Puck 'N Hockey

Anyone who has participated in any fantasy sports leagues with me knows, I love drafting contract year players.  Alexander Semin is proving my theory that these players are motivated to increase their dollar value worth, over the course of the last year of a contract.  He recorded his second hat trick of the season on a 5 point night while the rest of the Capitals reminded the upstart Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Southeast Division the last three seasons.  Some postgame thoughts on the 6-3 win over the Bolts.

Semin celebrating his second hat trick of the season. (via Nick Waas/AP)

• I think the Caps need to hire some motivational speakers to talk in the room before opening face-offs.  The beginning of this game was very slow.  Tamps Bay had their way in the Caps’ zone early, setting up quality chances including a Lecavalier shot off John Carlson and the crossbar.
• The whole sequence that led to Tampa’s first goal was really strange.  It started with a crazy bounce off the end wall behind Dan Ellis who was in the trapezoid to play the puck.  The Capitals missed a golden opportunity to pot an empty netter there.  All the Caps except for John Erskine pinched.  So, the Lightning quickly attacked the Caps’ zone.  Two breakdowns occurred on the goal.  The shot from the right wing was put right out in front by Michal Neuvirth.  This would not have been such a bad play except that Brooks Laich, who was in good position backchecking on the play, did not tie up Teddy Purcell’s stick as he was driving to the net.
• The Capitals dominated another second period.  Tom Poti returned to the lineup to stash a rebound from an Alexander Semin shot.  The goal was setup by the Caps getting the puck deep and cycling low to high.  Dumping the puck and cycling out of the corners really got the Bolts scrambling in their zone.  After Bruce Boudreau swapped Mike Knuble and Alexander Semin between the top two lines, the second line literally bum rushed Dan Ellis’ net taking several Bolts’ defenders with them.  This setup Mike Knuble’s tap in, backhander as he was literally standing behind the goal line.
• I started watching this game expecting to see phenom, Steven Stamkos camped out in the left wing circle, one timing his way to the scoring title on the power play.  Instead, the Lightning looked to be setting up Ryan Malone on the far post.  I couldn’t quite tell if the Caps were taking away the cross ice pass to Stamkos or if the Bolts had changed their focus just for the Caps.
• Stamkos got his chance in the third period as he was left all alone in the slot to put one top cheese on Neuvy.  That made the score 4-3 and gave the Lightning some life in the third.  You can’t leave Stamkos (or anyone in the NHL) unmarked in front when protecting a lead.
• Semin got his hat trick on an empty netter.  His first two goals were quite interesting in that he beat Dan Ellis’ glove.  On the first shot, he simply overpowered Ellis with a wrist shot from the top of the circle.  This was setup by a beautiful feed to the inside by Nicklas Backstrom.  Again, the Caps were working low to high out of the corner, opening up space in the goal scoring areas of the ice.  On the second goal, Alexander Semin was freed up at the top of the circles while Ovi and Backstrom worked the puck down low.  This time, he bombed the one timer glove side.
• As the Capitals started scoring goals in this game, especially in the second period, you could really see a killer instinct emerging.  The forecheck really picked up.  The Caps were shooting pucks from everywhere.  They were really dogging Lightning players as they tried to clear the zone.  This is something that the Cup winning Detroit teams really emphasized in their day.  Once you get the lead, don’t let the other guy think he even has a chance at winning.

The Caps now take their 6 game win streak up to Buffalo.  The Sabres are struggling with goaltender Ryan Miller out and defenseman Tyler Myers having a tough go early on this season.  However, I am calling it now, this is a trap game for the Capitals.  I stand by my opinion that the Caps are not really learning anything while winning games with slow first period starts and third period mental errors.  A team like Buffalo, desperate for wins, could very well steal a game from the Capitals and end a winning streak.