I didn't get a chance to listen to much of
today's 4-3 loss to Carolina, but considering that the Caps sent only two of their putative top six forwards (
Chris Clark and
Nicklas Backstrom) to Raleigh to face a 'Canes team that dressed
Eric Staal, Erik Cole, Justin Williams and
Cory Stillman (among others), I'd say that an overtime loss in which
Brent Johnson didn't give up a goal in his two periods of work probably indicates a pretty good effort from the under-manned visitors.
Check out
Corey and
Tarik (including a great quote from
Karl Alzner) for more, but here are some quick notes from a glance at the score sheet:
- Backstrom scored in the first period of his first game in an NHL sweater. That's got to help his confidence and take off a bit of pressure going forward. One thing to keep an eye on, however, is that he was only able to win 4 of the 9 faceoffs he took.
- Johnson saved all 12 shots he saw through two periods, and from the sound of it, some of them were toughies.
- Dean Arsene failed his physical, but played in Sunday's game. Interesting. [Update: #47 was Alzner, not Arsene, as NHL.com incorrectly had].
- Mike Green tied for the team lead with four shots on goal (and one fluke shot in goal), and his 25:03 of ice time led all skaters (on both teams). He finished +1 for the day, but was in the box when the OT game-winner was scored.
- Chris Bourque's four hits tied Matt Pettinger for the team lead, and C-Bo added a helper as well - gotta like that.
- Those Caps uniforms look pretty sharp to me.
Stephen Werner Francois Bouchard (same deal as above - NHL.com had the roster wrong) got only 10 shifts and seven minutes of ice time - I'm not sure whether he even made it 'til the final buzzer before getting cut.- Boyd Gordon won 16 of his 30 draws (53%), including 15 of 25 (60%) against Staal and Trevor Letowski. Dave Steckel was also big in the dot, winning 9 of his 16 faceoffs (56%).
- Ben Clymer dropped the gloves in his first preseason game against some clown named Nicolas Blanchard - I guess Clymes knows what he's going to have to do to get fourth-line ice time.
Photo: AP
I didn't get a chance to listen to much of today's 4-3 loss to Carolina, but considering that the Caps sent only two of their putative top six forwards (Chris Clark and Nicklas Backstrom) to Raleigh to face a 'Canes team that dressed Eric Staal, Erik Cole, Justin Williams and Cory Stillman (among others), I'd say that an overtime loss in which Brent Johnson didn't give up a goal in his two periods of work probably indicates a pretty good effort from the under-manned visitors.
Check out Corey and Tarik (including a great quote from Karl Alzner) for more, but here are some quick notes from a glance at the score sheet:
6 comments:
funny, the NHL scoresheet was messed up during the game; the mystery Staal goal that never happened in the 2nd was removed before the game ended, but the Caps players are still listed incorrectly...
here's the crosswalk from NHL.com to reality:
36 Bouchard not Werner
43 Fleischmann not Joudrey
47 Alzner not Arsene
73 Godfrey not Lepisto
Thanks, sk8.
RE: Alzner: "Alzner just called Matt Pettinger "Mr. Pettinger" in an interview. He said he calls all the vets Mister. That will only change, he said, when he makes the team."
I like this kid! "Mr. Pettinger" is a hilarious concept.
At least they're all having some fun.
Green also hit a post too. Nice to see some offense from him. His penalty was crap...no surprise the Canes continue to be whiny penalty drawing cry babies.
Also 14 for Carolina is Sutter not LaRose.
The Babin goal was a power play goal, but the scoresheet lists it as even strength.
There were a couple of other errors, but I can't remember.
Let's hope that this sloppy scorekeeping isn't a sign of things to come this season.
And I wouldn't get excited about that fight. Like I mentioned in my recap, when my three year old daughter looks at the two combatants and tells me "They're hugging. That's silly!", it's not much of a fight.
Post a Comment