Tuesday Roundup/Gamenight: 'Canes @ Caps

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Fact #1: The Carolina Hurricanes have had more power play opportunities than any other team in hockey, and by a country mile (their margin in extra man chances over the second-place Red Wings is the same as the margin between the Wings and 14th place Calgary).

Fact #2: Not everyone is impressed with the methods used in arriving at Fact #1.

Last week we shared Lindy Ruff's thoughts on the matter and reminisced about Jacques Martin's. A few days later, and you can add the always diplomatic and reserved John Tortorella to the growing list of folks who have a problem with the way Carolina plays the game:

"I've never seen a team go down so much in my life," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "They lead the league in power plays for some reason and I've got a pretty good idea what it is. It gets to be pretty embarrassing."

I guess we know who Torts is rooting against this week, and I'd be willing to bet a sawbuck that it took every ounce of restraint in his leathery body not to throw a choice simile out there to drive home that first sentence.

But whether or not the 'Canes are a squad full of divers is largely irrelevant. This is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules. And as long as NHL officials keep rewarding a certain style of play, that style of play is going to continue.

Which brings us to tonight, which is as big a home game as the Caps have had in nearly half a decade. Win and they're tied with Carolina with a similar-but-much-more-favorable schedule remaining. Lose and, well, it's probably ok to schedule tee times.

And the key to winning for the Caps may very well be in not allowing Erik Cole (second in the League in penalties drawn per sixty minutes of ice time) and friends to skate with the extra man - in the Caps' three wins over Carolina so far this year, they've allowed four, three and four power play opportunities against. In the four losses? Seven, five, five and seven.

Of course, Cristobal Huet gives the Caps a chance to win even if they do run into some discipline problems - he's 8-2-0 with a 1.82 GAA and .931 save percentage since arriving in D.C. But if the Caps can stay out of the box, it's likely game over for Carolina - Huet's GAA and SV% at even strength since coming to town are a staggering 1.04 and .954, respectively, as he hasn't allowed a single even strength goal against in half of his starts as a Cap and has allowed only nine even strength goals overall in ten games.

So break out all your good luck charms and trash talk - tonight's as big as it gets... for now.

Why The Hurricanes Will Win:

"While the Caps have come a long way, they haven't arrived just yet. Many of the Canes have been there and done that, and they will do it one more time tonight. Look for Ray Whitney and Justin Williams to make their long-awaited returns from injury and they will provide more than just inspiration. Canes 3 Caps 2" - Canes Country

"'Cause OV will be all thinking about how his gf smells and because Cam Ward is 4th in the league for wins. - The Sliding Pokecheck

The Canes will come out re-energized with the return of two big guns in Ray Whitney & Justin Williams from injury. If they can simply rely on the things that have carried them this far, they should be able to snub the Caps' momentum. One of those key components is not having to rely on their defense too much. Tim Gleason, who has become a legit top pair defender this season, will be on the ice when AO is skating. A healthy(ish) Bret Hedican will be important too. Cam Ward has been back to near Conn Smythe form but the Canes need to lead in the shots on goal category.

"Should be a great one. It is rather amazing that the Caps have become America's (& Canada's) team to pull for. Although the Canes should win this game, this Caniac is with the majority in hoping to see AO and boys in the postseason... just not at the expense of Carolina." - Carolina On Ice

"Cam Ward has been very solid, Eric Staal has been on fire, and the Canes will get a boost from Justin Williiams, who will return to the lineup after missing 43 games with a bum knee. Added to that, Alexander Ovechkin will be too busy trying to pull an April Fools prank on his mail-order girlfriend to concentrate on the game. The Hurricanes will win the game and end the Caps playoff hopes." - Red and Black Hockey

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

The Hockey News ranks the GMs here. I rank the GMs here. Finally, one year ago today we briefly mentioned the elephant in the room and recapped a busy Saturday night of puck talk.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Chris Drury (Game-winning OT goal, A)
  
• Ross: Chris Drury, Jaromir Jagr, Ilya Kovalchuk, Chris Thorburn (2 points each)
  
• Norris: Niclas Havelid (+2, 3 BkS)
  
• Vezina: Kari Lehtonen (36-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Ilya Kovalchuk (2G)
  
• Calder: Ryan Callahan (4 SOG, 8 hits, 2 TkA, GvA, 2 BkS)
  
• Aiken: Vincent Lecavalier (0 points, -2)
  

Stat Of The Day

Michael Nylander, who will make $5.5 million this year, has 11 points (4-7-11) through 11 games. So do Chris Drury ($7.1m, 1-7-8) and Scott Gomez ($10m, 2-1-3) combined.

Friday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Rangers

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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)
  

Hockey's Latest Two-"Sport" Athlete

When I say "hockey player" and "World Series" you say "Chris Drury." Maybe even Tom Glavine. But that may be about to change.

Anyone Still Have Someone Else Atop Their Off-Season Wish List?

Caps To Target Comrie?

Bruce Garrioch (I know, I know... grain of salt and all) is reporting that "the Capitals might take a run at [signing] Ottawa C Mike Comrie in the off-season. He will be an unrestricted free agent and the club needs to improve the talent around RW Alexander Ovechkin if they're going to make the playoffs. The Caps might also invest in Buffalo C Daniel Briere or C Chris Drury if they don't remain with the Sabres."

Comrie, who made a cool $3 million this year, is a talented pivot with more goal scoring ability than, say, a Scott Gomez (Comrie potted 30 goals for Phoenix in 2005-06), but he comes with a fair amount of baggage and questions about his overall attitude. Of course, he did drop the mittens yesterday with the Pens' Colby Armstrong, so he can't be all bad.

Saturday Roundup/Gameday: Sabres @ Caps

[NHL.com Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Pregame]

As I watched the Tampa Bay Lightning crap away a shot at the Division title last night at home to the mighty Thunder Cats, I actually for a moment thought, "At least I don't have to deal with that frustration/heartbreak." Then I remembered the last 81 games. Oh well. For better or for worse, it all ends today.

Besides individual achievements, there's a lot on the line in today's game against the Slugs - a Caps win and a Blackhawks regulation loss in Detroit would catapult the Caps past the 'Hawks and out of the draft lottery, a scenario about which I'm sure we all have some mixed feelings. In addition, today's game provides us with the opportunity to watch Chris Drury and dream of him wearing a Caps' sweater next year, even if we have no clue what that sweater is going to look like (it does make the dreaming harder... does anything ever come easy for Caps fans?). In fact, I wouldn't mind if Drury and his current right wing were to compose two-thirds of the Caps' top-line next year. That right wing? Yup. Dainius Zubrus.

But, of course, the post-game festivities are what today's all about. Speaking of which, which one of you chuckleheads (I swear it wasn't me and KB has denied it as well) asked this in Tarik's chat yesterday?

Bethesda, Md.: Tarik, will you be showing up for the bloggers' post-mortem/get together tomorrow after the game versus the banana slugs?

Tarik El-Bashir: Yep. J.P. sent me an invite the other day. I'll be there as soon as I'm done writing.

Thanks for doing so - it'll be good to see him and all of you there. And after they kick us out of Clyde's, we'll be heading up to Adams Morgan to Ventnor's to watch the Habs take care of business at home against the Leafs, and B.C. win yet another National Championship. By the way, you know you're old when: your after-party starts at 7:00... p.m. Whatever. That's how we roll.

Here's today's schedule of games, with spots and seedings up in the air all over both Conferences. Enjoy the day, and we hope to see you at Clyde's after the game.

The Brilliant Musings Of J.P. You May Have Missed From The FanHouse:

• Synchronicity XLIV

Daily Awards

• Hart: Johan Hedberg (Division-clinching win, 32 saves on 33 shots against)
  
• Ross: Ville Peltonen (3 points)
  
• Norris: Mike Van Ryn (2A, +3)
  
• Vezina: Johan Hedberg (see above)
  
• Richard: Sixteen players tied with 1G each
  
• Calder: Noah Welch (G, +3, 3 hits)
  
• Aiken, Pt. I: Johan Holmqvist (L, 4 goals allowed on 12 shots against in just 16:54 of work)
• Aiken, Pt. II: Marc Denis (3 goals allowed on 20 shots against in 43:06 of relief)

Datsyuk To Stay In Detroit?

According to the Detroit News:

Center Pavel Datsyuk laughed off an Internet rumor he was planning on signing with Washington this summer to team with Alexander Ovechkin.

Datsyuk can become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and his agent Gary Greenstin and the Wings have made mild progress on a new deal.

Spector reports that Datsyuk is seeking a laughably-high $6.85 million per year deal, and I'd be shocked if the Wings - or any other team - paid him that much.

As far as the Caps are concerned, my money is still on them making an aggressive push for either Chris Drury or Scott Gomez. Then again, it isn't my money we're talking about, is it?

Offseason Shopping List: Centers

Let's go shopping, shall we? It's no secret that the Caps will be in the market for a first-line center this offseason, and should they choose to go the free agent route to fill that hole, there are a number of options out there. Unfortunately, that number is three or four. Who are they and who would be the best fit? Let's see.

First, a look at likely market conditions. In the offseason leading up to the 2006-07 season, teams were working with a $44 million salary cap. The top (unrestricted) free agent centers available were Marc Savard, Jason Arnott, Doug Weight, Eric Lindros, Mike Sillinger... and Jeff Halpern. A quick look at the deals each got:

• Savard (28 years old at signing): 5 years, $20 million ($4 million per year); 2005-06 stats: 28-69-97
  
• Arnott (31): 5 years, $22.5 million ($4.5 million per year); 2005-06 stats: 32-44-76
  
• Weight (35): 2 years, $7 million ($3.5 million per year); 2005-06 stats: 15-42-57
• Lindros (33): 1 year, $1.55 million ($2.5 million with performance bonuses); 2005-06 stats: 11-11-22
• Sillinger (35): 3 years, $6.6 million ($2.2 million per year); 2005-06 stats: 32-31-63
  
• Halpern (30): 4 years, $8 million ($2 million per year); 2005-06 stats: 11-33-44
  

Now, that's a pretty weak (certainly shallow) class of centers - a couple of old guys, a few injury-prone guys and a checker. Compare that to this year's top-five UFAs (in no particular order): Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Chris Drury (hey, look - a UFA reunion of the Avs' Cup team pivots!), Daniel Briere, Pavel Datsyuk and Scott Gomez. I included six guys because Sakic might as well not be a UFA, as he's not going anywhere (so we can stop talking about him, though his contract will impact the market). That leaves us with one old, injury-prone guy and four guys - none of whom is over 30 years old - who have combined to win four Stanley Cups and two Calder Trophies.

I think we can all agree that the Caps will not pursue Peter Forsberg (though in Dreamworld he centers the 2007-08 Caps' first-line, has 100 assists and mentors fellow Swede Nicklas Backstrom to a Calder Trophy-winning rookie season before retiring after being handed the Stanley Cup by Olie Kolzig in late-May in front of 18,277 people at Verizon Center... sigh). So we're talking about "the big four." Given the ages of each of the four, I can't see any of them signing a contract for fewer than four years. Most likely, each will get a five-year deal. But at what price?

For 2007-08, the salary cap is expected to rise to between $46 and $47.5 million, but for the ease of this exercise, let's call it $48 million, a 9% increase over 2006-07. It would stand to reason that the top free agents, then, will cost around 9% more than they did last offseason (of course this assumes that some other factors, such as supply of and demand for these players holds constant, but again, pinpoint accuracy isn't important here). Add in the ages and accolades of the players we're talking about, and the price goes up further. In other words, get ready to shell out around $5 million - bare-minimum - for the next five years. So who's worth that much? A look at "the big four" (stats through 2 March 2007):

• Daniel Briere
• DOB: October 6, 1977
  
• Nationality: Canadian
  
• 2006-07 salary: $5,000,000
  
• Honors and Awards: 2007 NHL All-Star
  
• 2006-07 stats: 62 GP, 27-50-77
  
• Career regular season stats: 464 GP, 157-201-358
  
• Career playoff stats: 24 GP, 10-12-22
  
• Games played over the last five NHL seasons prior to 2006-07: 290/328
  
• Why he's a prime target for the Caps: Great combination of- oh, forget it.
  
• Why he's not: If you have to ask...
  
• Pavel Datsyuk
• DOB: July 20, 1978
  
• Nationality: Russian
  
• 2006-07 salary: $3,900,000
  
• Honors and Awards: 2002 Olympic Bronze Medal, 2002 Stanley Cup, 2004 NHL All-Star, 2006 Lady Byng Trophy
  
• 2006-07 stats: 61 GP, 19-46-65
  
• Career regular season stats: 345 GP 100-206-306
  
• Career playoff stats: 42 GP 3-12-15
  
• Games played over the last four NHL seasons prior to 2006-07: 284/328
  
• Why he's a prime target for the Caps: Datsyuk is a great passer, a dangler that makes the highlight reels as often as the guy he'd ostensibly be setting up in D.C. - a true #1 center. Oh, and he's Russian.
  
• Why he's not: He has pulled disappearing acts in the playoffs (playoffs? what are they), and is so weak in the faceoff circle that his linemate, Henrik Zetterberg, takes more draws than he does (yet somehow Datsyuk has won 56% of his 500 faceoffs - I'll take it).
  
• Chris Drury
• DOB: August 20, 1976
  
• Nationality: American
  
• 2006-07 salary: $3,154,000
  
• Honors and Awards: 1998 Hobey Baker Award, 1999 Calder Trophy, 2001 Stanley Cup, 2002 Olympic Silver Medal
  
• 2006-07 stats: 60 GP, 33-24-57
  
• Career regular season stats: 611 GP, 189-263-452
  
• Career playoff stats: 98 GP, 35-33-68
  
• Games played over the last five NHL seasons prior to 2006-07: 390/410
  
• Why he's a prime target for the Caps: Drury is a proven winner (he even won a Little League World Series). More than that, he's a great faceoff guy, taking the seventh most draws in the League and winning an outstanding 59% of them (only Rod Brind'Amour and Yanic Perreault are better among center with 100 or more faceoffs). Finally, with the lowest 2006-07 salary of the four, he may be the cheapest come July.
  
• Why he's not: He's a bit more of a goal-scorer than a playmaker, which doesn't necessarily fit what the Caps are looking for in a first-line pivot. In fact, ideally he's better-suited as a second-line center.
  
• Scott Gomez
• DOB: December 23, 1979
  
• Nationality: American
  
• 2006-07 salary: $5,000,000
  
• Honors and Awards: 2000 Calder Trophy, 2000 Stanley Cup, 2003 Stanley Cup
• 2006-07 stats: 56 GP, 10-40-50
  
• Career regular season stats: 532 GP, 113-327-440
  
• Career playoff stats: 86 GP, 17-34-51
  
• Games played over the last five NHL seasons prior to 2006-07: 394/410
  
• Why he's a prime target for the Caps: Gomez is a brilliant, durable playmaker - a true first-line center when paired with an elite goal scorer.
  
• Why he's not: His $5 million salary this season means that he'll be due for a raise when he hits free agency, and for all the talk about Gomez's playmaking skill, he's never had 60 assists in a season (three players are better than that already this season). Is $5.5 million or more really a wise deal for a guy who has only once had a season where he was better than a point-per-game?
  

From a quick glance at the above and my gut impressions of the four, I'd rank them Drury, Datsyuk, Gomez, Briere in terms of how they'd fit what the Caps are doing, but I don't think I'd be too upset with any of those first three.

Having attempted to wrap our minds around that, here's one last thought to blow it all up - what about going the Restricted Free Agent route and using the money saved on a rightwing or a big name defenseman (who the Caps will certainly target anyway)? Sure, you would be giving up some picks, but with all of the prospects the Caps will have compiled by then and names like Derek Roy, Mike Cammalleri, Mike Ribeiro and Pierre-Marc Bouchard on the market, isn't it at least a little tempting?