Sound like a familiar score against Columbus???? It should because this was a replay of the game played in Columbus in November. The Caps had 45 shots and none went in the goal. Again. The supposedly miserable Blue Jacket power play went 2 for 7. Alzner did not have a good game and Jurcina bobbled a puck that landed on Umberger’s stick and then into the net. I thought the Caps skated fast and were constantly attacking, but no puck went in. Mason is the real deal and will win the Calder Trophy unless he falters. Despite this, the Caps did nothing to try to score against a trapping defense. There was no dump and chasing or guys driving the net in order to get a rebound. It was a lot of one on one moves that never work against a trapping defense. I would have liked the Caps to try something different. There power play was terrible and the 5 on 3 they had for 40 seconds did nothing. Semin just holds the puck? Does he think the goalie is just going to slide out of the way? Whatever. Theo played fairly well, although it would have been nice to make the save on the second goal. That may have changed things. Who knows?
It was nice to have Federov back and Flash as well. They both played well. Fehr and Nylander were healthy scratches. Federov apparently will not be playing in Montreal, so I expect Nylander to be back in. Boyd Gordon was hurt in the warm-ups (back spasms) so I also expect Fehr to be playing as well with Laich centering a line. Johnnie will probably be in goal given Theo’s performance. We’ll see. Hopefully, the Caps will win the game as they have left 4 points on the table against the Blue Jackets.
Thoughts?
