Recap: Caps 5 - Bruins 3

After the news of losing their captain for 3 games, one would expect the Capitals to come out flat.  And they did, but the play of Knuble to inspire his team to rally in the first period, in which they had only 2 shots on goal about 12 minutes through, helped get the team back on track.  With many expecting the Capitals to come away with zero points versus the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Caps got two huge points tonight.  If these Caps are to make a run and solidify a playoff spot, every home game is a must win with our current trend of not showing up to play on the road.  Now onto some highlights and quick notes from tonight's game.

Your Ovechkin highlight of the game...yes Ovechkin highlight of the game...

Your Save of the night...



Notes:
- Vokoun earns his 20th win of the year.  Another solid performance in net tonight.  29 saves on 32 shots for a .909 save pct.  A little bit below his season average, but take away the own goal deflection from Alzner, then he's right on par with his season average.

-When I looked up the stat line about halfway through the first period, I saw exactly what I expected....a grand total of 2 shots on net.  The Capitals rebounded and finished with 10 shots on net in the first period alone.  That could be a first in the Hunter era...With 8 shots in the 2nd, I expected the Caps to continue putting the pucks on the net as if they had listened to all the critics but they returned with a 5 shots on net performance in the 3rd for another low, 22, shot performance.  Outshot AGAIN.

-Perreault.  Congrats on the hat-trick.  Well earned for a hard-working young player.  Looks like one of our depth offensemen has answered the call to step up their play.  We will need more of this in the weeks to come. 

-Good to see Ovechkin down on the bench afterwards giving Perreault the pie in the face.  Speaks to his character and his love for his teamates in a day where Ovechkin has come under heavy scrutiny in the media for backing out of the All-Star game. 

-Absolute horrible turnover by Carlson on Seguin's goal to tie the game at 2.  Looked like a play from my pickup game last night.  We need our young, talented and prized defensemen to step up while Green is out this year (all season? we'll see).  Carlson and Alzner continue to make mistakes.  And the recent split of their pairing, seems to be Coach Hunter's attempt and offsetting their mistakes they've been making on the ice this season.

-On a night where Ovechkin and Backstrom were both out, you'd expect to see everyone's playing time rise.  For most, it did.  For others, it continues to show Coach Hunter's shrinking of the bench by the 3rd period.  Whether this is based on his lack of trust in their ability or his strategy, one must hope it doesn't burn our players out.  If players like Ward, Beagle, and Schultz (with no playing time) continue to see their ice time get cut, one has to wonder if Hunter is telling GMGM that he wants to have a say on his personnel and he's not happy with his current squad.  Thus, making the Caps players at the trade deadline to bring in personnel more to Coach Hunter's liking. 

-It should be an exciting second half of the season after the All-Star break for the Capitals.  Taking a look at the rest of the schedule, I see the Capitals final point number being 95.  I expect the Caps to make the playoffs based on winning their division with the playoff cutoff for the 8th spot being around the 88 point total.  The Caps are just brutal to watch on the road.  They must win their games at home and hope for some points on the road.  It won't be like the past seasons where we've coasted into the playoffs.  We may just need to break out the maalox down the stretch.

-As always, GO CAPS!