Author Topic: CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20  (Read 1698 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Senators2005

  • Lake Ridge, VA
  • Posts: 12264
  • Go Natsssssss!
    • http://nationalsnation.spaces.live.com/
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Topic Start: January 16, 2007, 05:34:51 AM »
This Thread Dedicated To The Following Games

Jan 16th @ Ottawa Senators
Jan 18th @ Carolina Hurricanes
Jan 20th vs. Florida Panthers

***********************************************************************************

Caps Take on Surging Senators
Jan. 16 vs. Ottawa Senators at ScotiaBank Place
Time: 7:30 pm
TV: CSN
Radio:  WTEM 980 AM

Washington Capitals(19-19-7)[/color]
Ottawa Senators (26-19-2)

Tuesday finds the Capitals in Ottawa for their first visit to Canada?s capital city in 2006-07. The game with the Senators starts the second half of Washington?s current four-game road trip. The Caps are without a win on the trip to date, and they now must face one of the league?s hottest teams.

The Caps are coming off a dismal Saturday night performance in South Florida where they suffered a 7-3 setback in a game that marked one of their poorest performances in recent seasons. The Caps were outshot 54-17, the most shots against and fewest shots on goal for Washington in any of its games this season.

To a man, the Caps seem determined to put that one in the rear-view mirror and move ahead.

?It wasn?t a lot of fun,? says Caps center Brian Sutherby. ?None of us were happy about the way we played. I think everyone is pretty anxious to go out there and redeem ourselves and show that we?re a lot better team than we were [on Saturday].?

?After a game like that, guys are definitely anxious to get back and get some points back and prove that we belong with the good teams,? says Washington winger Donald Brashear.

Brashear was one of the most noticeably involved Capitals in Saturday night?s loss, and his exemplary play earned him a bit of a promotion. At Monday?s practice here in suburban Ottawa, Brashear was skating on a line with Alexander Semin and Kris Beech.

?A lot of times they will play against some faster lines or guys who are quicker, but not necessarily big,? says Brashear of Semin and  Beech. ?If I can get in the corners and retrieve some pucks and hang onto some pucks, it makes the [opposition] tired. I can just hand it to [my linemates] and then they can start skating around, and it makes it a lot easier for them.?

Caps coach Glen Hanlon says that Brashear has earned more ice time, but also states that Matt Pettinger will continue to skate shifts on that line as well.

?You?ll see [Brashear] in there; you won?t see him in there,? says Hanlon. ?I still believe that people have a minute threshold where they should play. I don?t think you should take somebody that you kind of project to play 10-12 minutes and play them 23. If it?s an even-strength game and I?ve got a situation where [Matt] Pettinger is going to end up with 10 minutes or something, that is not going to happen.

?We just feel that [Brashear] has played well enough to warrant more minutes. We feel he should be getting close to being a double-digit [minutes] player for us.?

Washington will be facing a red hot Ottawa team on Tuesday, but it faced a red hot Ottawa team the last time it saw the Sens, on Dec. 6 at Verizon Center. The Senators had won eight of their previous nine when they took the ice that night in the District, but the Caps quickly cooled them with a 6-2 cold rinse.

The Caps will have their hands full with Ottawa?s swift and speedy forwards, and perhaps reuniting the CBS Line (Ben Clymer, Matt Bradley and Brian Sutherby) will help quell the Senators? quick and creative attack.

?We obviously had some good success last year,? says Sutherby. ?Hopefully we can kind of turn things around here and start chipping in a little more. I know me and Benny certainly want to be doing that. And obviously creating energy and just being a line that can go out and hem teams in their own end. I thought that was our strength last year. None of our goals are ever pretty. They came from hard work and being physical, and that?s what we?ve got to do out there.?

Brent Johnson will be in goal for Washington on Tuesday. The last time Johnson faced the Sens here, he stopped all 46 shots to lead the Caps to a narrow 1-0 win on Apr. 1. It was the third-most saves ever made in a 1-0 win in league history.

?I remember that game,? says Johnson, ?but I more so remember my last start that I had against Buffalo right after Christmas.?

He surrendered four early goals before being pulled in favor of Olie Kolzig in that one, but the Caps made a rare day-of-game trip on the day after Christmas to face the conference?s best team in that one.

Johnson is ready to rebound from that game, and he?s ready to help his teammates rebound from Saturday night?s debacle.

?[I have to] be determined out there,? he begins, ?get the job done for your defensemen, and everyone stands up for each other out there. I think we?ll have that for the rest of the year. After getting beat 7-3 last game, we had a good meeting with all the guys. We talked about how this is only going to get harder, and we?ve got to pick up our game and it has to start from the first drop of the puck to the end of the game. Sixty minutes. We all know that, and we definitely want to get away from having team meetings after losses. So I think everyone is going to be ready to play here.?

Washington is 14th in the league in power play prowess with a 17.6% success rate. The Caps have scored at least one power play goal in six straight games and are 7-for-29 (24.1%) with the man advantage during that stretch. The Capitals rank 21st in the NHL in penalty killing with a 80.6% kill rate.

The Sens are winners of four straight and are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. Ottawa has outscored the opposition 47-24 in the last 11 games and 25-10 in the last four. The Sens have scored six or more goals in a game 11 times this season (including three times in the last four games), tops in the NHL.

When the Senators visited Washington for their first meeting with the Capitals in early November, there was talk in the Canadian media about the Sens trading captain Daniel Alfredsson. The Swedish veteran was off to a slow start, as were the Senators. Ottawa has to be thankful now that no deal ever came off, because Alfredsson and a few of his teammates are among the hottest players in the league at the moment.

Alfredsson and linemate Dany Heatley both come into Tuesday?s game with four-game goal streaks. Alfredsson has four goals and 12 points and is plus-11 in his last four games. Heatley has eight goals and 15 points in his last six games, and he is plus-13 during that stretch.

With pivots Jason Spezza and Mike Fisher both sidelined with knee injuries, sophomore center Chris Kelly has been the benefactor of playing on the Alfredsson-Heatley line. Kelly has three goals and 11 points in his last five games, and he is plus-12 during that stretch. Kelly had 15 points in his first 42 games this season, and he has now moved into a tie for fourth place on the team in scoring.

The Senators have moved to within a single point of Montreal for second place in the NHL?s Northeast Division.

Ottawa is ninth in the NHL with an 18.5% power play success rate. After going 0-for-15 with the extra man in a four-game span, the Sens exploded for three power play goals (3-for-5) in Saturday?s 8-3 win over Montreal.

The Senators have the league?s 13th best penalty killing outfit with a kill rate of 83.2%. Ottawa has killed off 15 of 16 (93.8%) of the opposition?s power play in its last five games.

Offline UMDNats

  • Posts: 18063
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #1: January 16, 2007, 04:06:21 PM »
It's a new week, let's get some wins.

Online Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17649
  • babble on
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #2: January 16, 2007, 04:08:41 PM »
This could become an interesting rivalry...the capital city clash.  They have been pretty good games for a couple of years now (with one or two disgraceful exceptions).

Online Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17649
  • babble on
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #3: January 16, 2007, 09:31:12 PM »
Lots of #8 jerseys in the Ottawa crowd...

Offline Senators2005

  • Lake Ridge, VA
  • Posts: 12264
  • Go Natsssssss!
    • http://nationalsnation.spaces.live.com/
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #4: January 17, 2007, 05:20:29 AM »
Final at ScotiaBank Place

Washington 2[/color]
Ottawa 5



Sens top Caps for season-high fifth straight win

OTTAWA (AP) -- The Ottawa Senators are quickly and quietly re-establishing their reputation as one of the NHL's dominant teams.

Mike Comrie scored twice and Daniel Alfredsson had a shorthanded goal and an assist as Ottawa extended its winning streak to a season-high five games with a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

Comrie, acquired in a Jan. 3 trade with Phoenix, scored a power-play goal 19:33 into the first. He added his second of the game -- his fourth in four games -- midway through the second to increase the Senators' lead to three.

Ray Emery made 28 saves and Andrej Meszaros and Peter Schaefer also scored for Ottawa, which had three four-game winning streaks prior to its current run.

"I think the biggest thing that we're doing right now as a team is we're playing smart and capitalizing on our opportunities," Comrie said. "When you play hard every night, it's hard to play against you."

The Senators moved into second place in the Northeast Division with 56 points, one ahead of Montreal. Ottawa won four straight after losing playmaker Jason Spezza to a knee injury on Dec. 21, beginning its stretch of 10 wins in 12 games (10-1-1).

"We knew how important this homestretch was," Alfredsson said. "You have to make the most of it and, so far, we've done that. Hopefully we can finish off with two more wins before the [All-Star] break to really put ourselves in good position."

Brent Johnson stopped 29 shots for the Capitals, who lost their third in a row following a three-game winning streak. Washington has dropped 10 of 14 overall.

"We made a lot of mistakes and gave them a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities," said defenseman Brian Pothier, who signed with the Capitals as a free agent after spending the previous three seasons with Ottawa. "With a team like that, they're going to score goals. Ottawa's a good team. If you give them the puck too much, they're going to score goals."

Chris Clark scored a shorthanded goal with 2.3 seconds left in the first to draw Washington to 2-1.

Capitals scoring leader Alexander Ovechkin assisted on Steve Eminger's first goal of the season 5:35 into the third.

"We didn't play very well tonight and we need to score more goals," Ovechkin said.

Alfredsson got his 32nd assist on Meszaros' sixth goal, which opened the scoring 16:56 in.

Comrie made it 2-0 with 27 seconds remaining in the first when he put a loose puck in the crease into a wide-open net after Johnson gathered it beneath him and inadvertently pulled it between his pads and behind him.

With Pothier in the penalty box, Clark stunned the Senators before the end of the period when he put a wrist shot past Emery into the top right corner on a two-on-one.

Ottawa got a shorthanded goal 9:14 into the second as Alfredsson restored the Senators' two-goal lead with his 16th after the puck bounced to him in front of the net off the boards behind Johnson.

Comrie's second of the game at 10:21 made it 4-1.

Schaefer scored his eighth 13:36 into the third after Eminger had cut the lead to 4-2 with his first goal since April 18.


Offline Senators2005

  • Lake Ridge, VA
  • Posts: 12264
  • Go Natsssssss!
    • http://nationalsnation.spaces.live.com/
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #5: January 17, 2007, 05:23:07 AM »
Somehow that last photo seems to sum up the Caps luck these past couple of weeks.   :?

Offline UMDNats

  • Posts: 18063
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #6: January 17, 2007, 04:19:44 PM »
good thing we gave BJ that 2 year extension......


our D sucked last night, geez.
way to show up at the most important part of the season. they haven't even been in the games the last few weeks, aside from their few wins

Offline Senators2005

  • Lake Ridge, VA
  • Posts: 12264
  • Go Natsssssss!
    • http://nationalsnation.spaces.live.com/
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #7: January 18, 2007, 04:12:46 PM »
Caps Close Out Trip Against Canes
Jan. 18 vs. Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center
Time: 7:00 pm
TV: CSN
Radio:  WTEM 980 AM

Washington Capitals (19-20-7)
Carolina Hurricanes (25-18-5)

The Caps conclude a four-game road trip in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Washington is seeking its first win on the trip, and it is also looking to stop a six-game road losing skid.

At this time last month, Washington was flying high. With a 4-1 win over Philadelphia on Dec. 16, the Caps pushed their record to 15-10-7, five games over the break-even point for the first time since the conclusion of the 2002-03 season.

Since then, hard times have set in. The Caps lost defenseman John Erskine to a broken bone in his foot, an injury suffered in that win over Philly. Days later, blueliner Bryan Muir was also felled by a broken foot, an injury suffered in Washington?s outdoor practice in mid-December. A stomach virus came next, affecting nearly half the players in the locker room to some degree, and necessitating a rash of minor league call-ups to get through the week following Christmas.

Forwards Richard Zednik and Matt Bradley went down with injuries earlier in December, and the Caps simply did not have sufficient depth to withstand all those woes at once.

The Caps rallied for a three-game winning streak on home ice in early January, but they?ve found the road cruel and difficult since a 3-2 win in Toronto on Dec. 23. Tuesday?s 5-2 loss at Ottawa is the team?s sixth straight loss on the road. The Caps dropped seven straight road contests late in the 2003-04 season, but haven?t lost more than seven successive road games since 1975-76.

In the last month, Washington has gone 4-10 overall, falling from fifth place to 13th place in the Eastern Conference standings in the process.  

The loss to the Senators brought more bad news. Rookie defenseman Mike Green blocked a shot with his foot, and is going to be out of the lineup indefinitely.

?The biggest surprise is that with the way skates are,? says Caps coach Glen Hanlon, ?and with how hard guys shoot, it?s amazing guys don?t break their feet every single game. You think how many times there is a slapshot from the point through a crowd of feet, and it?s amazing more guys don?t have them.?

A recent check of the league?s wounded revealed four other defensemen out of the lineup with broken bones in their feet: Anaheim?s Chris Pronger, Carolina?s Tim Gleason, Colorado?s John-Michael Liles and New Jersey?s Alex Brooks.

Bradley has returned to the lineup, and Zednik is getting closer (possibly after the All-Star break), but the Caps really miss Erskine?s presence on the penalty kill. In the 18 games in which the big blueliners was in the Washington lineup, the Caps mustered a respectable 82.8% success rate on the penalty kill. In the 14 games in which he has been sidelined, Washington has surrendered 17 power play goals and has a penalty kill success rate of just 73%.

Olie Kolzig is expected to be back in goal on Thursday night; Brent Johnson was between the pipes on Tuesday in Ottawa. Kolzig once dominated the Southeast Division, but he has had trouble against divisional foes in 2006-07. The veteran Caps goaltender is 5-7-1 with a 3.62 goals against average and an .896 save pct. against the Southeast this season. Kolzig is 10-7-3 against the rest of league.

When the Capitals paid their last visit to the playoffs back in 2002-03, Kolzig was 11-4-1 and had a 1.87 goals against average and a .935 save pct. against fellow denizens of the Southeast Division.

Going into Wednesday?s NHL action, the Capitals? power play unit ranks 17th in the NHL with a 17.3% success rate. The Caps failed to score on the power play in Thursday?s loss at Ottawa, ending a six-game run in which they had scored at least once with the extra man. The Caps are 21st in the league in penalty killing with a kill rate of 80.5%.

The Hurricanes are in the midst of a stretch in which they play seven straight games against Southeast Division opponents. Carolina is 12-3-1 in divisional play this season. All three of Carolina?s losses to Southeast Division teams came in the month of October, and while the team was on the road. The first of those setbacks came on Oct. 7 at Verizon Center when Washington downed the Canes 5-2 in the Capitals? home opener.

John Grahame was in goal for Carolina in its most recent game, a 3-2 overtime win over Florida on Tuesday. Prior to that contest, Cam Ward had started the previous eight games for the Hurricanes.

The Canes have picked up at least a point in each of their last five games (4-0-1).

Carolina ranks 21st in the NHL with a 16.4% power play success rate. The Canes are ninth in the league in penalty killing with a kill rate of 84.2%.

Carolina?s power play was slugging along with a 13.9% success rate until Cory Stillman returned to the lineup last month. In the 16 games since Stillman?s return, the Hurricanes? power play has clicked at a much more robust pace of 21.5%. Stillman missed the season?s first 31 games after undergoing shoulder surgery last August.

Online Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17649
  • babble on
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #8: January 18, 2007, 10:06:20 PM »
woo hoo!!  Now THAT was a fun game  :D

Offline Senators2005

  • Lake Ridge, VA
  • Posts: 12264
  • Go Natsssssss!
    • http://nationalsnation.spaces.live.com/
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #9: January 18, 2007, 10:15:59 PM »
Final at RBC Center
Washington 5
Carolina 2



Caps crush Canes, snap six-game road losing skid

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Alexander Semin and Chris Clark score two goals apiece to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

The Capitals snapped a six-game road losing streak, avoiding their longest such streak since the 1975-76 season.

Olaf Kolzig had 34 saves for his 260th career win, tying Gilles Meloche for 30th place on the all-time list.

After Eric Staal pulled the Hurricanes to 3-2 at 12:07 of the third, Clark and Alex Ovechkin scored empty-netters in the final minute to secure the Capitals' win. Clark's goals extended his scoring streak to four games.

Erik Cole also scored for Carolina and John Grahame stopped 25 shots.

A misplayed puck off the stick of Carolina defenseman David Tanabe led to Washington's first goal at 13:00 of the first period. Tanabe knocked down Clark's dump-in and it trickled into the net vacated by Grahame, who had gone toward the right corner to play the expected rebound.

Carolina took consecutive penalties midway through the second period. After killing off the first, the Hurricanes allowed Washington to score 4 seconds into the second one to make it 2-0. Dainius Zubrus won a faceoff to Alexander Semin, who blasted a shot over Grahame's glove for his team-leading 13th power-play goal and his 26th overall.

After Cole pulled Carolina to 2-1 at 2:00 of the third, Semin scored his second goal 7 1/2 minutes later on a breakaway.

Ovechkin's score with 21 seconds left snapped his three-game streak without a goal.

Carolina lost defenseman Niclas Wallin with an undisclosed lower-body injury to start the second period.


Offline Dave B

  • Posts: 6033
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #10: January 19, 2007, 08:30:56 AM »
Did anybody hear that BS "(horn) (horn) (horn) Lets go Canes" ripoff?  That is crap.  Hopefully they are doing just to mock the Caps when they come to town and not trying to make it their own.

They already ripped off yelling "red" during the anthem.  And they also do some other college hockey cheers.

How about makng up your own thing?

Offline Senators2005

  • Lake Ridge, VA
  • Posts: 12264
  • Go Natsssssss!
    • http://nationalsnation.spaces.live.com/
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #11: January 19, 2007, 02:14:57 PM »
Quote from: "Dave B"
Did anybody hear that BS "(horn) (horn) (horn) Lets go Canes" ripoff?  That is crap.  Hopefully they are doing just to mock the Caps when they come to town and not trying to make it their own.

How about makng up your own thing?
Booo Canes...get your own material!   :x

Offline UMDNats

  • Posts: 18063
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #12: January 19, 2007, 09:46:46 PM »
huge win last night

AS is so good
snubbed by Williams for the all-star game

Online Ali the Baseball Cat

  • Posts: 17649
  • babble on
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #13: January 20, 2007, 01:57:24 AM »
Quote from: "Senators2005"
Quote from: "Dave B"
Did anybody hear that BS "(horn) (horn) (horn) Lets go Canes" ripoff?  That is crap.  Hopefully they are doing just to mock the Caps when they come to town and not trying to make it their own.

How about makng up your own thing?
Booo Canes...get your own material!   :x


I hate the whole SE division.  Carolina throws a few coked-up pole-spinners into the mix, and suddenly they lead the league in attendance.  Tampon Bay has 10,000 retired Canadian snowbird season ticket holders.  Ditto with Florida.  Horrible.  I miss the old Campbell/Norris/etc rivalries...this "regional" crap is really tiresome.  The sunbelt teams are viable for one reason: wealthy retirees.

Offline Senators2005

  • Lake Ridge, VA
  • Posts: 12264
  • Go Natsssssss!
    • http://nationalsnation.spaces.live.com/
CAPS Week 16: Jan 16 - Jan 20
« Reply #14: January 20, 2007, 08:51:01 AM »
Caps Entertain Panthers in Matinee Match
Jan. 20 vs. Florida Panthers at Verizon Center
Time: 1:00 pm
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio:  WTEM 980 AM

Florida Panthers (17-22-10)
Washington Capitals (20-20-7)

Exactly a week after they turned in one of their poorest performances in recent memory against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, the Capitals have a chance for redemption when they host the Swamp Cats at Verizon Center in a Saturday matinee contest. The opening face-off is at 1 p.m.

Although the Caps arguably played better than the record would indicate during the four-game trip, they came home with a 1-3 record. Washington ended the trip on a high note with a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night in Raleigh. That victory ended a six-game road skid and lifted Washington back to the break-even point. The Caps played their style of game against the Hurricanes and were rewarded with two points.

?We try to sell 60 minutes of hockey and consistency,? says Caps coach Glen Hanlon of his team?s brand of hockey. ?We call it ?Caps Hockey? inside the room, and it?s just sort of an emotional, puck pressure game from start to finish.?

The Caps? defense played a strong game, Olie Kolzig made a number of clutch saves, and the Washington attack scored goals at key moments in Thursday night?s game against Carolina. The Caps hope to bottle that formula and bring it to the rink with them on Saturday when Florida visits.

?When we win games, no matter what the scores are, that?s how we play,? says Caps captain Chris Clark of his team?s performance against Carolina. ?We don?t have the luxury of going out and just hoping to win and hoping for pucks to go in. When we win it?s always a battle. We?re always the first guys on the puck and we?re hitting and skating.?

Washington defeated the Panthers in each of the first two meetings between the two clubs this season; the Panthers? lone win over the Capitals was last Saturday?s 7-3 win at BankAtlantic Center. The Caps outscored the Panthers by a combined 9-2 in those two early season victories over the Cats.

Thursday?s win was Washington?s 20th of the season, and it came on Jan. 18. The last time a Capitals team won its 20th game before the start of the New Year was in 1992-93. That year?s model notched its 20th victory on Dec. 29 to lift its record to 20-16-3.

The Capitals? power play is connecting at a rate of 17.5%, ranking 17th in the NHL. Washington?s penalty killing corps ranks 20th in the circuit with a kill rate of 80.7%.

The Panthers come into Saturday?s game trailing the Capitals by just three points for fourth place in the Southeast Division standings and 13th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Since their 7-3 triumph over the Caps last Saturday, the Panthers have suffered a pair of 3-2 setbacks. The first came against Carolina in overtime, and the second was at the hands of the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

The Panthers are 2-3-3 since the start of the New Year. The Cats have yet to put together a winning streak of more than three games in 2006-07.

Florida is the only team in the NHL without a win in overtime or the shootout this season. The Panthers are 0-4 in overtime and 0-6 in the shootout during the 2006-07 campaign.

Florida features the league?s fifth best power play with a 19.5% success rate. The Panthers are 13th in the NHL in penalty killing with a kill rate of 83.2%.