Freaking Ovi. Freaking Beagle.
The Capitals hadn’t played since Saturday; the Rangers played last night. And yet it was the Capitals– beset by injury– who looked slow and overwhelmed on Wednesday night. Down a goal, the Capitals made a big comeback effort in the third, but it got defused by the tiny guy in blue, so Washington lost to the new division leader.
In the first period, Nate Schmidt choked up the puck in neutral, opening up a shooting gallery that ended with Carl Hagelin’s goal. Ovi tied it up with an Ovi shot from the Ovi slot, but J.T. Miller put the Rags back up after a weird bounce on a clearing attempt. The Caps picked up the pace in the third but couldn’t crack Cam Talbot. Martin St. Louis delivered the dagger.
Rangers beat Caps 3-1.
Um. Alright. I guess let’s discuss this hockey game.
- It was chippy. Alex Ovechkin got called (rightfully) for an illegal check to the head. Jay Beagle got wiped out and left the game after a monster hit by Dan Girardi, which I think was clean, but it also hit Beagle’s head. Tom Wilson did his freight-train routine, and there were a bunch of penalties. All that would be fine if the Caps had the puck a lot.
- The Caps did not have the puck a lot. After an even first period, the Rangers– who were tired– began to outpace the Capitals– who were rested as hell. Just not a good effort from the guys in red until the third period, which I’ll talk about later.
- Maybe the missing guys were a factor? Brooks Orpik, devourer of tough minutes, and Mike Green, puck-moving dynamo, both missed the game to injury. That means Cam Schilling and Nate Schmidt got sweaters, and I have divergent opinions about that.
- Yes, Nate Schmidt‘s turnover precipitated Hagelin’s goal, but the Capitals frittered three chances to regain possession before the score. Other than that, Schmidt was a mixed bag, which is kinda what I’d expect from a young player back in the NHL for the first time in months.
I urge you to read Ian’s story about Trotz’s notes. Coaches are weird. I like it when they talk about tactics and conditioning and careful player development and moral courage, but when they do the slogan grab-bag stuff, it seems like a scam to me. “Maybe,” the coach thinks to himself, “if I put out the right combination of hollow maxims and cliched quips, the team will doubleplusgood!”- Jay Beagle played a couple shifts after that big hit from Girardi, but did not return for the third. Beagle was playing well before the Girardi hit, but I worry that returning even for a few shifts wasn’t wise. P.S. I don’t think the hit was dirty.
- The Capitals finally celebrated Adam Oates as part of the 40th anniversary. My thoughts on the matter below:
- I thought no Pierre McGuire would be an improvement, but Joe Micheletti– yech.
- Alex Ovechkin recorded number 45, the only Caps goal of the game. Part of that was Cam Talbot being good, more of it was Cam Talbot being lucky, and even more of it was the Capitals getting outplayed for 45 minute of hockey.
- The third period though, that was fun. The Capital dug themselves out of a deep shot deficit, Brooks Laich in particular. But there’s nothing you can do against a hot goalie, and Talbot was hot. It happens.
Guy Fieri and Barry Bonds photo of the nightmare
I don’t want to portray it as if this game wasn’t winnable just because the goalie was hot. That’s not correct. The Caps got outplayed for 2/3rds and change of this one, and they were still just one goal behind. That urgency we saw in the third period was stirring. If they could summon that in, say, the first period, this team could become good again.
One day off and then we’ve got the Stars on Friday. Let’s hope the Capitals can heal up and shape up. Then perhaps they will set the tone by being disciplined and firm and win some battles and feelin’ pretty.
