Puck 'N Hockey

A struggling team, desperate for a win in front of their fans, is a dangerous team.  The Caps found this out the hard way, allowing the Sabres to stay in the game last night and end the Capitals’ 6 game win streak.  Now, some postgame thoughts.

• Like most, I thought the Caps’ first period in Buffalo was the best first period they have played all season.  The top line of Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin really impressed me early. They were dictating the pace and really taking the pressure to the Sabres zone and goaltender Ryan Miller. Miller was returning from 6 games off, nursing a nagging hip problem.  He looked rusty when facing chances resulting from turnovers in the Buffalo end.
• For the first time in a while, the Caps scored first on a Karl Alzner blast setup by great forechecking and helped out by the horrible ice at HSBC.  Second year defenseman, Tyler Myers, was the victim of the chippy ice and lost an edge.  Alexander Semin pounced on the puck and fed Alzner who sent a slap shot through two Buffalo defenders to beat Ryan Miller.
• If the first period was the best so far, the second period was the worst second period played by the Caps this season.  The forecheck was nonexistent leading to no zone time and no chances for the Capitals.
• The Sabres’ two goals in the second period resulted from very weak defensive play in front of the Capitals’ net. On the goal scored by Montador, Tyler Sloan was standing next to the Buffalo player screening Braden Holtby.  Later on, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz got pulled high, away from the front of the net, as Buffalo worked the puck low to high on the power play.  This left Thomas Vanek open in front, to put back the rebound.  As the Caps killed penalties throughout the night, I started to notice a trend of defensemen releasing screeners in front to attack pucks as they move low to high.  I’m not sure what the strategy is but I do know, it leads to quality chances for the opposing power plays if they can get shots to the net.
• When the Caps took the ice in the third, Bruce Boudreau had shuffled his lines to spark something and it seemed, to severely limit the ice time given to certain players (looks at Tomas Fleishchmann).  Only down one goal to a struggling Buffalo Sabres team, I wasn’t sure about the changes.  Then, the new Chimera, Backstrom, and Semin line, struck.   From a great pinch by Erskine to keep the puck in the Buffalo zone, Jason Chimera gathered the puck and found Backstrom in the right wing circle. Nicklas Backstrom is just smooth.  He waited out the Buffalo defender, pulled the puck back, and sniped the far side corner.
• The Caps successfully killed the double minor given to Backstrom heading into overtime.  Then, Thomas Vanek beat four Capitals rookies in one play to win the game for Buffalo.  First, he out skated Marcus Johansson in the neutral zone.  Then, he split Karl Alzner and John Carlson who decided it was better if they both waved their sticks at Vanek rather than take the body.   Finally, Vanek worked around the Braden Holtby poke check to score the game winner.

The early season win streak is over and the Capitals return home for a Southeast Division game against the Atlanta Thrashers. It’s another one of those dreaded, early Sunday games where the Caps usually look sleepy.  The Capitals have to wake up and reproduce what they did in the first period in Buffalo, for 60 full minutes against the Thrashers.  The Caps will have to match Atlanta’s team speed and pressure.   If they don’t, the Thrashers could be the next team to steal a point or two from the Capitals.