Back in action

I'm back from the road, and playing catch up on the Capitals. The best part of traveling for work? Going to a city with a hockey team and getting to catch a game. A hockey road trip for free....except for some of those really overpriced tickets (ahem, NJ Devils).

Around the internets

Tarik looks into the Cap's 2-1 OT loss to the Thrashers, which tied the Caps for last place in the Eastern Conference. Steve Eminger returned to the lineup, while Milan Jurcina was a healthy scratch. On a positive note -- Brent Johnson continued his strong season in goal, which is good since Kolzig isnt getting any younger and our G prospects are still a few years off. Plus, Tom Poti returned to the lineup and skated about 25 minutes.

Both Tarik and Corey point out this OT play:

The Caps tried to clear the puck out of their own end to no avail in the extra session. After Michael Nylander lost a race to the puck near the Caps' bench, he stayed there for a change. Slava Kozlov collected the puck near the top of the offensive zone and fed White with a beautiful saucer pass, and he put it past Caps goaltender Brent Johnson for his third of the season and 100th of his career.

The spark plug we need?

Stranger things have turned the tide for teams:

Chris Bourque has been recalled from the Bears and is expected to make his NHL debut tonight in Atlanta, where the Caps are facing a critical game against the Thrashers. They've lost three straight, nine of the past 11 and have scored only two goals over the past 193 minutes.

So why recall a 21-year-old player with no NHL experience for such a big game? I guess it's gotten to that point for the Caps.

Bourque, who is generously listed at 5 foot 9, 173 pounds and is the son of NHL Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque, has three goals and five points in eight games for the Bears. He was among the last players cut in training camp, so there was always the expectation that he would get a lookat some point this season.

As Tarik mentions, Bourque was a cut that went down to the wire during training camp, so we were expecting to see him in red, white and blue....just not this soon.

PS: The game is blacked out due to a TV scheduling issue, but right now (9:15pm EST) the Caps and the Thrashers are tied in the 3rd period. Nyls and Kovalchuk have the honors for their respective teams. In the 2nd period, the Caps took 4 penalties.

Funny

Sidney Crosby, on hitting Rick DiPietro in the eye, which forced him out of the game:

"He (Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek) lifted my stick under his mask," Crosby said. "I had no control over it."

Crosby was given a four-minute penalty for high-sticking.

Around the internets

Tarik takes a look at the beating the Caps took last night (it was a cringe worthy game, and its a cringe worthy article), while Ovie managed to hit another one of his teamates.

Alex Ovechkin hit Pettinger on the side of the helmet with a wrist shot during a second-period power play. Pettinger, who escaped with only bruised cheek, was far more fortunate than Clark was. He was hit on the left ear by an Ovechkin slap shot 11 days ago and hasn't played since.

On a good note, the Caps did get 35 shots on goal, although none managed to find the back of the net. So now I am asking the same question as all Caps fans -- who cursed us, and how do we get rid of it? Snake bit doesnt even apply anymore. This is just plain, old fashioned voodoo.

Corey offers his take on the game, and GMGM isnt happy:

"Obviously we have some scoring out of the lineup and that hurts, but there [are] other clubs who are playing it tight and getting points," McPhee said. "It is self-inflicted. Good teams don't do that. We have to play it tight with some of the scoring out and stay out of the box."

In other news:

Tarik has word on the Caps signing prospect Josh Godfrey, who is expected to join the Bears after his junior seasons ends (Karl Alzner is also expected to do this).

Peter Forsberg says he is close to quitting, after failing to play for the Swedish National Team as part of his injury rehab.

The Bears are facing their own scoring problems.

Funny stuff around the NHL

One would think that Coaches had better things to do:

Is Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella on the NHL hot seat this week? The Ottawa Sun, quoting NHL insiders, reported he might be.

Tampa went into Saturday's game under .500 (5-6-1), the club is 0-6 on the road. The Sun reported Tortorella was so upset at one point, he took the team for a bus ride around Manhattan in their equipment.

And more:

This can't be true: Did New Jersey coach Brent Sutter really send one of his assistants to G Martin Brodeur's room at 11 p.m. to do a bed check on the road?

Around the internets

Unfortunately, I had to miss Friday's game, and I will be traveling on business next weekend, missing the game against the Ning. Too bad, because I would love to see a re-match of Morrisonn and Lecavalier. I might be biased, but if Morrisonn wasnt blindsided, he would have won that bout.

Anyway, Tarik wraps up Friday's loss, and takes a look at the Cap's roadtrip that begins tonight in Carolina.

Corey talks about the surprising amount of Capitals shots that have been blocked this season, and team efforts to get the puck into the goal. Per Corey, Semin and Clark are out, and Poti has made the trip with the team but will decide after practice if he can play.

I would rather see us let Semin, Clark and Poti heal as much as possible, rather then rushing them back out in an effort to stem the tide of losses. Are we in a bit of a jam? Sure. But, who knows what can happen, especially with a team as resilient as this one. I always figure that as a fan, you gotta have hope. Corey supplies some today:

One number I will point out from last night: 221. As Mike Vogel astutely pointed out to me, that is the number of goals the Caps ar projected to allow after yielding 35 in 13 games. Last year 11 teams allowed 221 goals or less, and all of them made the playoffs. The team that yielded the fewest without making the playoffs was Columbus with 244. While there seem to be a couple of defensive breakdowns at key junctures on a lot of nights, the defense is clearly not the problem.