TRUE BELIEVERS! Caps beat Sens 3-2

On December 19, 2010, In Game Recap, By Peter Hassett

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Group hug for Fehrsie! (Photo credit: Andre Ringuette)

The Capitals have ended their eight-game losing streak. Just take a moment to process that. Go ahead, put that dumb old grin on your face. We’ll wait.

…

There you go. Feel better? Me too!

The Sunday night tussle between the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals had no shortage of extra meaning. The team’s mental state and possibly even careers hung in the balance. Game on.

Ottawa’s Ryan Shannon delivered a bang-bang puck over Neuvy’s left side to make it 1-0. Chris Kelly plopped in a pass from Chris Neil to give the Senators a two-goal lead in the first period. The Capitals could have deflated at that first intermission like usual, but they returned for the second ready to do work, son. Mathieu Perreault waited all of 34 seconds to score the Caps’ first goal, an ugly one. Eric Fehr allowed almost an entire minute to elapse before recording the second, also ugly. A powerplay opportunity found Perreault scoring again with another homely tally. The Caps held off a late-game man advantage to snap the slump: Caps beat Sens 3-2.

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Capitals’ Winter Classic Gear in Action

On December 19, 2010, In Guest Post, Photos, Winter Classic, By Russian Machine Never Breaks

RMNB Varly Mask (2 of 6)

Editor’s note: Chris Gordon of Caps Snaps once again provides the hook-up. This time it’s the Capitals new gear for the Winter Classic being used at practice. Enjoy! All photos are credited to Caps Snaps.

The Caps took the ice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Friday wearing some new digs. The players rocked their Winter Classic uniforms during a hard practice before the team flew to Boston.

The goalies had some something new to show, too: their brand new masks.

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How To Guarantee a Caps Win

On December 19, 2010, In Pregame, Statistical Analysis, By Neil Greenberg

mf8b6d5466cf05273a765eb28bf28db1aPhoto credit: Luis M. Alvarez

If you’re like me, you’ve tried everything. Not shaving. Wearing the same clothes. Wearing different clothes. Eating weird foods. Anything that you did before the Caps stopped winning — now you’re doing the opposite. Yet, they’re still losing, and unfortunately not much is going to change unless Ovechkin’s line does one thing: convert on every fourth scoring chance.

When the Great 8 is on the ice and the Caps convert on every fourth scoring chance, they are 6-0. When it falls under 25%, they have been 10-16. Take a look:

Scoring chance convert% W L W% Individual Pts per game
less than 25% 10 16 0.385 0.88
25% or more 6 0 1.000 1.67

Convert% is simply goals scored on chances when Ovechkin is on the ice.

I know this seems like a “duh” moment, since most Caps fans will tell you that “as Ovi goes so does the team,” but this isn’t just about Ovechkin. This is about Backstrom, Semin, Knuble, and anyone else who is on the ice with him. They need to get their heads out of their asses and get it done, at least on one out of every four of their chances.

Game on.

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