Puck 'N Hockey

Quite simply, this compressed, Olympic year  NHL schedule sucks.  Playing a desperate Boston club and then having to travel to arch rival Pittsburgh the very next day cannot be fun or the ideal way to prepare for a lengthy playoff run.  I know the schedule makers do not know what the standings will look like when they fill out the calendar but this is borderline sadistic.  Anyway, the Caps’ squeaked out an OT victory over a Bruins team that threw everything it had at them.

Postgame Thoughts:

• I don’t need to write anything about Jose Theodore.  He is the #1 until further notice.
• What is it with all of the technical difficulties lately?  It is somewhat expected from Comcast Sportsnet, not Versus.  Total failure while Nicklas Backstrom’s goal was under review.
• Jason Chimera would be a second or dare I say first line player if he had hands.
• With Mike Green sitting, lots of folks paid more attention to Joe Corvo’s mediocre defensive play.
• These same folks also witnessed the total failure that was the Tyler Sloan and John Erskine defensive pair.  They got worked all over the ice by the Bruins.  It looked like a shooting gallery in the Caps’ end when #4 and #89 were on the ice.
• Sloan in particular, coughed up the puck by shooting it into a defenders legs, then tripping a Bruins forward in the Caps’ end on one shift.  At this point, he should have just left the ice, got into his car, and hopped on 270 for the drive up to Hershey.
  

  Nick Wass/AP Photo

• The Capitals are now 3-0 since Brooks Laich returned to the lineup.  I like Laich.

Pregame Thoughts:

• There is some talk around the Internets that somehow the Capitals are feeling some pressure to sweep the season series with Penguins this evening.  The idea being that the Caps have to beat the Penguins now to reduce the moment that the black and gold might carry into the playoffs.  This is absurd.  The Capitals only goal in tonight’s contest should be to shore up team defense and play a tight game.  What better way to work on these fundamentals than to play the current champs?
• There is also some injury scuttlebutt around Mike Green sitting for the second straight night.  This is also absurd.  Every player in the NHL is banged up at this time of year.  You cannot play 82 games without injuring yourself somehow.  Given Green’s importance to the Capitals success, I would sit him and limit his minutes in the remaining games that he might play in.
• Karl Alzner is back.  Hopefully, he can impress Bruce Boudreau enough to keep him around.  Given the performance of the #4 and #89 pair last night, Alzner could be looking at a golden opportunity here.
• I am so sick of the Ovi vs. Sid marketing of the Caps-Pens matchups.  Everytime #8 and#87 play, we get bombarded with polls and talking heads debating “the rivalry”.  Stop.  I love Ovechkin’s style but I also respect Crosby’s game and accomplishments.  They are both great players.  Let’s just enjoy the opportunities we get to watch them compete.
• Sidney Crosby is still a whiner though.