Monday, April 14, 2008

From flying high to crashing low, all in one weekend

Hm. I was too hung over to post anything about the Caps edge-of-your-seat win on Friday night. And now I am glad I didnt.

As I have mentioned, there are some aspects of the Capitals' collective game that make them successful. Consistent play and a good forecheck are the two most present factors in the Capitals wins. Unfortunately, neither of these two showed up for very long on Sunday (if at all), and the Capitals lost an important game on home ice. They now go into Tuesday's game in Philadelphia under the gun -- they have to win at least one on Philly's turf in order to return to DC with the series even. A much better prospect then returning with three losses, and their head on the chopping block if they should lose one more game.

Here is what sticks out for me the most:

I've got to give it to the Flyers, they found a way to shut down Ovie, sneak some past Huet and keep the game under their control. The Caps looked as nervous as a virgin on prom night, which certainly helped the Flyers keep their game going.

Give me Steve Eminger over John Erskine. John Erskine has got two inches and six pounds on Steve Eminger. Steve Eminger has got a brain. I'll take Eminger, please.

It was pretty plain to see that the Flyers were picking on Cristobal Huet. In the third period, Huet was finally fed up and tossed around some healthy shoves. Good for him, but the Caps d-men need to do a better job of kicking those Flyers out of the crease. Scott Hartnell was parked there for so long, I memorized every wrinkle in the back of his jersey.

Ovie might have been shut down offensively, but defensively he did a pretty good job. In that category, he is a ton better then he was last season.

Milan Jurcina. Not sure what to do with him. When he uses his huge size, he is scary and effective. But more often then not, I see him playing too tentatively for a guy who is 6'4 and 230 lbs. Consistency and confidence issues are what got him booted out of Boston, lets hope they dont continue to haunt him here.

I would give anything to see Scott Hartnell stop being a little bitch and actually fight Donald Brashear. It would be the ass kicking of a lifetime.

So, anyone braving Philly for a game?

1 comment:

Abhinav said...

That...was... heartbreaking...