Caps Toy With Cats - Come Out With 6-2 Win

If the Washington Capitals ever needed a statement saying "Hey, we don't need no stinkin' Ovechkin", then well, they made it tonight.

A completely dominant 6-2 win over Florida in a game riddled with Panther penalties and Capital power plays was never as close as the score indicated. Two Panther goals as time was dying made a 6-0 deficit look almost respectable.


Thoughts on the game:

55 minutes of dominant play and 5 minutes of lapse against Florida? 6-2 win. Against a team like Philly or Boston? Probably a 4-3 loss or a game heading to OT.

Florida had no fire. They played frustrated and looked like a team on the tail end of a back to back and on their third game in four nights.

Semin showed once again that he is just as skilled, if not MORE skilled, than AO. He also should have had two or three more goals. Incredible.

Steckel is still slumping. Ouch.

Giroux should be in Hershey, but drawing a 7 minute power play from another guy who should have been in the AHL was good. Well done.

Varlamov - still solid.

Bruce Boudreau did a good job getting the stars out and giving the plumbers some PP time. Bradley on the PP is something I want to see more often, if only because of what the score has to be to get him out there.

28-19-21 looks like a solid enough line to have. I wouldn't split it up on Ovechkin's return. In fact, I'd pair him with Morrison and Knuble, or Perreault and Fehr. The top end talent on the Caps is deep.

Finally, it's easy to see why the team needs Ovechkin on it's power play. 3-12 on the PP is a decent percentage, but they were only 1-10 on 5 on 4 time, with two of those goals coming 5 on 3. 1-10 isn't going to get it done.


My Three Stars for tonight's game:

3 - Matt Bradley - his Shorthanded Goal killed everything the Panthers had going for them, and really took all of the wind they had out of their sails after a dominant start to the second.
2 - Brendan Morrison - Great work on the power play, good skating. What a pick up in the offseason he's continueing to be.
1 - Alex Semin - Two goals, two assists, and should have had more. Thanks for reminding us who the other Alex is.


Glaring Stat:

So far, the Capitals are 5-2 without Ovechkin this year. They are 12-3-6 with him. Small sample sizes, but the idea that DC's squad is a one player team is a myth that's quickly being busted.