Photo credit: Clyde Caplan

With Eric Fehr sidelined due to an upper-body-but-definitely-not-shoulder injury, Wojtek Wolski made his return to active duty in Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to the Islanders. For Wolski, who had been scratched since March 12th, it should have been an opportunity to re-establish himself as a contributing member of the Capitals squad.

That didn’t happen. Wolski made no impression of any kind– probably because he got under 7 minutes of ice. That’s not a lot for Washington’s second best possession forward. So what gives?

Wolksi played 6:51 in 9 shifts– just two of them in the third period, and none in the game’s final 10 minutes. That shouldn’t be surprising for a fourth liner, but we can’t let ourselves think that this was a real opportunity for Wolski to prove himself. Before Tuesday, Wolski had been averaging closer to 15 minutes on ice per game. And of those 9 shifts, all but one were made on the fly. Wolski saw just one faceoff, surprisingly in the offensive zone.

I understand that Wolski is a cheap contract (just $600k this season) and that his career has been pocked by injury, but he’s undeniably a talented a player. There is compelling evidence that he tilts the ice in his team’s favor whenever he’s on ice. But for some reason, Coach Adam Oates does not play him. It took an injury to Eric Fehr, the Caps’ third best possession forward, for Wolski to even crack the lineup. And when Wolski’s actually in play, he doesn’t get the time or deployment necessary to do what he does best.

Wolski’s shot-attempt differential was plus-4 on Tuesday. His goal differential was plus-1. He didn’t get an assist on Ribeiro’s goal, but I want you to take a look at it anyway.

Wolski crashed the net. Brouwer set up Ribeiro, and Ribeiro obviously did a great job scoring, but Wolksi was the one up in Nabokov’s grill, putting his stick on the ice for a rebound, and drawing away the defender who would have otherwise blocked Ribs’ shot. They don’t hand out assists for that kind of play, but it sure as hell matters.

Well, maybe not to Adam Oates, who gave Wolski less than 2 minutes of ice-time after that goal.

Wolski isn’t dead. This is just how he celebrates goals. (Photo credit: Alex Brandon)

Wojtek Wolski was playing first-line left wing when he scored a third period goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. It was February 1. He would take 35 days to notch his next tally, which came during Tuesday’s overtime win over Boston. Wolski scored another goal less than 48 hours later– at the beginning of the Washington’s 7-1 rout of the Florida Panthers.

“It’s the fun part of hockey,” Wolski said of his recent goals. “I had so many chances in the last little while, and they weren’t going in, and we weren’t scoring, and we were losing. It’s tough, it’s frustrating. When it turns the other way and the hard work pays off, it’s reassuring. I’m really happy about it.”

In the month between goals, Wolski went from the first line to the third before finally becoming a healthy scratch against the Winnipeg Jets on March 2 — after the Caps picked up Aaron Volpatti. Volpatti’s acquisition illustrated the demise of Wolski, brought in to be a top-six winger in the offseason. A one-time 20-goal scorer with the Colorado Avalanche, Wolski has bounced around the last few years and is now serving on his fourth team since 2011. The Caps hoped another change of scenery could jumpstart the skilled winger. That, however, didn’t happen. In 19 games before Tuesday, Wolski has just two goals. He found his way into the lineup against the Bruins only because Troy Brouwer fell ill. The Polish-born player’s prospects looked like they would dim even more once  Marcus Johansson and Brooks Laich return from injury. Head coach Adam Oates said he wasn’t just concerned with the lack of production on the scoresheet, but rather the fact that Wolski was playing poorly in all facets of the game.

But thanks to Brouwer’s stomach bug, Wolski found a way to get back into Oates’s good graces. He scored a key goal to tie the game late in the third period against the Bruins and kept it up with the second goal of Washington’s crazy opening scoring flurry.

“It’s great,” Wolski said of the terms offensive explosion. “We’ve started playing really well. We’re sticking to our system, I think it’s creating a lot of chances.”

Just over three minutes in Thursday’s game against his former team the Panthers, Wolski took a pass behind the goal line from Mathieu Perreault, firing a quick wraparound. Florida goalie Jacob Markstrom wasn’t ready — for either the shot or the game. Both teams seemed shocked the puck went in, instead looking for a rebound. Wolski doubled his goal output in less than 10 minutes of play. He threw his arms up as he fell to the ice, pushed down by a Panthers defender. Later in the game, he added his 7th and 8th points of the season.

“It was kind of a surprise,” Oates told me with a laugh. “No one in the building knew it was in!”

“I don’t care about the production,” the coach added. “I think if a guy plays good hockey that it will happen — and I think he’s played better.”

Wolski’s poor production — at least up until this week — has been maligned during his time here. Some of that is unfair. Wolski hasn’t contributed top-six numbers, but he probably shouldn’t have been expected to. Wolski has scored just 16 goals his last two years in the NHL. He tallied just four last year. That fact that Matt Hendricks has now taken over the spot he once had on the first line shows how little depth the Caps have in the top-six. If Wolski can find his game, that could go towards alleviating what has arguably been their biggest problem.

“That’s part of the NHL,” Mike Ribeiro said of Wolski’s resurgence. “A lot of times you wait and wait, and when you have your chance you need to take it because those chances don’t come too often. Every time you score your confidence comes back a little bit more. It’s nice to see. We need everyone to win games. If everyone can chip in it makes the game easier for everyone else.”

Let’s hope there’s less of this:

GIF by welshhockeyfan

And more of this:

Kevin Dineen needed more than a timeout tonight. (GIF by welshhockeyfan)

The Florida Panthers opened tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals with four straight shots on Braden Holtby in the first 1:44 of game action. They looked sharp. They looked ready to get out of the Southeast division cellar. The wheels fell off 24 seconds later.

As John Erskine wound up from the Panthers’ blue line — in what he would later admit was just a dump-and-change — Florida’s starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom mis-judged Erskine’s blast and allowed the puck to squeak through his seven-hole. 1-0 Caps.

2:36 later, the Capitals would score on their very next shot, as Markstrom was caught off guard by Wojtek Wolski‘s strong net crash. Enter Scott Clemmensen.

Clemmensen gave up two more goals — one to John Carlson and another to Mike Ribeiro — in the next six shots. The Capitals received a standing ovation and headed into intermission with a 4-0 lead, their biggest goal explosion this season.

“I don’t know what to say,” Markstrom told reporters after the game. “It was terrible. I feel like I let the team down. I am there to stop pucks, and I didn’t do that tonight.”

The Capitals beat the Panthers 7-1.

Now enjoy fun facts from the first period –plus video of all  four goals.

First Period Facts

8 – The number of shots it took for the Capitals to get their first four goals of the game, a 50% shooting percentage.

10 – The number of different Capitals skaters who recorded a point in the first period (Erskine, Ovechkin, Ribeiro, Wolski, Backstrom, Brouwer, Hendricks, Oleksy, Carlson, Perreault).

190 – The number of seconds Jacob Markstrom would last in net for the Panthers.

8:10 – The amount of time that elapsed until Kevin Dineen took a timeout.

3 – The number of times Calle Johansson described the team’s 4-0 lead as “tough” during an intermission interview with Al Koken.

100% – The shooting percentage of Erskine, Wolski, Carlson, and Ribeiro at the end of the period.

0% – Markstrom’s save percentage for the night.

2 – The number of points Alex Ovechkin got in the first period. He is now one short of 700 for his career.

10 – The number of shifts Caps rookie defenseman Steve Oleksy played (8:56) in the first period, a game-high.

-3 – The plus-minus of Florida defensemen Tyson Strachan and Brian Campbell after the first twenty minutes.

148 – The total number of feet the puck traveled for the Capitals to score all four goals in the first period.

8 – The number of Panthers regulars that were out tonight due to injury.

5 – The number of times Alex Ovechkin’s fiancé Maria Kirilenko tweeted during the first period. Including this photo showing how and where she was watching the game.

John Erskine’s Goal

Wojtek Wolski’s Goal

John Carlson’s Goal

Mike Ribeiro’s Goal

Photo credit: Greg Fiume

The Washington Capitals just freaking obliterated the Florida Panthers. I don’t know how else to say it. Any flowery language would make the point less elegant: this was a thrashing. One of these teams is the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the other one is the Washington Capitals.

We learned that early, as John Erskine’s muffinly dump-in baffled Jacob Markstrom. We were reminded soon after– when Wojtek Wolski caught a Steve Oleksy pass and made it 2-0 on the Caps’ second shot. That was enough for Markstrom, who got the hook in favor of Scott Clemmensen, who promptly gave up two more goals on the Caps’ next four shots– one from Carlson, one from Ribeiro.

That was all in the game’s first 10 minutes. I could go on, but you get the idea. This was all Caps. Even when the shooting slowed, Braden Holtby was so on top of his game that this was never really a contest.

Caps beat Panthers 7-1.

• Braden Aloysius Goshdarn Holtby. A stinker in the season’s first ten games, he’s been truly elite since. I don’t know how long it’ll be until we find out if he lives up to the hype, but I– and the Capitals defense– are certainly enjoying the wait. Even without the shutout, Holtby had a gorgeous 29-save night.
• Serious stuff: Jason Chimera took a dirty hit from Tyson Strachan in the second period. It was a blindside elbow to the head, and it should earn Strachan a three or four game break from pro hockey. He should prefer that over my recommended punishment, which involves him dying in a fire. This was supposed to be Chimera’s night, dammit. Chimera returned to the ice after the hit, although did show signs of wooziness, which is actually a word according to my autocorrect.

• The flu is ravaging Kettler, but that’s nothing compared to the Florida Panthers, who had 8 dudes on their roster scuffed up in way or another.
• After a three-point night in which he was strong at both ends of the ice, Alex Ovechkin now has 699 career points. So this weekend should be fun.
• John  Erskine reported that his opening goal wasn’t even supposed to be a shot– he was just dumping the puck in for a line change. Proof positive of the old maxim: shoot early and often. Erskine is one goal off his career best.
• Three-point game for Wojtek Wolsi, whom a lot of you thought was a chump. Penitence now accepted in the comments section.
• Chalk up another one for Eric Fehr. He’s got 4 points in the last three games and deserves every bit of credit he’s been given for it. Fehr worked through what many considered a career-ending injury, and is now so much more than just a good “character guy” for the locker room. He’s been a point-per-game player since getting promoted from the checking lines.
• Time for the Mike Ribeiro faceoff check-in: 3 for 7.  That’s an improvement!
• Matt Hendricks was denied a third period goal– a greasy kick that would have given the Caps a full-on touchdown. Hendyface status: teh sads
• Matthieu Perreault’s 7-spot was a thing of beauty.

Joe B suit of the night

So pretty much everything is going right for the Caps right now, which makes sense after the way this season started. They’re firing more pucks, asserting themselves in the possession game, but most of all — the Holtbeast in net. The team needed this run so very badly, and now they’ve got it. The question is what happens now.

We’ve got two games coming up this weekend. Can the Caps keep it up? Will Alex join the 700 club? Will Michal Neuvirth get over the flu and take his net back?

I have no answers, but I’m genuinely excited to find out.

Go Caps.

@ngreenberg You shithead

— RMNB (@russianmachine) March 8, 2013

Hockey is brutal. Mike Green has missed 83 games due to injury over the past two seasons. He’s missed time because of groin, ankle, and concussion issues. Caps fans have called him soft over the years, but Sunday against the Penguins, Green showed how tough he really is.

After taking a big check from Kris Letang and crashing shoulder-first into the boards, Green picked himself up off the ice. He skated towards the bench to get looked over by the trainer, but then Green saw his teammates gain possession of the puck in the corner and instead stopped at the slot. Wojtek Wolski hit him with a beautiful cross-ice pass and Green scored on his former teammate Tomas Vokoun.

Video below the jump.

After the goal, Green — grimacing on the bench — got checked out by the trainer. He did not miss a single shift. He skated 8:41 in the first period, second among all Caps skaters.

And this is why hockey is the greatest.

Adam Oates talks to Ovi during practice on Saturday. (Photos by Chris Gordon)

Alex Ovechkin has become a one-dimensional player. Once the league’s most creative and premier scorer, Ovi has been stymied by his apparent unwillingness to change — at least so far. His struggles at right wing in the first three games this season demonstrated that much. After just eight periods, the exercise ended. Ovi was back at left wing.

Ovi’s switch has been the story of the season so far for the Caps. But not everybody thinks it should be.

“Are we talking about Ovi again? That’s bulls—t,” forward Troy Brouwer told me when asked about Ovechkin’s play this season.

“It shouldn’t be difficult,” Brouwer said. “He’s a right handed shot, he should be able to play right wing. It should be hard to play your off wing.”

Adam Oates, named head coach of the Washington Capitals last summer, made the correct move, I think, to switch Ovechkin from left wing — a position he has played almost his entire career — to the right side. He had become too predictable. Everyone knew his moves. They had seen them countless times before: skate down the left wall on a rush, attempt to use the defenseman as a screen, usually fail. Tell me if that sounds familiar.

With four games in the book, this is now the longest Ovechkin has gone at beginning of a season without scoring a goal.

“Of course it’s tough,” Ovi said. “Of course I want to see my name on the score list.”

Ovechkin used to be able to score 50, 60, maybe 65 goals in a season. Until two years ago he was consistently tallying around 110 points during the regular season. But the last couple of years there has been some question as to whether Ovechkin could score 30 goals. In 78 games last year, Ovechkin registered 65 points, by far the lowest total of his career. That is mostly do to age. Players are in their prime during the early- to mid-20s. Ovi is past that. And it’s not his fault. You can’t expect a guy to score 50 goals the rest of his life.

Some blame, though, does falls on Ovi. He has used his familiarity with the left side as crutch. He tries the same moves over and over because he doesn’t seem to know what else to do. He often doesn’t forecheck. He rarely goes hard to the net. He waits for rushes and tries to beat the defender. But Ovi isn’t the same player he used to be. He’s a step slower, as you’d expect him to be now that he’s 27-years-old. To be more effective, Ovi needs to become a more dynamic player.

Oates seems to recognize this. At the beginning of the season, the new coach switched Ovechkin from left wing to right wing, something he did with Ilya Kovalchuk last season as an assistant coach in New Jersey.

But when forced to change up his looks after being moved to the right side, Ovi responded by sometimes not even playing on the right. He instinctively moved to left wing. As we said earlier this week, it’s kind of like a third basemen in baseball being switched to first base, and then going out to third base every inning because he’s used to it.

“Every player has their preference on whether they want to play on the left or right,” said Brouwer. “The coach is going to chose which side you’re going to be on.”

Some growing pains are to be expected when a player switches positions. But Ovi didn’t just drift over to the wrong spot every now and then. A large portion of his ice time was spent playing the opposite position.

At Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Saturday, Oates dismissed the idea of that Ovi’s floating was a significant issue.

“Even in our system you’re going to end up on your opposite side,” he said. “For him [playing] on the left wing, it’s just what he’s used to.”

Ovi’s drifting has, however, led to some calamitous results. During the Capitals’ scrimmage against the ECHL’s Reading Royals last Tuesday, Ovechkin slammed into Marcus Johansson while entering the offensive zone. Johansson was in the correct place on the left side of the ice. Ovechkin was not.

It was the same story during Washington’s 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. Ovechkin picked up the puck as he crossed the blueline. Instead of going to his right, he went to his left. Another collision, this time with Wojtek Wolski, ensued.

Plays like that throw the whole line out of whack. When Ovechkin vacated the right side, it forced his center, Nicklas Backstrom, or whichever player happened to be playing first line left wing that night, to cover for him. It was impossible to set up a goal when none of the forwards were playing the correct position.

“He’s been playing on the left wing for a long time, and it’s different to play the other side,” Johansson said when asked about Ovi’s issues. “I can’t answer for him.”

Because of these struggles, Oates had to try something new. While the coach still appears committed to switching Ovi over to the right wing in the long run, letting mishaps like that continue would leave the Caps in a deep hole. So on Friday night against the Devils, Ovi was back to left wing, only this time it was Jay Beagle as his center and Joey Crabb on the right.

For Ovi this was a demotion. Though the trio wore the red first line sweaters during practice Saturday, Oates acknowledged after the Devils game that he “wouldn’t call it the first line.”

“I’m not going to try to change my game a whole lot — just keep working hard, grinding in the corners and getting pucks out, and hard on the forecheck,” Crabb said of playing with Ovechkin. “Hopefully that helps him out.”

Putting one of the league’s most famous players with two guys who make one tenth of Ovechkin’s yearly salary seems like a ridiculous move on its face, but it isn’t hard to speculate what Oates might have been thinking. Playing with two grinders gets Ovi out of his comfort zone and forces him to play actual hockey, not just skate up the ice with the puck and fire off a shot sometimes.

“I think every guy’s got to learn to do everything in the game and Ovi’s no different,” Oates told me when asked if he was trying to make Ovi less reliant on scoring on the rush and encourage him to forecheck more instead. “He’s one of the 12 forwards.”

Oates added that he was looking for “plays that allow our team to play like a team.”

Through four games this season, Alex Ovechkin has just one point. He has often looked completely lost on the ice. As the captain of the Washington Capitals — and as a guy with a cap hit of $9.5 million — he needs find a fix for whatever is bothering him. Whether he’s the first-line right winger or a third-line left winger, Ovi must produce.

Photo credit: Rob Carr

Coming into the season, Washington Capitals Head Coach Adam Oates had a bold idea. After studying countless hours of film during the lockout, the Hall of Fame player saw that Alex Ovechkin had become too predictable off the left wing and that opposing team’s defensemen had figured him out. So Oates asked the Russian Machine to try playing on the right wing, hoping that it would spur creativity and give Ovechkin more open ice.

“I think it balances his game out and gives him the opportunity to get more pucks on both sides of the ice,” Oates said after the Caps’ 6-3 loss to Tampa, according to CSN’s Chuck Gormley. “I watched him in the past and I know his spot and I know where he loves [to shoot] and I’m not taking that away. We’re just trying to add and get him more touches.”

Three games into the new season, Ovechkin has scored no goals and at times has looked lost. Really lost.

Take, for example, the Capitals scrimmage against their ECHL affiliate the Reading Royals during training camp. In the first period of the game while trying to enter the offensive zone, Ovechkin brutally collided with Marcus Johansson, bloodying his own chin. It was Ovechkin, rather than Johansson, who was on the wrong side. It’s akin to a third basemen switching to first base — and then continuing to go to third base every inning.

Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, nearly the identical play occurred. As Ovi takes a drop pass and skated the puck towards the Habs offensive zone, he crashes into Wojtek Wolski, who is toeing the blueline. Ovechkin appears to not even see Wolski as he tries to take the puck into the zone on the left side.

GIF by welshhockeyfan

In an attempt to jump-start the captain, Oates moved Ovechkin temporarily back to the left wing in the third period. The 27-year-old had zero even-strength shots in the game’s final twenty minutes.

“I still think he should be a right winger, but I also want him to be happy and get something out of his game,” Oates said of the move. “It was more trying to get a spark for him and get him going.”

Let’s hope it clicks soon, or this lockout-shortened season will become a lost one.

Additional reporting by Chris Gordon.

Oy. (Photo credit: Patrick McDermott)

[Editor's note: With RMNB's Peter Hassett out in California for the week, the PuckBuddys recap the latest Caps loss.]

Sometimes, platitudes are the only comfort we have. Like “Third time’s a charm!”  Or “All in to win!” Or “Shomer f—-n shabbos!” Yeah, like that.

Be real. We went into this game feeling queasy; like Taco Bell Doritos Volcano Nachos queasy. Walking into Verizon we were already outscored two-to-one in the first two games; an unappealing start. Some pointed fingers at Coach Adam Oates‘ inability to instill discipline. (Those worries may have been answered by Oates’ curious decision to bench Marcus Johansson and Matthieu Perreault, and then re-start Matty.) Some demurred that the team is still learning a new coach and new style, and we’re willing to go some distance here. A few fickle fingers pointed at under-production by Ovi, Holtby, Greenie, Carlson…

Enough. Tonight brought one hard answer: the Capitals aren’t firing.

The first frame saw some testing on both sides of the other’s defense. Good efforts by Green, Backstrom and Ribeiro, and a surprising amount of icing from Montreal. Michal Neuvirth made several great saves (a few too close,) and we were hopeful with Nicky’s late flick to Wojtek Wolski until Ovi spoiled that. The PPs yielded nada, leaving both teams relatively balanced both offensively and defensively (though the Habs lead with hits.)

Second period: oh crap, 5 on 3? Ovi and Brouwer leave the Caps naked, yet Beags and Carlson, while never clearing it out, keep the Caps alive. Then with only :04 in the first PP, Plekanec cracks one in (with Markov on the assist) bumping the Habs up 1-0. Moments later, Andrei Markov (with Pacioretty) snaps one over Neuvy’s shoulder bringing the Canadiens up 2-o. Oxygen slowly leaving Verizon. Can it get worse? Yes. Rene Bourque sails it down the side and snaps it to Brian Gionta, who knocks it past Neuvy, tippling the score at 3-o. You want more? Francis Bouillon, on assist from Josh Gorges, blows one past a clueless Neuvy; Habs go up 4-0, Caps fans register their displeasure.

Third quarter squishes out with pretty much everyone in the wrong spot at the right time. Shots still favoring the Caps, although you’d never know that. Time dribbles by, our RMNB editors suggest a game recap isn’t even worthwhile. We soldier on, as does Matt Hendricks. At least someone’s trying. So is Beags to Chimera to Joey Crabb! Well at least John Carlson’s hair won’t get shutout, even though he’ll get one last penalty.

SCORE: Canadiens 4, Capitals 1

• Circus of the Stars: It’s not a perfect measure, and we’re sure someone (all of you) out there will get all up in our grill about this, but this game saw better performance by those who are supposed to perform. By that we mean the stars: Greenie, Alzner, Carlson, and our newest star, Tom Poti. Of course, performance ultimately means winning, and what we’re seeing so far is more appropos of the Washington Generals. Leading to….
• It’s Not All First: These last three games the Caps have performed generally well in the 1st, actually scoring and defending. We’ve seen deflation in the second, and belated rebound in the third, too late. So, let’s shoot more in the second and third, and defend better.  In fact the Caps have spent far and away the majority of their time on the ice trailing. So that means…
• Rebound Nobound: It’s easy to say, and hard to do; we get that. But we’re seeing too many one-shot runs at the goal. Ovi, Green and Ribeiro seemed to work it hard, but we’re just not working well on second effort. We’re trying to be kind here, people.
• Mains Tied Behind Our Arrière: The Capitals roster hosts some of the most talented hockey players alive. What is going on that we have our hands tied behind our backs? Penalties have been pummeling us – just about every time we get one of our guys on the bench the other guys sink the puck. Of course it’s not time to…
• PANIC! FIRE EVERYONE! FIRE BOUDREAU AGAIN IF IT HELPS!  Oops.
• Honk Honk Honk: So hurrah, Horn Guy is back home, and the crowd rallied. The fans are ready for better. Better yet:
• RMNB Rules: So here’s something to honk about – Fedor Fedin‘s analysis was cited in the CSN pre-show AND Joe B. quoted Olie Kolzig who was quoted in Ian’s post on Neuvy’s new goalie mask. Hey, victory where we can find it, right?
• Hero: Adam Oates is a bona fide hero. Hero play maker on assists, hero turn remaking the Bolts and Devs, freakin’ here Hall of Fame inductee. So OK, we said that. It’s unfortunate he need to figure out being top coach in an abbreviated season. But that’s what he needs to do. Be a hero once more, Mr. Oates.

What Did We Learn Tonight? (WDWLT): Well we hate to say this, but Neuvy is streaky. Offense is halting. Defense is filled with holes. In short, the team does not look good. Paraphrasing the newly-signed Flyer Mike Knuble from last year, the Caps are “…playing like clowns and losers.” Oof. They don’t need us to say that: it’s obvious. So guys, stop playing like that. That’s what we learned. Oh, and maybe Sasha was actually important for the Caps chemistry. Something’s obviously missing; unless someone can give us something better, we’re saying it’s Sasha.

Joe B suit of the night

What’s Next?: Stimulating Newark!  Home of hairspray, hopelessness and the Devils! (And haha, yes we know Newark is in New Jersey, even if we were but a bit confuzled about the exact Province of the Black Pit of Winnipeg.) We’ve said before that our biggest worries this season for the entire conference exist in our Southeast Division – looking at you Tampa and Carolina. But that said, the Devs are among out greatest threats in the entire conference. Patrick Elias, Ilya Kovalchuk – even old goat Martin Brodeur.

Repeat after us: the season isn’t over. The season isn’t over. The season isn’t over.

And remember – this isn’t our fault. Although we think our RMNB masters are beginning to re-think asking us to write the recaps.

Photo credit: Scott Audette

Welcome back, everybody! After 250+ days, we’ve finally got new Capitals hockey to watch and kinda enjoy. I say kinda because these Capitals, whom those not dissuaded by cliché might call the new-look Caps, didn’t have their act together on Saturday. Opening the season in Tampa, the Capitals had troubles with even-strength offense and all kinds of special-teams stuff.

Eric Brewer scored the first anti-Caps goal of the year with an outside shot that caught Holtby screened by his own defenders. Joel Ward tied it up with a first-period powerplay goal assisted by Tom “Iron Groin” Poti. That tie was shortlived, as Vincent Lecavalier exploited a defensive breakdown by Holtby & co. to score an easy one.

Joel Ward recorded a second goal to tie the game early in the second period, but Martin St. Louis restored the Tampa lead with a powerplay sweep-in a few minutes later. Wojtek Wolski ingratiated himself to Caps fans with a crucial four-on-four goal late in the second, knocking a rebound past Anders Lindbäck.

Martin St. Louis got his second of the night, a heartbreaking  shot from outside during a third-period 5 on 3. Cory Conacher scored the first goal of his career, also the night’s proverbial dagger, on a 3-on-1 breakaway. Ryan Malone scored on the powerplay to make it painfully obvious that the Caps were gonna lose.

Bolts beat Caps 6-3.

• The good news: Tom Poti, just now returned from extended injury, recorded an assist in his first game back in the bigs. Poti had limited service since Oates dressed seven defenders, but I’d say it was a successful outing for the guy, who last played NHL hockey against Tampa two seasons ago (Poti had the team’s best plus-minus that postseason, btw).
• The bad news: special teams, in general. The Caps had plenty of opportunities with a man-advantage, but converted on just one. On the other hand, they allowed Tampa to score three powerplay goals.
• After much discussion, Alex Ovechkin actually served on the penalty kill. I think this is a wretched idea. We need Ovechkin optimized, not comprimised. I agree he needs more ice time, but I want that ice time spent in the offensive zone. Ovi needs to take more faceoffs in the offensive zone during even-strength and see fewer circumstances that ask him to block shots with his goal-scoring bones.
• We now have anecdotal evidence that Joel Ward was not used effectively last season. In a modest amount of ice time, Ward record two goals, one-third of his 2011-2012 total. If Saturday was disappointing overall, Ward’s performance should give us some degree of hope.
• New guy Jack Hillen took a bad hit behind the net from Tampa creep Vincent Lecavalier. The hit reminded me of the Brian Campbell-Alex Ovechkin hit a few years ago that led to one fractured clavicle and one suspension. Here’s hoping Hillen fares better than Campbell.
• Braden Holtby fell to earth as we knew he would eventually. Holtby surrendered a goal on the first shot of the night and stopped just 9 of 12 at even strength. He needs to be better, but that’s true of the whole team. Delay panic.
• Alex Ovechkin got busted for embellishment in the second period, and I think it was the right call. Ovi has a bad habit of appealing to the refs with a bit too much melodrama. It’s one small piece of his game I’d rather see gone.
• On the other hand, the hard-hitting side of Alex Ovechkin will always be appreciated.
• Wojtek Wolksi made his presence known in his first game in a Capitals sweater. Wolski’s goal changed the complexion of the game, and his intermission interview introduced us to a thoughtful, articulate player. I really think some big top-six minutes will pay dividends.
• Martin St. Louis : Washington :: Knuble : Pittsburgh.

Joe B suit of the night

Game one of an abbreviated 48-game campaign is in the books. The lesson, in short: The Caps still have a lot of work to do. At even-strength, on the power play, while a man down, the Caps are not yet at the performance level we need them at. And considering this season is more of a sprint than a marathon, there is no shortage of motivation for them to get their acts together.

Adam Oates is a smart guy, and this is a talented hockey team. I think they’ll get it done. What do you think?

On a personal note, thanks for coming back to RMNB for another season of hockey jokes and more hockey jokes. I fully intend to write about games that are won, and those might be kinda funny. So stick with us. We’re in it together now.

Photo credit: Chris Gordon

Me neither.

Since the Caps last played hockey– sometime during the Medieval Warm Period, they’ve lost a few guys. Alex Semin left via free agency for Carolina, Mike Knuble returned to the exotic beauty of Michigan, Tomas Vokoun made a pit stop in Breezewood before heading up to Pittsburgh, and Dennis Wideman got such a ludicrous and undeserved payday in Calgary that you’d think he had left congress to start lobbying for the MPAA.

You’re gonna see some new faces on Saturday night, so here’s a quick refresher on the additions the Capitals made just before the lockout sucked the last ounce of joy out of the universe.

Mike Ribeiro, #9, Center

The fabled second-line center. Ribeiro comes to the Caps from Dallas, where he was a star in both name and deed. We can expect the man whom Oates mistook for a rapper (is it the chain?) to anchor a line in the top six, where he will be expected to reinvigorate the Caps offense. I’m really worried I’m gonna spell his name wrong (e before i, e before i).

Read RMNB coverage of Mike Ribeiro

Wotjek Wolski #17, Left Wing

Let’s start with this: pronounce the Ws like Vs. Wolski did some cool stuff in Colorado, but he kinda washed out in New York and Florida. He’s had some abdominal or groin injury that cost him a chance at a big contract, allowing George McPhee so snatch him up cheap. Wolski is playing on a one-year, $600k– making him a low-risk/decent-reward gamble. I think we will see Wolski do some great things — but only if he’s getting a chance in the top six.

Read RMNB coverage of Wojtek Wolski

Joey Crabb #15, Right Wing

I think I’m in the minority here, but I like the Joey Crabb signing. Crabb is a grinder, a responsible shutdown forward who could free up guys like Joel Ward to do more offensive production. But it’s not all smiles and sunshine; I think I speak for all of us in expressing my existential dread at the forthcoming puns coming out of Adam Vingan’s twitter feed.

Read RMNB coverage of Joey Crabb

Jack Hillen #38, Defense

Hillen did not get a qualifying offer from Nashville, and so George McPhee plucked the defender from the purifying waters of Lake Minnetonka. A few weeks ago, Hillen seemed like a crucial addition to the Caps’ defensive depth, but if Tom “Iron Groin” Poti is truly in good health, Hillen could be riding the pine for a bit. That’s a good thing.

Read RMNB coverage of Jack Hillen

What are your expectations for these guys? And what kind of awful puns will Adam drop on us this year?