Thursday, December 08, 2005

Thursday Roundup/Preds 5, Caps 2

[Boxscore - Recap - Postgame Coverage]

Death. Taxes. The Caps' special teams struggling. If it wasn't for Columbus's power play and Atlanta's, Carolina's and Philly's penalty kill the Caps would be dead last in the NHL in both special teams categories. In fact, the Caps have given up the most power play goals and scored the second-fewest in the League. The power play was again powerless last night, going 1-for10 (including a stomach-churning 5-on-3 before there was any score in the first, a shorthanded breakaway against that resulted in an unsuccessful penalty shot and a shorthanded goal against into the empty net), and the penalty kill was 3-for-6 (which hides the fact that the third Nashville goals was, for all intents and purposes, also a power play marker as it was scored three seconds after a penalty expired and the Caps were still pinned down in their defensive zone). To paraphrase Jack Nicholson's Joker from "Batman," this team needs an enema. Hire a special teams specialist. Do more drills. Eat more spinach. I have no idea what the answer is, but the Caps had better find it fast.

The WaPo's coverage of the game is here, the WTimes' here.

In other NHL news:
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