I Laich It Laich That! Caps Win 5th Straight in NYC: Capitals 5-3 Rangers

photo credit - Frank Franklin II - AP

In spite of the Capitals making a regular habit of giving up the first goal to the opposition, the Caps keep on rolling, this time beating the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden to take the NHL standings lead with 22 points. The Caps once again played a very solid game, but the nagging sloppy defencive play continues. Lately it always seems like its going to be a long night for the Caps, as they have given up the first goal 11 of the first 15 games played so far this season. Fortunately for the Caps it has not really mattered to much when it comes to wins vs losses. You almost get the feeling now that when the Caps give up the first goal, the "ahhh, we got em right where we want em!" I would almost even say that at times the Caps appear to play better, late in the game when they are down, or the game is tied. It certainly has appeared that way more often than not. While it doesn't necessarily feel as good as getting a lead in a game and keeping it for good, perhaps there is something to be said for being able to handle adversity and overcome it. I'm definitely liking that aspect.

photo credit - Nick Laham - Getty Images

Tonight the Caps relinquished the lead to the Rangers 3 different times in the game, finally pulling level for good mid way through the second period. The first period was a penalty filled affair with each team getting a power play tally and the Caps killing off an extended 5 on 3. There were a total of 28 minutes in penalties handed out to both teams, including a fighting major each to unlikely combatants Mike Green and Brandon Dubinsky for this nifty little bout, which we're going to call basically even, maybe the slight edge to Green:




Tonight the Caps got goals from where they have not been getting them of late, with Brooks Laich getting two, along with 1 each from Mike Knuble, who scored his first goal since Opening night, John Erskine, and Matt Hendricks. Both Alexander Semin and Green's 4 game goal scoring streaks came to and end tonight, but they were not held off the score sheet as Semin logged an assist and Green got 2 helpers. Alex Ovechkin also got on the scoring docket with an assist as well.

photo credit - Nick Laham - Getty Images

Somehow, even with the glaring defencive lapses, the Capitals are managing to find the offence they need night after night to keep putting 2 points on the board in the standings.  Michael Neuvirth made his first appearance since being yanked 2 games ago in the Caps 5-3 win at home Vs Boston after yielding 3 goals in just under 7 minutes, two of them less than 1 minute apart. Neuvirth once again got the W for the Caps, stopping 25 of 28 Rangers shots tonight.  Next up is another MUST WIN game when division rival, and the team you, the readers here voted as the biggest threat to the Caps in the southeast division this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning visits Verizon Center on Thursday night.

Amid Complaints, Death Threats, Fan Internet Wars... Caps Vs Pens Resumes In Pittsburgh Tonight

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Capitals lead series 2-1

The very much hyped NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, and thier respective Stars Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, thus far has lived up to all the hype, and then some. Replete with complaints from both sides, raging from accusations / allegations of cheating, to complaints about officiating, to whining from Penguins fans about the ticket sales tactics used by the Washington Capitals to limit sales as much as possible to Caps fans only, right down to a death threat against Washington's superstar winger, Alexander Ovechkin. The threat was discovered on the Penguins official message boards, and was reported to authorities in PA, as well as to both clubs, and to the NHL, all of which took the threat seriously, sparking more drama, which now includes police involvement, in this already dramatic series. The death threat, which as now been highly publicized on both the internet, and on local television news outlets in both cities, was apparently made by a 17 year old male from Chambersburg, PA. I will not post this persons name since he is a minor, but it has been posted on several news outlets websites. Police were investigating the thread, and have questioned the person, and confiscated the computer used to post the message. The threat, (pictured at left) which was posted was simply this:

"I'm killing Ovechkin. I'll go to jail. I don't care anymore."

The subsequent media frenzy has now sparked what could be dubbed an internet messagboard war between Caps and Pens fans. The Pens fans are apparently firing back by attempting to invade the Capitals Official Message Boards and look for questionable posts to report to authorities. There are multiple threads on both the Caps and Pens message boards regarding the subject. This has prompted the administrators of the Caps boards to close the boards to any new registrations until after the current playoff series is over. It has almost gotten comical at this point. Never a dull moment in this series thus far.

Now, onto the game. The Capitals will be looking to regain a 2 game lead in this best of 7 series once again tonight in Pittsburgh. The Caps who did not play very well in game 4, with the exception of goaltender Simeon Varlamov, will be looking to rebound and once again take control of this series. The Capitals, who have faced a spate of injuries, are once again making some lineup ajustments. The biggest news of the day was the Washington Capitals star forward Alexander Semin (pictured left) did not skate in this mornings practice. It is possible that he is nursing an injury, but there have been no outward signs of anything too serious. He was seen leaving Mellon Areana this morning, and appared to move just fine. Alexander Ovechkin seems to think he will be ok to play in tonights game. The Caps also made another lineup adjustmet today, returning defencemen Karl Alzner, and recalling forward Jay Beagle (pictured lower left) from thier AHL affiliate, Hershey Bears. It is unclear who Beagle will replace, but it appears there will be shakes ups throughout the Caps 4 foward lines. Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau is known for his willingness to change things up in the lineup if things do not go as planed for the Capitals. It will be interesting to see who gets in and who sits, and who is placed on what lines. The Capitals are already without the services of defencemen John Erskine, who did skate this morning but its still questionable for tonights game, and forward Eric Fehr. Erskine has not played since taking a hard shot to the leg in game one of this series. Eric Fehr has missed games 2 and 3 with an undisclosed upper body injury, and is likely to be out again tonight. It is unclear if Boudreau will use Beagle in tonights game, or if he will once again go with veteran forward Micael Nylander. Tyler Sloan has replaced Erskine in both games he has missed thus far, and presumably will be in the lineup again this evening. Here is Caps Washington Post beat writer, and author of the blog Capitals Insider, Tarik El-Basir in his video update from Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh:




If the Capitals hope to regain thier 2 game lead in this series, and afford themselves the opportunity to close things out on home ice Saturday night at Verizon Center, theyw ill need to play a much different game than they did in game three. The Caps will need to pick up thier speed, and have much more control of the puck. They will also need to keep themselved out of the pentalty box. In the last game, the Capitals recieved only two power plays to Pittsburgh's 7.
Personally I feel confident the Capitals will rebound tonight, and once again regain a commanding 2 game lead in this series. Off to prepare for watching tonights game!

LET'S GO CAPS! ! !

Series Shifts To Pittsburg For game 3.

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The Washington Capitals took advantage of home ice thus far in this series, winning both games at Verizon Center to take a 2-o series lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their Stanley Cup Playoff Eastern Conference semi final match up. Tonight, the series shifts up to the Igloo in steel town, amid a spate of activity from both clubs. From the Penguins side, the Penguins are now starting to complain more. This time about the Capitals tactics on face offs, setting picks and / or interfering with their players, and also about the curvature of Alex Ovechkin's stick. Concerns are being raised from multiple sources with the Penguins orgainsation.

On the Capitals side of things, the Caps are dealing with some injury issues. Apparently Eric Fehr did not skate this morning, and will not be in the line up for tonight's game. In his place will likely be NHL veteran and Caps center Michael Nylander, who has been a healthy scratch for the first two games of this series. John Erskine, who is nursing a lower body injury persumably from taking a hard shot to the leg in game one, will also likely sit out for the 2nd straghit game. Likely to be in his place will be either Karl Alzner, or Tyler Sloan, who made his first NHL playoff appearance in Monday nights game two victory, playing a great game and also picking up an assist on David Steckle's goal in the 2nd period.

The Caps beat writer, Tarik El-Bashir filed this video report covering both sides on his blog, Capitals Insider:


Thanks Tarik.

And so it continues tonight. The much hyped, epic battle of the NHL's two top superstars, Alex Ovechkin and Sydney Crosby once again takes center stage with the Capitals up by two games once again. As I am sure ALL Caps fans, both long time such as myself, and new alike, are now well aware of the Capitals playoff history Vs the Penguins. As I sated in this post, the Capitals have been up by two games on the Pens multiple times in the past, and just like the Rangers did when they were up 2-0 and 3-1 over the Caps last round, the Caps folded to lose the series. Tonight is an extremely important point in this series, and may just go a long way to show just how far the Caps have come, and just how different of a team these "new Caps" are compared to those great prennial playoff appearing, but also choking Caps teams of old. The Capitals must take some pages and some notes from the past, in order to look towards the future here. To win this game tonight would go along way in proving to themselves, and thier loyal fans, and the rest of the world that this Capitals team is not only as good as those of old, but is in fact better. It is my hope that after tonight, those old "choking dogs" ghosts that have plagued the Capitals for much of thier collective playoff career. From what I have seen thus far this playoff season, that little Journey song I was humming a while back, seems to be creaping into my thoughts more and more....


..."Don't stop, Believin"...

LET'S GO CAPS ! ! !