Saturday Roundup/Gamenight: Rangers @ Caps

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No more Jagr. No more Avery. Can you really still hate the Rangers?

You're damn right you can (and if you need a new reason why, here are a couple).

The Rangers come into tonight's game with the most wins in the Eastern Conference, a 4-1-1 record on the road, a miserly 2.12 team goals against average (thanks to an eye-popping 90.3% effective penalty kill), a born-again Nikolai Zherdev and a brick wall named Henrik Lundqvist (who is 5-1-0/1.82/.936 in his last six games).

Against that stout team defense, the Caps will ice a squad that has scored four goals in its last three games (three of which came Thursday night) and has scored one goal or less in four of its last seven outings, partially the result of a sputtering power play that has gone 4-for-39 (10.3%) over the last nine games (the Rangers power play, by the way, had gone five-for-50 over the ten game span leading up to their last match, in which they lit the lamp three times with the extra man).

But as the Caps' power play efficiency has tanked, the penalty killing has excelled, to the tune of 89.7% effective over the last seven games (35-for-39). Put another way, over the last 65:47 of shorthanded ice time (slightly more than a full game plus a full overtime session), the Caps have only surrendered four goals - the team has a .931 save percentage and a 3.65 GAA (which is 0.21 higher than Jose Theodore's overall GAA on the season) while down a man (or two) over the past seven games.

That's some pretty impressive penalty killing. Perhaps even more impressive? Tonight's likely Caps starting netminder's numbers as a starter this season - Brent Johnson is 2-0-2/1.93/.936 in the games for which he's been on the ice at the opening puck drop.

So, on paper at least, we're looking at what should be a defensive battle where a single mistake can be the difference between two points and a night wasted... which means the game will be anything but low-scoring. Bet the over and hope for two points.

Random Nicklas Backstrom Thought:

Last season, Nicklas Backstrom played 15 games before finally scoring his first NHL goal in game number 16. During those first 15 games (playing mostly on the wing), he fired just thirteen shots on goal.

This season, through a dozen games, Nick has no goals, but has taken 28 shots on goal (including four in each of his past two games). It's only a matter of time before he finds the back of the net, of course, but even if he was scoring at the same shooting percentage rate as he did under Bruce Boudreau last year, he'd only have 2.78 goals so far. So really, even with that goose egg, he's not that far off where we might reasonably expect him to be in terms of goals (assists are another story - he "should" have at least nine by now based on last year's post-Hanlon rate, but there's another significant factor impacting that equation at present).

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Per NHL Director of Corporate Communications Michael DiLorenzo's Twittering, the Caps experienced a 74% year-over-year increase in merchandise sales at NHL.com in October, which was the fifth-largest increase in the League (Chicago was up a whopping 234%!). Alex Ovechkin had the second-best selling jersey for the month (behind Alex Semin's buddy), with Mike Richards, Henrik Lundqvist and Evgeni Malkin rounding out the top five. Good stuff, and h/t to KK to tipping me off to DiLorenzo's feed.... Speaking of Ovechkin and Malkin, with weeks having passed since their last meeting and months to go before they meet again, you'd think their rivalry wouldn't be a hot topic for Steel City journos. You'd be wrong.... Down on the farm, Simeon Varlamov picked up his first pro shutout (and Oskar Osala scored yet another goal) for Hershey and Joel Broda had a natural hat trick for Moose Jaw.... For those of you wondering about Jamie Heward, here's an update.

Friday Roundup

Here's a stat for you: prior to last night's action, the Caps had taken the seventh-most minor penalties per game in the League at 5.8.

Here's another: prior to last night's action, the Caps had the 19th-rated penalty kill in the League at 78.8%.

And here's what happens when you put them together: no team in the League with a worse penalty kill than the Caps' takes as many minor penalties as the boys in red, white and blue - the team is taking a ton of penalties and not doing a terribly good job of killing them off.

So far this season, the Caps power play has been mediocre. The goaltending has been fair. But if this team's looking for a quick fix improvement (and at the risk of stating the obvious), it should stop taking so many penalties. Easier said than done? Perhaps. But it's also probably an easier route to allowing fewer power play goals against than hoping that a team that finished 25th in the NHL in penalty killing efficiency last year is suddenly going to collectively master that skill with largely the same personnel.

First to go? Cut down on the restraining fouls. Mike Green is tied for the League lead in hooking penalties with four, and Michael Nylander is just one behind. Shaone Morrisonn is tied for the League lead in interference minors with four. These are, for the most part, lazy penalties - move your feet boys (increased confidence in the netminder behind them should help here as well).

Next up? The bench minors. Two in nine games may not sound like many, but it's a pace that would have led the League in two of the last three seasons.

Look, penalties happen. But some teams can afford to take more than others; the Caps are not one of those teams. If they can get focused and show some better discipline, however, they'll likely see their efforts pay immediate dividends.

Here are a few more random stats floating around the hockey universe:

• Mike Green leads the NHL in average power play time per game with a whopping 7:12 per game.
• Alex Ovechkin is skating the longest shifts in the League (Green is fifth, Nicklas Backstrom 15th and Alex Semin 22nd).
  
• John Carlson is second in rookie defenseman scoring and tied for the best plus/minus of any rookie in the OHL.
• Braden Holtby leads the WHL in wins and is seventh in GAA and SV%.
  

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Bill Clement loves Sergei Fedorov. We love this Bill Clement Caps card.... Speaking of love, still more of it pouring in for Alex Semin (who is everyone's fantasy), but this article includes a brilliant lament from Matt Bradley that "It's kind of depressing knowing I'll never be able to do half the moves he does."... Tuvan Hillbilly has the translation of some good stuff from our buddy Dmitry Chesnokov on Semin and Viktor Kozlov following the Preds game.... The Falls Church News-Press thinks Jose Theodore is in for a good year yet.... Alex Ovechkin with a brunette? Now we've seen it all.... We hate the Pens more than they hate us. No surprise there.... That CHL All-Star team for which Stefan Della Rovere got snubbed? At least Joel Broda made the WHL squad.... Finally, since it's Halloween...

Saturday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Stars

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Focus? Focyou!

Why lead this morning's post with a juvenile play on words that doesn't even make any sense? Because focus is precisely what the Caps need right now - sixty minutes of mental acuity from 19 individuals reading from the same sheet of music.

In each of the Caps seven games so far, with the exception of the Vancouver win, there have been notable spans in which the team gave up multiple goals in short order or otherwise evidenced of a lack of sharpness that was more than just a series of physical lapses. A recap:

• Atlanta: Three goals allowed in 5:28 of the first period, three goals allowed in 2:10 in the third
• Chicago: Goal allowed 0:26 into the game
  
• Pittsburgh: Two goals allowed in a 2:34 span that included the first intermission, thanks to a Too Many Men penalty and a John Erskine Delay of Game (natch).
• New Jersey: Two goals allowed in 1:08 of the third period
  
• Calgary: Two goals allowed in 1:42 of the second period
  
• Phoenix: Two goals allowed in 4:03 of the third period

Point being, the Caps aren't doing themselves any favors by compounding their mistakes. Goals against happen. Bad plays happen. But in most of the above instances, whether the initial event is a mental or physical mistake (or not even a mistake at all), the second (and third, and fourth...) events have mostly been of the brain fart variety.

As the cliche goes, the most important shifts of a game are the first ones after a goal, and while the Caps may not be getting burned on those exact shifts, they're not necessarily responding to opponents' tallies as they should be. The Caps simply need to do a better job of collecting themselves in these post-goal minutes, and that, at least in part, is on Bruce Boudreau.

Stars tonight. Go Caps!

H/t to EDCEagle on the Caps Message Board for the inspiration

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Darryl Reaugh is giddy about AO coming to town. Too giddy? You be the judge:

"The guy who looks as though he was chiseled out of a glacier, had a little 'manscaping' done and then was taught to speak broken English will bring his bag of testosterone to AAC on Saturday and it will be delicious."

Yummy?... Joel Broda had a pair of goals against Calgary.

Della Rovere Named OHL Player Of The Week

Close on the heels of Joel Broda being named CHL Player of the Week, fellow Caps prospect Stefan Della Rovere has been named OHL Player of the Week:

"The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Stefan Della Rovere of the Barrie Colts is the Boston Pizza OHL Player of the Week for the week ending October 5 after scoring four goals and three assists for seven points in two games. Della Rovere also finished the week with a plus-2 plus-minus rating.

Della Rovere put the Colts on the scoreboard early Thursday night with a power play goal in a 4-3 overtime loss at home to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He would later add an assist that tied the game early in the third period.

On Saturday night, Della Rovere exploded for three goals and two assists in a 7-2 home win over the top ranked Windsor Spitfires. His first career OHL hat-trick included a first period goal to open the scoring, a second period power play insurance marker, and a late third period shorthanded tally. Della Rovere was named the first star of the game.

Della Rovere, an 18-year-old from Maple, ON is in his third OHL season with the Colts. Prior to this season, Della Rovere was named team captain of the Barrie Colts. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals."

Broda Named CHL Player Of The Week

From the CP:"Moose Jaw Warriors forward Joel Broda was named the CHL player of the week on Wednesday.

"Broda had five goals and six points in three games, all Warriors wins. He also had a plus-4 rating for the week.

"The 18-year-old from Prince Albert, Sask., was a fifth-round selection of the Washington Capitals this year."

What the CP doesn't mention, sadly, is Broda's heroic, cup-caving blocked shot.

Meanwhile, Back In Juniors...

We've got a trio of nuggets on Caps CHL prospects worth passing along, beginning with John Carlson who, after impressing at Caps camp, is set to make his OHL debut for Dale Hunter's London Knights on Friday.

Moving along to Barrie, Stefan Della Rovere scored a recent game-winner and apparently enjoyed his handiwork quite a bit:

Perhaps equally impressive was his celebration after he tucked a rebound past Trevor Cann at the 11:29 mark of the second frame. Della Rovere lowered his body, swooped his right arm slowly to the ice, grabbed some ice and worked his arm slowly back up in what was a unique twist on the age-old fist pump.

"I saw (Darren) Archibald do it after the first one he scored last week. And playing three-on-three in the summer, you try a few different celebrations, I guess," the third-year forward said. "You get a little excited when you score your first goal of the season."

Named first star in Saturday's game, Della Rovere also made a big defensive play in the first period to help his team kill off a two-man disadvantage.

Things aren't all rosy for Captain Colt, however, as he faces a possible suspension for an alleged head shot.

Finally (and speaking of head shots), Joel Broda has been on fire for Moose Jaw, scoring five times in three games and paying the price in a big way:

Minutes after sparking the start of the Moose Jaw Warriors comeback Saturday, Joel Broda was flat on his back on the Warriors bench.

The 18-year-old centre wasn’t resting on his laurels. Rather Broda had gone to block a slapshot by Brandon defenceman Matt McCue and blocked it in the most painful of locations. The force of the shot caved-in Broda’s protective cup.

Broda said he was unable to move as he tried to recover on the bench laying flat on his back for the rest of the second period. He was the last Warrior on the ice to start the third period, but took a regular shift.

Even that couldn’t slow Broda down as he scored his second goal of the night on a great backhand shot from the high slot. [Emphasis added, as if that was necessary]

Let it never be said that shot-blocking doesn't take grande cajones (right, Patrick Thoreson?).

Back To Reality For A Couple Of Caps Cuts

It's always nice to read the reactions of young players upon returning to their junior clubs after going through their first or second NHL camps. Take for example, goaltender Braden Holtby, who apparently stuffed the best player in the world for the better part of a week before finally letting one by:

"Through the whole camp, Ovechkin hadn't scored on me until the shootout in the last game.... I've never had so much fun playing hockey in my life. Every moment you're so aware. You're so focused, even in practice. (The veterans') hard work runs down and rubs off on you." [Ed. Note: Um, eww]

Or Joel Broda:

"You don’t get to meet a lot of the vets until a week in and, by then, you’re okay. But the first day you meet them it’s the same thing all over again. The nerves start going. You try not to be in awe, but you catch yourself staring once in a while."

In fact, on one of his last days at camp, Broda caught himself staring down an NHL legend at a face-off [Ed. Note: Sergei Fedorov, perhaps?]. For the young pivot, it was an eye-opening experience.

Wherever these kids' career paths may take them, they'll always have these memories and, at least in the short-term, motivations.

Thursday Roundup/Caps 4, 'Canes 1 Gamenight: 'Canes @ Caps

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary - WashingtonCaps.com Recap - the red skate Recap - Red and Black Hockey Recap - Canes Country In-Game and Recap - Lord Stanley's Blog In-Game]

A handful of NHLers, a bunch of AHLers, a few OHLers and an "other" or two (*cough* Jakub Cutta *cough*) got together down in Raleigh last night for the first of far too many preseason games for each team. And while the result may not indicate much about the season ahead, rumor has it that the 'Canes may soon announce that they're going to suspend operations to deal with the nation's economic crisis and seek to postpone the season opener. Huh.

Some observations on the game:

• Simeon Varlamov was sharp, especially late in his only period of action (the first). He ended up stopping all 18 (or 20, depending on who you believe) shots he faced, and while he flopped around a bit at times, he stopped everything that came his way.
• With Chris Clark back in D.C., Matt Bradley wore the "C."
• The Tomas Fleischmann - Michael Nylander - Viktor Kozlov line was the most impressive trio on the ice, by miles. While you shouldn't put much stock in preseason lines (especially those with obvious and glaring holes in forechecking and defensive responsibility), the chemistry these three showed last night will give Gabby something to think about.
  
• The biggest surprise of camp has been and continues to be John Carlson. Last night he shook off a rough start to end up with an assist, three shots on goal and four hits in 17:17 of ice time (and, frankly, looked better than Karl Alzner).
• The 'Canes radio guy picks some curious syllables to emphasize in player names.
• The pairing of Alzner and Jeff Schultz led the team in shifts and minutes and looked fine doing so.
  
• Stat of the Night: Nylander won 11 of the 13 draws he took (as a team, the Caps won two-thirds of the game's faceoffs). Now, Nyls has never been a great faceoff guy, but his proficiency in the dot against the 'Canes would seem to indicate a healthy shoulder.
  
• Fleischmann, 14... Fehr 16... Fleischmann, 14... Fehr 16... Fleischmann, 14... Fehr 16...
• Unofficially, the RBC Center shattered a record last night for the most god-awful tunes blared over a PA in a sixty-minute hockey game.
  

These two teams (perhaps in name only) will meet again tonight at the Verizon Center, 156 days after the last hockey game was played there. Let's hope next summer is markedly shorter.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Bryan Murray recalls the last time one of his teams - the 1989 Caps - went to Sweden (or is that Thweden?).... In case you missed Alex Ovechkin's ESPN The Mag cover, here it is (and here's The Mag's colorful-but-boring Caps preview)... Speaking of AO, Allan Muir gets points for picking Ovi over Sid (in fantasy hockey, at least), but loses points for misspelling Alex's center's first name.... Finally, they're happy to be getting Joel Broda back in Moose Jaw.

Snip Snip

Joel Broda, Stefan Della Rovere, Dmitry Kugryshev, Brett Leffler, Eric Mestery and Justin Taylor have been returned by the Caps to their junior teams.

In other roster news, Kris Beech didn't make the Pens and Jamie Heward got cut by the Bolts.