Familiar words, aren’t they? For the past couple seasons, it seems we utter those words too often and too close to the end of the season. With 15 games remaining, the Caps are 11th in the Eastern Conference and sixth in the Metropolitan Division. Their chance at a playoff birth is quickly slipping from their grasp.
So what happened?
It’s easy. It’s the same thing that happens every year. The same excuse. The same issue.
They have no heart.
Courtesy: Keith Srakocic
The Caps are playing like a team that doesn’t have a care in the world. They’re playing as if they have no sense of urgency. Sure they have shown flashes of hard work and patience. They have made some very good plays and have made it hard for the other team to get the puck out of their own end, but this is a 60 minute game – not 20. The Caps haven’t played a 60 minute game at all this year. They play hard in the first and choke it in the 2nd and 3rd, or vice versa. If they squeeze out a win it’s most likely a shootout goal that wins it. There haven’t been many blow outs. There haven’t been any ‘Ovechkin changing’ plays. There hasn’t been a lot of anything. Just disappointment.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the Caps have had some good games. Some good periods and had a great oppurtunity after the Olympic break to do some damage in the East. The Phoenix game showed that the Caps can indeed stage a comeback, score big goals, and win a game. But that win was their only win in the last 6 games.
The problems with the Caps aren’t going to be solved this season. There are huge holes that need to be filled, starting on defense. Mike Green and Dmitry Orlov have been brutal, although Orlov made some nice plays out of his zone last game. I feel like I never hear Alzner or Carlsons name because they’ve been ineffective and Carrick should not be playing. Hillen has been ok, and I still think he’s the smartest defenseman we have.
Offensively, the Caps look like lost school children in a museum, stopping and watching as everything unfolds around them, then occassionally taking in a site and using the interactive stations. Ovechkin is being his usual ‘I’ll play too much with the puck then lose it’ self and not shooting when he should (he should never be allowed to carry the puck anyway). Kutznetsov, although only two games in, has shown little flashes of brilliance, but needs to be with Ovechkin and Backstrom, or with Johansson, in order to be effective. Laich is still battling injury, but he hasn’t been as awful as he was. Chimera, Ward and Fehr have all worked hard, but they seem to be the only ones who care, and we need more from Brouwer. His shot is being wasted by not having an appropriate center. When Grabovski comes back, hopefully soon, it will make a difference. He can do the little things that a lot of these other guys can’t.
As for Halak and Holtby, both have been solid. Both have been good when they need to be and great at times. It’s not their fault. It’s the fact that the Caps play around too much in their zone and don’t know how to clear the puck up and out (ahem… Green). Too many turnovers in the Caps own end have led to too many goals that any goaltender would let in. And it’s easy to stop the first shot sometimes, but then there are 2-3 more shots immediately after because there is no defenseman to take the stick of the opposing player.
A few little stats to piss off fans even more:
The Caps are 10-14-3 against Metropolitan Division teams.
They were 15-47 on faceoffs against the Penguins on Tuesday.
Ovechkin had 10 shot attempts. 2 made it on net.
Green led all Caps defenseman with 23:22 of ice time on Tuesday.
The Caps are 0-22-5 when scoring 2 or fewer goals.
The team scoring the game’s first goal is 17-3 in the Caps last 20 games.
and the big one…
The Caps have gone 126 minutes without a goal and 189:07 without an even strength goal.
So what now? Well now the Caps have to win as many of their last 15 games as they can and try to make the playoffs. They have get their heads out of their asses and act like pros and not like mites-on-ice. And, more importantly, they have to have a collective effort from everyone on that team and care about making the playoffs, because, right now, it doesn’t seem like they do.
More to come…
