Okay, maybe one or two things...

It has been brought to my attention that my initial reaction to the Capitals' humiliating disheartening frustrating loss to the Penguins might have been a touch pessimistic. Therefore, I'd like to take a moment to highlight the positives that came from the game, in convenient bullet point format:

• Alex Ovechkin's two assists, bringing his totals for the month of December to two goals and eight assists for ten points in five games.
• Chris Clark's two goals, giving him a total of five goals in his last four games. (These first two are not at all unrelated, by the way.)
  
• The Capitals' one standings point, moving them into a tie with the NY Islanders for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
• The $70 or so I spent on this game, leaving a rather noticable hole in my checking account. (Okay, this isn't, technically, a positive.)
• The somewhat nifty "jersey bag" I was given upon entering the arena. All of a sudden, my Christmas shopping is slightly more complete.

Let the record show that these positives do not, in any way, mitigate the fact that this night ultimately turned out to be some sort of hellish nightmare. But I need something to get me through to Friday.