Friday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Rangers

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

In case you need help firing up the Ranger hatred for tonight's game, let me provide this brief reminder of what transpired the last time these two teams got together at MSG:

With that out of the way, we can turn our attention to the game.

Three games into the season, it seems that the high-priced free agent playmaking center that was brought in to feed the superstar scorer isn't fitting exactly where the team might have initially thought he would, so he has wound up in the middle on the second line and the other free agent forward they acquired has landed the plum assignment as the pivot on the top line for the time being.

Oh, by the way, I'm talking about the Rangers - who'd you think I meant?

New York will spend more this season on Scott Gomez than the Caps will on their four centers combined, and so far all they have to show for that investment are a handful of shots on goal. Luckily (?) for the Blueshirts, they also threw enough money at Chris Drury to entice him to come to the Big Apple, and he has found a regular spot on Jaromir Jagr's left and has the team's only game-winning goal on the young season (shocking, I know).

But it's early, and the Rags have lost two close games on the road to two good teams (Ottawa and the Islanders). They're still considered in the minds of most to be among the Eastern Conference's elite teams, despite a questionable group of blueliners and a lack of depth past their top two lines. Their top six forwards (a group that includes the three players named above as well as Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka), have the potential to be frightengly good once they gel (let's hope it takes at least a little longer), and in Henrik Lundqvist they have a Vezina-caliber netminder who can single-handedly win a game on any given night.

The Caps, as you know, come into the game a perfect 12-for-12 on the penalty kill this season. What you may not know is that despite all their All-Star forwards, the Rangers are 0-for-15 on the power play so far. Hopefully both trends continue on Friday night, but that may be even more difficult to achieve than it otherwise would be for the visitors if they have to play without their leader in short-handed ice time, Boyd Gordon, who left yesterday's practice with an undisclosed injury. If Gordo can't go, Brian Sutherby would likely get a game sweater (can we still call them sweaters?) for the first time this season.

If Sutherby does get in the lineup tonight, perhaps he'll take the opportunity to renew acquaintances with Ryan Hollweg. Of course, that likely would only be an undercard to the main event:


I expect this to be the toughest test yet for the undefeated Capitals, and it certainly will serve as a good early-season measuring stick. A Friday night in Manhattan - what could be better?

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks (and Beyond):

Contrary to popular (and by "popular" I mean "my") belief, the Caps could be on the hook for a portion of Jagr's salary next year too, according to Tarik.... Newsday notes Nylander's return to the Big Apple.... USA Today's Kevin Allen has an interesting read on next summer's class of Restricted Free Agents.... The Sens have sent Ray Emery to the AHL on a conditioning assignment, where he'll face the Hershey Bears on Saturday night. Last year, the big club pounded him one of the two times the teams met, so I guess it's fair to let the kids take their shot at him.... Two Minutes For Blogging looks at the tough guys on each teams and the goons in the pipelines. Fun.... Even the Turkish media is impressed with the Caps' quick start.... Per the Hockey Hall of Fame's website, on this day in 1999, "Peter Bondra scored 3 times, including the tying and winning goals 58 seconds apart late in the 3rd period as the Capitals won 5-4 over the visiting Flyers. Bondra's 14th career hat tick made him the team's all-time leader (passing Mike Gartner)."... Finally, I don't usually read the obits, but check this one and tell me this guy didn't go out right.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Erik Cole (2G, including the game-winner, 4 SOG, 4 hits)
  
• Ross: Matt Stajan (4 points)
  
• Norris: Brian Campbell (G, 2A, +2)
  
• Vezina: Tomas Vokoun (29-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Radek Bonk, Fredrik Sjostrom (2G each)
  
• Calder: Martin Hanzal (Game-winning goal, A, +2, 3 SOG)
  
• Aiken: Kari Lehtonen (L, 5 goals allowed on 20 shots against in two periods of work)
  

'Canes 4, Caps 3 (OT)

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

Saturday Roundup/'Canes 4, Caps 1Gamenight: Caps @ Bruins

[SeSo Open Thread (with all your post-game links) - NHL.com Preview - Official Gameday Thread]

Perhaps the Caps have been guilty these past two games of believing some of their early-season press clippings. Maybe the overwhelmingly positive things that have been said about the team have also given the fans - myself included - a somewhat unrealistic sense of what to expect night-in, night-out from a team that is still miles away from contending for anything more than perhaps a playoff spot (that's two "perhaps," one "somewhat" and one "maybe" already - way to go out on a limb, J.P.).

But one thing that's not unrealistic to expect night-in, night-out is a disciplined, leave-it-all-on-the-ice effort from every single player. There shouldn't be selfish clearing attempts from superstars. There shouldn't be lazy offensive zone penalties. There shouldn't be players standing around waiting for pucks to get to them.

But all of those things were present last night, which was surprising, considering that a win last night would have vaulted the Caps into second place in the Southeast Division. Instead, they wake up this morning in fourth place, having been leap-frogged by Tampa Bay, and will face Boston - a team that beat them earlier in the week - tonight without Alex Semin and Chris Clark.

On the plus side, the Caps have followed up each of their first five regulation losses on the season with wins. Caps fans shouldn't necessarily expect a win tonight, but they certainly have every right to expect a better effort.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Rod Brind'Amour (2G, including game-winner, 2A, +2, 65% faceoffs)
• Ross: Rod Brind'Amour, Erik Cole (4 points each)
  
• Norris: Duncan Keith (2A, +2, 2 hits, 2 blocked shots - coincidentally (?), he wears #2!)
  
• Vezina: Peter Budaj (25-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Rod Brind'Amour, Jamie Langenbrunner, Sidney Crosby, Mike Ribeiro, Markus Naslund (2 G each)
  
• Calder: Travis Zajac (3A, +3, 2 takeaways, 2 blocked shots, 55% faceoffs won)
  
• Aiken: Kari Lehtonen (L, 3 goals on 7 shots against in just 16:46 of work)
  

Friday Roundup/Gamenight: 'Canes @ Caps

[SeSo Open Thread]

The good news heading into tonight's big game is that Richard Zednik and Dainius Zubrus are probable and Chris Clark is possible (questionable). The bad news is that "probable" and "questionable" don't mean "definite." Without even one or two of the three, the lineup will have to be juggled a bit. If Clark is out and the Killer Z's (hey, I just made that up and hate it already!) play, I'd imagine Zednik would play in Clark's place on the first line, which he was doing late in games in which the Caps were trailing before he got hurt. If Zubie is a no-go, I'd imagine Kris Beech (remember him?) gets a sweater. Bottom line: as KB put it, Sunday can't come fast enough for the team.

I've posted some more thoughts on tonight's game over at SeSo. And don't forget to stop by the Open Thread over there and make your voice heard (I haven't seen too many of you folks posting over there - any reason?).

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks (and Beyond):

• As Caps Nut points out, George Michael (no, not that one), is retiring from NBC4. Bad news for rodeo fans, great news for fans of the über-cute Lindsay Czarniak.
• I'm no 'Canes fan, but if they wore these sweaters, I might have to pick myself up an Erik Cole (don't believe me? Read the comments).
• "The Long and Winding Road" is almost enough to make me hate Paul McCartney. "Let It Be" prevents me from doing so.
  

Daily Awards

• Hart: Olli Jokinen (3G, +3, 8 SOG)
  
• Ross: Olli Jokinen, Nathan Horton, Steve Sullivan, Mikko Koivu, J.P. Dumont, Ales Hemsky, Mike Richards (3 points each)
  
• Norris: M.-A. Bergeron (G, A, +1)
  
• Vezina: Tim Thomas (W, 24 saves on 25 shots againt)
  
• Richard: Olli Jokinen (3G)
• Calder: Phil Kessel (G)
  
• Aiken: Manny Fernandez (5 goals allowed on 20 shots against in 33:39 of work)
  

Thursday Roundup: Cole Makes History

With no game to recap and no game to preview, our dynamic duo of local beat writers has taken another day off from publishing (as far as I can tell), probably sparing us a fluff piece on Shaone Morrisonn and an in depth look at the art of skate-sharpening.

In other news from around the League and beyond:

• Alright, this is one of the more offensive (yet safe for most people's work) thing I've ever seen.
• Erik Cole became the first player in NHL history to have two penalty shots in the same game last night in Buffalo. He scored on the first of the two and was denied on the second.
  

Daily Awards

• Hart: Erik Cole (GWG, 2A, +1)
  
• Ross: Cory Stillman, Erik Cole, Marc Savard, Tomas Vanek (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Mathieu Schneider (2A, +2)
  
• Vezina: Mike Dunham (26-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: David Vyborny, Tomas Vanek (2G each)
  
• Calder: Tomas Vanek (First two career NHL goals, A)
  
• Aiken: Mario Lemieux (0 points, -4. Lemieux was on the ice for all four of Atlanta's even strength goals in the Pens' 5-0 loss. In fact, the only Thrasher goal he wasn't on the ice for was the game-winner, scored while Mario was in the penalty box serving two minutes for tripping.)
  

Japers' Pick
Another new feature here at the Rink in which we highlight the game of the day/night and then make a prediction as to its outcome. Tonight's game?

• Colorado at Vancouver: The Avs return to the scene of the crime - literally - once again as the top two teams in the Northwest Division square off. Vancouver is undefeated at home (7-0-0), but is on a mini two- game losing streak, so something has to give. Our bet? Vancouver drops its first home game of the season, 4-3.