The Washington Capitals begin their second week of games without two-time MVP Alex Ovechkin tomorrow night when they take on the New York Islanders at Verizon Center. The Capitals have gone 2-1-0 since Ovechkin suffered an upper body injury Nov 1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After practice Monday morning at Kettler Capitals IcePlex, Ovechkin said he would not be able to play against the Islanders, but did not rule himself out for this weekend. The Capitals host the Minnesota Wild on Friday night then travel to New Jersey for their third meeting of the season with the New Jersey Devils.
The Capitals lost to the Devils Nov 3 at Prudential Center, 3-2, in their first game after Ovechkin's injury allowing two third period power play goals.
However, the Capitals looked much better in their next two games, both against the Florida Panthers. Washington defeated the Panthers 4-1 on Friday night in Sunrise, Florida, then used a five goal third period to overcome a one goal deficit in a 7-4 win Saturday night at Verizon Center.
Tomas Fleischmann led the way on Saturday scoring two of the teams' five third period goals. Fleischmann also tallied late in the 3-2 loss to New Jersey and scored twice in the second period of the Capitals 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders at Verizon Center on Oct 30.
Continued solid play by Fleischmann will be key for the Capitals until Ovechkin is able to return.
Two players who have been quiet since Ovechkin's injury are star forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin. Though Backstrom does have three assists in the three games Ovechkin has missed, he has no goals.
Semin has been completely non-existent in Ovechkin's absence. Semin has zero points in the last three games, and needs to prove he can be productive without Ovechkin in the line-up especially since Semin is seeking a contract extension.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
End of Cap Centre?
Like its namesake, is Cap Centre doomed to become a strip mall?
Not quite.
As you may have noticed, this site's been kind of quiet at Cap Centre over the last couple days, with good reason. Last week, I took a job with the Washington Times to help run their web site, and am going to step back from the blog to avoid a conflict with the Times.
Rest assured, there will be a new blogger for the site, someone who was looking to start his own site, and it was a nice fit and a good stroke of timing.
I'd like to thank the Caps' excellent PR staff for their tireless work and tremendous help, from Kelly Murray, Nate Ewell, Paul Rovnak and last but not least, Kurt Kehl.
Also wanted to give a thanks to several of my fellow bloggers who always do a terrific job from Rob Yunich, Ed Frankovic, John Michael Keeley as well as former FanHouse colleagues Eric McErlain and Greg Wyshinski, among many others.
Thanks also to the readers of Cap Centre, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did putting it together.
Stay tuned, and please claim a blue seat from the 100s on your way out before the remodeling.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Caps' Win Streak Snapped in Overtime
Washington's six-game win streak came to an end in overtime, as the Islanders' Mark Streit scored :53 into the extra session to give New York a 4-3 overtime win.
Tomas Fleischmann scored a pair of goals, his first since returning from missing the start of the season with a blood clot in his leg, but the Capitals couldn't cash in on a late power-play advantage and the Isles returned the favor of last weekend's overtime loss at home.
The Caps finish the month of October 8-2-3, and couldn't get the go ahead goal to equal the best first month of the season in team history. Alex Ovechkin did record his 14th goal of the campaign, but once again, Washington had trouble putting 60 good minutes and it cost them against a beatable opponent.
The Capitals got a great chance to open the game with a goal when Kyle Okposo was whistled for a double-minor just 1:37 into the contest, and Ovechkin scored his third goal in two nights with a blast that Dwayne Roloson couldn't stop completely 4:41 into the period to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.
Shaone Morrison took Washington's first minor of the night, and Jose Theodore came up with a pair of nice saves on John Tavares and the Capitals held onto the early lead.
Like the previous night, though, the Capitals got a bit too fancy with the lead, as one one shift, Ovechkin fed Semin, who passed up a good scoring chance to feed Backstrom and the Islanders broke up the play.
The Islanders got the equalizer shortly after with 9:23 left in the first when Okposo put a shot through Theodore's legs to even the score.
Washington got another chance with the extra-man when Tim Jackman cleared the puck over the side glass, but couldn't convert with the advantage and left the score at 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Richard Park started off the second breaking in alone on Theodore, but the goaltender came up with the save.
However, the Islanders did take the lead shortly after, as Mike Green coughed up the puck in front of Theodore and Frans Nielsen deposited in the corner for a 2-1 lead with 12:48 left in the middle frame.
However, Fleischmann brought the Caps even just 1:38 later with a great effort behind the net, as Chris Clark caught Roloson with a sloppy pass and feeding Fleischmann with a pass before Roloson could recover for Fleischmann's first goal since coming back from blood clots in his leg.
It didn't take long for Fleischmann to get his second, as he was parked in front of the Islander net and picked up the rebound of a Mike Green shot and in for a 3-2 Washington lead with 3:17 left in the frame.
However, the Islanders tied it up just 1:07 later, as Nielsen scored through traffic to even up the game at 3-3 to send the teams to the locker room after 40 minutes.
The Capitals got a scare when Ovechkin got hurt during the third period and skated back to the bench slowly, but he came back on his next shift and almost scored on Roloson.
However, the third proved to have a sluggish start, and another bad turnover almost led to an Islanders goal as Tavares fed Sean Bergenheim in front but Theodore held his ground and kept the game tied.
The Capitals then got a golden chance to finish the Islanders off when Mark Streit was called for interference with 4:20 left in regulation, but Washington couldn't convert to take the lead, and the two teams headed for their second overtime game against each other in a week.
It didn't last long, however, as Tavares fed a streaking Streit, who beat Theodore to send the sellout crowd home unhappy and give New York just their third win of the campaign.
Washington gets a short turnaround to get back on track, hosting the Blue Jackets Sunday afternoon, and looking to score their first goal on Steve Mason in three games. Still, the Capitals have points in all but two of their first 13 games, and finish the month with 19 points.
Tomas Fleischmann scored a pair of goals, his first since returning from missing the start of the season with a blood clot in his leg, but the Capitals couldn't cash in on a late power-play advantage and the Isles returned the favor of last weekend's overtime loss at home.
The Caps finish the month of October 8-2-3, and couldn't get the go ahead goal to equal the best first month of the season in team history. Alex Ovechkin did record his 14th goal of the campaign, but once again, Washington had trouble putting 60 good minutes and it cost them against a beatable opponent.
The Capitals got a great chance to open the game with a goal when Kyle Okposo was whistled for a double-minor just 1:37 into the contest, and Ovechkin scored his third goal in two nights with a blast that Dwayne Roloson couldn't stop completely 4:41 into the period to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.
Shaone Morrison took Washington's first minor of the night, and Jose Theodore came up with a pair of nice saves on John Tavares and the Capitals held onto the early lead.
Like the previous night, though, the Capitals got a bit too fancy with the lead, as one one shift, Ovechkin fed Semin, who passed up a good scoring chance to feed Backstrom and the Islanders broke up the play.
The Islanders got the equalizer shortly after with 9:23 left in the first when Okposo put a shot through Theodore's legs to even the score.
Washington got another chance with the extra-man when Tim Jackman cleared the puck over the side glass, but couldn't convert with the advantage and left the score at 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Richard Park started off the second breaking in alone on Theodore, but the goaltender came up with the save.
However, the Islanders did take the lead shortly after, as Mike Green coughed up the puck in front of Theodore and Frans Nielsen deposited in the corner for a 2-1 lead with 12:48 left in the middle frame.
However, Fleischmann brought the Caps even just 1:38 later with a great effort behind the net, as Chris Clark caught Roloson with a sloppy pass and feeding Fleischmann with a pass before Roloson could recover for Fleischmann's first goal since coming back from blood clots in his leg.
It didn't take long for Fleischmann to get his second, as he was parked in front of the Islander net and picked up the rebound of a Mike Green shot and in for a 3-2 Washington lead with 3:17 left in the frame.
However, the Islanders tied it up just 1:07 later, as Nielsen scored through traffic to even up the game at 3-3 to send the teams to the locker room after 40 minutes.
The Capitals got a scare when Ovechkin got hurt during the third period and skated back to the bench slowly, but he came back on his next shift and almost scored on Roloson.
However, the third proved to have a sluggish start, and another bad turnover almost led to an Islanders goal as Tavares fed Sean Bergenheim in front but Theodore held his ground and kept the game tied.
The Capitals then got a golden chance to finish the Islanders off when Mark Streit was called for interference with 4:20 left in regulation, but Washington couldn't convert to take the lead, and the two teams headed for their second overtime game against each other in a week.
It didn't last long, however, as Tavares fed a streaking Streit, who beat Theodore to send the sellout crowd home unhappy and give New York just their third win of the campaign.
Washington gets a short turnaround to get back on track, hosting the Blue Jackets Sunday afternoon, and looking to score their first goal on Steve Mason in three games. Still, the Capitals have points in all but two of their first 13 games, and finish the month with 19 points.
Capitals Play Host to Tavares, Islanders
Jose Theodore was terrific in his past two starts, and now he gets a chance for his third straight win when the Islanders make their first visit to Chinatown this season.
This year, the Isles have the top pick from this summer's draft in John Tavares, and after a good start, the top pick has cooled off a bit with just one goal in his last five contests after recording 10 points in his first six contests. Still, he has been good in keeping the Islanders in contests, as New York has at least one point in seven of 11 contests (2-4-5).
Last Saturday, the Islanders outplayed the Capitals for a good portion of the contest, but thanks to some timely saves by Theodore and a good finish by Mike Green, Washington grabbed a 3-2 overtime win.
After Semyon Varlamov grabbed the win in Atlanta, with Columbus on tap for Sunday, Theodore is expected to get the nod against the Islanders.
The Islanders were good in containing Alexander Ovechkin by limiting him to just two shots in their last meeting, but the Caps' star has been terrific the last two games, scoring four goals and adding an assist for a league lead in goals (13) and points (22), not to mention a league-best plus-11. Ovechkin was stellar against the Isles last season, scoring six goals in four meetings, but went goalless against New York for the first time since February of 2008 last week.
With their third game in four nights, the Caps will need to try to jump on top of the Islanders early, as New York has been able to jump out to leads against some quality opponents this month, only to see those leads evaporate - as it did Saturday. But in New York's last game against their crosstown rival Rangers, the Isles held on for a 3-1 win against a quality opponent.
With a chance to equal the franchise's best October win total, the Caps look to get out to a good start and then play a bit more than 25 minutes to see if they can close out with a 9-2-2 start to the campaign as the calendar turns to November before the Blue Jackets pay a visit to Verizon Center on Sunday.
This year, the Isles have the top pick from this summer's draft in John Tavares, and after a good start, the top pick has cooled off a bit with just one goal in his last five contests after recording 10 points in his first six contests. Still, he has been good in keeping the Islanders in contests, as New York has at least one point in seven of 11 contests (2-4-5).
Last Saturday, the Islanders outplayed the Capitals for a good portion of the contest, but thanks to some timely saves by Theodore and a good finish by Mike Green, Washington grabbed a 3-2 overtime win.
After Semyon Varlamov grabbed the win in Atlanta, with Columbus on tap for Sunday, Theodore is expected to get the nod against the Islanders.
The Islanders were good in containing Alexander Ovechkin by limiting him to just two shots in their last meeting, but the Caps' star has been terrific the last two games, scoring four goals and adding an assist for a league lead in goals (13) and points (22), not to mention a league-best plus-11. Ovechkin was stellar against the Isles last season, scoring six goals in four meetings, but went goalless against New York for the first time since February of 2008 last week.
With their third game in four nights, the Caps will need to try to jump on top of the Islanders early, as New York has been able to jump out to leads against some quality opponents this month, only to see those leads evaporate - as it did Saturday. But in New York's last game against their crosstown rival Rangers, the Isles held on for a 3-1 win against a quality opponent.
With a chance to equal the franchise's best October win total, the Caps look to get out to a good start and then play a bit more than 25 minutes to see if they can close out with a 9-2-2 start to the campaign as the calendar turns to November before the Blue Jackets pay a visit to Verizon Center on Sunday.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Capitals Make Life Too Interesting Again
For the first 25 minutes of their game in Atlanta, the Capitals were firmly in control, as Alex Ovechkin's three points had staked the team to a 3-0 lead and without their top star, the Thrashers seemed to be on the ropes.
However, as they did last week at Philips Arena, Washington began to take its foot off the gas, and the Capitals became too cute with the puck and passed up some good scoring chances to try and make a perfect pass, so despite a chance to bury Atlanta, the Thrashers chipped in two third-period goals to put the outcome in doubt until Mike Knuble slapped in an empty-netter with :52.1 left in regulation.
Like they have for much of their six-game win streak, the Capitals played enough good hockey to get the win, although they certainly could have made their lives easier by putting another goal or two in the net before going on cruise control.
Washington simply got too sloppy, allowing the Thrashers some prime chances and giving up 33 shots over the final 40 minutes and forcing Semyon Varlamov to have to make some good saves to preserve the win. The Caps even allowed a shorthanded breakaway, after having allowed two shorties in their previous three games.
Certainly, the Capitals' start was solid, with Ovechkin moving into the league lead in goals and points with two goals and one helper, and the sputtering power-play going two for their first three chances. But with a chance to put away the Thrashers halfway through the third, Washington's power-play was terrible, and poor coverage by Mike Green and Ovechkin didn't help as they gave up the best chance of the two-minute advantage.
Fortunately for the Capitals, one player who was good for 60 minutes was Varlamov, stopping 38 shots and moving to 5-0-0 on the season, making some great stops and keeping Washington ahead and keeping the win streak alive.
But, Washington now gets a chance to close out October with its ninth win of the month, against another team they had some trouble putting away on Long Island Saturday. The Capitals played roughly 25 minutes of good hockey in that game as well, the only difference is this one came at the end of the game and the team was able to erase a 2-0 deficit after a lackluster start.
To be sure, the Caps have been very good this month, dropping just two regulation games. But they certainly seem to be making some games more interesting than they need to be.
However, as they did last week at Philips Arena, Washington began to take its foot off the gas, and the Capitals became too cute with the puck and passed up some good scoring chances to try and make a perfect pass, so despite a chance to bury Atlanta, the Thrashers chipped in two third-period goals to put the outcome in doubt until Mike Knuble slapped in an empty-netter with :52.1 left in regulation.
Like they have for much of their six-game win streak, the Capitals played enough good hockey to get the win, although they certainly could have made their lives easier by putting another goal or two in the net before going on cruise control.
Washington simply got too sloppy, allowing the Thrashers some prime chances and giving up 33 shots over the final 40 minutes and forcing Semyon Varlamov to have to make some good saves to preserve the win. The Caps even allowed a shorthanded breakaway, after having allowed two shorties in their previous three games.
Certainly, the Capitals' start was solid, with Ovechkin moving into the league lead in goals and points with two goals and one helper, and the sputtering power-play going two for their first three chances. But with a chance to put away the Thrashers halfway through the third, Washington's power-play was terrible, and poor coverage by Mike Green and Ovechkin didn't help as they gave up the best chance of the two-minute advantage.
Fortunately for the Capitals, one player who was good for 60 minutes was Varlamov, stopping 38 shots and moving to 5-0-0 on the season, making some great stops and keeping Washington ahead and keeping the win streak alive.
But, Washington now gets a chance to close out October with its ninth win of the month, against another team they had some trouble putting away on Long Island Saturday. The Capitals played roughly 25 minutes of good hockey in that game as well, the only difference is this one came at the end of the game and the team was able to erase a 2-0 deficit after a lackluster start.
To be sure, the Caps have been very good this month, dropping just two regulation games. But they certainly seem to be making some games more interesting than they need to be.
Ovechkin Scores Twice as Caps Hang On
While his good friend Ilya Kovalchuk notched a pair of goals in last week's Capitals-Thrashers tilt in Atlanta, Alexander Ovechkin picked up the slack with the Thrashers' star injured this Thursday. The two-time Hart winner got two goals of his own as the Capitals grabbed a 4-3 win at Philips Arena for Washington's sixth straight victory.
The Caps' star scored a pair of goals to extend his lead in the Richard Trophy race and also added a nifty assist in the second period to retake the points lead as Washington moved to 8-2-2 on the season with one game left in the month of October.
However, like last week's game, the Capitals held a three-goal lead heading into the final frame, but the hosts thoroughly outplayed Washington over the last 20 minutes but got some nice goaltending by Semyon Varlamov to hang on for the win.
After a slow start to the contest, the Thrashers got the first extra-man advantage just under five minutes into the contest when Tom Poti was whistled for holding Maxim Afinogenov.
The Caps killed off the penalty, and got a power play of their own when Jim Slater was whistled for hooking Nicklas Backstrom, and cashed in. Halfway through the advantage, Mike Green did a nice curl pass to Ovechkin, who blasted the feed past Ondrej Pavelec for his league-leading 12th goal of the campaign with 9:57 left in the frame.
Slater got a chance for redemption at the 6:12 mark, as he was hauled down on a partial breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot, but one that Semyon Varlamov handled without too much trouble.
Ovechkin then boosted the lead to 2-0 when Backstrom picked off a bad Afinogenov pass in the Caps zone and then fed the breaking star and shot it past Pavelec at the 5:04 mark for his 6th multi-goal game of the month of October.
Washington finished the first outshooting Atlanta 13-8 and with a 2-0 lead, pushing their advantage in the first 20 minutes to a 15-5 count this month.
Afinogenov was whistled for another minor just 1:52 into the second, and although the Thrashers killed most of it, Evander Kane took another minor for a :15 5-on-3 advantage for Washington.
The Capitals scored on the Kane minor, as Ovechkin fed Brendan Morrison, who put a shot on Pavelec that the goalie got a glove on, but couldn't stop all the shot and the puck trickled in the net for a 3-0 edge 4:10 into the second. It also was a nice showing for Washington extra-man unit, who scored on two of their first three chances on the evening after scoring just two power-play goals in their last four games.
The Thrashers had trouble trying to get back in the contest minus their leading goal-scorer, and Atlanta's best chance came halfway through the period when Afinogenov couldn't covert on a good chance in front of Varlamov to keep the Thrashers scoreless.
Washington nearly got a fourth goal when Alexander Semin couldn't quite finish a nifty move with a couple of minutes left in the frame, but the Capitals were still firmly in control of the action on the ice as the period wound down.
The Thrashers did get on the board early in the third as Zach Bogosian blasted a puck past Varlamov just 1:23 into the season, delivering a shot that sprang back off the puck of the back of the net to cut Washington's lead to 3-1.
The tally woke up Atlanta, forcing Varlamov having to make a couple of nice saves to keep the Capitals up by two as the Thrashers took the first nine shots of the period before Ovechkin finally put one on the cage for Washington just before the fourteen-minute mark.
Atlanta had some more prime chances to cut the lead to just one, but Varlamov made some nice saves - despite the lack of support. Even a late power-play created by a nice dive by Mike Knuble only created a Thrashers shorthanded breakaway where the Capitals had to count on Varlamov to make the save.
Todd White then cut the lead with one with 2:23 to play, as he caught the Capitals on a bad line change and broke in to beat Varlamov and for the second time in a week, Atlanta roared back to make the Capitals sweat out what had been a comfortable lead.
However, Mike Knuble allowed the Caps to breathe a bit easier, firing a puck into an empty net with :52.1 left in regulation to grab the win. Atlanta scored a goal at the final buzzer, but thanks to Knuble's empty-netter, it just made the final 4-3.
Varlamov moved to 5-0-0 on the season and earned his ninth straight regular-season victory to start his career with a 38-save effort.
The Caps, who recorded nine wins in the tenth month only once in their history (1991-92) will get a chance to match that mark in their final game of October. Washington heads home for a quick turnaround, playing the Islanders for the second time in a week when New York pays a visit to Verizon Center for John Tavares' first appearance in D.C.
The Caps' star scored a pair of goals to extend his lead in the Richard Trophy race and also added a nifty assist in the second period to retake the points lead as Washington moved to 8-2-2 on the season with one game left in the month of October.
However, like last week's game, the Capitals held a three-goal lead heading into the final frame, but the hosts thoroughly outplayed Washington over the last 20 minutes but got some nice goaltending by Semyon Varlamov to hang on for the win.
After a slow start to the contest, the Thrashers got the first extra-man advantage just under five minutes into the contest when Tom Poti was whistled for holding Maxim Afinogenov.
The Caps killed off the penalty, and got a power play of their own when Jim Slater was whistled for hooking Nicklas Backstrom, and cashed in. Halfway through the advantage, Mike Green did a nice curl pass to Ovechkin, who blasted the feed past Ondrej Pavelec for his league-leading 12th goal of the campaign with 9:57 left in the frame.
Slater got a chance for redemption at the 6:12 mark, as he was hauled down on a partial breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot, but one that Semyon Varlamov handled without too much trouble.
Ovechkin then boosted the lead to 2-0 when Backstrom picked off a bad Afinogenov pass in the Caps zone and then fed the breaking star and shot it past Pavelec at the 5:04 mark for his 6th multi-goal game of the month of October.
Washington finished the first outshooting Atlanta 13-8 and with a 2-0 lead, pushing their advantage in the first 20 minutes to a 15-5 count this month.
Afinogenov was whistled for another minor just 1:52 into the second, and although the Thrashers killed most of it, Evander Kane took another minor for a :15 5-on-3 advantage for Washington.
The Capitals scored on the Kane minor, as Ovechkin fed Brendan Morrison, who put a shot on Pavelec that the goalie got a glove on, but couldn't stop all the shot and the puck trickled in the net for a 3-0 edge 4:10 into the second. It also was a nice showing for Washington extra-man unit, who scored on two of their first three chances on the evening after scoring just two power-play goals in their last four games.
The Thrashers had trouble trying to get back in the contest minus their leading goal-scorer, and Atlanta's best chance came halfway through the period when Afinogenov couldn't covert on a good chance in front of Varlamov to keep the Thrashers scoreless.
Washington nearly got a fourth goal when Alexander Semin couldn't quite finish a nifty move with a couple of minutes left in the frame, but the Capitals were still firmly in control of the action on the ice as the period wound down.
The Thrashers did get on the board early in the third as Zach Bogosian blasted a puck past Varlamov just 1:23 into the season, delivering a shot that sprang back off the puck of the back of the net to cut Washington's lead to 3-1.
The tally woke up Atlanta, forcing Varlamov having to make a couple of nice saves to keep the Capitals up by two as the Thrashers took the first nine shots of the period before Ovechkin finally put one on the cage for Washington just before the fourteen-minute mark.
Atlanta had some more prime chances to cut the lead to just one, but Varlamov made some nice saves - despite the lack of support. Even a late power-play created by a nice dive by Mike Knuble only created a Thrashers shorthanded breakaway where the Capitals had to count on Varlamov to make the save.
Todd White then cut the lead with one with 2:23 to play, as he caught the Capitals on a bad line change and broke in to beat Varlamov and for the second time in a week, Atlanta roared back to make the Capitals sweat out what had been a comfortable lead.
However, Mike Knuble allowed the Caps to breathe a bit easier, firing a puck into an empty net with :52.1 left in regulation to grab the win. Atlanta scored a goal at the final buzzer, but thanks to Knuble's empty-netter, it just made the final 4-3.
Varlamov moved to 5-0-0 on the season and earned his ninth straight regular-season victory to start his career with a 38-save effort.
The Caps, who recorded nine wins in the tenth month only once in their history (1991-92) will get a chance to match that mark in their final game of October. Washington heads home for a quick turnaround, playing the Islanders for the second time in a week when New York pays a visit to Verizon Center for John Tavares' first appearance in D.C.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday's Game Sets Versus Mark
From Puck Daddy, Tuesday night's Capitals-Flyers telecast on Versus set a record for the network, becoming the highest-rated regular-season game since the former Outdoor Life Network picked up the NHL after the lockout.
This despite the network's dispute with DirecTV.
This despite the network's dispute with DirecTV.
Just in from Versus: Last night's Philadelphia Flyers/Washington Capitals game set a new regular-season ratings record for the network's NHL coverage: a 0.6 national rating.
That's up from the 0.5 the Capitals and Boston Bruins did on opening night. But no, the Capitals would have been a lousy draw for the Winter Classic, right NBC?
The Capitals/Bruins game still holds the title for "most watched" in Versus history based on total viewers (501,000). Viewership totals for last night's game will likely become available on Thursday.
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