Author Topic: CAPS Week 9: Nov 28 - Dec 2  (Read 4951 times)

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Offline Senators2005

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CAPS Week 9: Nov 28 - Dec 2
« Topic Start: November 28, 2006, 10:52:48 AM »
This Thread Dedicated To The Following Games:

Tues, November 28th @ Tampa Bay Lightening
Thurs, November 30th vs Dallas Stars
Sat, December 2nd vs Buffalo Sabres


"HORN-HORN-HORN!"

"LETS-GO-CAPS!"

Offline Senators2005

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CAPS Week 9: Nov 28 - Dec 2
« Reply #1: November 28, 2006, 10:57:16 AM »
Caps Hope to Recharge Against Bolts
Nov. 28 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning at St. Pete Times Forum
Time: 7:30 pm
TV: NC8
Radio: WTNT 570 AM

Washington Capitals (8-9-6)
Tampa Bay Lightning (13-10-1)

Washington heads to Florida on Tuesday for the first of its four visits to Tampa Bay this season. The Caps are without a win in their last six games (0-4-2), the team?s longest drought since last March when it went 0-5-2 from Mar. 10-22.

The Capitals came out of that dry spell in fine fashion, going 7-3-3 in their next 13 games (10 of which were on the road) to close out the 2005-06 campaign. Four of the seven wins came against playoff bound teams, and two were against eventual Cup winner Carolina.

The Caps are without a point in their last three games, the first time they?ve gone three games without a point since Mar. 12-16. Washington?s only four-game stretch without a point came from Feb. 4-11, as the team went into its Olympic break.

After dropping home games to Atlanta and Toronto on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, Washington suffered a 4-1 setback to the Islanders in New York on Saturday. The Caps have been outscored 24-9 during their last six games, and they have not managed an even strength goal in their last 154:57.

The stretch of schedule ahead is particularly rugged, but that?s not what concerns Caps coach Glen Hanlon.

?I?m not so concerned about who we play,? he says. ?I?m more concerned about finding some scoring and getting our special teams back to where they are respectable again. We haven?t scored an even strength goal now in three games, and [Alex Ovechkin] is the only one who is scoring. We have to get some scoring.

The Caps have had exactly one power play goal in each of their last seven games, but have clicked on just 17.5% of their manpower advantage opportunities during that time. That?s just a shade above the team?s season average in that department. The penalty killing has also been problematic (28 for 37, 75.6%) during the current losing streak.

While the Caps can take some heart in the fact that they came out of a similar rut last season against some good teams, they also acknowledge that this season and this team are different.

?The mental makeup of our team is different from last year,? says goaltender Olie Kolzig. ?Last year we were a pretty fragile team, I think. Not a lot was expected of us. This year, I think we realize we?re an up and coming team and we?re going to go through bumps in the road like this. Every team does, other than maybe Buffalo and Anaheim.?

?This stretch keeps me up at night more than the other one did,? says Hanlon, ?because there is more emphasis on winning [now]. They?re trying to find ways to win every single night. Last year, winning was a by-product of hard work. We want to win any way we can here; if it?s Olie or [Brent Johnson] making 40 saves or if it?s our special teams scoring two goals, even if we?re not as diligent at other details, we?ll take it. We?re looking for wins here.?

The Caps believe they played well enough to win in Saturday?s loss to the Islanders. They don?t allow themselves to look ahead at Buffalo and Anaheim ? the league?s top two teams ? looming on their upcoming schedule.

?You worry about Tampa Bay [Tuesday] night and then after that game you deal with the next opponent,? declares Kolzig. ?I think that?s what we did last year. If we worried about who we were playing in segments, then you?re playing mind games with yourself. You?re putting way too much pressure on yourself to win the game at hand because you?re thinking, ?If we don?t win this game, there is no way we?re going to win the next game because look who we?re playing.? We have to worry about the matter at hand and that?s Tampa Bay [on Tuesday] night.?

Two weeks ago, the Caps were on a high, having won two straight to push their record to a season-best 8-5-4. They believe they can turn it around as quickly.

?It can turn around in an instant,? says Caps captain Chris Clark. ?It can turn around in a shift. That could be the difference in that game and it can get us on a roll. And three weeks from now, everybody will forget about what?s going on now.?

Washington now stands 18th in the NHL in power play prowess with a 16.1% success rate. The Capitals are 24th in the NHL in penalty killing with a kill rate of 80.9%.

The Lightning comes into Tuesday?s game with a three-game winning streak, its third such streak of the season. Tampa Bay is 7-6 on home ice in 2006-07. The Bolts are in third place in the Southeast Division, five points behind front-running Atlanta and five points ahead of fourth-place Washington.

Tampa Bay spent a lot of money to keep the core of its 2003-04 Stanley Cup championship team together last year, but it did not have enough money left to keep netminder Nikolai Khabibulin. The Lightning went with a tandem of Sean Burke and John Grahame last season, and the results were significantly less than what the team expected.

Over the summer, the Lightning dealt sharp-shooting winger Freddie Modin to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for goaltender Marc Denis. The Lightning expected Denis to be the team?s No. 1 netminder, and it inked veteran Swedish goaltender Johan Holmqvist to duel with Burke for the backup role. Holmqvist won the job, and Burke was sent to AHL Springfield.

The 28-year-old Holmqvist is on a roll right now, and he has wrested the top job from Denis. Drafted by the Rangers in 1997, Holmqvist played in four NHL contests over parts of three seasons with the Blueshirts. Denis has been mediocre, posting a 5-7 record with a 3.29 goals against average and an .878 save pct. Denis?s dismal performance opened the door for Holmqvist, and he has been a revelation. Holmqvist has won eight of his last nine starts, posting a 2.41 goals against average and a .914 save pct. in the process.

Denis?s last win was more than a month ago, on Oct. 26. The Lightning is riding Holmqvist?s hot hand and has won seven of its last 10 games.

Going into Monday?s light slate of NHL activity, the Lightning ranked 12th in the league with a 17.6% power play success rate. Tampa Bay is 4-for-14 (28.6%) with the extra man during the course of its current three-game winning streak. The Bolts are dead last in the league in penalty killing. They?ve killed off only 73.8% of their shorthanded situations this season. Tampa Bay has gone shorthanded a total of only four times in its last two games, and has killed off all four.

Offline Dave B

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« Reply #2: November 28, 2006, 02:27:15 PM »
please WIN. at least let me think you might make the playoffs until march

Offline Senators2005

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CAPS Week 9: Nov 28 - Dec 2
« Reply #3: November 29, 2006, 09:07:03 AM »
FINAL at St. Pete Times Forum

Washington 5
Tampa Bay 1

Olie Kolzig made 48 saves and five different Capitals found the back of the net as the Washington Capitals defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 in a four-point Southeast Division struggle. The win ended a six-game skid for Washington, which now returns to the District to open up a four-game homestand.

Offline UMDNats

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« Reply #4: November 29, 2006, 04:17:34 PM »
Semin's back baby

Offline Senators2005

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CAPS Week 9: Nov 28 - Dec 2
« Reply #5: November 30, 2006, 04:47:45 PM »
Stars Make Rare Visit to Verizon
Nov. 30 vs. Dallas Stars at Verizon Center
Time: 7:00 pm
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WTNT 570 AM

Dallas Stars (16-8-0)
Washington Capitals (9-9-6)

Thursday night brings the Dallas Stars into Washington for their first visit in more than four years. The swift starting Stars are in third place in the NHL?s ultra competitive Pacific Division, and they?re the first of five Western Conference clubs slated to visit Verizon Center this season. The Caps-Stars tilt opens up a four-game homestand at Verizon Center.

Washington ended a six-game losing streak (0-4-2) on Tuesday night with a 5-2 win over the Lightning in Tampa Bay. Olie Kolzig stopped 48 of the 50 shots he faced while the Caps got goals from five different players, ending the Lightning?s modest three-game winning streak. The Caps raised their road record to 5-4-4; Washington is just 4-5-2 on home ice this season.

The Caps are 1-1-1 in games in which they outshoot the opposition. Washington is 1-1 in games in which the shots are even. And the Capitals are 7-7-5 in games in which they are outshot.

Washington concerns itself much more with limiting scoring chances than with limiting shots. Although the Caps are allowing more shots per game than at the same stage of last season, they?re allowing fewer scoring chances and the overall results are much better.

?We?re not going to make any alterations.? Caps coach Glen Hanlon said recently when queried yet again about the team?s propensity for allowing high shot totals. ?We?re comfortable with what we?re doing. We?re going to get better in ways and when we do it?s going to show in the shots against. I?m not silly enough to think that we can go the rest of the year with 45 shots every night. There is no way. But I?m not going to totally retool everything. We?re doing lots of good things. Even if you?re just a casual fan, you?re not going to see as many diagonal slam dunks and leaving assignments and breakaway after breakaway [as last season]. We?re past that now.?

The Caps chart shots and scoring chances against, and they have no problem allowing shots from outside the prime scoring area, a home-plate shaped piece of real estate in front of their own goal. As long as the shots come from outside that area and the team?s goaltenders can see them, they have faith that Kolzig and Brent Johnson can and will stop them. Thus far, that faith has been justified.  The Capitals? .910 save percentage is third best among Eastern Conference clubs.

?I think 10 is pretty good,? said Hanlon when asked what would be a reasonable number of shots against per period. ?But I think 15 is fine if you take a look at them and they?re outside that core ?home plate? area and players aren?t in front of the net. We?d take shots from the tops of the circle and the points and you can see them directly, we?re not going to be concerned with that. We?re just going to let that happen. I?m not overly concerned about that.?

The numbers support Hanlon?s lack of concern. The Caps are 4-0-2 when allowing 40 or more shots on goal this season, and they?re 4-0-1 in such games with Kolzig in goal. In all four of those wins, Kolzig has made 20 or more third period saves to preserve the win. His 48 saves in Tuesday?s triumph is the most he has made in any of his 261 career NHL victories. His previous best of 45 was set on Oct. 25 of this year in Colorado.

The Caps have not had much recent success in the series between the themselves and Dallas, particularly at home. Washington last defeated Dallas in the Distirct on Mar. 17, 1999. Former Star Brian Bellows delivered the game-winner for the Caps in a 2-1 overtime decision that night. The Capitals are 2-8-1 against Dallas in the Stars? last 11 visits to Washington.

Overall, the Capitals are 4-14-1 in their last nine games against Dallas. That stretch dates back to the start of the 1993-94 season when the Minnesota North Stars packed up and moved to Texas to become the Dallas Stars.

Washington?s power play ranks 17th in the NHL with a 15.8% success rate. The Caps are 19th in the league in penalty killing with a kill rate of 81.9%.

The Stars are winding up a three-game road trip in Washington. The tour started Monday in Detroit with a 2-1 loss to the Red Wings. Dallas took a 1-0 lead into the third period in that game only to surrender a pair of shorthanded goals in the final frame. It marked the first time the Stars had been nicked for two shorthanded goals in the same game since Nov. 10, 1997 against St. Louis.

Wednesday?s game in Chicago followed a similar script. The Stars nursed a 1-0 lead into the third, only two surrender two goals in the final stanza in another 2-1 loss. When the trip started, the Stars were 11-0 when leading after two periods this season. They?re now 11-2 in such situations.

After an 11-2 start, the Stars have leveled off a bit. Dallas is 5-6 in its last 11 games. The Stars are the league?s stingiest defensive club, having allowed only 51 goals in 24 games to date.

Going into Wednesday night?s NHL action, the Stars ranked 21st in the NHL in power play efficiency. Dallas carried a 15.4% success rate into its Wednesday game with the Blackhawks in Chicago. The Stars are the league?s fourth best penalty killing team with a kill rate of 87.7% on the season.

Dallas went 0-for-4 on the power play against the Hawks and killed off all three Chicago power plays.

Offline 2k6nats

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« Reply #6: November 30, 2006, 07:52:34 PM »
Ouch, that 16-8 record could be tough.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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« Reply #7: November 30, 2006, 09:24:26 PM »
Quote from: "2k6nats"
Ouch, that 16-8 record could be tough.


There are so many weapons on that team, it makes me ill...BUT THEY'RE DOWN 4-1 WITH 5:32 TO GO!  Too bad our homeboy Jeff Halpern has to live in that bunghole of a city, but what a great win this would be!!!  The only thing that would make me hate the Stars more than I already do is if Brett Hull and Darien Hatcher still played there.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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« Reply #8: November 30, 2006, 09:28:01 PM »
skate blade across Heward's face...first time I've seen that in an NHL game in over 10 years.  Scary - but it missed his throat and eyes from the looks of it.  Someone died in Sweden from that a year or two ago - skate blade over jugular, he died on the ice.

Offline Dave B

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« Reply #9: November 30, 2006, 10:34:28 PM »
had to sweat it out in the end

Offline Senators2005

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« Reply #10: December 01, 2006, 08:58:12 AM »
Final at Verizon Center

Dallas 3
Washington 4

Quote
Kolzig made 35 saves and withstood a third-period rally to finally defeat the only NHL franchise he had never beaten when the Washington Capitals edged the Dallas Stars 4-3 on Thursday night.

Kolzig defeated the Stars for the first time in his career in the Capitals' 4-3 victory. Kolzig was 0-9-1 in 11 previous games against Dallas. That leaves Kevin Weekes as the only active NHL goaltender who is winless in at least 10 career decisions against a particular opponent. Weekes is 0-8-4 in 13 games against Ottawa.

(Image removed from quote.)

"I think that rounds off the NHL, doesn't it?" Kolzig said. "It might be the last time I ever play them, too. You never know -- we don't play them next year."

Richard Zednik, Chris Clark, Matt Pettinger and Alexander Semin scored for the Capitals, who won their second straight after six losses. Jakub Klepis had two assists.

Kolzig, who earned his 262nd career win, had been 0-9-1 against the Minnesota/Dallas franchise before handing the Stars their season-high third consecutive loss. Dallas had beaten the Capitals five straight.

Jussi Jokinen had two goals and Stu Barnes, playing in his 1,000th NHL game, also scored for Dallas, which dropped its fourth consecutive road game. Phillippe Boucher and Mike Ribiero had two assists apiece.

"We had some chances late. ... Percentage-wise, when you get behind by that kind of score, you're not going to win the game," Barnes said. "We've got to be better at playing complete games. When that puck drops, make sure we play the way we want to play for the complete 60 minutes."

Capitals defenseman Jamie Heward sustained a serious cut on his face from a skate in the third period. The injury required stitches and he is out indefinitely.

Zednik and Clark scored 1:52 apart in the first for a 2-0 lead.

Zednik's fourth goal put the Capitals up 1-0 at 13:05. No one picked Zednik up along the right wing and he snapped a short pass from Brooks Laich past Mike Smith from the right circle.

With Washington on a power play, Klepis won the puck in a scrum along the boards and fed Clark, who scored from between the circles at 14:47.

Jokinen cut the lead in half 41 seconds into the second period, flipping the puck past Kolzig from high in the slot.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin was awarded a penalty shot midway through the second after Smith slid his stick toward a wide-open Ovechkin in front of the goal. But Ovechkin lost the handle on his drive to the net and couldn't unleash a shot.

The miss capped a frustrating night for Ovechkin, who broke two sticks in warmups, two more in the first period and another in the second.

"I don't know what happened. I can't score on a penalty shot right now," he said.

Pettinger got the margin to 3-1 with 2:07 left in the second, just after Washington killed a penalty. Brian Pothier sprung him on a breakaway and Pettinger sidestepped a defenseman at the blue line before scoring on a low shot.

Semin's power-play goal with 12 seconds remaining in the second made it 4-1. Semin whistled a wrist shot from center point that nicked Smith's glove and went by him.

Marty Turco replaced Smith for the third period and the Stars got two goals in the closing minutes.

Barnes cut a tough angle from the left side with 3:21 left and Jokinen converted a rebound with 2:03 remaining.

Offline Senators2005

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« Reply #11: December 01, 2006, 09:08:02 AM »
Despite the score...the Caps dominated the Stars all game until the second half of the third period.  It seems to me that we run on all cylinders and play much better when Semin's on the ice.  I can't believe Ovechkin missed that regulation penalty shot.  Arghh!   :x

Heward's injury was pretty nasty...looked like the skate cut right across the bridge of his nose.  Stitches and some rebuild will definately be in order.


Offline Dave B

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« Reply #12: December 01, 2006, 11:01:08 AM »
Quote from: "Senators2005"
It seems to me that we run on all cylinders and play much better when Semin's on the ice.  I can't believe Ovechkin missed that regulation penalty shot.  Arghh!   :x



Semin is playing really well.  He makes a lot of really nice plays that draw penalties.  Actually, the Stars took a lot of good penalties last night that the Caps forced them to.

Semin was ripping shots all over the place last night.  Its nice that he shook off that slump.

Did they show on TV the Brashear almost-fight?  He got sandwiched along the boards then roughed the guy  in the face near the goal.  Then behind the play at center ice he got right up next to the guy and dropped his stick and grabbed the guy's collar but the guy didnt wanna go.

It was entertaining to watch as you could see it building up for about 10 seconds

Offline Senators2005

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« Reply #13: December 01, 2006, 11:35:05 AM »
Quote from: "Dave B"
Did they show on TV the Brashear almost-fight?  He got sandwiched along the boards then roughed the guy  in the face near the goal.  Then behind the play at center ice he got right up next to the guy and dropped his stick and grabbed the guy's collar but the guy didnt wanna go.

It was entertaining to watch as you could see it building up for about 10 seconds
They showed the tail end of it...with Brashear turning away and heading for the bench.

Offline The Chief

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« Reply #14: December 01, 2006, 11:59:13 AM »
Quote from: "Dave B"
Semin was ripping shots all over the place last night.


Call me juvenile, but I couldn't resist highlighting this sentence out of context :rofl:

Offline sportsfan882

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« Reply #15: December 01, 2006, 01:02:22 PM »
Very nice win for the Caps although they made it a little close at the end.  Yeah, like Joe and Craig said, Ovechkin is just "spooked" on penalty shots and in shootouts.  He is overthinking everything and that is causing him to screw it up.  As for the next game, if the Caps even play the Sabres close, it will be an accomplishment.  The Sabres have only lost like 3 games in regulation.

Offline Senators2005

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« Reply #16: December 01, 2006, 03:17:16 PM »
Quote from: "sportsfan882"
As for the next game, if the Caps even play the Sabres close, it will be an accomplishment.  The Sabres have only lost like 3 games in regulation.
Aww gawd...the Sabres are freaking AWESOME this year.  I'm not getting my hopes up for this one, but you never know.

Offline Senators2005

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« Reply #17: December 01, 2006, 09:51:57 PM »
Check it out, #8 got his very own aim page:

http://www.aimpages.com/alexovechkin/profile.html

Offline Senators2005

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« Reply #18: December 02, 2006, 01:17:07 PM »
Caps Host Sabres on Saturday
Dec. 2 vs. Buffalo Sabres at Verizon Center
Time: 8:00 pm
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WTNT 570 AM

Buffalo Sabres (20-3-2)
Washington Capitals (10-9-6)

Washington?s four-game homestand continues on Saturday when the Buffalo Sabres pay their first 2006-07 visit to Verizon Center. The Caps got the homestand off to a stellar start with Thursday?s 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars.

With their second two-game winning streak of the season, the Caps now face the significant challenge of pushing the streak to three against one of the elite teams of the NHL, and a team that has given the Capitals fits for more than three decades.

From a percentage of points taken standpoint, the Caps have fared worse against Buffalo over the years than they have against any other NHL opponent. The Capitals are 31-69-15-1 all-time against the Sabres, and Washington is 1-7 against Buffalo in the last eight meetings between the two clubs. The Sabres have outscored the Caps 40-18 in those eight games.

The Capitals? last win over Buffalo in the District came on Feb. 26, 2003, when Washington edged the Sabres 3-2 at MCI Center. Of the 20 players who donned Capitals sweaters that night, only Dainius Zubrus, Brian Sutherby and Olie Kolzig are still with the organization.

The Caps ended a long losing drought against Dallas on Tuesday, beating the Stars in D.C. for the first time in more than seven years. Washington built a 4-1 lead in the second period and held on for a 4-3 win behind Kolzig?s 35-save performance in goal.

Washington beat Dallas despite the absence of Matt Bradley (family reasons) and Zubrus (flu) from the lineup. Bradley is expected to return in time for Saturday?s game, while Zubrus?s availability will be determined at the morning skate.

The return of those players to the lineup would leave Caps head coach Glen Hanlon with some difficult personnel decisions to make.

?Those are real tough, unpleasant decisions that you have to deal with,? admits Hanlon. ?As a coach, you don?t want your players to be out, but you?re hoping they?re out because then they?re not your decision. You?re hoping the ones who are going to be out are either injured or sick, especially in our group, because normally you take people out of the lineup because they?re not working hard enough and you?re trying to send a message. All of our guys, they work so hard and they do everything that you ask. There hasn?t been one player that you?re not happy with what they give you. So when you have to tell them they?re not playing, it?s awful.?

Defenseman Jamie Heward is unable to play after suffering a face laceration in the final minutes of Thursday?s game. Heward?s wound required upwards of 100 stitches to close, and he visited with a plastic surgeon on Friday. The veteran defenseman is currently listed as week-to-week.

Going into Friday night?s NHL action, the Capitals? power play unit ranks 14th in the NHL with a 16.7% success rate. Washington?s penalty killing corps ranks 19th in the circuit with a kill rate of 82.4%.

The four foes on the slate for the current homestand averaged 108 standings points last season. The lone team among the four that failed to reach the century mark last season is Anaheim (98 points in 2005-06), and the Ducks are currently the best team in the NHL. Anaheim has only two regulation losses in 27 games and tops the league charts with 44 points.

Buffalo is right behind the Ducks, with just three regulation losses and 42 points. The swift-skating Sabres won 10 straight to start the season, tying an NHL mark for most wins at the outset of a season.

The Caps will catch the Sabres on the second night of back-to-back games; Buffalo downed the Rangers at HSBC Arena in Buffalo by a 4-3 shootout count on Friday night. That game was the first for the Sabres after a four-day break in the schedule. Buffalo was outshot by a lopsided 28-8 after the first period of Friday?s game, but still came away with two points.

With Friday?s win over the Rangers, Buffalo became just the fifth team in NHL history to reach 20 wins in their first 25 games of the season. The Sabres join the 1929-30 Boston Bruins, the 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens, the 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings and the 2005-06 Ottawa Senators on that short list.

Prior to that contest, the Sabres went through a grueling stretch in which they played 10 games in 17 nights. Buffalo went 7-2-1 during that span.

The Sabres open a five-game road swing with Saturday night?s contest in the District. Buffalo started the season by winning 10 straight games on the road; it is 11-1 on the season away from home.

Buffalo has shown itself to be a deadly team this season, even when down by a pair of goals. The Sabres have already rebounded from two-goal deficits in seven of their 19 wins to date this season. In 2005-06, the Sabres came back from being down by two goals in seven of 52 victories.

Buffalo?s power play is the ninth best bunch in the league with a conversion rate of 18.9%. The Sabres rank 12th in the NHL with a penalty kill success rate of 84.4%.

Offline Senators2005

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« Reply #19: December 02, 2006, 09:48:26 PM »
Holy Crap!  WE WON!  :shock:


Offline ColtonWillems

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« Reply #20: December 02, 2006, 10:58:47 PM »
I heard that Ovechkin threw a vicious cheap shot against Briere, what the hell happened? Does anyone have a video link?

Offline Senators2005

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« Reply #21: December 02, 2006, 11:02:10 PM »
I don't know...I've been at work so I didn't get to see the game.  Just been following on gameday.  Here's the game recap...

Final at Verizon Center
Buffalo 4
Washington 7

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Richard Zednik and Bryan Muir scored 34 seconds apart during a four-goal first period and the Washington Capitals overcame Alex Ovechkin's first career ejection in a 7-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.

Ovechkin scored his team-high 17th goal before being tossed in the second period. Matt Pettinger tallied twice, and Ben Clymer and John Erskine also scored for the Capitals, who have won a season-high three straight.

Derek Roy, Chris Drury, Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford had goals for Buffalo, which lost for only the second time in 13 road games. The six goals allowed were a season high for the Sabres, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Washington played the final 35:08 without Ovechkin, who was assessed a game misconduct for the first time in his two-year career after shoulder-checking Daniel Briere from behind into the boards near the Buffalo bench.

The Capitals scored three times in the first 7:45, sending goaltender Ryan Miller to the bench for Martin Biron. It was the third consecutive game in which Washington forced an opponent to switch goalies, an NHL first this season.

Zednik tallied on a breakaway at 2:01, pushing the puck past Miller's glove side, and Muir swept a shot from center-point 34 seconds later.

Ovechkin's goal made it 3-0. After stealing the puck from Maxim Afinogenov, Ovechkin kept it on a 2-on-2 break, scoring from the right wing.

Roy scored for Buffalo at 15:09 when sprawling goalie Olaf Kolzig failed to corral the puck with his gloved hand.

Less than a minute later, Clymer restored Washington's three-goal cushion. Clymer's shot from deep in the slot was chested by Biron, popped up in the air and then bounced behind him.

Early in the second, Ovechkin leveled Briere into the right-wing boards, drawing a five-minute boarding major and touching off a series of skirmishes. Paul Gaustad pummeled Ovechkin, who didn't throw a punch in retaliation.

Ovechkin, Gaustad and Buffalo's Adam Mair were handed game misconducts, and 79 minutes in penalties were assessed following the fracas.


With the teams skating 4-on-4, Washington took a 5-1 lead at 7:24. Biron came out too far to play Brian Pothier's shot and Pettinger poked the puck into an empty net.

Afinogenov's apparent power-play goal at 9:18 was disallowed on video replay when it was ruled to have been kicked in. Just 28 seconds later, Afinogenov assisted on Drury's man-up goal from in front.

Vanek made it 5-3 with 28 seconds left in the second.

Pettinger's second goal put Washington up by three. Stafford got Buffalo within 6-4 with 7:46 left.

Erskine added a short-handed, length-of-the-ice, empty-net goal with 56 seconds remaining.

Offline ColtonWillems

  • Posts: 1125
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CAPS Week 9: Nov 28 - Dec 2
« Reply #22: December 02, 2006, 11:19:50 PM »


Ew. That is absolutely un-needed. What an ***hole, seriously. If Briere hits the baords 6 inches to the right of where he did, he's dead because the door was opening, but that is beside the fact. Watching that there I just lost so much respect of AO. He's getting of the ice and he played the puck a while a go, this isn't NFL Blitz or NHL Hitz, come on, have a little more class.

 :| x1000000000

Offline Senators2005

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CAPS Week 9: Nov 28 - Dec 2
« Reply #23: December 02, 2006, 11:22:07 PM »
I can't watch Youtube at work so I will have to wait until tommorow for my judgement.  I must say on first impression though - cheap shots in the NHL is almost an oxymoron.  It would take something that looked like he absolutely tried to end his career to make me think ill of Ovechkin.

Offline ColtonWillems

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« Reply #24: December 02, 2006, 11:34:13 PM »
Quote from: "Senators2005"
I can't watch Youtube at work so I will have to wait until tommorow for my judgement.  I must say on first impression though - cheap shots in the NHL is almost an oxymoron.  It would take something that looked like he absolutely tried to end his career to make me think ill of Ovechkin.

Bleh I guess, it's obviously not in Bertuzzi class, but it's up there.