Caps Season Hits Lowest Point

Team Falls to Last Place in Southeast Division and 13th in Conference After Another Loss to Florida
Florida Panthers 6, Washington Capitals 3
Boxscore
(Photo Courtesy of Steve Mitchell/AP)


It's hard if not impossible to win in the NHL or any professional league when you are continuously playing from behind. The Capitals continued their trend of slow starts spotting the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the first period. It was the third time in the last four games that the Caps allowed their opponents to score the first two goals of the game.

For some unspeakable reason, Florida just has the Caps number. It was the third consecutive meeting that the Panthers dominated from the get go. They tried to make a game of it though and following the opening goals by Stumpel and Gelinas, a power play goal by Chris Clark pulled them within one with a minute and a half left in the first period. The goal was Clark's 22nd of the season as he tapped in a loose puck that had squeezed through Belfour's seven hole on a shot by Danius Zubrus.

They continued to pressure the Panthers leading to another power play in the last minute of the period. Following a faceoff win by Boyd Gordon, Semin fired a wrist shot on goal with four seconds remaining. Zubrus passed the rebound to Gordon in the front who deposited the puck into the back of the net, however it was a second too late as the period had already come to a close. It was a tough break as the momentum of the game could have changed dramatically had the goal counted.

The second period brought more missed opportunites as four minutes into the period the Caps were unable to take advantage on a 5 on 3 power play for 51 seconds. That was the turning point in the game as one minute later the Panthers would make it 3-1 following a nice pass from behind the net by Juraj Kolnik right onto the waiting stick of Ville Peltonen in front for his 9th goal of the season.

It was all Panthers from there as the Caps would be called on back to back penalties by Steve Eminger and Jamie Heward one minute apart to give Florida a 5 on 3 opportunity at the mid point of the second. Unlike the Capitals, they took advantage of the gift and following a Ruslan Salei shot from the point that clanged off the right post, Jozef Stumpel put home his second of the game and 15th on the year blowing the game open 4-1.

A frustrated Kolzig let everyone know how he felt after the goal by first breaking his stick over the goal post and then firing the puck down the ice. His display would give him an unsportsmanlike minor and put Florida back on another 5 on 3 power play. The Caps would kill it off but it would not matter as five minutes later Kolnik would finish a two on one breakaway depositing a beautiful cross ice pass from Stumpel past a flailing Kolzig for a 5-1 lead.

The lone bright spot came in the third period when just two and a half minutes in, Ovechkin entered the Panthers zone and used defenseman Salei as a screen to beat Belfour five hole for his NHL leading 33rd goal of the season. The goal would also extend his career best point streak to 13 games.

Zubrus would add a power play goal, and Marin Gelinas would answer with a power play goal of his own to make the final score 6-3.

Richard Zednik played for the first time in 2007 after missing the last 26 games due to his sports hernia surgery. He was flying around the ice and provided the team with a nice spark leading to his being doubled shifted at times, showing no sign of his injury.

Alexander Semin played perhaps his worst game of the season, as despite his two assists he was awful defensively. He had two turnovers in the first period that directly led to breakaway opportunities for the Panthers. The first one Kolzig bailed him out on, but the second chance led to a penalty by Semin, which resulted in a power play goal.

Capitals' commentator Joe Benenati described the game best at the end of the second period when he said he felt like he'd been stapled in his forehead. The loss was the Caps 9th out of their last 10 road games.

Game Notes:

With the win Belfour improved his record to 3-0-0 against the Caps this season.... Kolzig had 4 PIM on the night.... The attendance on the night was 11,300 which is only 58.7% of the capacity at the BankAtlantic Center.... With Zednik returning to the lineup, Kris Beech was a healthy scratch.... Matt Bradley was also scratched for the 4th consecutive game despite rejoining the team following his absence for personal reasons.... Brent Johnson was a late medical scratch and was replaced by goaltender Daren Machesney who had been demoted to South Carolina earlier in the day.... In just over a year and a half, Alex Ovechkin has scored more career goals in a Capitals uniform (85) than any of his teammates (Dainius Zubrus is second with 84).

Will the Real Caps Team Please Stand Up?

Tale of Two Games as Capitals Start Out Strong Then Disappear As Panthers Dominate Once Again
Florida Panthers 4, Washington Capitals 1
Boxscore

In front of a crowd of 13,877 at the Verizon Center, the Caps came out guns a blazing, just as they had two nights ago in Raleigh, North Carolina. They took advantage of a penalty-plagued opening (14 minutes of penalties combined in the first 8 minutes of the game) and converted on a two man advantage when Danius Zubrus took a cross ice pass from Alex Ovechkin, and slipped the puck between goaltender Ed Belfour's pads for an early 1-0 lead. It was Zubrus' 17th goal of the season and the 3rd time he has scored while the Caps enjoyed a two man advantage. Alex Ovechkin's assist extended his career high point scoring streak to 9 games.

But that would be the end of the highlights for the Capitals. Beginning in the second period the game quickly resembled last Saturday's debacle in Florida as the Panthers dominated every aspect of the game. They tied the score at the 2:42 mark on a beautiful backhand cross from Anthony Stewart which Marin Gelenas had no problem depositing into the back of the net for his 5th goal of the season. The Panthers would not let up, and despite a Nathan Horton tripping penalty, they would continue to control the action converting on their second quality scoring chance of the penalty kill when Jozef Stumpel snapped a wrist shot past the glove of Kolzig. The score would give the Panthers the lead for good. The Capitals did not record their first shot on goal in the second period until jthe 14:00 minute mark.

The third period was more of the same as the Capitals were outshot 10-1 early on. The game was put out of reach for good when Steve Eminger turned the puck over in his own end, which quickly turned into a 2 on 1 which the Panthers converted on as Ville Peltonen beat Kolzig for his 8th goal of the season and a 3-1 lead. Martin Gelenas would add his second goal of the game on an empty net goal in the last minute of the game making the final 4-1.

A week after giving up 54 shots to the Panthers, the Capitals were once again manhandled by the Southeastern Division dwellers giving up 42 shots on goal while only recording 18 shots themselves. The one positive stat to take away from this game was the Caps holding the Panthers to 0 for 10 on the power-play.

Game Notes: Brian Pothier was scratched from the lineup with what the team said was an "illness". Make your own judgments on the validity of that statement based on the team's history of not reporting injuries to the press....Jamie Hunt was recalled from Hershey but did not dress as Mike Green was able to return to the lineup....Shaone Morrisonn limped to the dressing room towards the end of the first period after blocking a shot off his foot, something that is becoming an epidemic for the Capitals' defenseman, but he was able to return in the second period and finished the game....Boyd Gordon was dominant in the face-off circle winning 15 of 22 for a 68% win percentage.