The Washington Capitals lost a 3-2 decision to the Philadelphia Flyers tonight in overtime, overcoming a 2-0 deficit scoring twice within 40 seconds in the 3rd period to force overtime. However, furious Philly pressure in the first minute of OT led to the game-winner 65 seconds into the extra period. The Caps came away with a point tonight, and it would have been none had it not been for a 2 minute stretch in the 3rd when the bounces happened to go their way. It didn't help that they did not have a SINGLE power play all night...or maybe it did...read on for more.
What are you supposed to make of this team right now? The Caps have been making fans scratch their heads all season after coming off a year when they had the best record in the league. This year, they are only in 2nd place in the Southeast Division, 5th place overall in the East, and not that much farther ahead of 9th........What happened? This is the same team as last year, right? They made some additions, but the core of the team has been the same now for the last 4 years: Alex Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom, Mike Green, Alex Semin. The goaltending one could argue is even better than it has been between Varlamov and Neuvirth. They even went and got an enforcer in DJ King (who has played only 9 times this year...and I think has a fight in every one). Bruce Boudreau is the former coach of the year, and was a candidate for the same award in 2010. What happened? The Caps are a whole goal a game off of their average from last year (3.6 down to 2.5). Their defense has improved, but that just means they are losing games 3-2 and 2-1 whereas last year they would win those games 6-4 and 5-2 just outscoring the opposition. Meanwhile, Sidney Crosby leads the league in scoring, and is only one goal off the lead in that category. Pittsburgh is rolling along, and if it weren't for a blazingly hot Philly squad, they'd be in first place in the East. Stamkos is lighting it up down in Tampa and is a big reason the Lightning are on top in the Southeast and have already won the season series over the Caps.
What is going on here?
This IS the same team as last year right?
The answer to the second question is yes. And the answer to the first quesion is...the answer to the second question.
You see, it's not too hard to figure out what has happened to the Caps. To put it lightly, they are victims of their own success. Let me try explain. Hockey I've learned is one of the few team sports where true individual talent and skill can take a game over and win it for the team. Guys like Ovechkin and Backstrom have been doing it for years. This has been the key to the Caps' success since 2008. So what makes the Caps any different in 2011? The answer is that teams have figured them out.
Take Ovechkin for instance...super super skilled. That hasn't changed, but he has only 16 goals this year. Last year he had 30 at this time. It's still the same Ovechkin, right? Yes, it is. And that's what his biggest problem is. He's the SAME Ovechkin. He's far from a one-trick pony, but if you watch enough video on Ovie, you see that he as 3 basic moves: curl and drag, outside speed rush, slapshot from the point. He keeps trying the same things over and over again. It works for a while when teams are still getting used to you, but everyone adjusts eventually. That has finally happened this year. Teams are forcing Ovie to the outside even more than he likes, taking away his speed rush. Defensemen have also figured out where to put their sticks when he tries the curl and drag, taking that out of his arsenal. That leaves just the slapshot, and as long as you can keep a goalie from being screened, and get D-men willing to block shots, that can easily be stopped. If Ovechkin wants to regain his 50-goal a year form, he needs to develop some new tricks. He's only 25 (and has been in the league for 7 years now...amazing), so he can certainly do it. The point is, he's still the same Ovechkin. Crosby on the other hand, has adjusted. He used to be more of a distributor. Everyone knew he could shoot, he just didn't. Now this year he has chosen to shoot more, and it's caught teams off guard, and he's reaping the benefits. I'm not saying Ovie should stop shooting, far from it, but if he can develop some other moves beyond the 3 you see on film, he can come back to form. He's still got the physical style, and hits people all the time. Trust me, he's going to be fine...and somebody like me is in no position to critique his game. I'm just giving an opinion (isn't that what you're supposed to do on a blog?)
Another thing that I've noticed is the team concept. In the past, the Caps could purely use individual talent to blow teams away, taking advantage of each other strengths to score goals. I never did get the sense that they worked as a cohesive unit. This year, that is starting to show, and nowhere more than on the power play. A good power play has lots of passing to set up shots. In the past, the Caps would expose passing lanes on power plays and get easy goals, but nowadays, teams have found where those lanes are and are blocking them up. The power play today is not much more than a lot of perimeter passing and the occasional blocked slapper. They need to watch film on how teams are defending the zone and see if they can identify additional passing lanes. They have to exist...it's the power play after all...somebody is ALWAYS going to be open. Again, I don't know how to do that, it's just something I've noticed.
Finally, they've just been victimized by pure unadulterated bad luck. Hot goalies can shut this team down (Halak in the playoffs?), but this year more than ever, I have seen posts, crossbars, swings and misses, guys running into each other, and all kinds of fluky stuff that would make other teams want to quit. The Caps have certainly shown their frustrations in these situations, and who can blame them. However, the one thing this team has not done, now will ever do, is quit. If you watched the HBO series (which was EXCELLENT by the way), you saw a team that was in the midst of an 8 game losing streak, and down 2 goals on the road (in Canada no less), and somehow, someway found a way to claw back into the game and pull out a W. This team has heart, and while heart alone won't win you a Stanley Cup, it's a HUGE ingredient to have. This team has it. They also have brains. Boudreau is a smart coach. He won the Calder Cup in Hershey and took a young and somewhat naive team to the best record in the NHL. He knows what he's doing. And I have no doubt that this team will find that extra thing they've been missing, whether it's on the power play or Ovechkin finding another highlight real move to add to his repertoire. Those bad bounces have a way of evening themselves out. This team is going to be fine...and no Jaroslav Halak can stop that.
UNLEASH THE FURY!!!
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