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)
  

Thursday Roundup/Gamenight: Habs @ Caps

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

I thought the loss of Sheldon Souray to Edmonton this past season was supposed to cripple the Canadiens' power play. Apparently, that wasn't the case, as the Habs have the second-best extra man unit in hockey and are clicking at a higher frequency than last year's top-ranked unit did.

That power-play efficiency (they have scored the second-most power-play goals in the League while giving up the second-fewest shorties) has made up for a poor penalty kill and a bad five-on-five ratio and has left Montreal with a 16-12-5 mark, good for sixth in the Eastern Conference.

The Habs have been a better team on the road (10-5-1) than at home (6-7-4), but haven't won in Washington on a Thursday since October 31, 1974 (take that, Elias Sports Bureau!), and traditionally have had a tough time around the holidays (thanks to ephperson for the link).

Alex Ovechkin has often said that the Habs' Andrei Markov is one of if not the toughest defenseman in the League for him to play against and the stats reflect that - there's no team in the Eastern Conference against whom AO has fewer goals (2) in his career than Montreal. But even if #8 doesn't solve #79 tonight, the Caps have shown recently that they have enough scoring depth to win. Let's hope that trend continues Thursday night at the VC.

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

On this date in 1981, Lou Franceschetti's first NHL goal proved to be a game-winner for the Caps in a 3-2 win over the Rangers.... Down on the farm, Derek Meluzio has a holiday-themed Q&A with Freddy Cassivi.... Vote Weagle.... Finally, Happy Birthday to former Cap Bill Clement, Clement Hands of Cement who turns 57 today but will never look as good as he did in this brilliant hockey card.

And now, your goofy picture of the day (with corresponding "must read" article, in case you missed it):

Photo: Washington Capitals

Got a witty caption? Let's hear it in the comments.

Update: Here's the video. Fantastic stuff.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Ryan Miller (W, 41 saves on 42 shots against)
  
• Ross: Niklas Kronwall (4 points)
  
• Norris: Niklas Kronwall (4A, +3, 2 SOG)
  
• Vezina: Ryan Miller (W, 41 saves on 42 shots against)
• Richard: Patrick Sharp, Robert Lang (2G each)
  
• Calder: Jonathan Toews (Short-handed A, +1, 63% faceoffs won)
  
• Aiken: Chris Mason (2 goals allowed on 2 shots against in just 5:23 of work)
  

Another Milestone: Boudreau's First NHL Loss

Photo: AP

Thursday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Rangers

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview - Official Game Thread]

So here we are at the start of another Caps season (number 32 - perhaps a good omen). Here's what the WaPo's got to say this morning, and here's the WTimes' take (along with a bonus feature on AO). But being opening night and all, I thought I'd go out on a limb and make some ridiculous predictions and projections. And away we go:

Record:

32 wins, 39 losses, 11 overtime losses (5th, Southeast Division)

Forwards:

Ovechkin, Alexander (53 goals, 54 assists)
Zubrus, Dainius (23, 35)
Semin, Alexander (22, 26)
Zednik, Richard (23, 22)
Pettinger, Matt (16, 20)
Sutherby, Brian (16, 17)
Clark, Chris (16, 20)
Laich, Brooks (11, 18)
Beech, Kris (8, 14)
Fata, Rico (8, 9)
Bradley, Matt (6, 9)
Fleischmann, Tomas (5, 9)
Brashear, Donald (6, 5)
Fehr, Eric (3, 6)
Klepis, Jakub (4, 5)
Gordon, Boyd (2, 3)

Defensemen:

Pothier, Brian (8, 28)
Clymer, Ben (9, 22)
Eminger, Steve (7, 19)
Heward, Jamie (8, 20)
Green, Mike (6, 16)
Muir, Bryan (7, 17)
Morrisonn, Shaonne (4, 14)
Erskine, John (2, 2)

Goalies:

Kolzig, Olie - 24 wins, 27 losses, 9 OTL, 3.07, .905
Johnson, Brent - 8 wins, 12 losses, 2 OTL, 3.15, .899

So there you have it. We'll revisit this in April and see just how far off I was.

Thread of the Day:

• Yelling "Oh" During The National Anthem: Yea or Nay?
  

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

• The Pens have been sold and they're staying in Pittsburgh. Sure they are.
• Speaking of the Pens, happy 41st birthday to Mario Lemieux. Speaking of great French-Canadian ex-players celebrating their 41st birthday today, happy happy to Patrick Roy (who can't hear our well-wishes because he's got his three Stanley Cup rings plugging his ears).
• For more pre-season predictions, head over to The Battle of Alberta where Colby Cosh has ten predictions for the upcoming season, including the gratuitous cheap shot of the day, "The Oilogosphere will band together to raise the price of a Porsche 930 Turbo and present it anonymously to Miikka Kiprusoff." Is it just me, or can you also not help yourself from singing "in the year two-thousand" between each item on the list?

Daily Awards

• Hart: Ryan Miller (32 saves on 34 shots against through OT and 3 saves on 3 shots against in shootout win)
  
• Ross: Dany Heatley, Patrick Eaves, Ray Whitney, Darryl Sydor, J.M. Liles (2 points each)
  
• Norris: Darryl Sydor (GWG, A, +2, 3 blocked shots)
  
• Vezina: Martin Gerber (W, 33 saves on 34 shots against - and the one goal was on penalty shot!)
  
• Richard: Several players tied with one goal
  
• Calder: Loui Eriksson (G, +1)
• Aiken: Brett Clark (-2, now on pace to be -164 for the season)