Thursday Bullet Points

In the World of Hockey:

• Brooks Laich was awarded a $725,000 one year one-way contract through arbitration. That amounts to a 19.6% raise for a player that totaled a whopping 18 points last season while failing to secure the second line center position despite being given plenty of opportunities to do so. I guess my only response to that is what kind of season does it take for a player to actually lose an arbitration hearing?

  
  

• Milan Jurcina's arbitration hearing is scheduled for Monday. He made $500,000 last season while manning the top defensive pairing with Shaone Morrisonn last season. You can forget the numbers he put up in Boston as he received limited playing time at best after falling out of favor with the team. In 30 games with the Caps, Jurcina tallied 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points and was a +5 defensively. I wouldn't be surprised to see a ruling around $1 million for a defenseman that has a lot of potential ahead of him.

• Goaltender Ray Emery re-signed with the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. The three year deal will see him take home an average of $3.16 million a season after putting together a career year last season . In what is another sign of how screwed up professional athlete contracts are, Emery will make $2.75 million next year which is about $1 million less than the man he took the starting job from this past season, Martin Gerber. The Senators are desperately trying to rid themselves of Gerber but are having trouble finding another team to take on his current contract. While it was previously rumored that the team might send him to Binghamton of the AHL to free up salary cap space, general manager Bryan Murray denies that option in this article found on Canada.com.
  
  

In the World of Sports:

• After the news of the past week, fans of the NBA have now been given justification for complaining about the league's officiating. The question now is when will be find out the details involving Tim Donaghy and what games he fixed and to what extent he decided their outcome. One thing you can guarantee is that this will only fuel the fire of enraged fans, coaches, and players when questionable calls are made in the future. David Stern has said that this is an isolated incident, while Donaghy has said that he can name other officials and players in connection with this scandal. Stern better hope that he is right or the NBA is in serious trouble.

  
  

• Michael Vick will be in court today and ESPN will be there with five hours of coverage beginning at 1pm. I know that we need to reserve our judgment on Vick until the trial plays out, but it is hard to believe that he is anything but guilty. The guy owned the kennel called "Bad Newz" that was involved in organizing the dog fights, and approximately 60 dog remains were found on his property. Anybody that is involved in dog fighting is just plain sick. My prediction: Michael Vick has already played his last game in the NFL.

In the World Itself:

• Lindsay Lohan was arrested early Tuesday for her second DUI in the past three months. On top of that TMZ.com reports that "Lohan was popped for possession of cocaine, transporting a narcotic into a custodial facility and driving on a suspended license." This comes after she recently spent six weeks in rehab.
  

Analysis: It's hard not to believe that this girl is not trying to kill herself. How can a body stand so much abuse and still keep on ticking? First, Lohan needs to go to jail for a while as any normal person would should they be arrested for the charges brought against her. Second, she needs to find some friends that care about her because no good friend would allow her to get so inebriated and behind the wheel of a car, especially given her history of drug and alcohol abuse. Lohan desperately needs to turn her life around before it's too late.

Devils Lull Caps into Submission

This Time Bounces Go the Devils Way as Teams Split Weekend Home-and-Home Series

New Jersey Devils 3, Washington Capitals 2
Boxscore
(Photo Courtesy of Greg Fiume/Getty Images)


After yesterday's disappointing loss at home, the Devils made sure they established their style of play in today's game. And they accomplished that to perfection, using their neural zone trap and sound defensive positioning to lull their opponents and everyone in the Verizon Center to sleep.

The home team was able to strike first however, taking a 1-0 lead after a John Erskine shot from the point deflected off a Devils defenceman right to the front of the net, where Brooks Laich snapped it home into the wide open net. The goal by the fourth line winger was Laich's 7th of the season and 1st since his demotion from the second line center position.

The 22-year old Zach Parise was able to strike back for the Devils just 5:34 into the second period, taking a nice feed from the left corner by Travis Zajac and beating goaltender Brent Johnson five-hole along the ice from point blank range. The play followed a couple of unsuccessful attempts by the Caps to clear the defensive zone.

In the third period the Devils were the recipients of a couple bounces. They struck early again, this time just 1:37 in as a Brian Rafalski shot from the point hit traffic and front and bounced directly to Zajac for the easy goal.

At the 9:13 mark, Alex Ovechkin was able to answer and tie the game at two after he used defenseman Paul Martin as a screen and wristed a shot high off of goaltender Scott Clemmensen and in. It was Ovechkin's 1st goal in his last 6 games, giving him 35 now on the season and hopefully putting his slump behind him.

But the Capitals were not able to celebrate for long, as only 35 seconds later Brian Pothier was called for a questionable tripping penalty after a diving poke check to the right of the net dislodged the puck from the Devils forward, but also sent him to the ice. The Devils capitalized with the extra man and tallied the game winning goal on another lucky bounce, as a Jamie Langenbrunner shot deflected off of Johnson's right shoulder high into the air and somehow found the back of the net. It was Langenbrunner's 20th goal of the season as he sent the Devils back to New Jersey victorious.

After seeing the Devils in action it's not hard to see why despite their success on the ice, they fail to draw crowds at the Meadowlands. Their style of play is just so boring, and while the lack of energy from the fans may have been somewhat attributed to the bad weather on the trip in, it was more a result of the slow play because of their defensive approach.

Game Notes:

Brent Johnson had another solid game in net, keeping his team in the game with a number a quality stops on his way to 26 saves on the afternoon.... In what might have been their final game with the Caps, Danius Zubrus won 10 of 11 faceoffs and Richard Zednik notched a secondary assist on Laich's opening goal.... Scott Clemmensen gave Martin Brodeur the day off and stopped 23 shots in the Devils win.

Boston Wins Physical Contest in Repeat Manner

The Bruins Beat The Caps For The Third Consecutive Time This Season By The Same Score
Boston Bruins 3, Washington Capitals 2 F/SO
Boxscore
(Photo courtesy of Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

No this was not a rerun. But for some reason the Caps and Bruins have played each meeting this season to the same 3-2 score. Each game has seen the Bruins come away the victor. And for the second time the Bruins were able to win in shootout fashion.

It was the third consecutive solid defensive effort for the Capitals whose only blemish through 40 minutes was a quick goal following a Danius Zubrus faceoff loss. Defenseman Steve Eminger failed to step up and cover Brandon Bochenski who wristed the shot past Kolzig before he was set as the Islanders broke the scoreless tie 5 minutes and 6 seconds into the second period.

The game was physical from the start as Ben Clymer found himself in the middle of two scrums within the first nine minutes of the opening period. Clymer, who was a healthy scratch on Sunday missing his first game of the season, returned to the lineup re-energized. He dropped the gloves with Bruins defenseman Bobby Allen just 2:20 into the game. The two were only able to throw a few punches before being separated and as the aggressor, Clymer was assessed the extra roughing minor in the process. Just six minutes later though he would find himself a true sparing partner in the Bruins Jeremy Reich, who was recalled before the game by Boston to provide the team with a physical presence. Reich had 105 penalty minutes in 46 games this season with Providence of the AHL.

The physical play seemed to spark the Capitals as they controlled the action early on, tallying the games first six shots on goal and outshooting the Bruins in the first period 10-2. Despite all the shots, they were unable to beat goaltender Tim Thomas and the teams went into the first intermission scoreless.

Richard Zednik was stopped on a partial breakaway opportunity moments after Bochenski's goal as the Caps were unable to tally and trailed 1-0 after the second. The key moment in the period was the Capitals ability to kill off a double-minor thanks to an Alexander Semin high sticking penalty on Phil Kessel. The special teams effort meant the game was still within striking distance.

The third period had a completely different feel than the first two. The reason for it was the Caps ability to break onto the score sheet just 21 seconds in on a goal by number 21 Brooks Laich. Laich won the battle for the puck along the boards and found himself wide open in the slot. He rifled a slap shot and beat Thomas over his glove to tie the game at one. That goal rose the intensity of the game to a higher level.

Playing against his former team, who he has traded away from just a week earlier, Milan Jurcina provided the key save of the game at the 2:30 mark of the third period. After a shot had beaten Kolzig and was heading for the open net, Jurcina was able to get his right skate on it and deflect it off to the side keeping the game tied at one.

The Caps would later take their first lead of the game as rookie Eric Fehr put home his second goal of the season on a rebound following a Zednik slap shot from the slot. The goal was scored just five seconds after a Bruins penalty to Andrew Alberts had expired, giving Washington their first lead of the game. However, the lead wouldn't last as Boston took advantage of an Alex Ovechkin delay of game penalty to tie the game with 6:45 remaining on a beautiful slap shot by Patrice Bergeron. The goal was a result of some good puck movement on the Bruins power play that gave Kolzig no chance on Bergeron's shot following a nice cross ice pass from Marc Savard.

There was a scary moment during the overtime period as a powerful slap shot off the stick of the Bruins 6 foot 9 inch defenseman Zdeno Chara hit Ovechkin in the helmet on the side of his head while he was diving to block the shot. Ovechkin would lay on the ice for a moment causing the officials to stop play. Shortly after the stoppage, he jumped to his feet and skated off the ice and seemed to be okay.

In the shootout Alexander Semin got the Caps on the board first, just as he had done in Sunday's shootout win against the Islanders. But Ovechkin and Fehr were denied on their chances, and Boston's Patrice Bergeron and Phil Kessel tallied on consecutive attempts to give the Bruins the victory.

The result moved Boston into a tie with Washington for 12th place in the Eastern Conference. Both teams are currently nine points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for 8th and final playoff spot.

Game Notes:

Jeff Schultz led the Capitals in ice time with 23:51.... Alex Ovechkin was kept off the scoreboard for a career worst third consecutive game recording only 2 shots on the night.... Brooks Laich was the only Caps center with a winning faceoff percentage going 8 for 13 for 62%.... Ben Clymer returned to the lineup replacing Matt Bradley who was a healthy scratch. Kris Beech and Lawrence Nycholat joined Bradley as healthy scratches.... The Montreal Canadians placed disgruntled winger Sergei Samsonov on waivers today.

Sunday Morning Thoughts

A big win such as last night always makes for a beautiful morning. Not even the overcast, wet weather can dampen the good feeling Capitals' fans will wake up with. But first, let us not forget to thank who made this all possible, the overconfident Carolina Hurricanes. They drove into Washington last night riding high off their dominating win in Raleigh on Friday and thought that they could just show up and win. The Caps knocked them back down to reality, taking advantage of three turnovers to score three unassisted goals and never looked back. It's time for another feel good addition of morning thoughts:

• With his goal last night, Ovechkin not only extended his point streak to 11 games, but also put him into a tie with Atlanta's Marian Hossa for the league lead in goals with 31.

• Alexander Semin moved himself into 7th place in the NHL in goals after he recorded his 5th multi-goal game of the month last night. With his 29 goals on the season he is only 2 behind Ovechkin.

• Coach Hanlon changed up the lines again and just might have found two pairings to use for the long run. Eric Fehr jumped right in on the right side of Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin for a potent second scoring line. Laich acquitted himself well in his opportunity to capture the ever revolving second line center position. The other line that showed lots of potential was the shut down checking line of Pettinger, Gordon, and Sutherby. While they did not reach the scoring sheet, they had more ice time than Ovechkin and Semin and proved that they can silence their opponent's top lines.

With the Capitals off tonight don't forget to catch the AHL All-Star Skills Competition free on b2networks live at 7:00 PM ET. And tomorrow night the AHL All-Star game will also be available for free on b2networks starting at the same time. If you want to wait and watch it on tv, the game can be seen Wednesday, January 31st at 12:00 PM ET on Comcast Sportsnet. Unlike the NHL All-Star game, this will be a highly competitive game as players try to impress the many scouts that will be on hand.

I'm off to the Capitals practice this morning. I'll have a recap this afternoon.

Morning After Thoughts

First of all it feels a little like Ottawa this morning here in DC. What happened to our 70 degree weather? The arctic chill has set in, just as it has for the hopes of the Caps season. But not all is lost, let's take a look at the bright side of things.

• The Caps are 19-20-7, 45 points and technically only 1 game behind .500.
  
• Despite their resent struggles, they are only 5 points out of a playoff spot.
• We can't be anything but excited about the play of our superstar players Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. They have proven that they are two of the most feared snipers in the game. And at the ages of 21 and 22 respectively, their game has no where to go but up.
• The Capitals have one of the best minor league teams out there in the Hershey Bears. They have followed up their Calder Cup Championship with a solid season proving that the future is bright for the Capitals young prospects.

On the other hand:

• The Caps have lost six straight games on the road, including three straight games overall.
  
• The defense has been anything but stellar as of late, allowing at least 5 goals in each game on the current road trip.
• Already missing defenseman John Erskine and Bryan Muir to similar injuries, it looks as though the Caps may have lost the services of another in Mike Green. He took a hard slap shot off his left leg and could be out for a while depending on the results of his x-rays taken after the game. Keep your fingers crossed Caps fans, we can ill afford to loose Green for any significant length of time.
• The Caps need to work on their faceoffs. Last night's stats proved this fact as the only centers above the 50% mark were Brooks Laich with a 75% success rate and Boyd Gordon with a 60% success rate. Kudos to you Brooks and Boyd. Now how bout helping out your fellow teammates. Here were the others' faceoff win percentages last night: Danius Zubrus at 45%, Brian Sutherby 37.5%, and Jakub Klepis 0 for 5 for 0%. Attention must be given to the little details of the game in order for the team to improve.
• If the Caps continue to side, they must then make room for some of their top prospects in Hershey. Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleichmann have nothing left to prove at the AHL level. Get them some experience this year so they would be ready for a full time position from the first day of the 07-08 season.

The schedule does not get any easier as the Caps head to Carolina on Thursday to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champions. This will be the first of 3 meetings between the 2 teams over the following 10 days.