Season in Review: Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Backstrom is one of the most underrated passers in the game.  Everyone in DC knows of this sweet Swede’s vision, but outside of the Capitals organization, it is really not that well known.

Backstrom started off the season on the wrong line.  Oates wanted to hide Backstrom from the other teams top lines, believing he could create opportunities on the 2nd line against 2nd-tier defenses.  When the Caps emerged from that horrid start of the season to rattle off win after win, one of the major reasons was because Backstrom moved from the 2nd to the first line, being the puck-giver to Ovie and Mojo.  If Oates learned one thing quickly, it’s that you should never separate Backstrom from his

buddy Ovie.  Backstrom went on to tally 40 assists this season, trailing leader Martin St. Louis by only three.  Backstrom only scored eight goals, which is rather low for someone that possesses his skill set.  It would have been better to see him around the 15 goal mark, but there is really no reason to complain when he recorded so many assists.

But the playoffs were a whole different monster.  Backstrom only tallied two assists and a goal, and the top line seemed to be non-existent the whole series.  Backstrom has not been that great of a playoff performer, and that absolutely has to change if they are to be successful in the future.  In 57 career playoff games, Backstrom only has 43 points.  When you compare those numbers to his 413 games played and 415 points, Backstrom has to be a point per game player in the playoffs.  He is arguably the most valuable member of the team.  Because of his role of “Saint Nick:  The Giver of All Things Puck,” if he is not producing, than who else are guys like Ovie going to rely on to find them the puck?

Backstrom just has to figure out how to perform in the playoffs, and if he does, the Caps might be playing hockey in June.

Grade:  B+ for regular season, C for playoffs

Season in Review: Karl Alzner

I’m finally somewhat over the Game 7 loss enough to write a blog post, well, not really.  It’s more of the fact that I am FINALLY done all of my finals.  That loss was something that a lot of fans will have trouble getting over, until next year of course.

Once again, the Caps had an early exit in the playoffs, leaving a bad taste in all of our mouths.  It wasn’t even so much that we lost, but the fact that we got absolutely demolished in a Game 7.  You know, those really important games?  Those games that you are supposed to give it your all for?  That didn’t appear to happen, because you knew as soon as that second goal went in we were in trouble, and when the third went in immediately after you thought to yourself “Man, a two goal deficit is going to be really tough to get out of,” you knew the Caps season was going to come to a close.  It sucks, but we may not have had it as bad as Leaf fans.

So, to make this offseason go by a little faster, I’m going to do a player by player review of every Capital.  You may agree, you may disagree.  But, these are my opinions and you are free to comment and tell me why I’m wrong.

These will be done daily (unless I simply can’t do it one day) and in alphabetical order, starting with

Karl Alzner.

Karl Alzner is our best technical defenseman.  He is the closest thing we have to a shutdown defenseman on this team, and he does an acceptable job at it.  He’s the type of player that you don’t hear much about, and when it comes to defense, that is generally a pretty good thing.  You only consistently hear about a defenseman if they are really, really good at shutting people down (think Zdeno Chara, Ryan Suter, or even P.K. Subban) or really, really bad (remember how everyone wanted Carlson’s head at the beginning of the season?).  That is no knock on Alzner, he’s just the type of guy who gets the job done, and does everything by the book.

He averaged the third most ice time during the regular season behind Green and Carlson with 20:57 a game.  He appeared in every game and only had 14 penalty minutes, which just goes to show you how technically sound Alzner is.  He was partnered up with Green throughout most of the season, including the playoffs, and that was a great matchup.  Because Alzner is more of a

stay at home defenseman, it allowed Green to be a little more aggressive on offense.

As one of the most valuable defenseman on this team, George McPhee has to make Alzner his number one priority in the offseason.  Alzner becomes a restricted free agent in the offseason, and money is pretty tight in D.C.  With a projected payroll of $5,658,483 according to Capgeek, Alzner could eat up a decent chunk of that.  Now, that doesn’t include potential trades or buyouts to clear up some cap space, but his buddy Carlson is making $3,966,667 until 2018.  I’d expect Alzner to get a similar pay raise to Carlson.  Alzner may get some offers from other teams, but it shouldn’t be anything as ridiculous as Paul Holmgren’s offer to Shea Weber.

This team needs Alzner next year.  He is the smartest, most technical d-man they have, and with a pretty lackluster defense, it is important to retain the good guys.  Alzner earned himself a contract extension.

Alzner’s Grade:  B

Game 7

Well, it happened again.  For the third straight playoff series, the Caps have to finish it out in game seven.  I mean, why would this team make it easy for us?  They squeaked their way into the playoffs, they occasionally take periods (or maybe even entire games off).  It only makes sense to give us one more days worth of heart attacks.

The last game seven was not fun.  It wasn’t fun at all.  As I’m sure all remember, the Caps didn’t appear to show up at the last game seven loss to the Rangers.  However, the one before against the Bruins required a Joel Ward goal in overtime.  Hopefully, we see a mirror image of the latter

(preferably avoiding overtime).

The Caps come back to DC tomorrow night, and it’s  pretty good timing.  The Caps have grabbed all of their playoff wins at home, so the home ice advantage is playing up to it’s name.  They come to a arena with a sea of red, where they have 18,000 people that have their back.

Some quick game notes for tomorrow:

-The Caps need to control the puck more in the offensive zone.  This starts off by winning face offs, something they did not do in game six, winning only 18 of 45.  If they are able to kick it back to Ovie for a quick one timer or back to the blue liner in waiting, they will create a ton of opportunities.

-They need to play from behind the net.  The Caps have gotten a ton of shots, and even a good portion of their goals, from the point.  They need to control the puck behind the net and feed the blue liner at the point who is sliding into open space.  Ribeiro is very good at this.

Boo This Man! (Joannette)

-They have to get a power play.  And they have virtually no control of that, but for the love of God, they need to get one.  Their power play is practically automatic.  They can’t afford to have another game where they don’t get an advantage, because they seem to struggle scoring at even strength.  I don’t have the information on it, but I imagine the same refs who officiated game six will not be at the Verizon Center.  A fun little fact about game six’s officiating, that was the second game in this years
playoffs that had one team that did not receive a single power play.  The first was game six of the Detroit-Anaheim series.  Detroit trailed the series 3-2 and were playing in Detroit.  Anaheim did not receive a single power play, and Detroit won the game 4-3.  The refs of that game were Marc Joannette and Brad Watson.  The refs of our game six?  Marc Joannette and Brad Watson.

The Caps will come out flying in front of a wild crowd.  That is going to help them incredibly.  They will be working with better ice than the Rangers have at MSG, which ultimately helps out with their style of play.  Wear your red, cross ever single digit you have, go find a four leaf clover, or sacrifice a chicken.  I don’t care.  But, this city needs a big playoff series win.  And that may happen tomorrow.

LETS GO CAPS!

Caps Rangers, 2-1

I apologize for not writing recently.  I am getting towards the end of my semester and have been finishing assignment after assignment, reading after reading, powerpoint slide after powerpoint slide.  Also, if my tweets during the game seem to be a little sassy, it’s probably because I did not get much sleep the previous night, so bare with me for the next week.

But enough about me, how about his Caps hockey?  I had to go to a meeting about half way through the game, but I did catch the highlights, and I honestly think that we are still in really good position.  Obviously, we have the upper hand game wise, and now both teams have two home games left if this is to go to game 7.  If we are able to steal just one game from New York in the Garden, I think we might be able to close this series out a little early.

But the Caps can’t walk around thinking they have this series in the bag.  The Rangers do not generate too much offense, but what they do have is a solid goaltender that has the ability to keep his team in the game even if his fellow teammates aren’t showing up.

But, we also have a solid goaltender.  Even after letting up four goals, Holtby still holds the playoffs best goals against average at 1.61 and the third best save percentage, stopping 94.4 percent of the shots he faces.  He also backstops one of the most surprising penalty kill units in the playoffs, which is a good thing to have in the playoffs considering you occasionally face six power play units in one night…

The Rangers should not rely on that happening too often.  The too many men on the ice call was absurd, and there were a few calls that were pretty soft.  I’m not one to complain about a ref, sometimes those type of games where your team gets a lot of penalties just happens.  Hopefully that’s the only one we will see.

One concern the Caps should keep in mind is the return of some players that were injured.  Marc Staal returned last night, playing 17:17 minutes, and that will only increase.  He adds a lot of talent to the blue line.  It also appears Ryan Clowe will return soon, which again adds a little bit more of a scoring threat to there forwards.

The Caps have been relatively controlling on even strength, playing an awful lot of time in the Rangers zone.  What I have noticed is that they have repeatedly gotten chances from the blue line, particularly from the top right, which is perfect for guys like Carlson and Green, who are 2nd and 3rd in shots taken, respectively.  They have to win the board battle behind the net, and feed it to the open man at the point, which they have been able to do well so far this series.  Also, because the Caps have been spending so much time in the offensive zone, they need to draw penalties.  They have the most lethal unit in all of the NHL, and if they draw three or four penalties a game, they are bound to get at least one goal.

The Caps head into Thursday ahead 2-1 in the series.  If they are able to sneak a win in New York, they will head back to DC with a ton of momentum.  Send all of your good vibes up to the worst city in the world (until we play the next team, of course) for a Caps win.

LETS GO CAPS

Caps Vs Rangers

It’s them again.  We are playing them AGAIN.

It’s becoming quite the rivalry.  It seems like we are playing the Rangers each year in the playoffs, well,

because we are kinda playing the Rangers every year in the playoffs.

The Caps closed out the season in a rather impressive fashion.  The Rangers record were also semi-impressive, finishing 7-3-0 in the last ten games, but no team comes into the playoffs hotter than the Capitals.  And no player is playing better than Ovechkin.  He is putting up video game like numbers, earning himself the NHL’s first star of April.  Ovechkin closed out his April with 14 goals and 22 points in 13 games.  He closed out his season with a league leading 32 goals, leading the Caps to a 11-1-1 record, and sealed his third career Rocket Richard Trophy.  I mean, where on earth did that come from?  He has been absolutely absurd.  Wheaties?  Voodoo?  Yoga?  I don’t what it is, as long as it continues into the playoffs.

So, let’s take a look at this first matchup.

Offense

The Caps come into this series representing the third highest scoring team in the league, finishing with

149 goals scored for an average of a shade over 3 goals a game.  But, more importantly, they have the top ranked power play.  And it is scary deadly, converting on power play 26.8%.

However, while it does seem like we are the high flying offense, the Rangers may have to say something about that.  While their power play is kinda weak, only scoring 15.7% of the time, they actually have the third highest goals scored on even strength.  We come in at number ten.  They also average about two more shots a game than us.  The Rangers don’t have a single stud that does majority of the work like Ovie does, except for maybe Rick Nash.  The key to the Caps is to hang tight with the Rangers on even five on five, and punish them when we get a power play.

Defense

There is just one minor problem though.  The Rangers were only shorthanded 148 times.  That is fairly low in comparison to all other teams.  They do, however, have a mediocre penalty kill.  But, then again, ours has been playing pretty bad.  The Rangers have the 4th best goals against average, compared to our 18th.  Their defenseman are big and smart.  Nobody is outstanding, but all know how to get the job done.  They block shots, hit everything and make sure nobody is in front of Lundqvist.  In the Caps little streak, they

have played exceptionally well on defense.  The offense has been the main reason, but they do play well defensively.  Lundqvist is one of the best goaltenders in the world, and is more than capable of getting a nice hot streak going.  But, don’t forget, we have a playoff freak of nature manning the pipes.

Key Matchups

Ovechkin vs. Dan Girardi / Ryan McDonagh:  Marc Staal would give Ovechkin fits.  He is a good defenseman, and if anyone could knock Ovechkin off his game, it be him.  But it’s not going to be him, because he’s injured.  He still has blurred vision after taking a puck in the eye.  I believe that means either Girardi or McDonagh are going to be responsible for stopping Ovie.  I’m going to guess McDonagh because of his size.  Remember last year how Dennis Seidenberg never left Ovies side in the Boston series last year?  That’s what one of these guys are going to do.  It’s really the only way to stop him, especially with the way he’s been playing.

Nash vs. Everybody.  Every defenseman is going to have to keep an eye on him.  He’s big at 6 foot 4 and graceful.  He is easily the Rangers most talented forwards.  Of course, they are going to need to contain Stepan and Richards, but the guy that can do the most damage is Nash.  One thing that may be to our advantage; Nash has only played 4 Stanley Cup playoff games.

Injuries

Caps                                                                                              Rangers

Joel Ward (A return by Thursday is rumored)                              Marc Staal (Possible Return)
 Brooks Laich                                                                               Ryan Clowe

This is going to be a great series.  Both teams are more than capable of winning it, and we should consider a series similar to last year, minus the end result obviously.  So let’s go out on thursday, and rock the red like we’ve never rocked it before.  Because it’s our year this year!

LETS GO CAPS!

One. More. Win.

If there is ever a time to beat the Jets, it’s tomorrow.

If the Caps win in regulation, they have sealed the Southeast Division for the last time of its existence.

I mean, can we just take a moment to reflect on what the Caps have been able to accomplish so far?  This team was in DEAD LAST on March 1st, and they have marched all the way up to be a potential playoff team (I refuse to say we have a spot, though we do have a 90.1% chance of making the playoffs according to Sports Club Stats).  We’ve had some sort of possessed Ovechkin scoring goals whenever

he appears to feel like it.  We have a magic like power play that is best in the league.  We went from a defense that was as good as Donovan McNabb to one that has resembled something more like RGIII.  And Holtby has morphed into some wall-like substance.

They simply have turned from a team that had a legitimate shot at a lottery pick to one that has become the scariest team in hockey.  Are they the Cup favorites?  No way.  But, are they the hot team that could potentially go on a run?  All signs point to a yes.

But, again, I can’t stress this enough, we have NOT officially made the playoffs yet.  We still have games remaining, but none will be as important as tomorrows against the Jets.  They have playing, well, like a team that is facing elimination lately.  And there is nothing more scary than playing a team thats back is against the wall.  But, the Caps know that they are the hot team.  They can control the tempo and play their own style of hockey.  They have to counter on the Jets mistakes, block some shots, and draw penalties, and they will be golden.  A big thank you to the Hockey Gods for allowing the Jets to be playing the Caps on the wrong side of back to back game nights.  We’ll take what we can at this point.

Tomorrow nights going to be an exciting one in DC.  Wear your lucky shirt, eat your lucky pre game meal, sit in your lucky chair, and wear your lucky underwear.  Because we have a chance to clinch tomorrow, and wouldn’t that just be sweet?

Lets Unleash The Fury

Before I begin, I would like to say that I am very thankful that everyone who reads this blog is safe, and those effected by today’s tragedy are in my thoughts and prayers.  As horrible as today’s event was, remember, for every one person willing to cause a tragedy, there are always dozens willing to run towards it.  Hero’s rise, and those lost will be remembered.  Stay strong Boston.

Classic Caps.  Always taking it down to the wire to just scare the crap out of us.  Why would they make it easy on us?

Like our little streak for example.  It makes us look invincible.  We can beat anybody.  As long as we stay healthy, no one can stop us.  Gasp!  We’re not staying healthy?  Laich’s down?  Erat?  Please tell me it’s not Ward!

Fortunately for us, two of those guys are back and healthy.  Erat played the other night, recording 15:11 minutes on 21 shifts.  Ward practiced in full gear today, and appears to be ready to play against those Maple Leafs of Toronto.  But Laich?  Don’t count on it.  And that is a huge blow.  What can’t that guy do?

But, for now, the Caps continue to roll, and they picked a fantastic time to pick up their play.  They are picking up crucial points against teams they should be beating, meaning non-playoff teams.  Now, this is where we unleash the fury.

The Caps remaining six games this season come against six playoff contending teams, including three games against teams that desperately need to win (Ottawa twice, and the Jets).  That means that they really, really, REALLY need to keep this streak alive.  Fortunately, the Caps have four of those games at home, including the game against the Jets.  Now, the Caps are sitting in 3rd, with a four point lead on the Jets.  I think the Caps have a realistic shot of winning the division if they get five more points.  Just five!  That means that the Jets game next Tuesday may in fact be the most important game of the year.  Actually, scratch that, it WILL be the most important game of the year.

But can the Caps keep it up?  Why not?  They have the leading goal scorer in Ovechkin, a red hot

scoring d-man in Green, and a magician in Backstrom, who is 3rd in assists with 38.  The top line of Ovie, Backstrom, and Mojo has been fierce, and they are getting good, solid support from the 2nd and 3rd line.  Neuvy and Holtby have had solid outings in the recent streak, though Holtby decided to give us a little scare on Saturday.

So Caps fans, lets gear up, cheer loud, and maybe throw in a little prayer for our Washington Capitals.  They can do it, but they have to keep on winning.  UNLEASH THE FURY