Washington Capitals 2010-2011 ongoing thread

[skinsfan_nn]

Yes solid performance on the road last night, outstanding second period! Nice contributions from all lines.

And once again great between the pipes.

Lets keep it up! Way to roll CAPS!

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

[Dirtbag59]

Anyone else worried about Tampa?

[InsaneBoost]

Yes, I told a lot of my friends, we keep doing this up Tampa will walk with the division.

[Dirtbag59]

Biggest game of the year tonight. Right now beating Tampa means a lot more than beating even Pittsburgh (who's below .500 right now even when you forget to count OTL's as losses).

Things to know going into this game, in case you haven't been keeping up:
- Tampa is much improved this year playing a wide open style under Joe Boucher. They use a rarely seen 1-3-1 allignment that puts an emphasis on double teams and turnovers on the defensive end.

- While he'll never match Ovechkins physicality Stakamos is more then capable of matching his scoring numbers

- Tampa is still trying to find an identity on defense. They certainly don't have the type of Offensive Defensemen the Caps have in Carlson and Green or even a plus/minus monster like Schultz. Dan Ellis is their best option at goalie with a 2.11 GAA. Mike Smith on the other hand is currently posting a 3.43 GAA. Ellis is coming off a shut out win against the Maple Leafs that saw him stop 28 shots.

- Tampa is 8th is Goals per game (3.1) and 14th in Goals Against (2.8). They are 6th in Power Play Percentage (23.7) and 3rd in Penalty Killing (90.6).

- Washington is 1st in Goals per game (3.4) and 9th in Goals Against (2.5). They are also 10th in Powerplay percentage (20.3) and Penalty killing (85.9). The first in Goals per game is a huge surprise for the Caps considering how conservative they are on offense.

- Only Carey Price has played as many games as Capitals netminder and October rookie of the month Michael Neuvirth. Currently Neurvirth leads the league in wins though the grind of playing many games seems to be getting to him lately. Neurvith has currently started all but 2 games thanks to the groin injury to Varlamov.

[Dirtbag59]

This is ridiculous. No one is even viewing this thread. We're winning 2-1 against one of the better teams in the league right now. A division rival no less.

[Dirtbag59]

Semin is playing out of his freaking mind.

[Dirtbag59]

Refs have it out for the Caps tonight. Missing a butthurt instigator penalty and a tripping call that led to a goal for Tampa.

[SmootSmack]

If it's any consolation Dirt, I'm viewing this thread

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

If it's any consolation Dirt, I'm viewing this thread

........it's a start. I'm still holding out hope that the reason no one else posted during the game was because the usual suspects (Boost, SCP, Saden, etc) all went to the game and they're on their way home so they can't get to a computer or use their smart phone because they're to busy driving. Of course Boost is the only one I'd expect to actually go. Guy has the hookup when it comes to getting tickets for sporting events around the beltway.

[GMScud]

Take heart Dirt. I watched the game, just wasn't on the computer. A monster outing for Semin. I'll take 12-4 any day. These Caps are red hot! I wish it was possible to lock up Semin long-term.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by GMScud

Take heart Dirt. I watched the game, just wasn't on the computer. A monster outing for Semin. I'll take 12-4 any day. These Caps are red hot! I wish it was possible to lock up Semin long-term.

Yeah, the thing about Semin is that with him playing like this he's easily our best chance to raise the cup. Their recent first round draft pick Evgeny Kuznetsov has been frequently compared to Semin however he's still two years away from getting out of his KHL contract. You also have Carlson, Neuvy, Alzner, and Varly (Varly will probably be let go when his contracts up unless he's willing to take a discount considering his problems with staying healthy) developing pretty fast so salary cap space is getting tight. And if I'm not mistaken they still want to lock up Fehr. On top of that I keep getting the feeling that Johanason is going to be a star. Guy just needs to learn how to move the puck at the NHL level however his speed is just a notch below Chimeras. It's ridiculous how they find all these guys.

When asked a few months before the draft, Evgeny said he wanted to be drafted by the Rangers, but his attitude since draft day has been effusively positive. Fans call him the “Malkin of Chelyabinsk”; scouts say he’s reminiscent of Alex Semin. This writer sees this physical, two-way player– comfortable at both center and left wing– and thinks he may best fit Brooks Laich’s mold.

Anyway the point is I get what you're saying about Semin, but if anything else I think they'll opt to keep Semin and let him walk as a free agent next summer instead of trading him for a shutdown defense men. All the while hoping that Evgeny can develop sooner rather then later once he gets to the NHL around 2012.

[hooskins]

4/5 Caps games I've watched this year, we have lost. I didn't watch last night, seems like I need to keep that up!

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by hooskins

4/5 Caps games I've watched this year, we have lost. I didn't watch last night, seems like I need to keep that up!

So you've watched Atlanta, Minnesota, and both back to back Boston games? Eh, can't be much worse then watching the Skins.

Still it's amazing what they're doing this year. Last night they had a stat that showed the winning percentage of teams that give up the first goal is around 34%. For the Caps it is now around 75% and they've given up a lot of first strikes this year. At the very least this team is always fun to watch.

[JLee9718]

The Caps won again last night...They seem to be just warming up! I wish the Redskins played with the Caps mentality.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by JLee9718

The Caps won again last night...They seem to be just warming up! I wish the Redskins played with the Caps mentality.

I'm still getting used to having a team I root for actually win games.