Photo credit: Elsa
Ostensibly, John Erskine is a top-4 defenseman, but his performance so far this season leaves much to be desired. He has been on the ice for the last five even-strength goals scored against the Caps.
The team’s goal differential during 5v5 play, by the way, is minus-5. Coincidence?
Let’s take a look at how those goals went down.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and Carolina Hurricanes forward Alex Semin are best friends off the ice. On it, um, not so much. Which is why last year, Sasha checked Sasha so hard, he had to adjust himself on the bench.
Thursday night, in the first Sasha Bowl of the young season, Ovechkin checked Semin in the face during the final minute of the third period to try and save a goal.
Derpfaces akimbo (Photo: Patrick McDermott)
It has been a long, five days since the last Washington Capitals game. The world just feels different now, ya know? The temperature dropped 40 degrees for one thing. Alex Ovechkin surrendered the scoring lead to a tween for another. No matter: the Carolina Hurricanes came to town and we finally got our hockey back. If you were looking for an even-strength exhibition, whoops.
Jason Chimera scored– doesn’t matter how; he just did. Elias Lindholm scored the first goal of his career in the second, a weird one that bounced off of John Carlson’s skate.
Ugh, I hate weird goals.
Alex Ovechkin scored a weird goal by deflecting Steve Oleksy’s shot, introducing all kinds of brownian motion that Khudobin couldn’t savvy. Soon after that, Alex Semin tied the game by converting a 5-on-3 pretty much instantly.
The Capitals defense reasserted its crumminess in the third, as John Erskine (6’4″, 220 lbs.) was unable to box out Nathan Gerbe (basically Rudy from the movie Rudy).
Canes beat Caps 3-2.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Photo credit: Alex Brandon
All week, nearly every writer in the Caps blogosphere seemed to write about Washington’s troubles at even strength. Despite being second in the NHL in points, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was not immune from criticism. Five of Ovechkin’s six points this season had been scored on the power play. The Great Eight had only scored one five-on-five goal this season. That made people grumpy. Not good, Ovi. Not good.
Playing the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, Ovechkin left his precious spot in the left circle and combined with Steve Oleksy to score a dirty, even-strength goal. It was hockey beautiful.
Comcast Sportsnet sideline reporter Al Koken spoke with Washington Capitals assistant coach Calle Johansson during the first period. Koken wanted to know what the Caps franchise leader in games played thought of his new giant defenseman, Alex Urbom.
Apparently it was comedy hour or something.
Photo: Bruce Bennett
San Jose rookie Tomas Hertl was amazing against the New York Rangers on Tuesday. He scored four goals in 11:12 of ice, including a spectacular nifty between-the-legs move on Martin Biron (who sported a .762 save percentage). It was a showboat move– most players would be afraid to try it in a real game for fear of missing– but it worked, and it got the broader sports world talking.
Capitals head coach Adam Oates didn’t like it though. He told The Washington Post’s Katie Carerra that he thinks Hertl made “a rookie mistake” and that he should not “disrespect the league.”
Oates has done his time in the league, and as a Hall of Famer his opinion matters, but he seems a bit out of proportion here. There are way worse things out there than cool-looking goals.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Photo credit: Amanda H.
[Editor’s note: When Washington Capitals fan Amanda H. went to the Caps Season Ticket Holder party at Six Flags last year, she had Martin Erat sign a photo of Filip Forsberg. This year, she one-upped herself. We’ll let her explain.]
Martin Erat signs the toaster (Photo credit: @Komissarov95)
I had debated for a few days what I should get signed at the season ticket holder party. I have a ton of Caps stuff, but nothing really stood out to me, until about twenty minutes before I had to leave. Long forgotten due to the poor toast it makes (No, seriously it’s very bad toast, I have yet to find a setting that toasts most of the bread without burning the other half), my Capitals toaster sat on a shelf, not having been used in months.
Images of walking around an amusement park carrying a toaster danced in my head. It was too amusing to turn down. I have a suspicion those events might be slightly tedious so I felt like this might spice things up. At the very least it’d give me something to say to the players instead of just awkwardly standing in silence. I cleaned it up a little and tested to make sure the sharpie would actually stick. It did!
When my friend Alyssa and I arrived in the parking lot, I had a moment of doubt. Am I really going to go get a toaster signed? Why didn’t I clean it thoroughly beforehand? I figured that either way, this would be a great story and probably worth the effort. I went through security and the bag check. The guy checking my bag thought my toaster was pretty cool.
Dmitry Orlov during his stint with Metallurg Novokuznetsk in 2009-10 season. (Photo credit: Metallurg Novokuznetsk)
CSKA Moscow, managed by former Washington Capitals forward Sergei Fedorov, has acquired the KHL rights to prospects Dmitry Orlov (of the Washington Capitals) and Ivan Telegin (of the Winnipeg Jets) from Metallurg Novokuznetsk in exchange for financial compensation. Both Telegin and Orlov are hometown kids and alumni of Metallurg. After playing in the same system for many years, they know each other very well; they’re even friends.
Orlov, 22, was assigned to the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears to start the year after being unable to make the Caps roster out of camp. He’s in a tight competition for spots with many other young defensemen in the organization like Nate Schmidt and Tomas Kundratek. He played 60 games for Washington in the 2011-12 season before two concussions sidelined him and lost him his spot in the NHL. With Jack Hillen out four-to-six months, now may be the time for Orlov to step up and take back his position in the NHL before it’s too late.
By 10 years ago
Photo: Frederick Breedon
After Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, I figured their four days off this week would be a good thing. The team would get a chance to work on its 5v5 play, and the distance of time would give us a bit more clarity on a chaotic, young season.
Nope. I was wrong.
The Capitals don’t intend to tinker with their lines just yet, while the rest of the league seems dedicated to making Caps fans miserable. It’s been a four-day break in which players are still getting paid, but everyone still seems as grumpy as a non-essential government worker.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
This game is older than me.
“It’s not what you wear, but how you wear it,” Washington Capitals defenseman Steve Oleksy said of Mike Green last month, as he talked about the team’s best dressed player. On a team with Russians in oversized sweatshorts featuring massive corporate logos, Green’s style of faux hawks and Oxfords stands out for its understated elegance.
Now, Greenie wants to bring some that swag to your pathetic wardrobe. As we noted last spring, he came out with his own clothing line, with the first run selling out in days. One of the latest additions, though, deserves special attention: Green’s very own “Game Over” shirt, a reference to the nickname coined due to his remarkable record of ending sudden-death match-ups.
By Chris Gordon 10 years ago
