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... At least, I must have a strong heart I think, because if I didn't I wouldn't have gotten through that Captials game last night.

For those that didn't stay up, the Caps held on for a 6-4 win at Anaheim last night; with Alexander Ovechkin getting a goal and 3 assists (the helpers all coming early in the first period); and the power play striking three times. 

Washington jumped out to a 3-0 lead, saw it pegged back to 3-2; expanded it to 6-2; but with 8 minutes left, it was 6-4 when Teemu Selanne scored with 8 minutes left in regulation. Again last night, there were multiple cases of the Caps being pinned in their own end (that sounds kinky kinda but I don't mean it that way) and unable to clear the puck. There were again cases of defenders simply losing their marks - especially on the back side. On the Selanne goal, the four penalty killers were all on one side of the ice, leaving Selanne with his own zip code and an empty net to bury the puck. 

Now, for last night specifically, I'm willing to overlook all that since they were playing with five blueliners after Mike Green left the game with a shoulder injury following a hit from Chris Pronger (the hit looked clean, it was just hard and in a bad spot on the ice). And there was no Sergei Federov available to make up for his absence, so the Caps were in a tough spot. 

One other thing I've noticed, though. Jose Theodore really overplays. Meaning, he comes a good bit out of his net, and if the puck is on one side of the ice, he is well to that side, making him more vulnerable to a back-side play. And as we've seen this season and in last year's playoff series against Filthadelphia, the defense doesn't mark that kind of play well at all. The Flyers feasted on that, especially on the power play, with guys like that little !@#$% Danni Briere sneaking in and potting it into the open net. 

I hoped Brent Johnson would start last night - I really hope he starts tonight. Theodore looked weary, though he made some good saves, in the second of a back-to-back against the Devils on Saturday. If he's truly healthy, it's time for Johnson to get a start.

Meanwhile, so much for the Jonas Hiller experiment for the Ducks. He gave up three goals on six shots in the first period and was pulled. Jean-Sebastian Giguere gave up three goals the rest of the way - but between Anaheim's lack of discipline to stay out of the penalty box, and a suspect night by their defense, I'm not sure I can blame either goalie for most of the goals. 

Fight Report: Donald Brashear got into a fight last night with George Parros - giving him just 30 PIM in 18 games. Given the frequency with which opposing teams are taking liberties with our goalies and star players without the refs calling it (see Steve Montador's sphere to Ovechkin's jigglies last night), Brashear needs to be more active. He and Parros fought to a draw in my estimation last night, with Parros getting a few more punches in, but neither doing any damage. 

Next Up: Caps at Kings, tonight at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on CSN. The Kings aren't a particularly good team, but they have good young talent (especially at the back) and are challenging to play against. If Green is a no go, Semin isn't back, and Federov can't play, the Caps are in for a tough assignment. 

Dear God, please let Brent Johnson start.