1 Point & Many Concerns
Last night's shootout loss the Montreal Canadiens provided some more insight into what exactly is going wrong with these Washington Capitals.
There are clearly a variety of issues surrounding this club at the moment, of which, here are a few:
- Nicklas Backstrom is a ghost of the player who lit up the NHL in his first 3 years.
- I like Jason Chimera, but he is not Eric Fehr. Chimera cannot be looked upon to provide secondary scoring like Fehr can, so I side with Jason in the sense that he is being asked to play outside his comfort zone. That said, when Fehr returns, one has to wonder if it won't be his turn to audition regularly on the top line? He has all the tools to be the big, fast 30-40 goal scorer this team needs to play alongside Ovechkin and Backstrom, but his development hasn't given way to unleashing that potential. Once healthy though, the Caps are definitely going to be counting on him to take his game to a new level.
- Marcus Johansson gets a free pass this season, but is looking more and more comfortable playing the NHL game.
- On the flip side, the hot & cold play of Mathieu Perreault has left management miffed as to what his future may be on this team, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they began to consider him as possible trade bait...
- When are the Capitals going to start building around Brooks Laich? I realize this is Ov's team, then Green's team, then Backstrom's team, etc...(you see where I'm going here), but when will the Caps decide to stop figuring how they can fix the 2nd line by insulating Alex Semin and instead look to the other, more consistent wing and Brooks for a pillar to build around? Laich is a key element in this young team and one of the few among them who is a clear leader. His assuredness and poise are elements that the rest of the young stars on this team lack, in terms of consistency at least, and is a fan favorite. He may not offer the 80-90 point potential that Semin does, but he does offer the perfect prototypical 2nd line power forward who can post 60-70 points a season. His style of play is something to model around and I think management would be best served by finding a centerman who can play with Brooks before they go overboard looking for someone that fits with Semin.
- Of the top stars on this team, only Mike Green would appear to be regaining his offensive confidence. Mike has done a lot of work on his defense, and I mean ALOT, and has grown his game immensely, and, unlike his other teammates, is beginning to show signs of the confidence that has made one of the most dangerous blue line weapons in the NHL. Hopefully his enthusiasm catches on with the rest of the bunch.
- Communication is terrible right now. On the ice, in the room, outside of the room - you name it. Boudreau had absolutely no answer as to why his team cannot get a win outside of 60 minutes and I firmly believe that he means that. He is simply perplexed as to how this group could have fallen so far away from their master plan. Needless to say, although Bruce can take alot of the blame, this is simply a matter of compounding frustrations. As things continue to get more and more tense, so too become the tempers of the players on the ice.
- A direct reflection of the frustration and anger has been the play of Alex Ovechkin of late. He is trying, but at times feels like his teammates aren't doing as much as him - or for that matter, that he isn't getting the same breaks he used to - but that is not how a captain should behave. Alex is losing the room and there is a quiet divide that is happening within the Capitals. Boudreau has got to reign it and these guys have got to relax. Otherwise, the last 3 years will have been for absolutely nothing and all the hard work, commitment and efforts this team has made to convert themselves into a strong two-way team will have been for naught.
- Speaking of naught, the offense is abysmal. More importantly, the power play. The main reason? No net presence. At one point, the Caps had possession of the puck but had 3 players straddling the blue line while the other two stood in the corners away from the net. It was absurd. To score goals on the power play the Caps must crowd the net and make life difficult for whoever is protecting the net. Anyone will tell you this, but there's hardly a goaltender in the NHL who will have a problem with an unscreened shot from the blue line. Grit, and patience are two elements that this unit is missing and both of those depend on confidence. When the Caps feel they
can control the play, they do. When they do not feel that way, the simply reek of intimidation.
Of course alot of those notes are on the more negative side, but that happens to be the side of the looking glass this team seems to be sitting on these days.
Anger breeds bitterness and that evil cycle spreads poor communication. All bad habits that need to be cut off at the head.
McPhee and Boudreau have 25 days to figure it out, and - perhaps for both, only 30 regular season games left to execute the plan they've been working on for the last 4 years.
Here is the recap and breakdown of last night's game(I talk extensively about the Caps confidence issues and how these problems stem the tough times Washington has had adjusting to their new systems).
Tracking Team Intensity Throughout Last Night's Game
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