Practice: Nov. 22

The Washington Capitals were on ice Tuesday morning for a practice coming off their 4-3 win over the Coyotes on Monday night.  Some notes from Kettler Capitals Iceplex as DC prepares to take on Winnipeg Wednesday night:

Today was a very optional skate, with several of the Caps' regulars missing out.  The only players that skated were Alexander Semin, Tomas Vokoun, Michal Neuvirth, John Carlson, Mathieu Perreault, Jeff Schultz, Cody Eakin, John Erskine, and Dmitry Orlov.
Alexander Semin, who was a healthy scratch for Monday night's win, was testy after practice and did not want to speak extensively with the media.  Bruce Boudreau indicated that he has not decided what the lineup will look like Wednesday night against the Winnipeg Jets.

That's all for now.  Check back later.

Practice: Nov. 20

The Washington Capitals were on ice Sunday afternoon at 12:30 for a practice following their 7-1 hammering at the hands of the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.  Some notes from Kettler Capitals Iceplex:

Bruce Boudreau: taking blowtorches to lines since 2007.  The Caps' coach debuted more fancy trios at the skate: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Brouwer, Chimera-Laich-Knuble, Eakin-Johansson-Ward, and Hendricks-Perreault-Halpern-Semin.  Yes, you read that right.  Alexander Semin, on the fourth line.

The recently recalled Dmitry Orlov took part in practice as well, rotating in with Jeff Schultz on a pairing with Karl Alzner.  Roman Hamrlik was paired with Dennis Wideman and John Carlson with John Erskine.  Okay then.

Mike Green was absent from practice again and is clearly nowhere near being healthy enough to play in a game again.  Man, that stinks.

That's all for now.  Check back later for a game preview of Monday's tilt with the surging Coyotes.

Gameday: at Toronto, Nov. 19

Time to start winning again...

The Washington Capitals are in Toronto, Ontario, this evening to take on the Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.  The Capitals, losers of three straight, enter tonight's game at 10-6-1 for 21 points following their 4-1 thrashing at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.  Those 21 points place the Capitals first in the Southeastern Conference and third in the East; however they are only third in the East because of their Division standing and there are several teams below them in the standings with more points.  The Maple Leafs, who, like the Caps, got off to a hot start but have slowed down since, come into tonight at 10-7-2 for 22 points. Those 22 points place them second in the Northeast Division and sixth in the East coming off a 4-1 loss to Nashville Thursday.  This is the first of four meetings between these two teams this season.

Rookie Ben Scrivens is likely to earn the nod from Toronto coach Ron Wilson for the eighth game in a row as regular starter James Reimer is out with a concussion.  Scrivens is 2-3-1 on the year with a 2.95 GAA and .899 save percentage, and made 18 stops on 21 shots in his last outing, that 4-1 loss to the Predators.  Toronto's forward corps is decimated by injuries at the moment, and Wilson will be without Mikhail Grabovski (leg), Clarke MacArthur (upper body), and Matthew Lombardi (hand) for tonight's game.  Pylon Defenseman Mike Komisarek will also be missing from the lineup with an upper body injury.

Tomas Vokoun will be called upon to right the ship for Bruce Boudreau's men following Thursday night's atrocity from Michal Neuvirth.  Vokoun is 8-3 on the year with 2.36 GAA, .922 save percentage, and one shutout.  He made 28 saves in his last outing, a 3-1 loss to Nashville on Tuesday.  On the injury front, the Caps are still without Mike Green, who has a pulled right groin injury and has still not even skated since getting hurt last Saturday.  Mathieu Perreault seems likely to be the healthy scratch once more, though Jeff Halpern or Matt Hendricks could also get sat.

Puck drops around 7:11 because of Canada and their second national anthem and because Don Cherry will probably light the set on fire with his suit.

A Waste of Talent

I've been silent for the most part over the past week as I dig through a mile of schoolwork and other commitments in the final moments before Thanksgiving break at school.  No postgame writings, so I haven't had a chance to discuss the Caps after every night like I normally do.  So here it goes: Caps hockey analysis, comin' in hot!

Man, what is wrong with this team?  The Capitals started the year on fire, winners of seven consecutive games out of the gates.  They had everyone talking for the right reasons: Tomas Vokoun was being a rock, the offense had, for the most part, returned, and DC was also managing to play some sound defense.  They were a complete hockey team, or at least it appeared so.
Since then, however, your Washington Capitals have looked disoriented and just downright bad at times, compiling a 3-6-1 record since their 7-0 start.  This came to a head Thursday night in Winnipeg when the Capitals suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Jets, who are and will continue to be one of the worst teams in the league.
Mike Green's absence hurts and there is no doubt about that.  Green is one of the Caps' best players and their best defenseman; not having him in the lineup is a tough hole to plug.  But it's not an excuse.  The Capitals want to be considered a team of champions, and champions don't let injuries get to their team.  Champions man up and go out and win without that star.  Like the Penguins are doing.
Alex Ovechkin - (expletive).  You're the captain of this team and you are the highest paid player in the league, as you will continue to be for the next nine years.  Play like it.  14 points in 17 games is not where you need to be.  Adapt your game, and stop cutting to the middle on the rush.  It hasn't worked for the last year, it's not going to magically start working again just because Russian machine says so.  And play defense.

Gameday: at Winnipeg, Nov. 17

Oh, hey, those uniforms are different!

The Washington Capitals will be in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Thursday night as they attempt to shake their two game losing streak against the newly minted Jets.  The Capitals enter tonight's action 10-5-1, which gives them 21 standings points coming off a 3-1 loss to the Predators on Tuesday.  With those 21 points, the Caps lead the Southeast Division based only on winning percentage, and are third in the Eastern Conference solely because of the fact that they are winning the Division.  Winnipeg comes into tonight's game at 6-9-3 for 15 standings points following a 5-2 trouncing of the Lightning on Monday night.  The Jets stand last in the Southeast and fourteenth in the Conference with those 15 points.  This will be the first of six meetings between these two teams this season.

Ondrej Pavelec is expected to get the call in nets from Claude Noel, his eleventh consecutive start.  Pavelec has struggled so far for Winnipeg to the tune of a 5-7-3 record, 3.26 GAA, and .895 save percentage, though he does have a shutout this year.  Pavelec also dominated the Caps last year, shutting them out twice, and is sure to be a tough test despite his subpar numbers so far on the campaign. The Jets will be without star puck-moving defenseman Tobias Enstrom (shoulder) and former Cap Eric Fehr (shoulder) in terms of injuries, and have yet to field their full lineup so far this year.

Michal Neuvirth will get the tap on the pads from Bruce Boudreau for the first time since last Saturday.  On the year Neuvy is 2-2-1 with a 3.14 GAA and .891 save percentage, and made 17 saves in his last outing, a 3-2 shootout loss to New Jersey.  On the injury front, Mike Green is still out with a right groin strain and is not even on the trip; in fact, Green has not skated since he injured himself last week.  Here we go again.  Mathieu Perreault should be the healthy scratch for Washington for the second game in a row.

Puck drops for this one 8:07-ish.  Check back later.