Capitals 3, Devils 1

New Jersey just isn’t the same team without Brodeur.  The goaltending wasn’t bad.  Clemmenson only gave up two goals (the third was an empty netter), but the NJ power play and penalty kill are falling.  They are both among the worst in the league.  Laich tipped in Ovie’s shot and Ovie added an empty netter (third consecutive game with a goal).  However, the big news is Kozlov got a point on an assist to Fleishmann.  Wow!  Kozlov got a point.  I guess he had his Wheaties for a change.  It was nice to see Flash get a goal as he has worked hard and made some nice passes over the past few games.  Flash has been playing well lately.  Maybe getting a contract and not worrying about being sent to Hershey has relaxed him?  Who knows, but his 5 goals are very welcome and hopefully 30 on the season would be very helpful from the forward.

Theo has 32 saves and looked very confident in the net.  He had a very nice save in the second period on Zach Parise.  The only goal he gave up was on a horrible change by the Caps who left him high and dry against Patrick Elias.  You can’t blame him on that one.  It cost him a shutout.  At least it didn’t cost them the game.  I fully expect Theo to be in net tonight against the Devils again.  I am sure Johnnie is not ready to play yet.

The big news is Semin not returning for the third period.  An upper body injury is all that has been reported, however Boudreau stated the he would probably play tonight.  Hmmmmmm.  We’ll see.  The latest news is they are going to wait and see what he is like in the warm-up.  I am sure they will err on the side of caution with this.  So, I don’t expect him to play.  If it is a shoulder and he gets banged into the glass he could be out a couple weeks instead of one game.  I am sure the Caps realize this.

Still no word on Federov.  Morrison appears to be getting closer to returning.  Nylander will play tonight and Theo is in goal.  I have no idea what the lines will be as the Semin situation needs to be resolved.  If he does not play, I wonder if the Caps will move Flash up to the first line?

Thoughts?

Capitals 5, Hurricanes 1

Wow!  What a phenomenal game!  The Caps made the Hurricanes look like a high school team in this game.  Ovie, Semin, and Backstrom had 12 points between them and only Jeff Green got another point.  Incredible!  Semin now has 27 points on the season and leads the league.  Ovie scored in consecutive games for the first time this season.  Maybe he will get himself on a roll?  Look out if he does.  And how good was Laich’s screen on Greenie’s goal?  The was picture perfect.  He won’t be on the scoresheet, but that is how you win games.  Laich does a lot of grunt work for this team as does the 4th line.  They are doing it very well lately and that is why the Caps have won four in a row.  Of course, Johnson has a lot to say about that as well.  He has been very good.

Johnson hurt his hip making that great save on Staal(?).  It looked awkward on TV so I am sure there will be a day to day listing next to his name tomorrow.  A post interview quote from Johnnie stated, “It felt pretty bad out there, but it’s tough to tell right now.”  We’ll see.  Theo will have to pick up the slack.  Hopefully, he will play better than he has prior to Johnnie taking over.  Cross your fingers!

Jurcina took some heat for his three penalties.  The delay of game penalty was stupid, but the roughing penalty I will take all day long.  Staal hit Johnnie with his stick and you cannot let people take liberties with your goalie.  Throwing Staal to the ice was warranted and expected.  Nobody touched Johnnie after that, did they?  Semin has been taking much more stupid penalties the past two games, but it is overlooked be/c of his scoring.  Milan can keep shoving forwards to the ground and beating on them if it keeps the goalie from being messed with.  Just stop the delay of game penalties.

Still no word on Morrison and Federov.  Kozlov skated around again, but at least he seemed to have more energy in this game.  A very good effort from everyone overall.

Thoughts?