A TWO-point night: Caps 7 - Panthers 4

It was an odd night at Verizon Ce-- down, boy. At Verizon Center as the Capi—DOWN boy. As the Capitals roared from behind in the – DOWN!

Seems Kanoobie is excited over what transpired at Verizon Center this evening as the Caps roared back from a 3-2 deficit to open the third period, outscoring the Florida Panthers 5-1 in the final 20 minutes to skate off with a 7-4 win that was not kind to goaltenders.

Mike Knuble tied his career best night with two goals and two assists for four points, Tomas Fleischmann continued his torrid pace after a late start to the season with two goals – he is now 5-2-7 in six games since his return – and Mathieu Perreault notched his first goal of his NHL career. Brooks Laich chipped in a two-point night of his own, and Brian Pothier had, in our opinion, a whale of a game playing the role of “Mike Green” moving the puck up ice.

It was an odd game that really started from the end of last night’s 4-1 Caps win, with the teams flying through the night to get to DC for the rematch 24-hours later. We would have expected more goals tonight than last night, and in the first period, it was looking as if we were going to be proven wrong on that score. Only a Mike Knuble goal from 18 inches off the left post from a nice feed by Brendan Morrison kept the period from being scoreless.

But maybe the 24-hour turnaround was working on the defensemen a bit in the second period, they having to generally skate more minutes, make the long change, and do a lot of skating backward and taking hits to move the puck. In any case, Florida made short work of the Washington lead to start the second, Michael Frolik snapping a rebound past Jose Theodore to tie the game.

After that it was a blur – eight goals 27 minutes. For the second period portion of it, Washington took a lead on a goal by Brooks Laich, and then Florida scored a pair to regain the lead 16 minutes into the second period. The teams skated off at the second intermission with the crowd, not booing, but certainly muttering about the state of things with a team trailing the Caps by 11 points in the standings taking the lead.

The Caps who took the ice in the third, though, were beasts. Mathieu Perreault got things started by pilfering the puck from Dmitry Kulikov, passing it to himself off the back of the Panther net, then stuffing it past goalie Scott Clemmensen’s left pad for his first NHL goal.



40 seconds later, there was Matt Bradley, in the “Matt Bradley Corner,” throwing the puck in front where Quintin Laing beat a lazy stick check by Bryan McCabe and flipped the puck past Clemmensen to give the Caps the lead.

Florida wasn’t quite done as Cory Stillman defelcted a shot from the point by Kulikov down and past Jose Theodore to tie the game for the last time at four apiece. Barely two minutes later, the tie was broken when Tomas Fleischmann took a feed from behind the net from Nicklas Backstrom and roofed the puck under the crossbar as he was falling to the ice.

Mike Knuble got his second when a shot from Shaone Morrisonn appeared to clip the inside of Knuble’s leg on the way through, changing direction just enough to elude Clemmensen. Flesichmann closed it out with his second of the game and fifth of the season.

Other stuff…

- Here’s a new one… the Quintin Laing Hat Trick… a blocked shot, a broken nose, and a goal. He ended the night with all three.

- Maybe the Caps should play with four defensemen more often. Milan Jurcina and Tyler Sloan had a brutal night. Jurcina was on the ice for all four Panther goals, and Sloan was out there for three of them.

- Mike Knuble’s other four-point game was also against Florida, back on Valentines’ Day 2003, when he wore the Boston colors.

- 13 skaters had points for the Caps. The only forwards without points tonight were David Steckel (not unusual) and Alexander Semin (not good).

- Semin is now 0-2-2 in his last six games with five minor penalties, including two more tonight, both (again) in the offensive zone. Maybe it has something to do with something Coach Bruce Boudreau hinted at in the post game – with Ovechkin on the bench, he doesn’t have anyone to talk to. Perhaps he’s just not relaxed out there.

- It was the best of worlds, followed by the worst, then the best for Dmitry Kulikov, who scored his first NHL goal, then coughed up the puck to Mathieu Perreault who scored his first, then he got the primary assist on the Cory Stillman goal that tied the game for the last time. Big night for last June’s 14th overall pick.

- The Caps wearing down the Panthers over the 60 minutes shows up in the final faceoff stats. There were 10 draws in the Caps’ end of the ice for the night, 22 in the Panthers’ zone.

- Brian Pothier had an assist, was plus-3, had a hit, three takeaways, and a blocked shot. He sampled the defenseman’s buffet rather enthusiastically.

- Shaone Morrisonn had a similar game, numbers wise – an assist, plus-2, three hits, three blocked shots.

- Things could have gotten dicey right after that Knuble goal to open the scoring. You don’t want to give up a goal on the next shift. The Caps didn’t. But taking a penalty in the offensive zone isn’t a whole lot better. That one’s on the captain, who took such a penalty 21 seconds after Knuble’s goal.

- 15 Caps were credited with hits. Even Nicklas Backstrom had three. Of the three skaters who weren’t the surprise there is Brooks Laich. But he creates turnovers with just his steely gaze.

- Only one team in the East has fewer losses at home in regulation than the single loss the Caps have – Tampa Bay. Really... they haven’t lost a regulation game at home yet.

- With the seven goals, the Caps have taken over the top spot in team scoring in the league (3.76 goals/game). It was the most goals scored by the Caps since last February 1st against Ottawa in a 7-4 win. That was the first time they scored seven since a January 1st win over Tampa Bay… yes, by a score of 7-4.

- The Caps had 16 shots in the first 40 minutes, 16 in the last 20. Florida had 24 in the first 40 minutes, five in the last 20. Gotta shoot the puck to score.

- That’s three games in his last four in which Jose Theodore has allowed at least four goals. Oddly enough, he hasn’t lost a game in regulation in any of them (2-0-2, 3.72, .882).

It was entertaining, even if it assaulted the sensibilities of the old school fan. Florida didn’t get good goaltending, and their defense looked as if it was skating in oatmeal in the third period. The Caps finally showed off their depth, and the defense wasn’t as bad as four goals seems (Jurcina and Sloan picking this night to have the same sort of off night).

It is an odd quirk of the Bettman School of Standings Points that on the one hand, the Caps could have been said (as we did) to be on a three-game winless streak coming into this weekend. On the other hand, after two wins against Florida, the Caps have earned a point in 11 of their last 12 games (8-1-3).

Where you stand depend on where you sit… sit!... SIT KANOOBIE!!!

Arf!

End Game?

According to Bob McKenzie at tsn.ca (from his Twitter feed), Michael Mylander has been placed on waivers.

True? We have no idea. But if so, we can't imagine it would be done without a purpose.

Between injuries (Ovechkin, Green, Schultz), players moving from position to position (like Tyler Sloan), and personnel moves of the "maybe" sort (Nylander), this seems to be a busier-than-normal weekend in November, hockey-wise.

Oh, and there's a game tonight.

A TWO-point night: Caps 4 - Panthers 1

Wishes do come true.

And that is not always a good thing.

One wish coming true that falls on the good side is that the Capitals beat the Florida Panthers last night, 4-1, in the front end of a weekend back-to-back to end a three-game winless streak.

The wishes Caps fans might have to see Hershey defensemen Karl Alzner and/or John Carlson in the lineup could come true at the price of the loss of Mike Green and Jeff Schultz, both of whom were injured in the win. The injuries have everything covered, Green’s being described as an “upper body” injury, Schultz’ of the “lower body” variety. Add to that concern that Shaone Morrisonn could be facing a forced absence after boarding Kenndal McArdle in the third period, and the Caps could skate the second half of this back-to-back with half of their defenseman squad on the shelf.

But for the game, the stars were Jose Theodore and Brian Pothier. Theodore shook off two difficult outings – giving up five goals to Columbus and four to the Islanders – to turn away 28 of 29 shots. It’s worth noting that the Panthers were held to 29 shots. It is the first time the Caps have held an opponent under 30 shots since a 5-4 win against Atlanta on October 22nd. The Caps were 3-1-2 in the six games in between (two of the wins coming in extra time, as were two of the losses), and the one goal allowed was the fewest since a 4-1 win over San Jose on October 15th. But Theodore was solid throughout (“solid,” not great – there were a few juicy rebounds he left lying around, one of which led to a power play goal), especially early when he stopped all 12 shots in the first period, including a flurry in the game’s third minute of play in which Florida had several chances to get the opening goal with shots from in close.

Brian Pothier. In going 1-2-3 for the night, the Caps defenseman had his first multi-point game since December 15, 2007, and his first three point game since October 7, 2006. It was his goal on a power play slapper that gave the Caps insurance early in the third period . He added a couple of hits and a pair of blocked shots at the other end.

Other stuff…

- Mathieu Perreault did not get an assist on the Caps’ first goal, scored by Tyler Sloan, but he should have (in principle). He got the whole thing started, taking a pass at the center red dot, then curling down the right side and over the Panther line. He came to a stop just inside the line and found Chris Clark going down the left side. The puck got a piece of Pothier’s puck on the way through, but Clark collected it and found Sloan coming late down the middle as the fourth man on the rush. Sloan didn’t give goalie Tomas Vokoun a chance to react to the snapper he put on net, and the puck was in for the 1-0 lead.

- When Tomas Fleischmann uncorked a slapper from just inside the Florida blue line just past the four-minute mark of the first period, and the puck squeaked through Vokoun and started crawling toward the Panther goal line, only to be swept out of the crease inches from going over, we could not help but think… maybe one or two fewer scuffs of the clean ice by Vokoun at the start of the period, and a little less snow would have built up, and the puck would have inched over. We think weird things like that.

- Theodore also had a nice save on Rostislav Olesz on a breakaway chance in the second period.

- We liked that Brendan Morrison goal in the second period. Why? Because a younger player probably doesn’t take that extra half second to open up his stance to improve his angle and allow the goalie to go all the way to the ice before roofing the puck.

- Wish Mike Knuble could have finished that feed from David Steckel on a two-on-one down low against Vokoun. Steckel stripped Dmitry Kulikov of the puck inside the Panther line, then did a nice little curl of the puck through Bryan Allen to set himself up in the open to find Knuble streaking down the other side. Knuble just could get the extra six inches or so of lift on the puck to get it over the lunging Vokoun, who made a nice save, denying Steckel what would have been a great, well-earned assist.

- Pothier got his goal manning the Ovechkin spot on the power play and scored it in pretty much the same, if less electrifying, fashion… a one-time slap shot from above the left wing circle.

- Two things to note about the Pothier goal. First, watch the replay. Who is crawling over a Panther defenseman looking for a rebound?... Tomas Fleischmann. Strange world, ain’t it? Second, you might not know the name, “Michael Repik.” He’s the guy who took the roughing penalty that led to the Pothier goal. When he skated back to the bench after Pothier’s goal, his night was over. He did not skate over the last 13:04.

- One can’t say enough about the Caps defensemen in this one. Mike Green skated for only 2:44 before going down, Jeff Schultz for 7:27. Pothier and Tom Poti both logged more than 25 minutes. For Pothier, the 25:20 was the most time he’s logged since skating for 27:08 against Vancouver on October 26, 2007. For Milan Jurcina, his 23:12 in ice time was the first time he skated more than 20 minutes in a regular season game that didn’t end in extra time since December 20, 2008. With Green, Schultz, and Morrison gone, the Caps were left with only four defenseman for the last eight minutes of the game, Tyler Sloan moving back from forward.

- Here is what happened in that last eight minutes in which the Panthers were still in it at 3-1… Florida managed only two shots on goal. The Caps, meanwhile, blocked five shots. Five different players had those blocks – Jurcina, Pothier, Matt Bradley, Fleischmann, and Sloan. The Caps won four of six faceoffs. It’s worth noting that the of the four defensive zone draws in that sequence three were taken by (and won by) David Steckel. Steckel did not lose a defensive draw all night.

- Matt Bradley tied for the team lead in shots on goal? He had seven attempts and four on goal, you say? The odd things that happen when the big guy is out.

- Meanwhile, Alexander Semin had one shot on goal and five attempts in almost six-and-a-half more minutes that Bradley. At the moment, we get the feeling Semin is holding that stick a bit too tightly, in a manner of speaking. He needs something ugly to go in. The flair will come later.

- Accidental or whatever, you have to be more careful with a short bench than Shaone Morrisonn was in his hit on McArdle. The Caps are facing a number of teams in the next few games that have some trouble scoring, so if Morrisonn is to ride the pine for a game or so, it might not have quite the impact. But it probably wasn’t the smartest thing he’s done this week.

- What’s with the “red mallet” theme at Bank Atlantic Center? When the glass was knocked out, it was red mallet all around, none of which seemed to work… until the red sledge of death was unveiled. There’s a promotion night in there somewhere.

- The Caps had nine players with multi-hit nights. Even Mathieu Perreault was credited with one… on Keith Ballard, who outweighs Perreault by 35 pounds.

It was a solid, lunch pail, meat and potatoes effort. The Caps cashed in on opportunities, they had guys step up in terms of effort and production, they got solid goaltending. It was a fine road win for a team that is having to deal with injuries at key positions. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for tonight…

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- A "Two-Fer"...Caps vs. Panthers, November 6th/7th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Tonight and tomorrow night, it’s the only “Super” back-to-back of the season for the Capitals. Games on consecutive days against the same opponent – the Florida Panthers. The Caps will visit south Florida tonight, and then the clubs will return to DC on Saturday to complete the twin-bill. So what about the Sunshine State? It’s sunny a lot of the time (but never at night), there are a lot of old folks there, and they have trouble counting votes. But what else do we know about this mysterious state? Glad you asked…

- A museum in Sanibel owns 2 million shells and claims to be the world's only museum devoted solely to mollusks.

- Niceville is home to the famous Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival celebrated the third weekend in October. Rats… and we were looking forward to some boggy bayou badness.

- Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola invented mechanical refrigeration in 1851.

- Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first suntan cream in 1944. He accomplished this development by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wife's stove. We're guessing the missus made really bad coffee.

- On May 20, 1970 Florida lawmakers passed and sent to the Governor a bill adopting the moonstone as the official state gem. Ironically, the moonstone is not found naturally in Florida...nor was it found on the moon. We're thinking it might be something that was surgically removed from Don Shula's tuchas years ago.

- Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine especially for rollerbladers.

- Plant City, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, holds the Guinness record for the world's largest strawberry shortcake – 827 square-feet, 6,000 pounds

- The city of Hypoluxo's name comes from the Seminole expression water all 'round -- no get out. In other words, a hockey rink.

- Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because the city has 185 miles of local waterways.

- Venice is known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World. Collecting prehistoric sharks’ teeth has been a favorite pastime of visitors and residents of the Venice area for years. Funny, we would have thought Venice would be known as the “Fort Lauderdale” of the west coast of Florida.

- Florida is the only state that has 2 rivers both with the same name. There is a Withlacoochee in north central Florida (Madison County) and a Withlacoochee in central Florida. They have nothing in common except the name. What, Florida has so many rivers they need to start recycling their names?

(source: 50states.com... the wisecracks are ours)

Well, speaking of “two,” this is a two-fer, mainly because we’re lazy. The Caps will be taking on the Panthers in a pair of contests that have “we will crush them like a palmetto bug” written all over them. Why? Shoot, look at the numbers…


The Caps average a goal a game more than do the Panthers, give up a third of a goal less per game, have almost double the power play success (on a percentage basis), have a better penalty kill (although neither is especially good), and they can actually come back from giving up the first goal on those rare occasions when they do fall behind first.

You’d think these games would be over before the old folks head to bed.

Well, these are the Caps, and they are now nursing a three-game winless streak (0-1-2), while Florida has won three in a row. In doing so, the Panthers have outscored their opponents, 12-5 (not including the Gimmick goal that got the mini-streak started), and Tomas Vokoun has shutouts in each of his last two games – a 4-0 win in St. Louis and a 3-0 win over Carolina. Florida hasn’t done it with their power play, going 1-for-10 in the three wins. They have been light’s out on the penalty kill, though, skating off 11 of 12 shorthanded situations.

As far as threats go, you can start with Steve Reinprecht. Now that you realize he’s still in the league (after spending three-plus years in the desert… no, really – Phoenix), we can tell you that he has nine goals in 13 games. He would seem a lock to finish the year with a career high (that currently being the 22 he had, split between Calgary and Phoenix, in 2005-2006). He has five in his last four games, including a hat trick against Dallas on October 30th. We would tell you what his career numbers are against the Caps, but they would hardly be relevant. He hasn’t played a game against Washington since the 2003-2004 season (as a Calgary Flame -- one game, no points, six shots on goal).

Among the home-grown Panthers, Nathan Horton is coming in on a hot streak. His 3-7-10, even, for the season doesn’t look especially impressive. However, he is 1-6-7, plus-6 in his last four games. He is coming into this game with a 6-7-13, minus-2, career record against the Caps, but he’s struggled of late. In his last 12 games against Washington, he is only 1-2-3, minus-1.

One player the Panthers miss and will miss this weekend is David Booth. The object of an open-ice hit from Philadelphia’s Mike Richards on October 24th, Booth said yesterday that he expected to start exercising today or on Saturday. He has participated in no strenuous physical activity since suffering a concussion as a result of the hit. Last year, Booth was 2-3-5 in five games against the Caps.

One might have expected that the missing offense for the Panthers with Booth out would have been picked up by Cory Stillman, Stephen Weiss, and Rostislav Olesz among the forwards. As a group, they are 9-10-19, minus-9, for the season. Since Booth’s injury, they are a combined 5-3-8, plus-5, in four games. Along with Reinprecht’s five goals, they account for two-thirds of the 15 goals the Panthers have in their last four games.

On defense, the Panthers have been healthy. Six defensemen have played in all 13 games to date. One of them happens to be Dmitri Kulikov, the 14th overall pick in last June’s entry draft. It can be said that he’s struggled so far. He has four assists (only one in seven games since October 16th), and he has yet to finish a game on the plus side of the ledger in putting together a minus-9 rating.

Bryan Allen is in similar plus-minus territory, but under different circumstances. He was on the ice for five even-strength goals in a 7-2 loss to Carolina on October 9th. Since then he’s been relatively steady, going 1-1-2, plus-1, in his last eight games. It’s not bad for a guy who missed the last 80 games of the 2008-2009 season with a knee injury.

The Caps will also be renewing acquaintances with Dennis Seidenberg, who manned the blue line for Carolina for the last two years, plus 20 games of the 2006-2007 season. In that time as a Hurricane, Seidenberg was 0-5-5, even, in 12 games against the Caps.

In goal, it’s a tale of very different fortunes for Tomas Vokoun and Scott Clemmensen. Vokoun had a crummy start to the year. He won on opening night in Finland, a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Then, he went 0-7-1 in his next eight games, leaving him 1-7-1, 3.71, .906 after nine games. His problem was that he was facing a ton of shots – twice more than 40 and 55 shots in that season opener. It was no wonder he didn’t allow fewer than three goals in any of his first eight games. In his last two, though, he faced 34 and 32 shots, stopping all 66 of them for two shutout wins.

For Scott Clemmensen, it’s been as if he was still backstopping Marty in New Jersey. He’s been in three games so far with two decisions (2-0-0). His other numbers, though, are pretty grim – a 4.25 GAA and .866 save percentage. He’s given up seven goals on his last 40 shots faced over two games (.825 save percentage).

Keys…

1. Don’t make this a special teams game. The Caps should dominate this game at 5-on-5, given the respective efficiencies of the teams (Caps at 1.44 goals scored per goal allowed, Panthers at 0.71 goals scored per goal allowed). Florida has a terrible penalty kill (28th in the league), but the Caps’ power play hasn’t been great, and it isn’t better with Ovechkin out.

2. Keep Florida from getting shots on goal. The Caps are 4-1-1 in games in which they allowed fewer than 30 shots on goal, 4-2-3 when they don’t.

3. No blanks. The Young Guns had a pretty grim game against New Jersey, save for Nicklas Backstrom’s performance on face-offs. We’d hate to think that Ovechkin’s absence will expose them as “pop guns.”

In the end, these are two games that should not be especially competitive. But the Caps just haven’t been able to muster a full 60 minutes of effort against bottom feeders. They play these teams as if they are bored with the whole exercise. That means a couple of close ones, and maybe even some boos on Saturday. But in the end, the Caps are just too far above Florida on the skill scale…

Caps 3 – Panthers 2 (Friday)

Caps 4 – Panthers 3 (Saturday)

Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

The Bears have among the AHL league leaders:

Goals:

Alexandre Giroux: 7 (T-4th)
Andrew Gordon: 7 (T-4th)

Assists:

Alexandre Giroux: 10 (T-4th)
Andrew Gordon: 9 (T-7th)

Power Play Goals:

Andrew Gordon: 5 (T-2nd)

Power Play Assists:

Alexandre Giroux: 4 (T-9th)

Shorthanded Goals:

Steve Pinizzotto: 2 (T-1st)

Game-Winning Goals:

Alexandre Giroux: 2 (T-4th)

Plus/Minus:

Alexandre Giroux: +11 (1st)

Rookie Scoring:

John Carlson: 1-7-8 (T-9th)

Goals Against Average:

Jason Bacashihua: 1.00 (2nd)

Save Percentage:

Jason Bacashihua: .962 (2nd)

Shutouts:

Braden Holtby: 1 (T-4th)
Jason Bacashihua: 1 (T-4th)

A NO-point night: Devils 3 - Caps 2

Well… don’t blame this one on the absence of Alex Ovechkin.

Blame this 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on some truly boneheaded plays and indifferent efforts.

OK, New Jersey scored a goal on a fluke off-the-shin-pad shot from behind the Capitals’ net by Brian Rolston. It’s hockey, it happens, deal with it. But the other two goals? Alexander Semin takes a hooking call in his own zone… New Jersey scores 19 seconds later on the power play. Brendan Morrison takes a hooking call in his own zone… New Jersey scores 46 seconds later.

Oh, did we mention that the Devils were two for their last 27 power play attempts over their previous eight games?

And as far as the offense goes, here’s all you need to know…

Nicklas Backstrom: 0-0-0, one shot on goal, three shot attempts
Alexander Semin: 0-0-0, three shots on goal, three penalties
Mike Green: 0-0-0, four shots on goal, not including the one he deflected into his own net

Not a good night to be a “Young Gun,” to be sure.

Other stuff…

The Caps allowed Nicklas Bergfors to double his goal total for the year, as it was Bergfors who scored the goals with Semin and Morrison in the box (Bergfors has one of those strange lines in the box score… two goals, five shots on goal, and nothing else – no shots blocked, none missed, no hits, no giveaways, no takeaways, nothing… he just skated around shooting pucks in 18:41 of ice time).

Morrison took his penalty at the 14:24 mark of the third period and didn’t see the ice again. Semin took his second penalty of the period at 16:03 and wasn’t on the ice for the final 1:47 of the game when the Caps were trying to get back into it. Maybe Coach has seen enough of the dumb stuff?

Different city, different scorer. Combined, the teams managed only five giveaways, seven takeaways, and 11 blocked shots.

“The guy they call ‘Lamborgreenie?’” Well, it’s apparently what the Jersey announcers call Mike Green, anyway.

Semin could have redeemed himself… he had Brodeur on the ice at his mercy in one instance, and he shot the puck into Brodeur’s elevated left pad. Later, with the clock winding down in regulation, he exited the box after a penalty and took a pass on a breakaway but shot wide.

New Jersey is a fine defensive team, but… Tom Poti, no shot attempts… Chris Clark, no shot attempts... David Steckel, no shot attempts… Quintin Laing, one shot attempt… Brendan Morrison, one shot attempt… Matt Bradley, one shot attempt… Milan Jurcina, one shot attempt… Shaone Morrisonn, one shot attempt… Jeff Schultz, one shot attempt. Not shots, shot attempts.

On the other side, there was Tyler Sloan getting a goal and recording three hits in ten minutes of ice time.

There was Mathieu Perreault looking like a fine call-up from Hershey in his first NHL game, getting assists on both Capitals goals and recording a pair of takeaways (half the number the Caps were credited with).

Tomas Fleischmann continues to make up for lost time, getting his third goal in three games with a spiffy wrister past the glove hand of Martin Brodeur.

Semyon Varlamov probably deserved better. One goes in off a teammate’s shin pad, another is a shot that picked the top corner, the third comes off a deflection on a power play that was the result of a silly penalty. He held his own against the guy at the other end of the ice.

As for the guy at the other end of the ice, it’s hard enough to beat Martin Brodeur when you play an error free game. He doesn’t let in many softies (although the goal by Sloan was borderline). But to take penalties in your own end late in the game, to gift wrap chances to a team that is offensively challenged and that was just plain incompetent on its own power play over the last eight games is just – or should be – unacceptable.

Alex Ovechkin is out. That isn’t a be-all or end-all excuse for being sloppy. Instead of filling the hole his absence created, the Caps dug the hole a little deeper.

The Devils, being the opportunistic sort of team they are, buried them in it.

The "Gifted" Paradox

People who look at the Washington Capitals’ lineup do so and see a collection of extraordinarily skilled players. Alex Ovechkin is the most prolific goal scorer of this generation. Alexander Semin might have a more complete set of skills than Ovechkin on both sides of the puck. Mike Green has called to mind faint comparisons with Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey as a puck-rushing offensive defenseman. Nicklas Backstrom is this generation's prototypical playmaking center with the ability to see passes the average player cannot see, let alone execute.

But there is that word… “average.” And suddenly another word comes to mind and the paradox often attached to it.

“Gifted”

In an educational setting, there are some students that by virtue of their innate intellectual abilities are deemed “gifted.” Generally they are categorized as such as a product of their respective “intellectual quotient” – the relationship of their “mental age” projected against their chronological age. We’ll leave the details to the experts in educational testing. The point is that for these “gifted” students whose mental skills are far advanced from students of similar age, a paradox often presents itself. Why do many such students often fail to achieve to a measure commensurate with their skill? Why does the child with the I.Q. of 160 earn a C- in chemistry, despite giving every indication that they can do the work with superior results?

For our purposes, why does the supremely skilled hockey player – far more skilled than other players of his age – often achieve for his team so much less than his “S.Q.” (or “skill quotient”) would allow, despite giving tantalizing indications that he can put in the effort and get the results that can earn for his team ultimate success?

Looking at the Capitals from my seat up in the balcony at Verizon Center, I see a collection of players – not just the “Young Guns” we mentioned, for there are others in this mix – who are in their own ways as much the “gifted” student as the prodigy who can perform calculus at the age of four.

Yet despite the fact that the Capitals have “achieved” a rather impressive 20 points in 14 games thus far (a 117-point pace), they have the look of the unmotivated gifted student, marking time in games in early November with the expectation, perhaps, that they’ll just turn it on for the final exam – in the form of the Stanley Cup playoffs – next spring.

Some gifted students are self-motivated out of curiosity, an internal drive to succeed, or other factors. By the same token, some gifted hockey players are self motivated out of their competitive nature, fear of failure, or other factors. Still it remains that motivating the gifted student is one of teaching’s great challenges, and motivating gifted hockey players can be one of coaching’s great challenges.

There is a lot of effort in the academic literature devoted to the issue of how to motivate the underachieving gifted student. The task in motivating the gifted professional athlete is a more difficult one in some respects. Such athletes are financially well set with early signing bonuses and large contracts. They are of course adults – chronologically. The jobs of those who manage them – coaches, general managers – largely hinge on keeping them happy and productive, something that might not be lost on the player. And there is a world of other experiences to which they can be exposed or that they can seek out that rob them of their focus on or their motivation for success on the field or on the ice.

We aren’t nearly close enough to the players to opine on whether or from what causes they might lack motivation or lose focus. But they do, at times, seem to lack it or lose it. Against teams that can challenge their skill, they can – and do – summon the motivation to succeed and focus on the task of winning. When the Capitals thoroughly dominated the Bruins in Boston in the season opener and San Jose at home two weeks later, they were the gifted students who aced the test.

Then again, against teams such as Toronto – in the home opener two days after dominating Boston – or Atlanta on two occasions, we saw the gifted student lacking the motivation to do anything but plod along with a “C+.” Losing to the Islanders or the Blue Jackets in overtime was like blowing off a pop quiz. It doesn’t really matter, well… too much, in the final grade.

We’re not prepared to call the Caps “underachievers,” not this early in the hockey season and not with the record they have. But there is the faint whiff about them that they are not, as they say, “reaching their potential.” It is a job made harder with Alex Ovechkin out of the lineup, but if motivation – either from within, or from the coaches or management – has been lacking, it should be in abundance at this point. They can’t just do the minimum required for their grade or to do some real damage in the playoffs.

The problem with that attitude – for the gifted student and player alike – is that there will be a final exam coming. For the gifted student it might be that last test of the academic year or an entrance exam to a prestigious school. For the gifted player it is the playoffs. And if one hasn’t prepared well in the meantime, then that last final exam will not go well. And in the NHL, that means a long summer of knowing you failed, knowing you have to repeat the grade the next year.

And for the professional athlete, even the gifted ones, there are a precious few years in which to achieve your success.

The Peerless Progsnoticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Devils, November 4th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

If it’s Wednesday, it must mean hockey, and tonight it’s a visit to The Rock in beautiful downtown, Newark, New Jersey, where the Devils will play host to the Capitals in the second meeting of the clubs this year. New Jersey won the first contest, a 3-2 Gimmick win in Washington on Columbus Day. Tonight the Caps hope to at least return the favor of being a rude guest and will do so without the pleasure of having Alex Ovechkin in the lineup. The over/under for his return from an “upper body injury” looks to be two weeks.

“Trouble in paradise, two o’clock…”

Excuse me?

“Trouble in paradise…”

Are you some sort of wise guy or something?

“Well, yes… Gregory House, M.D.”

Oh, yeah, I hear you’re some sort of diagnostic genius… So, anything to this “upper body” thing?

"That's a catchy diagnosis, you could dance to that."

Well, that seems to be the thing these days. There are more cases of that than of swine flu.

“Then just say it’s ‘idiopathic,’ from the Latin meaning we're idiots ‘cause we can't figure out what's causing it."

He got into a kerfuffle with some Columbus Blue Jackets and seems to have hurt his chest or shoulder. A weird injury.

"Weird works for me."

OK, so what do you think it is?

“Well, it could be anterior displacement of the acromioclavicular bundle.”

Really?

“No, I just made that up.”

Will you be serious?

“Hmmm…. In my judgment…”

Yes?

“boo-boo”

Boo-boo? That’s your diagnosis?

“I solved the case, my work is done.”

Well, perhaps Dr. House can find work as a team physician somewhere, since his diagnoses are as revealing as “upper body injury,” but what about the game the Caps have to play?

The Devils come into this one the very picture of consistency they have been for the last decade and a half. After dropping their first two games of the year, they Devils have gone three wins, a loss, three wins, a loss, and two wins for an 8-2-0 record in their last ten games and an 8-4-0 record overall (if the pattern holds, this is not good news for the Caps). They’ve done it in the accustomed way, too. In only three of those last ten games have the Devils allowed more than two goals, while scoring as many as four goals in a game only twice, themselves. Three of those games have gone to the Gimmick, the Devils winning all of them. Here is how the overall numbers compare…


Unless the sun stops in the sky, or he is spirited away by aliens, Martin Brodeur will get the start. He will be making his fifth attempt at tying the all-time NHL shutout record for goaltenders – 103 – held by Terry Sawchuk. In four appearances since climbing to within one of Sawchuk, Brodeur is 3-1-0, 1.97, .927. In other words, pretty normal.

While the Capitals will be missing Alex Ovechkin, the Devils have been without the services of Patrik Elias for the entire season to date, the result of his having undergone surgery to clean out scar tissue in his groin. He returned to the ice for the first time on Monday, but there is no date that had yet been set for his return. Think he won’t be missed tonight? Since the lockout, he is 5-14-19, plus-5 in 13 games against Washington.

That will leave the scoring load to Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, currently one-two in the Devils scoring rankings. Parise went scoreless on opening night against Philadelphia, but since then has points in nine of 11 games (6-8-14). In 13 career games against he Caps he is 4-8-12, even. But here is the odd part. In 2006-2007, he was 2-3-5 in four games. The following year, he was 0-0-0 in four games. Last year, he was 1-4-5 in four games. This year, he failed to register a point in the first meeting. See a pattern? Let’s hope it continues.

Zajac sprang out of the box this season, going 5-5-10 in his first nine games. In his last three he is 1-0-1. Against the Caps he is 3-5-8, plus-6 in 13 career games.

If you were to be asked, which Devil leads his club in game-winning goals, would you have said “Jamie Langenbrunner?” Well, if you did, you’d be wrong. Dainius Zubrus is the only Devil with as many as two game-winners, which happens to match the number of goals he has for the season of any variety.

In the prognosto for the last Devils game, we made the point that the Devils’ defensemen don’t score and don’t hit, but they play smart. Well, there is one Devils defenseman who is struggling, and that would be Johnny Oduya. Last year, Oduya had his coming out party, finishing the year 7-22-29, plus-21 while playing in all 82 games. Well, it’s a new year, and it seems to be a wall that Oduya has hit. In 11 games so far he has yet to register a point and is a minus-5.

Keys…

1. Score first. Combined, these teams have allowed the first goal of a game only six times in 26 games.

2. Kill penalties. The Devils have had, well, a devil of a time with their power play. In their last eight games they are 2-for-27 (7.4 percent).

3. Step up. The Caps’ blogosphere is awash with commentary about how the absence of Alex Ovechkin gives others the opportunity to step up. We’re tempted to say that this means guys like Nicklas Backstrom or Alexander Semin will be key in this one. Well, probably not. Brodeur has a way of making life difficult for high-end skill guys if he’s getting good looks at pucks. Nope, think “traffic.” Brooks Laich and Mike Knuble might be the keys here.

You might be thinking “Devils” and concluding that this will be a low scoring affair. Well, the Caps scored five goals in two of the last three games against New Jersey. That was with Scott Clemmensen in goal, not Martin Brodeur. So, chances are that three goals wins this game. That sounds about right.

Caps 3 – Devils 2

First Months First II

Three weeks ago, we made a point that you can’t win a Stanley Cup in October, but you could lose it. Getting off to bad starts in October is the kiss of death for Stanley Cup aspirants. Only two of the last 30 Cup winners had October records below .500, and one of those came in a season that got off to a late start.

Well, with respect to The Battle of October, consider it Mission: Accomplished (sorry, no banners, please). The Capitals finished the month 8-2-3, good for 19 points, tied for the seventh best among the last 30 Cup winners, and a winning percentage (based on percentage of available points) of .731, good for 14th on that list.


There are other battles to fight on the way to a Cup, the one staring the Caps in the face for the moment being The Battle of Weathered Injuries as they play on with their top offensive player on the shelf.

But for now, October is a good start. At this point in the season, it would be hard to ask for anything else. As long as one keeps in mind that all it represents is a start.

Mysteries of the Universe

Black holes, dark matter, the appeal of Jimmy Kimmel, and this...

The American Hockey League announced today that Hershey Bears left wing Alexandre Giroux has been named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Month for October. Giroux registered seven goals, seven assists and a plus-9 rating in just seven games for the Bears last month.

How can someone who consistently has this level of production at the AHL level of play look so discombobulated at the NHL level?

In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity

So said Albert Einstein. The difficulty at hand is that Alex Ovechkin is listed as “week-to-week” with what is called an “upper body injury.” What that means in terms of what, precisely, Ovechkin is suffering from is really of little relevance. He is out. What is relevant is how the Capitals react to the first (apparently, at least) lengthy absence of the club’s franchise player since he set foot in Washington in the fall of 2005.

A "difficulty?"

If the team looks at it that way, then yes, it is a difficulty. But difficulties turned sideways are opportunities, and this is an opportunity. No single player is going to make up for the production that Ovechkin provides. He isn’t the world’s best hockey player for nothing. But individual players can do their part on both sides of the puck to make up for the one-and-a-half points a game he accounts for.

Nicklas Backstrom doesn’t have to score a lot more goals, but bearing down to take advantage of opportunities instead of making the next pass might help.

Alexander Semin doesn’t have to suddenly become a 60-goal scorer, but being more consistent about his effort in giving an honest 60-minutes’ worth might get him an additional goal a week or so.

Mike Green has had 46 shot attempts either blocked or missed. If he can bear down to reduce that total and get more opportunities on net, he might improve on his two goals or provide some opportunities for players such as Brooks Laich or Mike Knuble to improve on their goal totals.

Mike Knuble has 32 shots in 14 games. That’s 2.3 a game. In 2005-2006, when he finished the year with 34 goals, he had 217 shots for 2.6 a game. An extra shot on goal every third game or so could result in the extra odd goal a week or so that would help.

Tom Poti is going to get more power play time. He has only 13 shots on goal in 14 games. No Capital has had more than the 26 shots blocked that Poti has. Bearing down and getting more attempts through might not allow him to improve on his goal scoring (he has yet to pot one), but it could create an additional opportunity or two a game that someone can cash in on.

Tomas Fleischmann is going to get a few additional minutes. He’s come back strong from his early season physical problems, but now he’s going to have to keep it up with a bit brighter light shining on him.

Eric Fehr... it’s time, when you get back from your own injury, that is. No, not to be a 30-plus goal scorer, but time to give evidence that you can score at a 20-goal a game pace.

You guys on the third line... you don’t have to abandon your “shut down” attitude, but getting some offensive production would be good. The trio of David Steckel, Matt Bradley, and Quintin Laing has four goals in 14 games (a total of 39 man-games). Bradley has three of them.

Chris Clark... you’ve had six goals in your last 62 games over three seasons after getting 30 in 74 games in 2006-2007. You have 18 points in those last 62 games. You don’t have to be a 30-goal scorer again, but an uptick in production is needed.

Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov... you don’t have the luxury of point and a half that Ovechkin has provided. You don’t have to stop every shot, but improving that save percentage by .010 from your respective save percentages so far would help.

And it would go a long way toward improving that save percentage if the skaters could clamp down on shots allowed. Only six teams have allowed more shots per game than the Caps have thus far (31.5 a game). Shave that by ten percent – a shot a period or so – and there is a contribution on the other side of the puck.

Part of that is being more careful with the puck to prevent rushes the other way. Only four teams have more giveaways than do the Caps (139). That’s an average of ten a game. Even in a high-risk offense, that’s a lot. Since a good portion of the offense is missing for the time being, a little more discipline and focus might be in order. That’s not to say that the Caps need to be Phoenix overnight (51 giveaways in 13 games), just some more discipline.

Missing the biggest cog hurts, but in the larger scheme of things it is an opportunity for other players to find other parts of their game. No one has to assume the whole burden. But each player must find a way to provide that five or ten percent more... more production, more focus, more discipline. If they can find that within them now, then the Caps might be a more complete team when the games are more meaningful in the spring.

It is an opportunity.

A ONE-point night: Blue Jackets 5 - Capitals 4 (OT)

If the NHL had a seismic detector, it would have registered 8.0 on the Richter scale at 6:10 of the second period of this evening’s Capitals-Blue Jackets game. It was then that Columbus’ Raffi Torres and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin collided in the sort of innocent collision that takes place dozens of times a game. Both players went down. Torres skated back into the play, Ovechkin skated to the Capitals’ bench shaking his head. He went immediately down the tunnel to the locker room and would not return in a 5-4 overtime loss that was a game bizarre enough that it should have been played last night – on Hallowe’en.



Ovechkin didn’t look right from the opening faceoff. He did not register a shot on goal until 6:02 was gone in the second period, just before his evening was done. He took two penalties, which would be his high for the year. There was the sloppy toe-drag that led to an R.J. Umberger breakaway 11 minutes into the first period.

Ovechkin’s departure cast a long shadow over a truly strange game, one in which the Caps really deserved better. They did a lot of things right…

There was the clinic put on by Nicklas Backstrom, Tomas Fleischmann and Alexander Semin in setting up the first goal that went Flesichmann to Backstrom, behind the back to Semin, over to Fleischmann, and back to Backstrom in the slot, all inside the Blue Jackets’ blue line, Backstrom ultimately banging the puck into a virtually empty net.

There was Brooks Laich stepping up into the void left by Ovechkin’s departure to pot a pair of goals to tie the game, then give the Caps a lead 2:08 apart in the second period. One came by getting dirty in front, potting a rebound on the power play. The other came when Laich found a seam down the middle, taking a pass from Brendan Morrison and snap the puck past goalie Steve Mason.

There was the unbelievable shift put in by Mike Knuble, who was a one man penalty killing effort in the Columbus zone, tying up the puck for what seemed like the entire Columbus power play.

There was David Steckel driving to the net and nudging a rebound of a shot back to Quintin Laing at the top of the crease for a goal.

But the Caps did enough wrong to lose, too…

There was Mike Green letting Rick Nash skate around him to the outside to glide in on Jose Theodore alone for a goal. The way Green moved – very stiffly, poking at Nash with his stick – you’d have thought he had a back injury. Such a thing shouldn’t be ruled out.

There was the inability to hold a third-period lead, something they actually gave up twice in this game, the last one with 23 seconds left in regulation.

There was Tom Poti leaving his feet in the overtime, giving Rick Nash the time and opportunity to pick his spot and find Umberger in front for the game-winner.

Nothing, however, beat the bizarre…

The puck that ricocheted strangely off the end boards to R.J. Umberger, who deposited the puck in an empty net with Jose Theodore behind the cage to collect the puck that never came.

The stick – Theodore’s – that got caught up in the meshing of the goal, leaving the goalie defenseless against a backhand wrap-around by Raffi Torres.

Ovechkin finally ending his evening after what seemed like an innocent nudge from Raffi Torres (although the injury might have occurred earlier in a scrum at the Columbus bench).

Other stuff…

Nicklas Backstrom led the team in shots in Ovechkin’s absence (six, tied with Alexander Semin). That ties a career high, accomplished twice, the last time also against Columbus last January 9th. What might seem odd about Backstrom’s number in this one is that all six of his attempts were on net.

Three Caps won at least ten draws – Backstrom (10-for-19), Brendan Morrison (10 of 14), and David Steckel (13 of 25). It was the second straight game that Backstrom won the majority of his draws after failing to do so in seven straight. For Steckel, he had the misfortune of losing his last draw, and Columbus scored the game-winner 12 seconds later.

Ovechkin still tied for the team lead in hits (three), despite playing only 7:43.

That’s nine straight games with at least one point. No team in the NHL has lost fewer games in regulation than the Caps (two).

By the same token, no team has lost more extra time games at home than have the Caps (three).

The goaltender interference call on David Steckel was lame. There really is no other word for it.

Only five giveaways in this game for the Caps, and Theodore had two of those.

The Caps yielded six power plays. With that many, there are likely to be a couple of silly ones. Knuble’s slashing penalty (which just expired when Columbus tied the game in the last minute) and Brian Pothier’s behind-the-play interference penalty were in that category. Both were penalties you might expect rookies to make, not veterans.

Time on ice… Who got those 13 or so minutes among the forwards that Alex Ovechkin didn’t skate? It wasn’t Nicklas Backstrom (18:26 against an average of 21:00 this year). It wasn’t Alexander Semin (19:44/19:51). It wasn’t Mike Knuble (16:33/17:24). On the other hand, Brooks Laich (20:49/19:18), Tomas Fleischmann (17:42/15:53), Matt Bradley (13:54/11:59), Quintin Laing (13:36/11:20), and David Steckel (16:16/14:14) got some extra time, some of it coming with the extra session.

The Caps played several games in this one, and it did not make for a good combination. There was the pretty phase, in which Backstrom, Fleischmann and Semin combined for a goal, then went silent thereafter (they had a combined two shots on goal in the third period). There was the grind phase, reflected the pair of goals by Laich and the goal by Laing. There was the gremlin phase of the game, which generally took place within a foot of wherever Jose Theodore might have been standing with the odd goals Columbus scored.

All things considered, this was far from a perfect game, but it wasn’t as bad as the final score indicated, either. Losing the best player on the planet for 34 minutes and overtime is going to leave an impression, especially when the club doesn’t have time to reorient itself to the loss. And, there might be an injury to Mike Green that isn’t being talked about. Jose Theodore will be on the hook for allowing five goals on 32 shots, but two were quirky, and a couple others were the case of Capitals losing track of some Blue Jackets in front of the net.

The Caps still have the fourth most points in the league, second best in the East. Things could be a lot worse… like if Ovechkin misses any significant time. Caps fans will be holding their collective breath the next day or so. That’s the bigger story than an overtime loss.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Blue Jackets, November 1st

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s an early evening tilt today as the Caps host the Columbus Blue Jackets in what will be the home team’s third game in four days. The Caps just completed their first set of back-to-back games of the season by taking three of a possible four points with a win over... uh, with a win over Atlanta and an over time loss...uh... and overtime loss to the New York Island... can I help you?

“I’m sorry, sir, I was just happening to pass by, and I realized, you’re The Peerless Prognosticator, and I just had to say hello.”

Thanks, and you are...

“Columbo, sir. Lieutenant Columbo.”

Nice coat.

“Thank you, sir. Now, I see that you write a blog. Very nice, by the way. I could never do something like that. I’d get writer’s block. Did you ever have writer’s block, sir?”

Well, I’m having an attack right now...

“That’s too bad. I’d always be worrying that I didn’t have anything to write. I worry. I mean, little things bother me. I'm a worrier. I mean, little insignificant details I lose my appetite. I can't eat. My wife, she says to me, ‘you know, you can really be pain.’"

I can understand that.

“So, I take it you’re writing about the game today. Is that right, sir?”

Why, come to think of it, I am.

“And I’m guessing that you dreamt me up because my name sounds like the name of the team the Capitals are playing. Would I be right about that, sir?”

You’re smart.

“My wife says I'm the second smartest. She claims there are 80 guys tied for first. But back to the case, sir... I mean 'game'... Columbus is having some trouble these days, is that right, sir?”

Well, yes. They’ve lost five of their last six – one of those in a Gimmick – and they’ve given up at least four goals in five of six. They’re having trouble keeping their heads above water in the Central Division.

“Oh, I can’t swim, sir... I don’t even like a deep tub.”

Was there anything else, Lieutenant? I’m really pretty busy.

“Oh, I can see that, sir, with all your prognosticating and blogging to do. It must make you very, very busy. I won’t take up any more of your time.”

Thank you, Lieutenant.

“I’m sorry, sir, there are a couple of loose ends I'd like to tie up. Nothing important you understand...”

Yes, Lieutenant?

“The Capitals have sold out each of their first seven home games, is that right, sir?”

I’ll take your word for it.

“Do you think you can find a couple of tickets? It’s for the wife, sir. She’s had her heart set on seeing a hockey game for a long time, and I can’t think of anything better than a Caps game against Columbus... Columbus, Columbo... you understand, sir.”

I get it, Lieutenant, but I don’t think I can get you tickets. This one is probably sold out, too.

“I understand, sir...”

Is that all?

“Oh, there’s just one more thing...”

–sigh– Yes, Lieutenant?

“What’s with the bunny slippers... is that part of the official blogging uniform?”

Well, we all need inspiration, and the Caps could use some to get November off to a good start. The Caps might have been expected to suffer something of a letdown after playing four division winners from last year in their first seven games. But starting with a win in that seventh game against last year’s Pacific Division champion, San Jose, the Caps have earned points in seven straight games (6-0-1).

And as if they need any inspiration for today’s game against Columbus, it is that they have yet to score a goal on Columbus goaltender Steve Mason. Last year’s Calder Trophy winner as top rookie won both games against the Caps last year by identical 3-0 scores, stopping all 71 shots he faced. It’s not as if the Caps were the only victims of Mason shutouts – he had ten in the 2008-2009 season.

This year is a different story, though. Mason might be falling prey to the dreaded “sophomore slump.” He is 5-4-1, 3.48, .881 for the season, but he’s really had trouble in his last five starts – 1-3-1, 4.53, .833. Here is how the Blue Jackets compare to the Caps overall so far…


As far as the skaters are concerned, the word that comes to mind here is “young.” Of the 22 skaters dressing so far this year, the oldest – Samuel Pahlsson – won’t turn 32 until December. 10 are 25 or younger. And some of the youngest of this group are the most productive. It starts, of course, with Rick Nash (turned 25 last June). Nash leads the Blue Jackets in scoring and is tied for tenth in the league in goals scored. But the number to attach to Nash is “two.” He has scored two goals in each of two of his last four games, and he has two goals in each of three of the last four games he has played against Washington.

Jakub Voracek (turned 20 in August) is fourth on the team in scoring (4-4-8), following up a solid rookie campaign last year (9-29-38, plus-11 in 80 games). He got off to something of a slow start this year with only a pair of assists in his first five games, but he went 4-2-6, plus-5 in his next four games. He’s stumbled since, failing to register a point in his last three contests.

Derick Brassard (turned 22 in September) is fifth on the team in scoring (2-5-7). He had his season cut short last year with injuries, playing in only 31 games, but gives indications of being the sort of center who will be a fixture for years. If he has a problem this year, it is that he is minus-8 in 12 games (minus-5 in his last five), worst on the team. He has yet to register a point against the Caps (two games).

If there is a somewhat less pleasant surprise, it is Nikita Filatov (turned 19 last May). After netting four goals in eight games in his first taste of the NHL last season, he has one goal in eight games so far this season. He’s seen little ice time (9:51 being his high-water mark for minutes this year) and has been a scratch in four of the last eight Columbus games. He has no points in any of those games, and has gone scoreless since getting a goal against Vancouver in the second game of the season.

Among the defensemen, there are some odd numbers. First, all eight blueliners dressing for Columbus this year have registered at least one point. Then again, only one of five defensemen who have played in at least ten of the 12 games for Columbus are on the plus side of the ledger. Then again, Jan Hedja (who?) is plus-8 in five games, best among the defensemen. And while it has nothing to do with numbers, we just think it odd that defenseman Mike Commodore was born in Fort Saskatchewan… Alberta. That would be like being born in East Minneapolis… Ohio.

Here is your fun fact for Columbus to take to the rink. In eight seasons, the Blue Jackets are 21-32-13 on Sundays, and the worst year they’ve had on that day of the week was last year (1-5-1). OK, here is another... the Blue Jackets did not lose to a Southeast Division team in regulation last year. They have not yet played a Southeast Division team this season and in fact have played only one team from the Eastern Conference – a 4-3 Gimmick loss to Pittsburgh last Friday.

OK, let’s cut to the chase. The Caps are either going to score a lot, because Steve Mason hasn’t been very good, and the Caps should be looking for revenge. Or, the Caps aren’t going to score at all, because there is always one team that one goaltender owns. We thought it was Martin Brodeur that owned the Caps. Well, the Caps have scored on Brodeur, they haven’t scored on Mason.

If you’ve paid any attention to what we do here, you know which of these we think will happen…

Capitals 5 – Blue Jackets 2