FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Thoughts about last night's Caps win over the Blues while I crack open and eat some peanuts.

It was a fun night for the most part. I got into town early hoping to grab some food and a couple beers, but all the usual haunts were packed by 5:15. So I bagged that idea, grabbed some grub at McDonald's and went into the arena just after the gates opened at 6. Upon entering, I got my Ovechkin bobblehead, which is him in his get-up from the awards ceremony last year, holding the four trophies he won (Pearson, Ross, Hart, Richard). 

I think Ovechkin is the greatest player in the world.

I'm glad he plays for my favorite team.

Holy crap what an ugly bobblehead.

I opened it and my cat jumped off the bed and out the window in fright. 

Check out Puck Daddy's blog today about other notoriously bad bobbleheads. This one isn't included, perhaps because he hadn't seen it yet, but oh lordy lordy. 

Anyway, on to the game. A mostly decent performance from the Capitals, except for the multiple power plays in the second period that were just awful. I don't know what was going on with Semin last night, but his stick was like a stone. He couldn't hold on to the puck very much at all and when he tried to make passes they were often errant. Ovechkin helped the power play stats a bit with his goal early in the third period that made it 4-1 and put the game out of reach. 

Good work last night out of Kozlov to get to the net (after Boyd Gordon did the same) for Washington's second goal, part of a three-point night for the lesser-heralded Russian. Flesichmann followed that with a nice shot in tight (were you watching Michael Nylander?) to make it 3-1 seconds later. 

Nylander really has lost the plot. Late in I believe the second period, he got the puck with about 17 seconds left, with the Caps buzzing in the offensive zone. He proceeded to hold on to the puck for the entire rest of the period, never passing or shooting, despite being near the goal on several occasions. I don't know what team Nylander thinks he's playing for, but his value on the Capitals has never been lower. There are too many other younger players that need ice time for Nylander to waste it skating around like he's in the Ice Capades. I've grown rather sick of it. If he has such little confidence in his shot, and he's not going to trust his teammates enough to pass it to them in tight spaces, then he needs to be a healthy scratch and that's that.

Speaking of scratches, hopefully Semin won't be one for too long after he was attacked by a St. Louis player in the third period last night. First, Semin was clearly tripped, which wasn't called because the **** referees Mike Leggo and Kelly Sutherland thought Semin was diving. As Semin got up, he was then cross checked in the small of the back, sending back to the ice, with again no call. I don't know what Leggo and Sutherland were watching, but both of them ought to be susepnded. I've gotten sick and tired of seeing teams taking liberties with our top players and our goalies - and last night was the latest and worst case - a St. Louis team devoid of talent, with no chance to win, resulting to cheap shots and stick work because they already know they are playing out a 50-game string that's not going to end with a playoff berth. The only classy part of that organization is GM John Davidson. The rest of it can fall in the Mississippi River for all I care. 

Since the refs did nothing, Ovechkin took it upon himself to look up the St. Louis player, causing a fracas but no fight. Brashear later looked about to fight, but an offside whistle blew and I think he held up to not risk getting an instigator, with the Caps up just 4-2 at that point and plenty of time left. As much as I would have liked to see Brashear club the crap out of someone, not going there was probably the right move. 

The inaction of Leggo and Sutherland then led to a 5-minute span of hard and at times borderline hits which all went uncalled, while they played twister in the center of the ice calling negligible hooks and making sure Caps rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov was out of the trapezoid when he played the puck. Many NHL referees, including and especially the two last night, have lost the plot with regard to how to manage a game where conflicts arise, becuase they are too caught up in trying to make sure they get every hook, trip, and hold - where in many cases, these infractions (if they are that at all) have little to no effect on the play. 

Tarik reported today that Semin didn't practice, so I'm betting he's a no-go for tomorrow. Thanks Blues, Leggo, and Sutherland. Way to protect the sport. 

That game tomorrow is at 1 p.m. in Philadelphia against the Flyers. It's a must-win. Not because of the standings or anything, the Caps have an 8-point lead in the Southeast still after Carolina overtimed Florida last night. But Washington needs to win this game to prove it can beat the Flyers, and it needs to win the physical battles that are sure to occur. 

And they need to win to keep me from really venting my feelings on here right now.