Thursday Roundup/Caps 2, Avs 1

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats - WashingtonCaps.com Recap]

There's little doubt in my mind that last night's Avalanche posed the smallest offensive threat of any team the Caps have played so far this season. Sure, they scored a goal (and came close a few more times late), but if it wasn't for a strong game from Jose "Hair Club" Theodore in between the pipes (and the Caps pounding shot after shot into the middle of the logo on the front of his sweater), last night's game would not have been close. A few more thoughts on the game:

• Hats off to Olie Kolzig who made every save he needed to make, including a left leg kickout on a goal mouth scramble that instantly transported 16,000 fans back to 2000.
• Quintin Laing's effort on the third period penalty kill was incredibly inspiring (and the fans acknowledgement of it with a standing ovation speaks to their savvy as well).
• Shaone Morrisonn's diving poke check was a thing of beauty, but his decision to step up on Wojtek Wolski with just over three minutes left was a poor one that cost the Caps.
• I know the fourth line was the Caps' best all night, but I don't want to see Donald Brashear on the ice in the last five minutes of a tight game. Ever.
• I've long been a Brooks Laich fan (it's true), and this year he has proven to be worth that faith.
• I didn't see the hit that sent Matt Bradley flying, but he was in ill-humor thereafter and immediately sought out Jeff Finger as a dance partner.
• Mike Green's rush with four minutes left in the first period was a thing of beauty, and Alex Semin had as pretty an unsuccessful breakaway as you'll see.
• Steve Eminger had a bit of an attitude last night and led the team with four hits.
• The Caps dominated the dot, winning 58% of all draws on the night.
  
• Memo to the Guy Sitting Behind Me Last Night: I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your man-date, but it's "Boudreau" (Bourdeaux is a city in France known for its wines), Mike Green will not be winning the Rookie of the Year this year (call it a hunch), and just because you've got a mouth doesn't mean you have to run it for 60 minutes of action. Cheers.
  

So now it's a few more days off for the Caps to heal up a bit more before facing Philly in a Sunday matinee that has all the makings of a playoff-like atmosphere. They'll need to adjust the sites on their sticks if they're going to have any luck against the Flyers, but then again luck is the due reward of the skillful - and these Caps are showing themselves to be just that.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Eric Fehr played - and played well - for Hershey last night.... Bad off-ice news for Bears enforcer Louis Robitaille.... Michal Neuvirth has been traded again (thanks to Brian for sending this one in).

Daily Awards

• Hart: Todd Bertuzzi (Game-winning G, 2A, +3)
  
• Ross: Mike Modano, Corey Perry, Todd Bertuzzi (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Sergei Zubov (A, +2, 2 blocked shots, 3 SOG)
  
• Vezina: Olie Kolzig (W, 18 saves on 19 shots against)
  
• Richard: 12 players tied with one goal apiece
  
• Calder: Nicklas Backstrom (61% faceoffs won)
  
• Aiken: Vesa Toskala (L, 5 goals allowed on 24 shots against)
  

Thursday Roundup/Gamenight: Kings @ Caps

[NHL.com Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Pregame - Official GDT]

I've always liked the Kings. As a wee lad, Luc Robitaille was my favorite non-Cap. I had the "Hockey Night In California" poster with Wayne Gretzky in his white and black home sweater and shorts, barefoot on the beach hanging on my wall. I rooted for a mulleted-Barry Melrose's team to beat the Habs in 1993. And years later, the Kings gave my little brother a job that he kept for just under two-and-a-half years, which I believe to be a family record for Gen-Xers.

Fast-forwarding to the here-and-now, I like Alex Frolov, Anze Kopitar, Lubomir Visnovsky, Michael Cammalleri and Dustin Brown from the current Kings' squad, a team that I like even more since they traded away Sean Avery earlier in the week (I guess we'll have to wait an extra two days to see him in person not backing up his tough talk and stick-work).

All that said, the Kings can rot Thursday night when they visit the V.C. The Caps need a win and they need to score some goals - not necessarily for a playoff run, but for the team's collective psyche and perhaps for individual players' condfidences (I'm thinking of three players in particular who could use a goal or two, and they all wear numbers ending in "8"). One of those players (guess who), however, doesn't seem to be having any trouble with his confidence:

Asked whether he could guarantee a goal against the Kings, [Alex] Ovechkin joked: "I can't say 100 percent that I will score goal. But I can 99 percent."

The Kings, quite frankly, stink on ice. 78-year-old netminder Sean Burke has maybe perhaps possibly temporarily solved the team's goaltending woes, but as a team they still don't score a lot of goals, give up way too many, don't kill penalties and are absolutely putrescent away from home, where they find themselves on Thursday night in the middle of a five-game, ten-day road trip. And just how long has Sean Burke been kicking around the NHL? Well, the last time the Caps beat the Kings in Washington, Alex Ovechkin was 12-years-old. Burke, on the other hand, was finishing up his tenth year in the League.

But a win for the Caps in this inter-conference bout won't come easy (they never do). As usual, the Caps need to play hard, they need to be smart, but most of all, they need to be:

Daily Awards

• Hart: Henrik Zetterberg (2G, including the game-winner, A, +3, 5 SOG, 56% faceoffs won)
• Ross: Henrik Zetterberg, Ryane Clowe (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Adrian Aucoin (GWG, +2)
  
• Vezina: Patrick Lalime (34-save shutout win)
• Richard: Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Vanek, Jonathan Cheechoo (2G each)
• Calder: Ryane Clowe (3A, +1)
• Aiken: Ed Jovanovski (0 points, -3 in 4-2 loss)

Um... What?

First, check out this picture of Jaromir Jagr playfully feeding Luc Robitaille a sardine (click on picture to enlarge):


Now, as if that's not bizarre enough in its own right, the autographed picture is being auctioned off at NHL.com (not surprisingly, there are no bids yet). If there's a story behind this that I don't know, please share it with me. On second thought, I'd probably rather not know.

[Hat tip to Deleted for the pointer]