Look Ma! Twenty Wins!

On the one hand, I was certainly glad to see Ovie get the ENG at the end to keep pace with the other three guys at the top of the goal scoring list as well as Crosby and St. Louis (one assist each) on the points list. On the other hand, I was really hoping to see him give the puck to The Captain for a chance to score, essentially, three empty-netters in one game. Because, really, how bizarre would that have been?

If you watched the game, or heard about it, or read the box score, you don't need me to tell you that the Caps played a great game tonight. They did everything tonight that they hadn't been doing in the first three games of the road trip, like scoring fluke goals off of harmless dump-ins and drawing diving penalties. Oh, and they also established a consistent forecheck and got lots of pucks towards the net. Not to mention discovering the meaning of the term "power play", and killing penalties with a vengeance. And Olie. He wasn't too shabby either.

And then there was Alex Semin. What more can anybody say? Both goals were beautiful, and his jubilant celebration after the second when he jumped against the glass nearly brought a tear to my eye. He is now just two off of the league lead, and there is no reason to think that he won't soon catch up to Ovie and the rest. Forget A.O. vs Crosby, I'm excited to watch the Alexes dueling for the goal-scoring lead over the second half of the year.

Of course, none of this really matters too much if they can't carry this level of play through to the All-Star Break. I can think of few things that would be better for this team than to go into the break on a bit of a roll.

Recaps From People That Matter:
-A View From the Cheap Seats
-Bleatings From a Caps Nut
-Capital Fanatic
-Japers' Rink
-On Frozen Blog
-The Peerless Prognosticator

Lecavalier+St. Louis > Ovechkin+Semin (For One Night Only)

I don't have a whole lot to say about tonight's game. It was one of those games where there wasn't anything specific the Caps should have done better, and they lost to a team that simply played better. Tampa certainly got some lucky bounces; their first goal where Olie got hung up at the wrong post while the puck was pinballing behind the net comes to mind, and they capitalized on them better than the Caps.

The good news, however, is the Alex Semin continues to be the absurd offensive dynamo that we all hoped he'd become. On his second goal, I pretty much knew he was going to score the moment he cut towards the middle of the ice. That's seven goals in his last four games for those of you keeping count of such things.

Also continuing an offensive hot streak was Donald Brashear. I've been saying all year that the man is nothing but an offensive machine, but I was usually joking.

In case anyone was wondering, Alex Ovechkin's two assists leave him just four points behind Sidney Crosby in the points-scoring race. If you're interested.

So, tough night for the Caps, but not altogether unexpected and certainly not one to spend too much time thinking or worrying about. Time to move on and start thinking about ripping the Panthers to shreds.

Recaps From People That Matter
-Nothing so far. I'm going to bed.

Ask Not For Whom the Alex Tolls...

... He tolls for thee. One night after Alex Ovechkin single-handedly beat the Atlanta Thrashers, Alex Semin decided he would not be outdone and scored two pretty goals to provide all the offense the Caps would end up needing. That is, of course, not to ignore the contribution of Alex 1.0, who added a highlight reel goal of his own along with two assists, and just like that the Caps have won seven of their last nine, recording 15 out of a possible 18 standings points (that's 83.33% for those of you who were wondering).

Ignoring, for a moment, the first ten or fifteen minutes, this was one of the Caps most complete wins of the season. The offense seemed to be clicking on all cylinders, generating a lot of zone time. The defense did a good job of forcing shots to the outside, allowing only one real scoring opportunity which resulted in Mike Knuble's goal. Olie had a pretty good night, though it's tough to tell as he was never really tested. The most impressive thing about the defenseive performance was the fact that the Caps played much of the game shorthanded on D, with Erskine hiding out in the dressing room (being joined briefly by Mike Green).

Next up, the Caps face Tampa on Tuesday, followed by back-to-back games against New Jersey and Toronto. These are games where they are really going to need to record some wins, as their schedule after the Christmas holiday is absolutely brutal (five games in seven days after Christmas, followed by a stretch where they never have more than two consecutive days off all the way until the All-Star Break).

Standings Watch: I Watch So You Don't Have To (Because You Shouldn't Be Watching To Begin With, Probably)!
With the win, combined with losses by the Devils and the Penguins (YAY!) the Caps find themselves tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. As for the division, the Thrashers got blown out by the Islanders and the Caps are now just five points back with two games in hand.

Ovechkin vs. Crosby Again Some More
Ovechkin in the month of December: Six goals and ten assists for sixteen points in seven games (2.286 PPG). Team's record: 5-1-1 (Ovie is now tied with Marian Hossa and Brendan Shanahan for the league lead in goals.)

Crosby in the month of December: Six goals and fourteen assists for twenty points in nine games (2.222 PPG). Team's record: 4-4-1 (He's still leading the NHL in points. I am nothing if not fair and balanced.)

Recaps From People That Matter:
-A View From The Cheap Seats
-Bleatings From a Caps Nut
-Capital Punishment
-On Frozen Blog (Empty Maybe)
-On Frozen Blog (pucksandbooks)
-Off Wing Opinion
-Puckhead's Thoughts