Caps Defense Needs to Step Up
The Capitals have gone 0-2-1 since opening the season with two very strong wins over the Bruins and the Maple Leafs. Since dancing around Boston and Toronto, the Caps have been on the losing end of some very spirited battles with the Flyers, Rangers and the Red Wings.
With only point coming from those 3 contests, questions are beginning to pop out as to why these Caps are having a few bumps on their way to take-off.
They should be rightly taking opponents to the mat with ease, but outside of playing a lacklustre game against the Rangers, the Caps battled both the Flyers and Wings quite intensely. To lose to Philly and Detroit is nothing to worry about in this NHL, they are a part of the elite in the NHL. But so are the Capitals and for them to not have flexed enough muscle against these particular opponents, well, it just doesn’t sit right.
Even with the owner…
”We have left a couple of points on the table the last three games. We don’t use excuses of playing on the road against great teams to start the season. If we stay out of the box, we have more points. Points matter at the beginning of the season as much as at the end of the season. We are learning how far we have to go to execute and truly become a good team.
As I have said before, miles to go before we sleep.”
- Ted’s Take
The team has not played up to their standards and a major reason for that is that the defense has yet to pinch in when the offense and goaltending have waned. Led by Mike Green, the Caps D corps just has not contributed at the same clip as last year. Mike Green’s points have been sorely missed in the last 3 games and there is a lot of pressure on the young Team Canada hopeful. It’s going to take a little while for Greener to get going, yet all of the pressure shouldn't fall squarely on his shoulders as others like Tom Poti and Brian Pothier are counted on for their offense as well. It’s time that the Capitals blue line starts helping out, all of them.
At the same time, do not read into this as me calling out Washington’s blue-line, but rather, observing that when this team has struggled in the last 3 games, it was a result of the need for some offensive creativity from a defender. In the NHL it takes a team effort to win and in the case of the Capitals, they’re simply in need of their boost from the blue line. At the same time, the forwards could do with a touch more back-checking, especially among the top 6. If the Capitals wingers manage to return to the hash marks in their own zone, the defensemen will feel far more insulated and play better as a result of the support. Sometimes all a Capitals defenseman needs is to see another Red jersey nearby in order to make a play…if the forwards aren’t there though, then what are 2 defenseman to do against 3 forwards?
That said, no one is too pleased with how the Caps have missed out on 5 of 6 points in their last 3 games.
When Tarik El-Bashir ran into Bruce Boudreau this afternoon, he managed to grab this snippet from the Capitals head coach;
Boudreau's post-morning skate media session ended with a reporter asking him with a laugh, "What are you happy with?"
"Today, nothing," he said. "I'm not happy unless we're winning on a consistent basis."
- Caps Insider
Telling, to say the least.
If you read the emotions of both the coach and the owner, you get the sense that perhaps they are starting to get antsy. But don’t chide yourself. This team will get it together and it will be sooner rather than later.
The Capitals are prepared to move on as they get set to face the New Jersey Devils tonight in the first of three straight home contests.
What better way to get over a mini 3 game slump than to begin a mini 3 game winning streak at home?
The Caps love the Verizon Center. No more so than last year.
The fans truly do “Rock the Red” and that energy has always provided the team with a boost. With a need to rocket this team back into the win column, the Capitals will be counting on a loud contribution from their fans tonight.
The Devils are always a tough team to play against, especially when the head coach is Jacques Lemaire.
Marty Brodeur will start versus Jose Theodore, and Caps fans – don’t let that scare you, Jose has a posted a .930 save % in his last 3 games and has rebounded nicely since conceding two quick goals to Marian Gaborik. Marty Brodeur is Marty Brodeur, he is always a force to be reckoned with.
A bonus for the Capitals tonight will be the continued absence of one of the Devils most dangerous snipers, Patrick Elias. Without Elias, the Devils will be relying on their top trio of Parise-Zajac and Langenbrunner, if the Capitals can isolate this line and shut them down, there will be plenty of ice for Washington’s high-flying snipers to bombard Brodeur. This would be the best case scenario, but with Lemaire guiding the team once again, it should be expected that the Devils will be playing a very strict defensive system.
Fortunately, the Devils do not quite compare to the Red Wings or Flyers so Washington should have a little bit of an easier time with the competition.
Expect Boudreau to rotate his top 6 until they flood gates burst.
Ovechkin is on the verge of exploding(9 shots and 10 hits vs. Detroit), so expect #8 to cause a lot problems for the top pairing of Oduya-Martin
Jose has played strong hockey, expect that to continue.
The key for Washington’s success this evening will lie in how the forwards contribute to the back-check and how the defenseman contribute to the offense. If the Caps can accomplish both of these tasks, they should have no problem ending their current losing streak.
Game Notes
,b>Three game homestand – The Capitals play the New Jersey Devils tonight to start a three game homestand, but just because the Caps are at home doesn’t mean these next three games will be easy. Two out of the three games are against 2009 playoff teams (one vs. the President’s Trophy winner, San Jose). Last season, the Caps went 2-0-2 against the Devils, 0-1-0 against the Sharks and 2-0-0 (one game won in overtime and one in a shootout) against the Predators.
In the details –The Capitals are 4-0-3 in their last seven meetings with New Jersey, their longest stretch without a regulation loss to the Devils since an eight-game winning streak from 11/30/85 to 12/9/86 (spanning most of the first year of Alex Ovechkin's life).
Mo is money – Center Brendan Morrison has four points in his last four games (3g-1a) and stands fifth on the team in scoring (tied for third in goals). Last season, with Anaheim, Morrison didn't record his fourth point until Nov. 16. He has at least one shot on goal in all five games this season and has scored on half of the shots he has taken. His ice time has been above 16:00 in each of the last three games; in the first two games he skated under 15:00 per game.
Need one more – Washington is 0-2-1 in its last three games, all one-goal losses. Last year the Capitals were 19-7-8 in one-goal games.
All Ovi the place – Alex Ovechkin had nine shots on goal in Saturday's game at Detroit and 10 hits. That matched his hit total from the first four games of the season and moved him into a tie for second in the league in hits (20). His 35 shots on goal are 11 more than any other player in the league (nearly double any other Cap). Ovechkin assisted on Brendan Morrison's power-play goal, moving him into a share of the NHL scoring lead with teammate Nicklas Backstrom and two others.
Starting strong – Goaltender Jose Theodore has a .930 save percentage in his three starts this season (80 saves, 6 GA), including a .924 save percentage in the Caps' last two losses. He stopped 34 of 37 shots against the Red Wings Saturday night.
Powerful stuff – Washington already has six power-play goals this season (6-for-24, 25%), including at least one in every game. The Capitals are still without a PPG from their top two power-play goal scorers last season (Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green). All five of Ovechkin's goals have come at even strength.
Lineups
Washington Capitals
Forwards
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble
Semin-Morrison-Laich
Fehr-Steckel-Clark
Laing-Gordon-Bradley
Defense
Green-Morrisonn
Poti-Jurcina
Pothier-Erskine
Goaltenders
*Theodore
Varlamov
*Theo will start versus the Devils.
New Jersey
Forwards
Zach Parise-Travis Zajac-Jamie Langenbrunner
Matt Halischuk-Dainius Zubrus-Niclas Bergfors
Jay Pandolfo-Rob Niedermayer-Brian Rolston
Pikkarainen/Leblond-Rod Pelley-David Clarkson
Defense
Johnny Oduya-Paul Martin
Colin White-Mike Mottau
Bryce Salvador-Andy Greene
Goaltenders
Martin Brodeur
Yann Denis
- Lineups from
Fire & Ice
Enjoy the game!
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Go Caps!!!!!
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