period and held on for the win.

The first period came to an end tied at zero and both goaltenders looked good stopping all the shots they faced. Theodore had fourteen stops and Tellqvist had thirteen stops. The Capitals got a power-play midway through the second period and scored on a beautiful move by Alexander Semin who dished it off to Brooks Laich for the goal. At the end of two, the Caps were up 1-0 but were being out shot 26-24. The third period, however, was a different story as the Capitals looked lost, committing far too many turnovers. Early in the third, just 2:29 in, Tyler Sloan made a poor clear while trying to exit the zone and turned the puck over leading to an easy goal for Phoenix's Mikkel Boedker. The Capitals continued to be out worked and at 6:32 of third period surrendered another goal to Peter Mueller and the Phoenix Coyotes on poor defensive positioning by Shaone Morrison. Alexander Ovechkin remained quiet early on this season. Ovechkin with a chance to tie the game at two couldn't beat Tellqvist on a wide open opportunity with just under two minutes to play. Despite pulling the goaltender the Caps couldn't muster a way to come back and fell to the Coyotes 2-1.

The Caps power-play looked better going one for four, while the penalty-kill also looked strong, killing all four chances they faced. Jose Theodore stopped 32 of 34 in a losing effort. This was by far Theodore's strongest outing of the season. He made a couple of stops early on and in the second period that kept the game from getting out of hand early. He has shown over the last two games why he should be the number one goaltender in Washington. It would be expected that we will see a lot of him, as long as, he continues to play like he has the last two games. The problem for the Caps the last few games has been the high powered offense, has not been so high powered. In the last two games against Phoenix and Calgary, the Caps have managed to score just once each game. In the first five games of the year, the Caps scored at least three goals in each game. The Caps recently have been trying to make one too many passes and as a result have not found the back of the net.

The Caps head to Dallas (3-4-1) for a date with the Stars on Saturday night. Dallas has had a rough start not getting the goaltending early on this season from Marty Turco they are accustomed to. The Stars offense has also sputtered at times and like the Caps will be looking for something to build upon. It will be important for the Caps to jump start their offense and to get to Marty Turco early. One way they can do this is to dominate the time of possession making Dallas commit penalties, which they have done early on this season, committing forty, while operating on the PK at only 77%. Winning the puck possession game will also keep the Caps out of the box, a place they have visited forty-one times this season. The Stars are lead by Mike Ribiero with nine points, while captain Mike Modano has seven. The Stars goal scoring leader is the rookie, Fabian Brunnstrom(4), who in his first game had a hat-trick. The Caps continue to be lead by Alexander Semin, who has six goals and four assists. Alexander Ovechkin should have a lot more room against Dallas as they play a similar run and gun offense. So long as the Caps can control puck possession, A.O. and the boys should have a great game and come out on top.

The game is an 8pm start on CSN-HD.

Go Caps!

-Bagasome

(Thanks to Paul Nichols for the great art!)

Retirement News

Caps fans have reason to celebrate. Don Koharksi is calling it quits at the end of the year.

Mcphee has been pretty loose with Ted's money today maybe he should buy Koharski a nice Timex.

Erskine Signs Extension

From the Washington Post, Tarik El-Bashir, reports that John Erskine has signed an extension. Plus reports on tonights game.

Boudreau And The Caps Head Into Phoenix To Face "The Great One" And The Coyotes

Boudreau and the boys head into Thursday's game coming off a loss, Tuesday, to the Calgary Flames. The Caps are 3-2-1, tied for first in the Southeast Division with Carolina (7 pts.), heading into Thursday's game against Gretzky and the Coyotes. The Capitals desperately need to right the ship, to avoid losing three in a row for the first time in regular season play under Boudreau. Phoenix also looks to bounce back after losing their last three games by three goals each time.

Against Calgary on Tuesday night the Capitals received a strong effort from goalie Jose Theodore. Theodore stopped 26 of 28 shots and was named the third star of the game. It was his best effort so far, as a Capital. Boudreau and the Caps hope the effort from Theodore on Tuesday night is a sign of things to come. Theodore, a former Hart Trophy winner, clearly has the ability to perform well. He proved that last year with strong playoff run for Colorado. The next few games will be important for him to establish himself, in Washington, as the clear #1 goalie.

The Capital's special teams remain in disarray. Against Calgary on Tuesday the Caps took too many penalties, (10), and allowed a goal. A bit better, as they have hovered around 70% on the PK so far early on this season. They now sit at 75% on the PK, lower than the 80% efficiency they ran at last season. The power-play, however, remains in shambles. The Capitals went 0-5 on the PP on Tuesday night. Early on, with a 1-0 lead, the Caps got a real break when Rene Bourque took offense to hit Tyler Sloan delivered on Daymond Langkow and received 19 minutes in penalties. The Caps came out of the confrontation with a 9 minute power-play opportunity and a chance to put the game away early and couldn't convert. Boudreau said afterward that they are, "...trying to be too damn cute." After practicing this afternoon Boudreau will inevitably shake things up on the power-play and hopefully it can get back on track against Phoenix, who operates on the PK at 85%. It seems like the Caps are not only trying to be too cute, but are also holding onto the puck too long and not moving it around to get the goalie moving. The screens have also been something Boudreau apparently worked on today, especially with Chris Clark.

Thomas Fleishman and Alexander Semin continue to impress early on. Semin leads the team in goals (6) and assits (4), although he was kept off the score sheet for the first time this season on Tuesday. Fleishman has looked stronger, faster, and smarter early on, in his second full season as a Cap, he has a goal and two assists. Ovechkin continues to struggle early on as he draws the oppositions best "D" pair each night. It is just a matter of time, before you know he is gonna break out and have one of those special nights. After all it was in Phoenix where he recorded one of the most miraculous goals the NHL has ever seen.

Mike Green and the injury depleted defense corps (Pothier: post concussion syndrome, Poti: groin, Erskine: leg (probable)) look to contain Olli Jokinen, Shane Doan, and rookie phenom Kyle Turris of the Coyotes. Doan leads the team in goals (4), while Jokinen leads in points (6). The big question for the Caps defense corps is will Boudreau put Sergei Federov back on D or keep him on the top line with Ovechkin. Something tells me that if Erskine can't go then we are likely to see Federov on D. We should get a report tomorrow as to how the lines will look and I will try and post them.

The game is a 10pm eastern time start on CSN-DC (HD).

Go Caps!

-Bagasome

Hit of the Night

Hit of the Night

The Other Alex

Hearing “the Washington Capitals” and “Alexander” in the same sentence, has for the last few seasons conjured up “the Great 8” Ovechkin for hockey fans. This year, however, a new Alexander has finally arrived in downtown DC. Yes, that’s right, Alexander Semin, #28, is finally producing the way all the scouts thought he could, and he is getting noticed.

Semin, born in Krasjonarsk, USSR on March 3, 1984, was drafted in the first round (13th overall) by the Caps in 2002. Since his arrival, Semin has had up-and-down seasons. Some of his struggles have been due to injuries, most recently last season battling an early season ankle injury.

Semin joined the Caps in the 2003-04 season. In his inaugural campaign, he played in fifty-two games and registered ten goals and twelve assists. Given the state of the organization during that season—with the rebuilding process in full swing, he had a respectable year. The fans had hoped to see more the next year, but instead were treated to the lockout. Semin played in his native Russia during that season, performing admirably for Lada Togliatti. He also used his time off from the NHL to begin his mandatory two years of Russian military service. He subsequently missed the 2005-06 campaign to finish his military service, while continuing to play in Russia. He did not report to Caps training camp that season and was suspended by the Caps for his actions.

Semin returned to the NHL and the Caps for the 2006-07 season, signing a two-year deal. He played in seventy-seven games, recording thirty-eight goals and thirty-five assists. Even with all his points Semin remained a minus player (-7), showing that his defensive game still needed work. He received criticism for his subpar defensive play and what appeared to be a lackadaisical attitude. Semin was often guilty of taking bad penalties at untimely points during games that season amassing 90 minutes in penalties.

Early last season, Semin battled an ankle injury, causing him to play only sixty-three of eighty-two Caps games. He recorded twenty-six goals and sixteen assists, but remained a defensive liability as a (-18) player. The arrival of Sergei Federov late in the season appeared, however, to bolster Semin as an NHL’er. Late last season, Federov and Semin often played on the same line, and the fans in DC saw improvement in Semin’s defensive play. Many of the young players on the Caps, especially Semin and Ovechkin, credit Federov’s presence for their late last season and off season maturation as hockey players.

Now it’s the 08-09 season, and Semin is healthy. Not only healthy, he appears faster and stronger than any season before. On countless occasions this season, Semin has amazed fans with beautiful moves that most in DC associate with Ovechkin. In a mere five games this year, Semin already boasts six goals and four assists, while being +6-player with two penalty minutes. This outstanding performance is not surprising as much as welcome: there is no analyst or scout out there who ever thought Semin couldn’t be the great player he has been so far season.

Ovechkin, last year scoring sixty-five goals, has most teams pairing their best defensive units against him, leaving Semin and his line mates much more room to maneuver and make plays. The end result so far has been exactly that, Semin and his line have been sensational. There is no reason to believe that Semin can’t score fifty or more goals this season.

The plus 6 rating for Semin this year shows his defensive positioning and defensive awareness are much better than in years past. He has also avoided the bad penalty that has plagued him in years past. Coach Boudreau has taken notice, placing Semin on the penalty kill early this season for the Capitals.

Semin is on a torrent pace to start the season and as long as he can stay healthy he should have his best year yet. Fifty or even sixty goals are not out of the question for Semin, he has the talent to do it. Could Semin be the most talented player on the Caps team?

-Bagasome

(Thanks to Paul Nichols for the great art!)