Bolts shut out the Caps...again. I mean, Roloson is good, but he's not THAT good. If Varlamov had been the only guy who showed up last night the outcome might not have been any worse, so why did the rest of the team even bother suiting up? Varly was awesome again, but he was consistently hung out to dry all night. The laziness is unbelievable. I mean, this is a professional hockey team, right? They all look completely deflated out there. I just don't understand it! Put your big girl panties on and play some friggin hockey! I'm a little concerned about Gabby's response to the loss in his postgame as well. I hope he really doesn't believe that this game was lost due to bad bounces and lack of "luck". Maybe he's just trying to spin it for the press, and maybe trying to avoid putting his team into a deeper depression than they're already in the throes of. It concerns me that he actually said that the Caps came out wanting this win, I do not agree with that in the least and I think anyone can see othewise.
Mike Green, how I love thee... but seriously what the crap?!? That Gagne breakaway = crap defense and who was on the ice at the time? Greener with his good buddy Mr. Nasty (who also had a fantastically horrible evening, by the way...). I was cool with seeing less goals from # 52 this year because he's not a forward. He's a defensemen and his defense has improved significantly. But last night, the defense wasn't even there. Not acceptable.
So, let's talk about Tom Poti for a second. In my last post, I gave him a pass since it was his first game back after his concussion. He was part of (if not the sole) reason for the first 2 goals. Clearly he is not 100%, so why is he on the ice while Big John Erskine is on the bench?? FAIL on the coaching staff. Come on Gabby, NOT acceptable.
Steve Downie, once again making a run for dirtiest player in the NHL. He goes after Scott Hannan, who is so not a fighter and beats the crap out of him. Should be a 2 minute for Hannan and a double minor for Downie, but wait...what? Hannan gets the double for getting punched in the face repeatedly. That totally makes sense. I used to think less of Varly for calling Downie mentally retarded that time, but now I just feel bad for people with Downs Syndrome for being compared to that idiot. Nicely done Zebras, NOT ACCEPTABLE.
I'm not going to even discuss the "superstars" after that, because they are playing like garbage. Really expensive garbage. Everybody join with me now... NOT ACCEPTABLE!
So, the caps have squandered yet another opportunity to put themselves on top of the Southeast due to lack or energy and discipline.
Since I cannot possibly publish something that's all negative like this, I gotta give some props were they are due. As I said before, Varly was an absolute beast in net. Making all the saves he should have and even some no one expected him to. Also, Muffins is back! Not that he played well or anything, but it was good to see him back after that disgusting infected foot situation. And finally, thank you John Carlson for doing your best for the 24 minutes and some change that you were on the ice. J-Car was one of the few who showed up to play.
I can see what Gabby's is trying to do with the team this year, beefing up defense and improving the Penalty Kill (which is still looking solid). Last year, they had to rely on scoring a ton of goals to make up for almost non-existent defense. This is going to be extremely important when the playoffs come around along with strong goaltending, but the goal scorers need to remember how to score goals by the bunches by then as well. All in all, I think if the goals start coming, the Caps will be in a much better position than they were last year and can look forward to a long playoff run. I just hope the issues can be worked out in time. Aside from last night's crap-fest and the dark times of December, our heroes are still winning a lot of games so they must be doing something right. With some energy and consistency I see the potential of a long exciting journey ahead this season.
Now, let's get ready for some Sedin X 2 and some LUUUUUUUUU on Friday night!!
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