Getting Ready For Russian Heritage Night

Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov will be warmly received when they hit Hollywood on Thursday night (and I'm not just talking about Calabasas resident Alyonka Larionov's reunion with AO), as the Kings host Russian Heritage Night at Staples Center.

Catching up with three of the Capital comrades this afternoon was LAKings.com's Heidi Androl. Have a look:
H/t Kukla's Korner

Of Russians And Hat Tricks

In his brief career so far, Alexander Ovechkin has notched five NHL hat tricks. Alex Semin has two. Their fellow countryman, Sergei Fedorov, has six, and the Caps' fourth Russian, Viktor Kozlov, has a pair.

But where did the term "hat trick" come from, and why the Russian focus? Joe Pelletier (the genius behind Greatest Hockey Legends.com and a fellow J.P.) passed along this educational video that will answer both questions:

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?

Wednesday Miscellany

One month from tonight, the Caps will be in Atlanta to open the season against the Thrashers... but for today, you get a link dump.

The National Post wrote the same article that EMac wrote three weeks ago, and in it they referred to Donald Brashear as "a reigning heavyweight champion." Edward Fraser of The Hockey News isn't as easily impressed, as he didn't list The Donald among his ten fighters worth talking about, but Steinz has no problem posting a picture of Lindsay Czarniak talking about the Caps' enforcer (and, of course, neither do I).... Caps prospect Dmitri Kugryshev is adjusting quickly - and very well - to the North American game.... You knew Viktor Kozlov was a stud in the shootout, but did you know that Jose Theodore has the highest career shootout save percentage "among goaltenders likely to be on NHL rosters at the start of the season?" I bet you a nickel no team this season beats him on three consecutive attempts using the exact same move.... Finally, our buddy Pepper at the red skate emailed me yesterday noting a couple of points from my "Thinking Inside The Box" post. In it, I quoted Ted Leonsis as stating that "Our defense is going to be really good in a couple of years with [Mike Green], Eminger, Morrisonn and Schultz," asking, "Can you believe Boston gave us Morrisonn and [the pick that became] Schultz for Gonchar?" and noting that "I really like Laich. He's going to be another Konowalchuk-type guy." That was more than two-and-a-half years ago. Pretty prescient, no?

Saturday Miscellany

Rookie camp opens one week from tomorrow, but for now, it's still "Potpourri for $200, Alex."

Allan Muir wonders if Jose Theodore is a net loss (get it?) between the pipes for the Caps. You know my thoughts on both Muir and Theodore's prospects for success.... It recently occurred to me that Caps' goaltending prospect Braden Holtby is playing for coach/GM Lorne Molleken in Sasktatoon of the WHL. Yes, that Lorne Molleken.... The WTimes makes the bold assertion that Alex Ovechkin is "gonna set NHL records ... well, anything Wayne Gretzky hasn't put out of reach." Which is every one of 'em. Sweet.... Viktor Kozlov has been skating with several Kitties players down in Coral Springs. Hopefully their lack of offense isn't contagious... Dainius Zubrus (remember him?) will wear the number eight this season for the Devils. My guess is that on a scale of one to ten, he regrets not accepting the Caps' last offer about 12.... Sticking with former Caps, NHL.com has a piece on Olie Kolzig and his return to Germany.... Finally, when the Caps and Pens merge, here's what their logo will look like (scroll down). Wait, I wasn't supposed to release that news? Never mind.

The Final Numbers Are In...

OK, one last post on awards voting, I promise.

In addition to the numbers I told you about last night, here are a few more vote totals:

• Alexander Ovechkin finished ninth (8-4-1-0-2) in voting for the Lady Byng Trophy and 29th (0-0-2-1-1) in Selke Trophy voting;
• Nicklas Backstrom finished 72nd (0-0-0-1-0) in voting for the Lady Byng Trophy and 66th (0-0-0-0-1) in Selke Trophy voting;
• Viktor Kozlov finished 26th (0-0-3-0-0) in voting for the Lady Byng Trophy and 25th (1-0-0-2-0) in Selke Trophy voting;
• Boyd Gordon finished 49th (0-0-1-0-0) in Selke Trophy voting; and
• Sergei Fedorov finished 66th (0-0-0-0-1) in Selke Trophy voting.

Mirtle promises to have much more on the voting breakdown later, but this shows how silly open ballot/write-in voting can be.

An argument can be made (maybe not a strong one) that Ovechkin is one of the top 29 defensive forwards in hockey. He was, after all, fifth among all forwards in plus/minus, ninth in takeaways and sixth in hits. Might Backstrom be the 66th-best defensive forward in the game? Sure. He was sixth in takeaways and had fewer giveaways than Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg.

But while the end result may not be completely outlandish (ok, Kozlov at 25th is), the more ridiculous part is not where they finished in the voting as much as the fact that multiple voters had a guy like Ovechkin - who got all of nine seconds of shorthanded time per game - in their top five. One writer thought that Viktor Kozlov was the best defensive forward in hockey this past season... or at least voted that way (and there are plenty of examples League-wide of this silliness, of course, but these are the handful I happen to give a crap about).

Bottom line: the NHL needs to come up with a list of, say, ten players for each award, mail out ballots with those names on them and force voters to select from that list. It'll make the final results more meaningful and the awards more reflective of the individual accomplishments they're intended to reward. But if the NHL is cool with a voter ostensibly thinking that Jiri Hudler was the fifth best defensive forward in hockey in 2007-08, they might as well leave things the way they are.

2007-08 Rink Wrap: Viktor Kozlov

From Backstrom to Steckel, we're taking a quick look at and grading the 2007-08 season for every player* who laced 'em up for the Caps during the campaign (and is still with the team) with an eye towards 2008-09. Next up, Viktor Kozlov.

Contract Status: 2008-09 salary of $2.5M; UFA following 2008-09 season
Age (as of October 1, 2008): 33
NHL Seasons (including 2007-08): 12+
2007-08 Regular Season Stats: 81 games played, 16 goals, 38 assists, +28, 18 PIMs
Key Stat: Kozlov had the seventh-best plus/minus in the NHL.
Miserable Stats: In 12-plus seasons, Kozlov has yet to play a second round playoff game or score a playoff goal (in 21 games).

The Good: 2007-08 was Kozlov's freshman year in the Dainius Zubrus school of statistical inflation, and, as a result, he had his highest point total since 2002-03 and the best plus/minus of his career (it didn't hurt that he played a career-high 81 games for the second consecutive season, either). He rode the A-train en route to finishing as one of only two Caps to finish in the top five on the team in goals, assists, points and plus/minus (guess who the other is), and finished third on the squad in shots on goal with his highest total since '02-'03. Kozlov lead the team in primary assists per sixty minutes and was second in points per sixty minutes of ice time (edging Nicklas Backstrom). He had three different four-game scoring streaks, didn't go more than three games without a point after mid-October, and had a ridiculous March in which he had 11 points and a plus-17 rating in 14 games. His takeaway-to-giveaway ratio was better than that of any of his Russian teammates, he committed only eight minor penalties all year (and had the third best penalties drawn-to-taken per sixty ratio on the Caps) and had the best plus/minus per sixty on the team.

The Bad: Kozlov had goal-less streaks of 23 and 12 games and scored just two goals in a 43-game stretch from October 12 through January 17. He had the third-lowest shooting percentage of his career, and, ostensibly a center by trade, had a woeful 45.9 faceoff winning percentage. Frankly, none of his other stats stand out as particularly bad... thanks, Ovie!

The Vote: Rate Kozlov on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential for the season - if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

The Questions: What role do you see Kozlov playing on the 2008-09 Caps? What will it take for him to earn a 10 rating next year?

If you've missed any of the previous 2007-08 Rink Wraps, click here, get caught up, and vote - polls will stay open for a while.

* And by "every," we mean every one who played more than just a handful of games.

Woof Woof?

"If it looks like a dog, barks like a dog, it is a dog."

That line, of course, was among the brilliant musings Mike Milbury offered hockey fans in NBC's national telecast of the Caps/Flyers game on Sunday in description of Alex Ovechkin's play (just four days, I'd note, after saying that AO had "taken it to another level" and calling the Caps' superstar "as electrifying a player as [he'd] seen.").

Anyway, since we're talking pooches, let's talk Viktor Kozlov, shall we? Which of these stats is less impressive:

• In twelve full seasons in the NHL, Kozlov has played 830 regular season games and just 17 playoff games and has never played past the first round (recall, too, that he was a healthy scratch during the playoffs for the Devils in both 2004 and 2006).
  
• In his 17 career playoff games, Kozlov has yet to score a goal and has totalled all of three assists and a minus-ten rating.
  

I'd say the latter is less impressive, as it is a wholly individual stat, though his teams' failures to get to the playoffs and/or do anything once there does say something about a guy who has been a top-six forward for the better part of his career (and it's not a good something).

Kozlov's career playoff stats sure do look like a dog, don't they?

But that was then and this is now... and now ain't much better. Through three games so far (and on a line with the best player in the world), Kozlov has no points, a minus-three rating, five shots on goal, four giveaways and one takeaway. And from the "you know it's a bad sign when..." file, he has as many hits as John Erskine.

Kozlov's performance in these playoffs thus far sure have barked like a dog, no?

So if it looks like a dog and barks like a dog...

Thursday Roundup/Thrash 3, Caps 2 (SO)

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats]

Isn't Kari Lehtonen about due for a groin pull?

With his shootout win last night, the Finnish netminder has now won his last two starts against the Caps in dominant fashion, with a GAA under one and a save percentage of .974 (to say nothing of that pass to spring Marian Hossa). Without question, he was the difference in a game that the Caps dominated for stretches at a time. Some thoughts on the game:

• All eyes immediately turn to the Tom Poti injury which, if I'm not mistaken, was not mentioned by the boys in the booth.
• That game was vintage Olie Kolzig, with a handful of great stops and brilliant positioning (forget about the sideshow junk that ended the game).
  
• Mike Green played 33:07, had a beauty assist on the Alex Ovechkin goal, and was plus-two for the game. But man, did he miss a golden opportunity on an unreal Alex Semin cross-ice pass late.
• How can you have a shootout in which neither Ovechkin nor Viktor Kozlov gets an attempt?
• Speaking of questionable coaching in the shootout, as KB noted, it's a shame that Joe Benanati knew what Eric Perrin was going to do but no one on the Caps seemed to.
• Faceoffs were an atrocious 35% successful. This team might need to go get a second-line center if they want to make the playoffs. An-toine Ver-mette (clap clap clap-clap-clap).
• Nicklas Backstrom - at what point can we use the word "great"? Now? Cool. He's got great vision and is a great passer (and also was great at losing faceoffs last night - 24%? Ouch). Great player? I'll hold out a little longer, but not much.
• At some point, the power play will stop trying to be so damn cute... you'd hope.
  

So a four-point game turned into a two-point game thanks to Red Jesus, and the boys will be back at it on Friday night in South Beach. With three goals in their last three intra-divisional games (all three losses), the Caps will need to start lighting the lamp more frequently, and soon.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Happy 33rd Birthday, Viktor Kozlov.... Caps love from The Maven.... Green love from up north.... Aside from the plagarism here, the underlying idea is pretty cool, and would be great for the NHL to try.... Allan Muir notes something about Jeff Halpern that Caps fans have known forever.... Finally, one year ago today we sent a Valentine to a very special someone, accepted one on AO's behalf and watched a little CourtTV.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Ryan Miller (35-save shutout win)
  
• Ross: 12 players tied with 2 points each
  
• Norris: Brent Seabrook (G, A, +2, 5 SOG, 3 hits)
  
• Vezina: Ryan Miller (35-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Dustin Byfuglien (2G)
  
• Calder: Nicklas Backstrom (2A, +1, 3 SOG)
  
• Aiken: Pascal Leclaire (1 goal allowed on 3 shots against in just 4:50 of work)
  

Russian Attack

Per Tarik, tonight's top line will be Viktor Kozlov centering the two Alexes.

Per me, Rush'n Attack was a bad ass video game.

Thursday Roundup

In case you missed it, Boyd Gordon's injury is a broken hand, one that he received during the first period of last Wednesday's Florida game. It should be noted that he played 15:38 in the game and scored in the shootout. With a broken hand. If he was a baseball player, he'd have been carted off the field and shot up with Novocaine in the ambulance on the way to the nearest hospital.

Another note of interest from Tarik's post is Chris Clark's comment that the ice at Verizon Center is the "worst in the League" (a point expounded upon by Vogs). "There's a lot of ruts in the ice," said Clark. "It's soft. It's wet half the time. I could see a lot of injuries coming from the ice there. It could cost [players] their jobs." Or coaches.

As bad as the ice is - and it is awful - is the poor quality of the home sheet showing up in the stats? Maybe. The Caps are averaging 2.25 goals per game at home and 2.40 on the road (over the course of a full season, that's about a six goal differential). That number may seem negligible, but given the opportunity to make the last line change, a friendly crowd, familiar setting, etc., you'd expect a team to be more potent at home (the Bolts, for example, are scoring well over a goal more per game at home than they are on the road). In fact, all but ten teams heading into last night's games were scoring more at home than on the road (insert adultery joke here). So while the differential here doesn't seem like much, the Caps are likely better than a 2.40 goals per game team on a decent sheet of home ice, and those six or more goals over the course of the season could translate into lost points in the standings. Then again, perhaps the ice is slowing down faster, more-skilled teams and the Caps are already getting those "home ice advantage" points.

Another couple of key indicators show the Caps performing better on home ice than on the road - the power play has clicked at 18.0% at home and 15.7% on the road and Alex Ovechkin has scored 10 goals at home (in 12 games) and 10 on the road (in 15). Of course, maybe on a good rink the Caps have a 20+% effective power play... and maybe AO would already be the NHL's leading goal scorer. [Sidenote: after the shootout against Florida last week, I meant to ask AO if the ice condition played any part in his decision to shoot rather than deke in the shootout, but his postgame time with the media was short, so I just let the big dogs eat.]

There's no question that the ice is horrible at the VC and that bad ice puts players' health at risk (and it has probably cost some guys - Clark, Tom Poti and Alex Semin - some games already this year)., but it's also likely costing the Caps on the scoreboard. Don't forget, however, that both teams have to skate on the same sheet, so it's probably saving the Caps a handful of goals against as well. The real question at this point, however, isn't 'what is crappy home ice costing the Caps?' but rather 'when the hell is someone going to do something about it?'

Anyway, on to the question du jour: Viktor Kozlov - boom or bust? He's got one goal since October 8 (a span of 24 games) and has been held shotless in two of his last four games. Still, he's on pace for 45 points, which is only six fewer than he had last year and 20 more than he had two years ago. The odd stat here is that he's on pace to take 43% more shots than last year (237), but score 64% fewer goals (9). Last year was clearly a fluke on the goal front for Kozlov, who tallied a career-high 25 goals (which equaled his total from the previous two seasons), but the points are still coming and, as is the case with Matt Pettinger, so long as he keeps shooting, the goals should come too. In other words, Kozlov may be playing a little bit below expectations, but if you had been hoping for much more from him, you probably weren't all that familiar with his complete body of work. Or am I wrong?

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Andrew Gordon is back in Hershey and everyone's happy about it.... It was twenty years ago today Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play that Scott Stevens set a club record with five assists in a 10-3 win over the Kings out in Landover. The record would stand for a little more than a year before Mike Ridley would rack up six helpers in a 6-3 win over Chicago. Stevens' five points is still the team's single-game record for points by a blueliner.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Zach Parise (2G, 2A, +3, 8 SOG, 3 hits, 2 blocked shots)
  
• Ross: Zach Parise (4 points)
  
• Norris: Steve Montador (G, 2A)
  
• Vezina: Ilya Bryzgalov (W, 28 saves on 29 shots against)
  
• Richard: Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, Rick Nash, Randy Robitaille, Olli Jokinen (2G each)
  
• Calder: Peter Mueller (G, 2A, +2, 6 SOG)
  
• Aiken: Tomas Vokoun (2 goals allowed on 5 shots against in just 7:10 of work)
  

Friday Roundup/Caps 4, Sens 1

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats]

And that, my friends, is why they play the games.

On most nights in the NHL, it's awfully difficult to win without a good effort and a bit of luck. The Caps got more than a little of each last night in Ottawa and snapped their four-game skid in a big way. Some notes on the game:

• The Caps narrowly avoided giving up a goal on the opponent's first shot of the game for the fifth time this sesaon when Olie Kolzig made a great stop on Chris Kelly a mere eight seconds in.
• Christoph Schubert is no Anton Volchenkov.
  
• Count with me the Caps who had their best game of the season last night: Viktor Kozlov, Tomas Fleischmann, Nicklas Backstrom, Olie Kolzig... am I missing anyone?
• The penalty kill was five-for-five including a damn-near heroic effort on a minute-plus of three-on-five time in the second (great use of the timeout during that kill, by the way - Olie was gassed).
• Further to that last point, despite winning only four of fourteen draws, David Steckel is fully deserving of a man-crush - he blocked five shots last night and utilizes his ridiculously long reach sublimely.
• Alex Ovechkin had 10 shots on goal (and another five that didn't make it on goal) and two brilliant defensive plays on the backcheck to go along with his goal and assist. "Slump" over?
• Is it possible that Milan Jurcina actually stinks? I don't think so, but it bears watching. He had a bad giveaway in the first, looked bad on the Daniel Alfredsson goal, and was crushed along the boards a few times by Mike Fisher. He needs to play with more confidence. Jeff Schultz, on the other hand...
• AO's goal last night was his 10th of the season and was scored in the team's 16th game. In his each of his first two years in the League, he reached double digits on November 6, in game number 14.
  
• Flash's six shots on goal were a career high. Backstrom's one goal was also a career high.
  
• The Caps are now 2-0-0 in the province of Ontario, outscoring their opponents 11-2. Perhaps they should be the team that moves to Hamilton.
• It was a bad night in the dot, as the Caps won only 21 of 52 (40%) of the game's faceoffs.
• Did Chris Bourque skate a shift once the Caps took the lead? He did have one nice hit in the 5:33 of ice time he did get.
• The Sens rang the iron behind Kolzig on at least two occasions, and misfired on several others (Ottawa was credited with 21 missed shots, three times as many as the Caps). But the Caps were due a break or two, weren't they?
• I'll resist the urge to type "If Viktor Kozlov could put forth that kind of effort every night..." Oops.
  

So a road trip that began miserably in Carolina ends triumphantly in Kanata and, for those of you keeping score at home, the Caps earned three of a possible six points in three tough buildings. Next up, a Saturday date with Vinny and the Bolts (who got their first road win of the season last night in Raleigh). Confidence has to be brimming up and down the lineup right now - let's just hope it carries over for the next sixty minutes of game time.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Forbes has updated its valuations of the NHL's 30 teams and the Caps are in just about the same place on that list as they are in the standings, but I wouldn't worry about that too much. As I wrote when Forbes compiled the same list last year, the most valuable franchises are those whose owners also own the arenas in which the team plays, co-habitating NBA franchises, etc. Since the Caps are renters and Ted Leonsis et. al. don't yet own the Wiz, it's not surprising that they'd be way down the list. Some day, however, Lincoln Holdings will own the building and the 'Zards, and the Caps will skyrocket up the list.... Boyd Gordon is underrated everywhere but on this blog.... The City Paper has the heart-warming tale of former Cap "Classy" Joe Murphy and his legal woes.... Finally, Nick Backstrom wasn't the only NHLer to get rid of the goose egg in the G column last night - Dainius Zubrus potted his first and second goals of the year in Jersey's win over the Flyers. At this pace, he may get to ten yet!

Daily Awards

• Hart: Viktor Kozlov (G, 2A, +2, 4 SOG, 2 hits, 2 takeaways, 0 giveaways, 67% faceoffs won)
  
• Ross: Viktor Kozlov, Vaclav Prospal, Steven Reinprecht, Ed Jovanovski (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Ed Jovanovksi (Game-winning goal, 2A, +1)
  
• Vezina: Johan Holmqvist (W, 40 saves on 41 shots against)
  
• Richard: Dainius Zubrus, Shane O'Brien, Steven Reinprecht (2G each)
  
• Calder: Carey Price (W, 28 saves on 29 shots against)
  
• Aiken: Marty Turco (L, 5 goals allowed on 31 shots against)
  

Thursday Roundup

Yesterday's post-practice media availability with Glen Hanlon yielded some hints as to what might be going on in the coach's head, especially regarding the power play. Take a listen for yourself (courtesy of the team and WashingtonCaps.com) and then we'll discuss.

Go ahead, I'll wait.... Alright. First of all, I don't know about you, but it sounds to me as if Michael Nylander might be on that top power play unit sooner rather than later, as we speculated the other day, with Alex Semin out of the lineup (that is, the desire to have two balanced power plays takes a hit when the scorer for the second one is laid up, and therefore the team might focus on making the top unit as effective as possible in the short term).

Secondly, Hanlon praises his third line - with very good reason - but I'll go out on a limb and predict that if the trio doesn't score this weekend (none of them has yet), the team won't return home with a still-unblemished record.

Finally, while Tarik, who discusses the slumping power play in today's WaPo, reports that Semin is out for at least the weekend, Hanlon called it a "50/50" proposition. I'll stick with GMGM via Tarik for now, but perhaps there's some hope to the contrary.

Anyway, Hanlon always gives a great interview (this Reuters article has a couple of quotes from the above audio), and thought I'd pass this one along. On to other news...

While we're on the subject of coaching, Scott Burnside ranks the League's 30 bench bosses and has Hugs at number 20. Frankly, I think he should be higher - there are coaches in the top 20 who haven't done much more with a hell of a lot more talent - but let's let this season speak for itself, shall we? (and I won't even bother mentioning this)... This sorta slipped through the cracks, but Newsday reported yesterday that the Isles offered Viktor Kozlov a two-year, $4.5 million deal to stay on the Island. In other words, Kozlov turned down returning to a playoff team for $250,000 per year and a chance to play with Alexander Ovechkin on an up-and-coming team - and you can bet it wasn't about the money.... Speaking of "Kozzie," he's making the most of his assignment centering AO, according to the CP.... And speaking of adjusments, Ben Clymer is getting used to life in the AHL (as St. Cloud State University gets used to life without one of Clymer's Hershey teammates, Andrew Gordon).... Finally, here's an interesting anti-Bettman, anti-RBK article for you haters out there that does raise some interesting points in between barbs.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Mike Richards (2G, 2A, +4, 4 SOG, 3 hits, 57% faceoffs won)
  
• Ross: Mike Richards (4 points)
  
• Norris: Marc-Andre Bergeron (G, A, 4 SOG in 2-1 win)
  
• Vezina: Rick DiPietro (W, 36 saves on 37 shots against)
  
• Richard: Niklas Hagman, Kristian Huselius, Chris Gratton, Mike Richards, Milan Michalek, Brad Boyes (2G each)
  
• Calder: Carey Price (W, 26 saves on 28 shots against)
  
• Aiken: Roberto Luongo (L, 4 goals allowed on 13 shots against in just one period of work)

Saturday Roundup/Caps 3, Thrashers 1Gamenight: 'Canes @ Caps

[AP Recap - Boxscore - Super Stats - AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

Well that sure was nice, wasn't it? Any time you can go into the defending Division Champ's building on opening night with your number two goalie in net and your number two offensive weapon back home and leave with two points, it's a truly beautiful thing. A few thoughts on the game:

• It wasn't surprising to see the Thrashers come out flat - it happens almost like clockwork after a lengthy pre-game ceremony has the home team's players standing around for 15 minutes or so. Good on the Caps for taking advantage of the opportunity.
  
• After a possible momentum-shifting penalty kill by Atlanta at the end of the second, it was good to see the Caps bounce back in the third and fire 14 shots on goal. Last year, this team would have taken four or five and crumbled.
  
• Nice debuts for Michael Nylander (goal), Nicklas Backstrom (assist), Viktor Kozlov (game-winning goal) and Tom Poti (team-high 27:59 of ice time).
• Not such a nice game for Brian Pothier, who made two awful plays (one at the offensive blueline and a whiff on Marian Hossa at the top of the defensive zone), took two penalties and ended up playing only 12:18 - more than five minutes less than the next least-utilized blueliner, John Erskine.
• The Alex Ovechkin-Kozlov duo was fantastic, firing 13 shots between them. And Ovechkin's backcheck on Bobby Holik late should not go unmentioned.
  
• David Steckel's reach is incredible. So is Boyd Gordon's ability to get tossed around like a rag doll - and keep getting up to do his job.
  
• Brent Johnson was very solid, with the exception of the goal he allowed, but it's hard to complain after a 28-of-29 save performance... so I won't.
• The Caps were the better-disciplined team, taking only five penalties (Atlanta took eight), and outshot the Thrash 40-29. That's a recipe for continued success.
• That said, the powerplay (1-for-7) needs to be better, especially in five-on-three situations (granted, it might have been with Alex Semin in the lineup). Five-on-four, I'm not sure I wouldn't have Nylander out on the first unit, but that's just me.
• Mike Green played 20:35 and most of it was very good and confidently-played.
  
• Good to see Ken Klee still takes too many penalties.
• Matt Pettinger took seven shots on goal and the third line was a combined plus-three.
• The team was very good in the faceoff circle, winning 53% of their draws (led, surprisingly enough, by Kozlov at 56%).
  

Photo: AP

Next up, Carolina, who comes to D.C. for tonight's game after pasting the Pens last night. Hopefully they're primed for a bit of a let down... and hopefully the Caps aren't.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Mike Comrie (2G, including the game-winner, 2A, +2)
  
• Ross: Mike Comrie, Rick Nash (4 points each)
  
• Norris: Sergei Zubov (G, A, +1)
  
• Vezina: Pascal Leclaire (28-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Mike Comrie, Eric Staal, Rick Nash, Jeremy Roenick (2G each)
  
• Calder: Bryan Little (G, +1, 3 SOG)
  
• Aiken: Ryan Miller (L, 6 goals allowed on 34 shots against)
  

Kozlov, Others Skating In South Beach

Earlier today, Tarik noted that many of the Caps veterans, a veteran former NHLer Cap and a rookie are back in town and working out at Kettler. Not listed among the vets was Viktor Kozlov, who is apparently skating down in Miami with a handful of Panthers and a couple of other NHLers, notably Roberto Luongo and Brendan Witt (recall that Kozlov spent parts of seven seasons with the Kitties).

I pass this news along not only because I know how much you care where Kozlov is spending his last few days before reporting to D.C., but because I found it interesting that Luongo would want to work out with what amounts to the team from which he more or less demanded to be traded and, for that matter, that they'd want him there. Apparently, though, there are no hard feelings - probably because the main reason Luongo is no longer a Panther is now in Calgary.

Coming Attraction?

Caps Sign Kozlov

Puck-moving defenseman? Check.

Scoring-line winger? Check. Russian, actually.

We'd been talking about Viktor Kozlov (for a while now, actually), and now it's official - he's a Cap.

Here are Spector's thoughts:

The Washington Capitals signed former NY Islanders forward Viktor Kozlov to a two-year, $5 million contract Sunday.

Having addressed the Capitals need for an offensive minded blueliner by signing Tom Poti earlier in the day, GM George McPhee hopes that Kozlov will provide a much-need boost to superstar Alexander Ovechkin’s line.

Kozlov had a career year in 2006-07 in goals (25) and tied his second-best career points total (51) with the Isles last season. He can play both center and wing, and McPhee likely has Kozlov targeted to center Ovechkin’s line.

It won’t be the first time that Russian-born Kozlov’s rode shotgun on a line with a superstar countryman, having done so in Florida earlier in this decade with Pavel Bure, and McPhee will be hoping Kozlov will have similar chemistry with Ovechkin. He’s also one of the most lethal breakaway scorers around and has proven invaluable in shoot-out situations with his deceptively quick scoring touch.

It could be a gamble putting Kozlov at center as he’s more comfortable on the wing, and despite his obvious talent he’s a streaky scorer that always seems to leave fans wanting more.

Still, McPhee was operating under a tighter budget than most general manager this summer, and still has other gaps to fill on his roster. Kozlov at $2.5 million per season isn’t a bad pickup, and who knows, playing with Ovechkin might give his game a level of consistency that’s been lacking throughout his career.

I'm not sure that I agree that McPhee sees Kozlov as Ovechkin's center, but time (and free agency) will tell.

Viktor Kozlov Interview With Sport-Ekspress

Viktor Kozlov is set to become a free agent on Sunday, and has shared some of his thoughts with Russia's Sport-Ekspress (translation via Google).

According to Kozlov, the NHL clubs who have shown an interest so far in acquiring his services are Florida, Washington, Philadelphia, Carolina and Phoenix. His preference?

Good options, Washington and Florida.

You'll recall, of course, that Kozlov and Alex Ovechkin played on a line together (with Alexei Yashin) back in Turin in the Winter of '06.

And how will Viktor choose amongst his many suitors?

The financial part of the contract when choosing a club, perhaps the most important.

Refreshingly honest, at least.