[23-DEC-2009] Caps 5, Sabres 2
Tonight's game was very well-played all around (except for the 2nd frame, where the Caps let up on the gas pedal). A very good game, and a convincing win!
The Good
* The Caps never once gave up the lead, nor did they allow the game to be tied up.
* Nicholas Backstrom got a pair of goals, and almost got a hat trick.
* Michal Neuvirth stopped 32:34 for a SV% of .941
* Tomas Fleischmann scored his 100th career point (an assist).
* Mike Green, Brendan Morrison, and Alex Ovechkin rounded out the scoring.
* We scored on a 5-on-3 and then on the leftover Power Play, scoring 100% of the time that we had the man advantage.
* John Erskine was credited with a game-high seven hits.
* Alexander Semin (2 assists) took the same number of shots, attempts blocked, and missed shots as his linemate Alex Ovechkin did.
* Jeff Schultz blocked four shots tonight, and had a shot blocked himself.
* We blocked 24 shots tonight, and the Sabres blocked 15 of ours.
The Bad
* We had some trouble breaking out of our zone; fortunately, Neuvirth was stellar when he needed to be, so it didn't cost us.
* We can still improve in the faceoff circle - we won 55% to their 45% tonight, which is not too horrible, but it's nowhere near our top FO%.
* We gave the puck away fourteen (14!) times tonight, to the Sabres' 6. 2 each to Laing, Green, ShaMo, and Ovechkin, and 1 each to Flash, Nicky, Knuble, Alzner, Sasha, and Neuvy.
* BMo, Knuble, and Semin each got to go to the box and feel shame, but we killed all 3 of the penalties, including a 5-on-3 for about 45 seconds, with Knuble and BMo sharing the box.
The Ugly
* That second frame, when we let off the gas, was just downright ugly... even so, we never gave up the lead, or allowed the Sabres to tie, so I won't complain too much.
Time on Ice
Mike Green's overall ToI was down to a manageable 24 minutes, but his average shift is still over a minute in length. Still, the reduced ToI seemed to be a big factor in how well he did out there, which is to say very. In fact, everyone's ToI was within reason tonight. I'm glad to see it. :-)
The Good
* The Caps never once gave up the lead, nor did they allow the game to be tied up.
* Nicholas Backstrom got a pair of goals, and almost got a hat trick.
* Michal Neuvirth stopped 32:34 for a SV% of .941
* Tomas Fleischmann scored his 100th career point (an assist).
* Mike Green, Brendan Morrison, and Alex Ovechkin rounded out the scoring.
* We scored on a 5-on-3 and then on the leftover Power Play, scoring 100% of the time that we had the man advantage.
* John Erskine was credited with a game-high seven hits.
* Alexander Semin (2 assists) took the same number of shots, attempts blocked, and missed shots as his linemate Alex Ovechkin did.
* Jeff Schultz blocked four shots tonight, and had a shot blocked himself.
* We blocked 24 shots tonight, and the Sabres blocked 15 of ours.
The Bad
* We had some trouble breaking out of our zone; fortunately, Neuvirth was stellar when he needed to be, so it didn't cost us.
* We can still improve in the faceoff circle - we won 55% to their 45% tonight, which is not too horrible, but it's nowhere near our top FO%.
* We gave the puck away fourteen (14!) times tonight, to the Sabres' 6. 2 each to Laing, Green, ShaMo, and Ovechkin, and 1 each to Flash, Nicky, Knuble, Alzner, Sasha, and Neuvy.
* BMo, Knuble, and Semin each got to go to the box and feel shame, but we killed all 3 of the penalties, including a 5-on-3 for about 45 seconds, with Knuble and BMo sharing the box.
The Ugly
* That second frame, when we let off the gas, was just downright ugly... even so, we never gave up the lead, or allowed the Sabres to tie, so I won't complain too much.
Time on Ice
Mike Green's overall ToI was down to a manageable 24 minutes, but his average shift is still over a minute in length. Still, the reduced ToI seemed to be a big factor in how well he did out there, which is to say very. In fact, everyone's ToI was within reason tonight. I'm glad to see it. :-)