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.

Senators Squeek By

Washington Dominates 2nd and 3rd Periods, But Cannot Overcome 2-0 Hole
Ottawa Senators 3, Washington Capitals 2
Boxcore

There's not much you can do about a game such as this. Washington had every opportunity to tie the contest late in the third period, but the bounces didn't go their way and Ottawa survived to win their 13th out of their last 16 games.

Speaking of bounces, they definitely went Ottawa's way in the first period where, despite a defensively sound effort, the Senators found a way to get two goals past the frustrated Olie Kolzig. The first came on a shot from the point by captain Daniel Alfredsson that got through the traffic in front and into the back of the net. Kolzig was visibly upset over what seemed to be his own defenseman, Shaone Morrisonn, screening him on the play. Their second goal was another case of being in the right place at the right time as a Peter Schaefer shot deflected off the diving Mike Green directly to Jason Spezza who tapped the puck into the empty net for his 20th goal on the year.

The Capitals regrouped and controlled the action over the last forty minutes. They were able to kill off a 2 man disadvantage and should have had a short handed goal as the first penalty expired to Kris Beech. He was sent off on a breakaway following a Boyd Gordon blocked shot. But again the bounces didn't go the Caps way as the puck would not settle down for Beech and he was not able to get off a shot.

Alex Ovechkin was finally able to get Washington on the scoreboard nine minutes into the second period, as he followed up his original shot, which was blocked by defenseman Anton Volchenkov, and rifled the loose puck past Gerber, beating him to the seven hole (between the glove and pad). The goal brought a lot of accolades along with it. First, it extended Ovechkin's point streak to twelve games which is a new career high. Second, it extended his goal scoring streak to three games. And lastly, it put him back into the NHL lead in goals with his 32nd on the season.

However, a Lawrence Nycholat penalty just one minute later would hurt the Capitals as Danny Heatley would capitalize and knock home his 31st of the season to give the Senators a 3-1 advantage. Despite their excellent play in the period, the Caps would head to the locker room still trailing by two.

The third period saw the momentum swing even more into Washington's favor. A nice individual effort by Kris Beech on the forecheck, taking the puck away from Ottawa's star defender Wade Redden. Once he gained control he moved behind the Senators goal and found Donald Brashear wide open in front of the net for an easy finish and his 2nd goal on the year, cutting the deficit to 3-2. That would be as close as they would get as despite numerous quality scoring chances, including several with Kolzig pulled in the last minute, the Caps could not get another past Senators goalie Martin Gerber would ended the night with 35 saves in the win. Kolzig was equally as stellar in net for the Capitals stopping 35 as well.

The loss denied Washington a chance to pull back to .500. With a Lightning win, they are now seven points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

Your Top Three Stars:
1. Alex Ovechkin, Washington 1 goal
2. Martin Gerber, Ottawa 35 saves
3. Olie Kolzig, Washington 35 saves

Game Notes:

Brian Sutherby was a whopping 0 for 5 in faceoff opportunities. It's no wonder why Gordon has taken his spot as the top checking center on the team.... Lawrence Nycholat had the hit of the night knocking Heatley on his back with an open ice shoulder check.... Richard Zednik, despite being medically cleared to play, did not dress in the game. Matt Bradley was also scratched for the third consecutive game for personal reasons.... Defenseman Jeff Schultz continues to impress playing 17:46 minutes and was +1 defensively.... Alex Ovechkin had a season high in minutes played with 26:57. He even saw a shift towards the end of a penalty kill in the second period.... Tomas Fleichmann had 3 assists and Alexandre Giroux had 2 goals last night in the AHL All-Star game.