So, It's been a while since I've updated this thing. I probably don't even have any followers, but I'm going to start updated this thing every day during the summer.
"The Knights don't have anyone on their blue-line who can match the 17-year-old Ellis' individual offensive prowess. But together, they have something pretty dangerous too. Plus they have Carlson, the Washington first-rounder who is an early candidate as the league's best all-around defender, especially with Drew Doughty in Los Angeles and Alex Pietrangelo still with St. Louis.
But the Knights know they have to be careful with Carlson, currently logging about 30 minutes of ice per game. He hasn't gone through the grind of a 68-game season before, plus playoffs." The other article I've got for you today is Alexander Semin's interview. Here's a little bit from the article.
"What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb."
Ok now that I've got that out of the way, here's what's actually happening on the ice.
Tom Poti has practiced the past 2 days and is ready to go for Saturday's game against Buffalo. Poti was paired with Schultz in practice and Boudreau expects Poti to log a lot of ice time. With Poti healthy, Tyler Sloan was sent back down to Hershey. Alex Ovechkin will miss his 2nd straight game due to his sick grandfather, but Ovechkin is scheduled to be practicing with the team on Monday.
Since the game wasn't on T.V. I don't have much to say, so I'll just say the stats. Viktor Kozlov scored the first goal of the game. David Steckel scored the Caps 2nd goal, a short-handed goal from a pass from Semin. Then in the 3rd period Semin scored on the PP, from a pass from Backstrom. The game went to a shoot-out and Nylander and Semin scored the shoot-out.
That's about it. Nobody got to watch the game, expect the people at the game, so sorry for the crappy write-up.
The Caps enter this game coming off of a 6-5 OT win over the Dallas Stars. The big news for this game against Nashville is that reigning MVP Alex Ovechkin won't be in the line-up. Ovechkin is back in Russia to visit his ill grandfather. With Ovechkin out, it's Alexander Semin's chance to show he can score with other teams top defenceman playing against him. The Caps are going to need Semin to keep up the scoring pace with Ovechkin out. It will also be interesting to see how Nicklas Backstrom performs with out Ovechkin. This is Ovechkin's 2nd game he'll have missed in his 4 year career.
Nashville Predators
Record-4-4
The Nashville Predators are coming off of a 5-4 win over the Los Angels Kings. The last time the Kings visited Verizon Center was Dec. 7, 2005. The Preds won that contest, 5-2. The Caps and Preds are different teams then that last meeting, so it should be an interesting game. The Preds will be without Russian superstar Alexander Radulov this game, and maybe for forever. Radulov bolted to Russia this offseason when the KHL started up. The problem is that Radulov was still under contract with the Predators.
Washington's top 3 goals
1. Alexander Semin-7 goals 2. Mike Green-4 goals 3. Sergei Fedorov-3 goals
Washington's top 3 assists 1. Alexander Semin-7 assist 2. Michael Nylander-6 assist 3. Sergei Fedorov-4 assist
Washington's top 3 points
1. Alexander Semin-14 points 2. Michael Nylander-8 points 3. Sergei Fedorov- 7 point
Washington Capitals line-up
Brooks Laich(21) - Nicklas Backstrom(19) - Viktor Kozlov(25) David Steckel(39) - Sergei Fedorov(91) - Alex Semin(28) Tomas Fleischman(14) - Michael Nylander(92) - Chris Clark(17) Donald Brashear(87) - Boyd Gordon(15) - Matt Bradley(10)
Shaone Morrisonn(26) - Mike Green(52) Tyler Sloan(89) - Jeff Schultz(55) John Erskine(4) - Milan Jurcina(23)
Brent Johnson(1) Jose Theodore(60)
Players to watch- Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom
The Caps defence needs to be a little better then they were against Dallas. The offence seems to be on track, but the defence needs to step up without Tom Poti. Poti is the veteran, and this defence needs to play good without him. The key to playing good defence is to not take penalty's. The Caps aren't good at all on the PK, 78% is one of the worst in the league. So stay out the box, and clear the puck out the zone.
Versus sucks
The game will not be shown on T.V. at all because Versus holds the rights to the game, but they aren't showing it. They choose to show the Philly, Atlanta game. Here's a link to e-mail Versus.
Ovechkin is back in Russia to be with his ill Grandfather. This will be the 2nd game that Ovechkin will not be playing. The previous game he missed was in his rookie year. He was held out of that game because of a groin strain. It's gonna be tough for the Caps without Ovechkin, but he's always put his family first.
I'm going to guess at what the lines would look like without Ovie.
The Caps are coming off of one of the most impressive wins in franchise history. They held the Vancouver Canucks to 10 shots, breaking the previous record of 11. The Caps have rebounded well after an embarrassing loss to the Atlanta Thrashers in the opening game of the season. Pittsburgh will be the first team the Caps face this year that made it to the playoffs last year, so this is the true test. The Caps have also lost 10 of the last 12 facing Pittsburgh, so you know the players want to beat this team. One problem for the Caps is that they will be without Viktor Kozlov for the next couple of weeks, and Donald Brashear may not play tonite. Pittsburgh could be trouble if Brashear is out, because Pittsburgh has both Matt Cooke, and Eric Godard.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Record-2-1-1
Pittsburgh is coming off of a 3-2 OT win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh may have a winning record, but to my eyes they haven't looked as good as they can be. They don't look like they are clicking yet. Hopefully they don't play to their potential tonite. Pittsburgh's superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have combined total of 4 points this year. That's not up to their standards, but you know they are always dangerous and you know that they will be ready to play tonite. The Penguins defence is an area of suspect early on in the season. With Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar out with injury's the Pittsburgh defence is a big are of concern.
Washington's top 3 goals
1. Mike Green-3 goals 2. Alexander Semin-3 goals 3. Alexander Ovechkin-2 goals
Washington's top 3 assists 1. Alexander Semin-3 assist 2. Michael Nylander-3 assist 3. Mike Green-2 assist
Washington's top 3 points
1. Alexander Semin-6 points 2. Mike Green-5 points 3. Michael Nylander- 4 point Washington Capitals line-up
Alex Ovechkin(8) - Nicklas Backstrom(19) - Chris Clark(17) Brooks Laich(21) - Michael Nylander(92) - Alex Semin(28) Tomas Fleischman(14) - Sergei Fedorov(91) - Eric Fehr(16) David Steckel(39) - Boyd Gordon(15) - Matt Bradley(10)
Shaone Morrisonn(26) - Mike Green(52) Tom Poti(3) - Jeff Schultz(55) John Erskine(4) - Milan Jurcina(23)
Jose Theodore(60) Brent Johnson(1)
Players to watch: Brooks Laich, Alex Ovechkin
Pittsburgh Penguins line-up
Pascal Dupuis(9) - Sidney Crosby(87) - Miroslav Satan(81) Jordan Staal(11) - Evgeni Malkin(71) - Petr Sykora(17) Ruslan Fedotenko(26) - Max Talbot(25) - Tyler Kennedy(48) Matt Cooke(24) - Michael Zigomanis(15) - Eric Godard(28)
Brooks Orpik(44) - Kris Letang(58) Hal Gill(2) - Rob Scuderi(4) Mark Eaton(7) - Alex Goligoski(13)
Marc-Andre Fleury(29) Dany Sabourin(30)
Players to watch: Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy
Key to Caps victory
Do whatever you did against Vancouver. The Caps are going to have to control the game. We are going to have to have the puck for 65% of the time. I expect the 2nd line to have a big night, and to be a puck-possession line. I've said this in every game before, and I'll say it again. Stay out of the penalty box. The Caps PK right now is at 78%, that's not good at all. So stay out the box and it won't be a problem. Crosby and Malkin are to good of players to give them an advantage.
As most of you know, the Caps beat Vancouver 5-1 Monday night. Sorry for not having a post-game write-up, it won't happen again.
So...In Monday night's game, Viktor Kozlov, and Donald Brashear both suffered injury's. Brashear has a hurt hand, and is day-to-day. Boudreau didn't say if he will play Thursday against the Penguins. Kozlov's injury seems more serious. GM George Mcphee has said that Kozlov will be out for "a couple of weeks." It looks like Kozlov hurt his left knee during the game. With those two out, here's what the lines looked like in practice.
Saturday Caps Clips: Bronze Medal Game Day
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*Your savory breakfast links:*
- Team USA rolled over Team Slovakia in yesterday’s semifinal match,
winning 6-2… [NHL, Olympics, NBC Olympics, AP] ...
