(Photo credit: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Before Friday’s game with the NHL-best Vancouver Canucks, Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau called them a “mirror image” of last year’s Caps. If anything was displayed in Washington’s 4-2 loss, it was that the Capitals are far from the team that they were last year. In fact, the Caps are almost a shell of their former selves. The Canucks more or less toyed with the Capitals and in a measuring stick game, the Capitals failed the test.
(Editor’s note: This recap might sound like a broken record, but the same problems continue to arise.)
- Alexander Semin didn’t play, so he can’t be picked on. But Nicklas Backstrom can. The old Backstrom appeared in two short spurts: his early breakaway chance against Roberto Luongo and his cross-ice pass to fellow Swede Marcus Johansson for the Capitals’ second goal. He also won 19 of 24 faceoffs. Despite all of that, he hasn’t scored a goal since December 1. It’s nice to see some classic Swede, but all of us (and the team, obviously) wants/needs to see more of it.
- Speaking of things that we are seeing more, it’s Mike Green not playing defense. His porous defense led to a breakaway chance by Ryan Kesler and a penalty that negated a power play just nine seconds in. He was minus-2 and is even in his last six games. Has Green improved his defense this season? For the most part. But is he All-Star worthy? No.
- The power play continues to be nonexistent. 0 for 3. Broken record. Next bullet.
- Alex Ovechkin? Also nonexistent. One goal, two assists and minus-3 since the Winter Classic.
- The third period consisted of a bit more of the Capitals’ old, up-tempo style of play. Result? They controlled the puck unlike in the first two periods and actually had some quality scoring chances. The 3-1 deficit dictated they revert to a riskier scheme, but the fact that the conservative approach left them in a two goal hole means the team is stuck in translation. They are going to have to decide what kind of team they want to be in the next few months.
- If there is one thing that can perfectly describe the Capitals’ recent woes in one package, watching Eric Fehr and David Steckel run into each other at the blueline (a collision that apparently knocked Fehr out of the game with an injury) is about as close as one can get.
The sentiment in the locker room after the game was that the Caps were pleased with their third period performance, but did not play a full game. What a novel concept that is. Playing a full 60-minute game. At least the team knows that there are 60 minutes in a game. This is not a “woe is me/blow things up” diatribe, but consider this: the Capitals are 6-2-3 in their last 11 games and have scored 27 goals in that span. It doesn’t seem like 27 goals, though. It seems more like the 11 goals they scored during their eight-game skid.
The Capitals need to do something. Nothing has worked. Don’t let the recent record fool you; the team is not playing as well as their record advertises. What it will take for the Caps to shake out of the bad vibes is beyond any of us. Unfortunately, it might be beyond any of them, too.
