Sports Then and Now

After two Caps goals that went under review, the final game-winning goal in overtime was an undisputed one, putting Washington victorious with a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins.

From The Washington Post

This would be a game where one team is just waiting for the playoffs, and the other is desperately fighting for the playoffs: The Capitals, one day removed from winning their first-ever President’s Trophy played the Bruins, who came in seeded seventh in the East, but only two points ahead of the ninth-placed New York Rangers.

Throughout the entire first period, the Capitals seemed to take control of the game. Washington scored seven minutes in with a goal from Backstrom that went under a very long  video review to see if the puck completely crossed the goal line. After the goal was deemed legal, the Caps continued to buzz around the Bruins net.

Not only was their offense clicking, but the Capitals were also able to protect their zone well. With 12 minutes remaining, the Bruins entered the Capitals’ zone and flurried around Jose Theodore. However, Theodore was able to pull off a stacked pad save on a sequence of shots, or a “Johnny Power-double stack” save as head coach Bruce Boudreau called it.

“They came charging the net,” Theodore said about the save. “I was just able to pretty much react.”

Along with the solid play of Theodore, the Capitals defense cleared the puck fairly quickly. Read the rest of this entry →

The defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a hot start as they look to defend their title.

It’s almost impossible to win a football game in the first quarter. There’s too much time to come back, adjust to the other team, get lucky. A team can lose a game in the first quarter though. They can put themselves in such a deep physical and psychological hole that they won’t be able to climb.

The NHL season is a little like that. Everyone has played at least 21 games out of a total of eighty two. The early favourites have been established who is the best team? That title is still up for grabs. Who is likely to make the playoffs? Well in the new NHL where there’s a point given out every time a team completes their pre-game warm-up that’s still undecided yet. Who has played themselves out of the play-offs and are likely to be lottery pick drafters, well that I can tell you. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes and their five wins respectively are out of the playoffs, in November. It’s a neat trick.

How have the teams in the NHL done this first quarter? Lets’ take a look at teams in the Eastern Conference in the order they’re in now.

1/ Pittsburgh Penguins
GP: 25   W: 17   L: 8     OT: 0      PTS: 34      WPCT: .680     GF: 77    GA: 69

Pittsburgh has started slowly the last couple of years. This year they had the third fastest start in the league. They’ve tightened up their game giving up only 27.1 shots per game.

Fleury hasn’t benefitted from this decrease in chances. Last years .912 save percentage has declined to .904. Malkin has missed seven games so far this year and the team suffered with him out.

After the playmaker Sidney Crosby with 12 goals there’s a group of Penguins with six. Youngster Alex Goligoski has almost equaled last years offensive totals in less then half the games. Along with Letang and the veteran Skoula there seems plenty of offensive potential on the back end on the soon to be retired Gonchar.

The return of Maxime Talbot should help Pittsburgh as well. They still could use top end snipers to play with Malkin and Crosby. This team looks to get stronger as the season progresses.
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Hockey is back! Rejoice!

The new NHL season has opened up and it has started up with a bang. The NHL regular season is a marathon followed by the playoffs. The playoffs are a marathon run at high tempo while somebody beats you with a stick. Alexander Ovechkin however only knows how to sprint. He’s exploded to start the season with three points in each of his first three games.

That’s a Gretzky/Lafleur start to a season that hasn’t been seen in the NHL for 20 years.

Philadelphia and Washington played an important game in October, honest!! They played a great, exciting, back and forth game that Philadelphia won 6-5 in overtime. There were five lead changes in a 6-5 game as in Philly, Washington, Philly, Washington Philly. Besides Ovechkins third three point night and Semin’s highlight reel goal there was a hat trick for Philadelphia’s Mike Richards. Daniel Briere got the overtime winner. Is it time for the playoffs yet?

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