Sunday Roundup/Devils 6, Caps 5 (SO)

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame]

On Saturday night, the Caps fought back to tie the Devils at one, three, four and five goals apiece, but ultimately couldn't take the lead when it mattered most as they fell to Jersey in the shootout.

Still, with three out of four points secured this weekend and a 7-1-2 record in their last ten games, the Caps have much to feel good about heading out on a West Coast swing later this week. Some particulars on last night's game:

• Um, yeah. Nicklas Backstrom's and Alex Ovechkin's slumps are very much officially over. Nick now has 12 points in his last five games and AO now has 13 points in his last six (goals in each of his last four). Backstrom is now plus-eleven on the campaign and Ovi is tied with Alex Semin for the League lead at plus-20.
• More on Ovechkin: he fired a monstrous 12 shots on goal (one of which dented opposing netminder Scott Clemmensen's mask) and had another eight that he either attempted or had blocked or went wide of the net. Not surprisingly, for the second straight game he had the team's best Corsi Rating, with linemates Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov right there with him.
• Also not surprisingly, Chris Clark had the worst CR on the team for the third time in the last four games and was a minus-two on the night. I know you can't tell too much from a single game's CR, but The Captain hasn't had a positive rating in seven games. He flat out stinks right now.
• Tomas Fleischmann showed some nifty moves, but only at one end of the ice - he was another minus-two player, along with Michael Nylander.
• Boyd Gordon in the shootout? Seriously?
• No goalie with a .833 save percentage can be said to have had a terribly good night, but Jose Theodore did make some outstanding saves and probably deserved better than what he got from the defense in front of him (and the forwards didn't uphold their end of the bargain in their own zone either).
• The power play is heading back towards respectability on the season and has scored in each of the last three games and is five-for-14 (35.7%) in its last five games. The PK also seems to be settling in, as it has been between 80% and 82.1% effective on the season for the last eight games. A graphical look at those trends (both of which, mind you, have been on an uptick without key special teams contributor Sergei Fedorov in the lineup):
  
  
• The Caps allowed another first-shot-against goal (the fifth such tally) and an early second-period strike as well. C'mon, boys... focus!
  

So a stretch of seven games in a dozen days concludes with the Caps picking up five wins and twelve points on the heels of that blowout loss to Buffalo. Now the team gets a couple of days off to rest, recover, re-focus and reload for a tough trip westward. Four games, eight points - I'd think coming home with five points would have to be considered a success, no?

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Rumor has it the 'Hawks turned down a Nylander trade offer from the Caps (and their interest in him may have cooled off... I wonder why).... This isn't hockey-related (other than that it appears on a hockey blog, but is undeniably bad ass.

Saturday Open Thread

Two points down, two to go.

Maybe Dainius Zubrus's iPod can fire the Devils up.

Friday Roundup/Gamenight: Devils @ Caps

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

Uh oh. Here come the Devils and... Scott Clemmensen?

Perhaps Lou Lamoriello went to Brent Sutter and said, "Give this start to Clemmensen. I want reliable people, people who aren't going to be carried away. After all we're not murderers in spite of what this undertaker thinks." Or not.

If you're not familiar with Clemmensen, here's a look at the 31-year-old's career stats (he has actually played in three games against the Caps, starting two, and going 1-1-0/2.61/.893).

If you're not familiar with why Kevin Weekes isn't starting, here's a look at his stats on the season (plus, the two were likely going to split this home-and-home series anyway).

And if you're not familiar with why Martin Brodeur isn't starting, well, you've probably been living under a rock for two weeks. Since Brodeur went down with his elbow injury (and took my fantasy team with him), the Devils have gone 1-4, scoring just eight goals and giving up 15.

On the season, the Devils have had trouble scoring goals (especially on the power play) and have one of the League's worst penalty kills. And they're 0-4-2 when outshot. And they're banged up. And since I should probably talk about the Caps at some point in this post, here's an interesting stat from Simply Sensational:

The New Jersey Devils are the only team in the Eastern Conference that Alex Ovechkin has not had a multi-point game against.

Prediction: that ends tonight.

These are two points for the Caps' taking - go get 'em, boys.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

The Caps may be "the very model of a modern rebuild," but I can't help but wonder what might have been had they ended up with Cam Barker in 2004 instead of AO.... Hey, it's been a while since we saw a Michael Nylander-to-Chicago rumor, so this quenches that insatiable thirst.... Quoth the Maven: "[H]as anyone noticed that [Brent] Johnson is better than Washington's alleged No.1 Jose Theodore?" No, Stan. No one. You're the first. Really.... For some reason, the Sports Guy lumps winning a Division in the NHL in with leading the WNBA in attendance. Oh, I know the reason - so he can crap on D.C.... Since we love gambling (but only wager M&M's), we love some of these prop bets. For example: Number of 2008-09 Southeast Division Playoff Teams, over/under set at 1.5. Whaddya got?... Simeon Varlamov will be between the pipes for da Bears tonight.... I couldn't possibly dig this post any more. Go there and click on every link, especially my personal fave (this is the end, beautiful friend).... Finally, potentially-to-likely NSFW depending upon where you work (via Four Habs Fans via Habs Fan in NYC): We're all Canadiens fans today, I'd say.

Saturday Roundup/Gamenight: Devils @ Caps

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

The Caps' Conference-leading offense will be put to the test tonight as Martin Brodeur (he of the 1.23 GAA and .944 save percentage) and the Devils visit the VC.

Brodeur's mastery of the Caps, while by no means exclusive to the boys from D.C., of course, is substantial - the Quebecer is 32-12-0/2.11/.913 against them in his career, including 2-1-0/2.28/.923 in 2007-08 (and he's had Number Eight's number, too - Alex Ovechkin has just three goals in 12 games against Jersey).

And guess what? In the early goings this season, the Devils are winning games but not scoring goals (shocking, I know). Somehow Jersey is 3-1, despite having scored only six goals and sporting a woeful 14.3% power play efficiency, which makes them the perfect team for Jose Theodore to face to try to gain a bit more confidence before heading out for a Western Conference road trip.

What's that you say? Brent Johnson's getting the start? Well, I'm not the reigning Jack Adams winner, so I'll defer to Gabby, but this sure seemed to me like a good spot in which to play your number one netminder... which brings us to a new feature - the Japers' Rink JOdometer, an index of our collective confidence in JT60 with a range set between the terrible - his two-team 2005-06 season - on the left and the exceptional - his Hart and Vezina season of 2001-02 - on the right:
Am I being too kind? Too harsh? Frankly, I think he's been more or less "good enough" overall (and trending upwards), with the obvious exception of the Atlanta game, hence the left-of-center rating.

Anyway, back to tonight's game, it's yet another good early season test, chock full of questions: Will the Caps show up for the first period? Which will win out - the Devils' meager power play or the Caps' poor PK? Will Sergei Fedorov seek vengeance on Jersey for cutting his baby bro? Will Dainius Zubrus do anything that makes us miss him? Most importantly, of course - will the Caps leave for a three-game road trip (and a five-of-six away from home stretch) at 4-1 with four wins in a row, or at 3-2 with a long flight to Calgary to think about it? Answers coming soon.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Hey, look - the WaPo knows we want more coverage (so that means it's not neglect, but rather a concerted effort to screw us).... ESPN.com's Power Rankings came out the other day and the Caps are numero ocho.... In case you missed it, Michal Neuvirth has been assigned to South Carolina of the ECHL.... There was a time when I thought that a headline like this would make me smile. But it doesn't.

Brashear Vs. Lablond

In the lead up to last night's game between the Caps and Devils (make sure to check out TRS's coverage, btw), I noticed some chatter about one of Jerseys' seventh round pick in 2004, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. The fantastic Devs blog Fire & Ice referred to the guy with the longest name in hockey as "one of the biggest surprises of training camp," and head coach Brent Sutter raved about the "tough kid."

Well, last night the tough kid locked horns with a tough man:

Actually, here was the result:

PL3, as he's known, earned big points for taking on Brash (Jamie Langenbrunner noted that "Anybody who goes with Brashear has my respect"), and the kid continues to make the Devils take notice.

And while he may have lost a decision to one of the League's reigning heavyweight champs, the moment was not lost on him:

"The guy is from Quebec-City, he's a French-Canadian and I've been watching him growing up and now I'm here fighting him," Leblond said after tonight's 3-2 preseason loss to the Capitals at Prudential Center. "It's kind of special." ...

"All game long he was asking me if I was tough in French," Leblond said. "He said, 'good fight.'"

Donald Brashear: a living legend doling out wisdom one left jab at a time.

H/t to Peerless and HockeyFights on the pic and vid.

Monday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Devils

The Caps will be in Jersey tonight to take on the Devils and their new tough guy (and if you're a N.Y. area Caps fan planning on attending, make sure to check in with Pepper), but rather than attempt to preview the relatively meaningless game, I thought I'd run a few numbers by you from last season, namely a break down of home and road plus/minus.

While plus/minus may be a somewhat silly stat to begin with, it's nevertheless interesting to take a look at some anomalous results in the home/road splits of last year's Caps. For example, both Alex Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov were both plus-28 overall, with much of that coming on the road (+18 for Ovi, +19 for Kozlov). Is it odd that they'd be so much more successful in buildings in which opponents could more easily get their top defensive forwards out against the Caps' top line? Perhaps (though it should be noted that among the NHL's top ten scorers, half of them had a better plus/minus on the road, including Ilya Kovalchuk, who was somehow a plus player away from home). And is it odd that the center on that Ovechkin-Kozlov line for most of the season, Nicklas Backstrom, has a much better home plus/minus (+11 to +2)? Under Glen Hanlon (i.e. before being promoted to the top line), Backstrom was minus-four on the road and minus-one at home. Not a single member of the Caps' top trio had a home/road point differential greater than Kozlov's four.

How about a glance at defensive pivots? David Steckel and Boyd Gordon had similar roles for most of last season, and yet Steckel was plus-seven better at home and Gordon was plus-seven better on the road. Gordon's split makes sense - at home he'd often match up against opponents' top offensive threats, whereas on the road, he'd often face lesser talent - and so does Stecks', I think - as the fourth-line center on most nights, he was used more sparingly and in favorable spots at home, while teams could more easily take advantage of Steckel and his wingers on the road (though Gordo actually had lower quality linemates on the year).

On the blueline, the splits that stand out are Shaone Morrisonn's and Tom Poti's. The two played the 3rd and 4th most even strength minutes on the team last year, but had opposite splits, with Mo posting being plus-ten better at home and Poti finishing plus-13 better on the road (and each man's partner had a similar, albeit less drastic, split). Perhaps Morrisonn's differential can be explained by the desire to get Mike Green out against lesser talent at home and to utilize the Poti-Jeff Schultz pairing against opponents' top threats... but if that were the case, you'd expect the latter duo to have a higher quality of competition than the former pair, which was not the case (though it's close). Or perhaps the numbers were just a fluke.

The bottom line here is... well, there isn't one. It's a lot of correlation with little in the way of causation. You can come up with a theory to explain any of these splits and convince yourself of their validity, but, at the end of the day, plus-minus is still somewhat devoid of rhyme or reason. How else to explain that of the top 31 plus/minuses in the NHL last season, 15 players had a better number at home and 15 were better on the road (Ryan Getzlaf was +16 both home and on the road)?

All that said, who's got a theory on any of these that they want to throw out there?

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Vogs has the translation of an interview with Simeon Varlamov that's worth checking out.... TSN.ca's Caps preview might be garbage, but at least you could remove the team and player names and still know which of the NHL's 30 squads was being previewed, unlike with this turd.... Speaking of lazy writing, Yahoo! (Ross McKeon, I presume) offers up the following analysis: "Viktor Kozlov was a crucial late season pickup by GM George McPhee. Kozlov served as a great team leader, especially for the Russian kids, and he’ll do more of the same this year." Sergei Fedorov had a similar impact.... Apparently everyone seems to think that winning the Southeast Division is the Caps' "divine right." And here I thought they were the favorites because they've put together the best roster, have the best coach and the best player in the SED.... Add Justin Taylor to the list of players sent back to juniors who had a hell of a time at rookie camp (and he's just about the only London Knight scoring these days).... And add another chapter in the Boudreau storybook.... Finally, a question for the group based on this article (and h/t to PPP) - would you rather the team you follow win one Cup and then stink for a decade or be consistently competitive with the possibility (but no guarantee) of a Cup over the same time period?

Tuesday Roundup/Caps 3, Devils 2

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

Monday night at Verizon Center the Caps started strong and held on to win against a tired Devils team that seemed to catch its second wind in the third period. Some thoughts on the game:

• The Caps did have a confidence carry-over from Saturday night's win, and it showed itself most notably in the hit totals, where they held a 31-22 edge. Milan Jurcina led the way with six hits, and every skater in the lineup other than Alex Semin, Tomas Fleischmann and Joe Motzko registered at least one hit.
• The Donald Brashear - Viktor Kozlov - Semin line doesn't do much for me. Kozlov had a particularly rough night (though he led the team with four shots on goal) and Semin a particularly bad penalty early, but the trio has no chemistry and even less defensive conscience - they got caught out against the Devils top line in the first and it quickly resulted in a 1-0 deficit.
• Speaking of that goal, entering the game, the Devils were 11-2-1 when scoring first and the Caps were 1-12-2 when giving up the game's first goal, so you'll forgive me for turning off the game at that point and watching The Hills. Just kidding.
• If Nicklas Backstrom is so patient and poised with the puck now, imagine what he'll be like down the road (insert "wearing a Wings jersey" joke here).
  
• The second period was about as good a period as the Caps have played all year.
  
• Jeff Schultz broke the season goals-scored tie between himself and Semin with his third of the year, but something tells me Sasha will catch and pass him real soon - he's finally starting to look very close to 100% healthy.
• As for Schultz, these past two games were the first in which he registered shots on goal in consecutive games. It's also the first time in his career he's had shots in goal in back-to-back affairs.
• Congrats to Quintin Laing, whose first NHL goal gives him more goals than front teeth.
  
• Olie Kolzig looked shaky in the third period. His rebound control was poor, most notably on the Mike Mottau no-goal (which was a huge break for the Caps) and his coverage on the David Clarkson wrap-around goal was obviously not good enough. Olie's been decent enough this year so far, but he's going to need to steal some games if this team is going to make a run at the playoffs.
  
• Alexander Ovechkin is such an absolute joy to watch. Some nights he's on a mission to score goals. Other nights, it looks like he'd rather run over anyone wearing the opposition's colors. Tonight was more the latter (he only had one shot on goal, in fact), and AO ended the night with five hits. But let's not forget his brilliant play at the blueline on the Schultz goal. Or his backchecking.
• Shaone Morrisonn had four giveaways on the night after only 15 in the first 29 games of the season. The Caps as a team had 20 giveaways - way too high a total.
  
• Every Cap who took a faceoff won better than 50% of his draws or was one win under 50%. Not bad.
  
• Memo to Mike Green: play the whistle, don't let up because you think there's an icing call coming your way.
• Here's your Game Pic O' The Night.
  

All in all, it was a great win for the Caps and one to build on for Wednesday night when Jaromir Jagr and the Rangers come to town. After all, the eight spot in the East is only eight points away...

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Check out a nice story about former Cap Trent Whitfield.... On this date in 1981, Dennis Maruk racked up a pair of goals and four helpers in an 11-2 romp over the Leafs for his second six point game of the week. Damn.... Finally, this isn't hockey-related, but there certainly are some friggin' weird people out there.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Sergei Zubov (G, 3A, +2, 6 SOG, 2 blocked shots)
• Ross: Sergei Zubov (4 points)
  
• Norris: Sergei Zubov (G, 3A, +2, 6 SOG, 2 blocked shots)
  
• Vezina: Alex Auld (W, 43 saves on 44 shots against)
  
• Richard: Chad Kilger, Corey Perry (2G each)
  
• Calder: Milan Lucic (2A, +2, 4 SOG, 3 hits)
  
• Aiken: Johan Holmqvist (L, 4 goals allowed on 22 shots against in 34:41 of work)
  

Monday Roundup/Gamenight: Devils @ Caps

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

For the second time in four nights the Caps and Devils will meet as Jersey visits the nation's capital. This time, however, it's the Caps who come in on a high note (following Saturday night's 6-3 win over Atlanta) and the Devs who are looking to get back into the win column (after Sunday's 1-0 overtime loss to the Rangers).

If the Devils were ripe for the pickin' on Friday night - and they were - they're even moreso tonight, playing the second of back-to-back road games and the third of a three-games-in-five-nights set. In fact, Devils' bench boss Brent Sutter noted that the Caps were the "fresher" of the two teams on Friday night - and that was before last night's hard-hitting OT affair for his squad. Whether Martin Brodeur will be in net yet again or Kevin Weekes gets his first start since November 12 remains to be seen, but either way Jersey has got to be a tired team, and the 32 hits they absorbed in last night's loss will serve to weaken them that much more.

The Caps, for their part, should be playing with all the confidence they displayed on Saturday night and, if they come out guns a-blazin', could have another big night. Of course, "shoulds" and "coulds" have turned into "didn'ts" all season long for D.C., but Matt Pettinger's goal on Saturday night sure did feel like both he and the team had turned a corner, didn't it?

As every game becomes more important than the last for these Caps, Monday night's is certainly one that they should win - and hopefully tonight's "shoulds" and "coulds" turn into "dids."

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Random stat of the day: four Caps (Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz) are younger than the youngest player on the Devils roster (Travis Zajac), and two Caps (Donald Brashear and Olie Kolzig) are older than the oldest player in Jersey's lineup (Brodeur).... Backstrom has nine points in eight games (including two three-point efforts) under Bruce Boudreau and only has two fewer points over that span than the two players ahead of him among the rookie scoring leaders combined. If you'd written him off for Calder consideration, you'd better have an eraser handy.... Josh Godfrey had two goals and a pair of assists in Sault Ste. Marie's win over Sarnia last night. He's now third among OHL defensemen in goals and ninth in points.... Finally, gotta hand it to the WaPo - what a great picture they've got accompanying Tarik's article today.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Milan Hejduk (3G, 3A, +4, 4 SOG)
  
• Ross: Milan Hejduk (6 points)
  
• Norris: Andres Lilja (Game-winning goal, +3, 2 SOG, 3 hits, 3 blocked shots)
  
• Vezina: Martin Brodeur (28 saves on 29 shots against in OT loss)
  
• Richard: Milan Hejduk (3G)
  
• Calder: Dustin Byfuglien (G, A, 3 SOG, 4 hits)
  
• Aiken: Hannu Toivonen (L, 8 goals allowed on 25 shots against)
  

Saturday Roundup/Devils 3, Caps 2Gamenight: Thrashers @ Caps

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

Bruce Boudreau's Caps may not be a hell of a lot better than Glen Hanlon's Caps were (the jury's still out on that), but one thing is clear - with the regime change came a different kind of accountability:

"That was a horrible giveaway for the first goal, and Olie should have had the save. He's too good a goalie to let those things go in."

Ah. Refreshing not to be tossed around in the spin cycle, isn't it?

Whether it was horrendous giveaways (Brian Pothier), awful penalties (Mike Green, Brooks Laich), a failure to make a save (Olie Kolzig) or poor timing (allowing Travis Zajac's goal just 41 seconds after Alex Semin had drawn the Caps to within one), it all adds up to the simple fact that the Caps were (are?) just flat out bad. Frankly, I'm at a loss to explain how they still had a shot at stealing a point in this one.

But they'll be back at it Saturday night against the Thrash as they open a four-game homestand. If there's even a slim chance for the season to be saved, it likely depends heavily on winning a few of these games and getting on a roll.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

In case you missed it, the Sabres dropped the first two games of their west coast swing (Anaheim and Los Angeles) by a combined total of 12-3, prompting BoC's inimitable Earl Sleek to create this "picture's worth a thousand words" cartoon.... Since it's Saturday, I'm on Ice Sheet duty over at Da House. Check out today's edition, hot off the press.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Henrik Zetterberg (3G, including the game-winner, +3, 4 SOG)
  
• Ross: Henrik Zetterberg, Ryan Getzlaf, Pavel Datsyuk (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Ruslan Salei (2A, +1, 2 SOG, 3 hits, 2 blocked shots)
  
• Vezina: Evgeni Nabokov (27-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Henrik Zetterberg (3G)
  
• Calder: Jonathan Toews (G, 3 SOG, 85% faceoffs won)
  
• Aiken: Josh Harding (L, 5 goals allowed on 34 shots against)
  

Friday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Devils

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

Two players skate onto a rink. Player A has 3 goals, 12 assists, 8 PIMs, 78 shots on goal and a minus-1 rating on the year. Player B has 5 goals, 10 assists, 8 PIMs, 32 shots on goal and an even rating on the year. They've each played 27 games, their first 27 for new teams. If Player A is considered a disappointment who is not yet living up to the expectations that come with his $2.5 million per year, what would you call the $3.4 million per year Dainius Zubrus, err, Player B?

What would Zubie do? Apparently not all that much.

Despite a lack of production from their big free agent acquisition, the Devils are appropriately on fire, winning eight straight games and racing towards the top of the Atlantic Division after a dreadful (for them) start. How are they doing it? Goaltending (of course), but also strong special teams and an offense that's been rejuvenated by the return to the lineup of now-captain Jamie Langenbrunner (11 points in ten games). During the winning streak, the Devs are out-scoring opponents by two goals per game (3.5 to 1.5), have connected on 23.5% of their power plays and have killed off 90% of opponents' extra man advantages.

And then there's Zach Parise and his 32 points. Indulge me this moment to cry over spilled milk and what nearly might have been, would you? Thanks. Let's take a quick look back at the middle of the first round of the 2003 Entry Draft:

Each of the guys flanking Eric Fehr has 126 career points. Fehr? Three. Ouch.

Speaking of injuries, the Caps will play tonight without Chris Clark, Boyd Gordon and now Michael Nylander. That's the team's top right wing, top defensive forward (and faceoff guy) and top center. Sweet. Oh, and the three goals Alex Ovechkin has scored in his career against the Devils is the fewest he has potted against any Eastern Conference opponent other than Montreal (against whom he has scored twice; AO also has just three against Pitt and Boston).

All that said, it's time for Alex Semin to start filling the net. Having most of this week off, number twenty-eight has had a chance to both shake off the rust and get healthy. No excuses. Step it up. And bring Viktor Kozlov with you.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

The organization's injury woes aren't limited to the NHL, as Chris Bourque is Hershey's latest injury (Josef Boumedienne, Dean Arsene and, of course, Fehr are already on the shelf), sidelined with "concussion-like symptoms." That's potentially worrisome for a guy who missed eight games in 2005-06 after suffering a concussion and being "unconscious for 45 seconds while he was carried off on a stretcher."... With the Caps likely to recall someone from Hershey today (could Ben Clymer return to D.C. or will the Motzko Motzko Man era resume?), the Bears have called up Owen Fussey (but hopefully not his acne) from ECHL Columbia.... The hockey world's most famous mullet will be in attendance for tonight's game.... Prior to tonight's game, the Devils will honor Scott Stevens' Hall of Fame induction. It's nice of them to wait until the Caps came to town to do so - or is it just being done now to rub it in our faces? Hmmm.... If you're dying to know what former Cap Yogi Svejkovsky's up to these days, click here....Finally, some Caps trivia: three players have scored 200 goals in a Caps jersey. The first two are easy (Peter Bondra and Mike Gartner). Name the third (hint #1: he scored his 200th for the Caps 14 years ago tonight; hint #2: it's not Svejkovsky). Click here for the answer.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Nik Antropov (3G, including the game-winner, 3 SOG, 4 hits, 2 blocked shots)
  
• Ross: Anze Kopitar (4 points)
  
• Norris: Tom Preissing (2G, including the game-winner A)
  
• Vezina: Johan Holmqvist (W, 23 saves on 24 shots against)
  
• Richard: Nik Antropov (3G)
  
• Calder: Kyle Chipchura (G, 2 SOG, 62% faceoffs won)
  
• Aiken: Jocelyn Thibault (L, 4 goals allowed on 14 shots against in just one period of work)
  

Monday Roundup

The Caps are off until Friday night when they'll visit the Devils at their new home, The Prudential Center in Newark (which, by the way, looks pretty badass, the icing on the cake being the Devs' logo on the bolt heads atop the urinals).

The time off between now and then is a godsend to Bruce Boudreau and the Caps because it will allow some players time to get healthy and, perhaps more importantly, it will allow the team the chance to continue to work on implementing Gabby's system.

But some things are working well already since the regime change in D.C. Here are a handful of them:

• The power play has gone 6-for-24 (25.0%), which is a better efficiency than every power play in the League on the season, other than Montreal's (of course, throw out that first Carolina game and the 15% efficiency doesn't look so hot).
• The penalty kill has gone 25-for-27 (92.6%), which is a better efficiency than every single penalty kill in the League on the season. In fact, since Boudreau took over, the Caps have allowed two power play goals and scored one shorty.
  
• The Caps are averaging 35 shots per game, which would be leading the League and are allowing 27.17 shots against per game, which would rank them ninth overall.
  
• The team is giving up 2.33 goals per game, which would be good for fifth in the League on the season.
• They have seven points in six games - a 95-point pace, which would be good enough for a playoff spot if they had been on that pace all season.
  

It's an admittedly small sample, and it certainly remains to be seen whether the season can be salvaged, but encouraging stats are encouraging stats. Now, if these days off could only get someone other than Alex Ovechkin scoring - AO has 37.5% of the team's 16 goals since the coaching change - the Caps could really be in business.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

The Caps have sent Quintin Laing back to Hershey (though I'd imagine he's back for Friday's game if Chris Clark isn't ready to go), Josef Boumedienne has been sent to the IR and Jakub Klepis has sent himself back to Europe (where he'll play in the Euro Hockey Tour Tourney in Moscow - h/t to Vakfan on that link).... Brian Sutherby didn't know why he wasn't playing early in the season. Two words, Suts: David Steckel.... Bruce Garrioch says that "[i]f George McPhee remains as GM of the Caps -- and that's a big if -- there's a chance he could hire London Knights coach Dale Hunter to take over behind the Washington bench." Isn't there a limit on how many qualifiers a reporter can use in a sentence and still maintain a shred of credibility? Oh, wait. Garrioch also notes former Stars GM Doug Armstrong as a potential replacement for GMGM, but it isn't just an idea that Garrioch dreamt up over his morning latte - Doug's is "a name being mentioned." Of course it is. Good stuff, as always, Bruce.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Aaron Voros (Game-winning goal, 3 SOG, 2 hits, 1 fight)
• Ross: Sergei Brylin, John Madden, Shawn Horcoff, Jarret Stoll (2 points each)
  
• Norris: Joni Pitkanen (G, +1, 3 SOG)
  
• Vezina: Mathieu Garon (25-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: 11 players tied with 1G apiece
  
• Calder: Aaron Voros (Game-winning goal, 3 SOG, 2 hits, 1 fight)
  
• Aiken: J.-S. Giguere (L, 4 goals allowed on 21 shots against)
  

Summer In The Swamp

Will it be easier for Lou Lamoriello to re-sign Scott Gomez or to convince someone to coach the Devils? My bet is on the latter, as it may only be incredibly difficult, whereas the former will be nearly impossible.

The View From Your Our Playoff Seat

Game Two Game Face at the Meadowlands
Sent by KB. Washington, D.C.

More pictures from the Devils/Sens game can be seen here.

The VFYPS photo album can be viewed here, and don't forget to send your pictures here.

Rink Road Trip

A bit impulsively, Ken and I have decided to head up I-95 and take in tonight's Sens/Devils game (Jersey's inability to sell out is our gain). If you're going to be at the game, drop us an email (Japers dot Rink at gmail dot com) with a cell number and we'll buy you a beer.

Cheers,

JP

The Parise-Eaves Connection

What do Jersey's Zach Parise and Ottawa's Patrick Eaves have in common? More than you might think.

Senators/Devils Preview

My FanHouse preview of the Ottawa/Jersey series is up. I went with the Devils in seven, though I have very little confidence in the pick. I was all ready to pick the Sens, but I know the series will be low-scoring and just can't see Ray Emery out-dueling Martin Brodeur over the course of six or seven games.

Is it too late to change my pick and just go with the team in the red, black and white uniforms?

Goose EGGs For Devils Top Trio

I don't know where Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta have been for the past two games for Jersey, but I know where they are now - over at the FanHouse getting called out.

Meanwhile, Martin Brodeur - who has just two wins in his last dozen playoff road games - notes that, "The puck is not bouncing (our way), but our bounce is due."

Yeah, Marty, you guys aren't getting any bounces.

Finally, speaking of bounces...

Is This Becoming A Trend?

You're not really going to let him score from there, are you, Marty?

Ouch.

The Heat Is On In Tampa

Two games into their series, Martin Brodeur and Johan Holmqvist each have one win, goals against averages over three and save percentages under .900. Who's feeling the heat more - Marty or Holmer?

Go, Zach, Go

Zach Parise and the Devils took Game One last night in front of 14,000 or so of their closest friends, families and fans. I've got some thoughts over at FanHouse about the game, but one that I didn't mention over there is that the better Parise plays, the more comfortable Sweet Lou Lamoriello will be letting Scott Gomez walk, right?