Biron Dead-On, Series Tied 1-1

If only Alexander Semin's shot doesn't hit the post and finds it's way in, and if only Matt Cooke converted his two chances wide open chances in front of the net, then maybe the Caps find to way to win again and take a 2-0 series advantage into Philly. But that didn't happen, a combination of bad luck on the offensive side and great goaltending on the part of Martin Biron led to a Flyers shutout win and a series now shortened to a best of five. (Photo by Len Redkoles/Getty Images)

Heading into Tuesday night's contest, the Caps main focus needs to be on converting their power play chances, controling the puck on their way into the offensive zone, and preventing the home run pass on the defensive end.

As a result of today's events, a couple of lineup questions to ponder:

Jeff Schultz made his first career postseason appearance after missing game one and was clearly rusty. With as well as Steve Eminger played while Schultz was out, does Boudreau put Eminger back in the lineup for game 3? Might be a good idea.

A lineup change I would definitely like to see is Eric Fehr taking the place of Tomas Fleischmann. Fehr size and play in the corners would be a good matchup against this physical Flyers team.

Overall, the main thing the Caps have to do is just relax. This is going to be a long and tough series. Nobody expected them to win this series in four. One thing is for sure, this team will definitely be prepared for game 3, and having won both contests in Philly during the regular season, they should know what to expect from the Philly faithful.

Capitals/Hurricanes Preview

Washington Capitals (20-21-7, 47 points)
at
Carolina Hurricanes (25-19-6, 56 points)

Television: NC8
Radio: WTNT 570-AM
Gametime: 7:00 PM

The second half of the season officially begins Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina as the Capitals begin a home-and-home series against the defending Stanley Cup champions. It was only eight days ago that Washington entered an away game against Carolina riding a six game road losing streak and a three game losing streak overall. Despite all that, the team was able to put together a solid sixty minute effort for an impressive 5-2 win.

They will need an even better performance in order to overcome a Hurricanes team that will be fully prepared to avenge what their coach Peter Laviolette described as a bitterly disappointing effort. Carolina went into the break with a two game losing streak after they followed up that game with an overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning last Saturday.

Alex Ovechkin will return to the team after missing Thursday's practice while traveling back from the NHL All-Star game in Dallas. A game in which he had the most ice time of any forward and was able to tally his first career all-star goal. It remains to be seen if Ovechkin will continue to wear his stylish but controversial blue mirrored visor in the regular season. While not against NHL rules, a similar mirrored visor he wore last year was voted down by general managers by a vote of 29-1 after New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur complained that he could not see his eyes. He enters Friday night's game riding a nine game point scoring streak, accumulating 4 goals and 11 assists over that span.

Carolina defenseman Niclas Wallin is questionable for the game with a lower-body injury which he suffered against Washington in last week's game.
For the Capitals, what last week was described as the flu, has now been changed to an upper body injury for Brian Pothier. He will miss Friday's game as defenseman Jeff Schultz was recalled Thursday to take his place in the lineup. He played well when he was thrust into the lineup before the break because of injuries. As reported in the Washington Post, Matt Bradley will also be missing from the lineup for personal reasons. This could explain why Jakub Klepis was recalled earlier in the week. Richard Zednik should return to the lineup any day now after recovering from a severe groin injury.

It will be the fifth out of eight games on the season between these division rivals.

The All-Star Break Begins

A much need break for the Capitals begins today. The team is off until they practice on Thursday before traveling to Raleigh again to take on a Hurricanes team that will be ready for revenge. Each Caps player needs to take a look at their own game personally and find out the best way for them to return to the team refocused and at the top of their game. Last year the Capitals were able to come off the Olympic break and post a winning record during the second half of the season. They must find a way to repeat that this year. Now, a look at some more morning thoughts:

• At the end of the game yesterday you could see on tv fans throwing trash on the ice. While I can understand being upset with the way the team played, I definitely do not condone this type of behavior. I would love to hear from anybody that was at the game that can describe how bad it was, because it has not been talked about at all in the media.
• The game was one of the most tightly called games of the season. But the officials cannot be blamed for the loss at all as the game was called evenly.
  
• Matt Pettinger provided one of the few highlights of the day when he brook up a quality scoring chance by diving on the backcheck and blocking a cross ice pass on a 2 on 1 break by the Panthers in the first period.
• Jeff Schultz and Jamie Hunt were reassigned to Hershey following the game, and Hunt actually played for the Bears last night against Bridgeport.
  
• I feel bad for Olaf Kolzig who was spectacular as usual stopping 38 of 41 shots, but had no help from his defensemen.

Down on the Farm: Hershey will look to rebound from a sub par effort against Bridgeport last night when they host the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins today at 5:00 PM. For those of you who might not be football fans, or if the Bears game gets out of hand early, you can catch all the live action from b2networks by visiting the Hershey Bears official website.
After losing 5-0 in Friday night in Charlotte, the South Carolina Stingrays rebounded for a 4-3 overtime victory last night when they hosted the Columbia Inferno before a sell-out crowd of 10,496 at the North Charleston Coliseum. Seriously though 10,496 people? Between that and the 9,401 that came to see the Hershey Bears last night in Chocolatetown, it is nice to know that our minor league teams have such great support. From Stingrayshockey.com:

“The crowd was tremendous,” South Carolina coach Jason Fitzsimmons said. “The fans were like the seventh man and helped us to victory. It was an awesome finish to a great game.”
“The fans were amazing,” said center Matt Reid, who had four points on two goals and two assists. “The atmosphere was electric and they gave us the energy that we needed to pull out the win. We certainly appreciate the support from the fans.”

Defenseman T.J. McElroy also added 3 assists to lead the way for the Stingrays. Davis Parley stopped 28 of 31 shots to earn his league leading and career high 19th win. The game winning goal was scored by Evan Schwabe (pictured) at the 3:14 mark of the overtime period.
The Stingrays return to action for an 8:05 PM game Thursday night in Texas against the Wildcatters. Catch all the live action from b2networks by visiting Stingrayshockey.com.

Capitals Practice Recap

The team seemed to be in good spirits today, as expected following a key victory the night before in Raleigh. Here are some of the highlights from the practice today at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex:

• Alexander Semin, Donald Brashear, and Brian Pothier all missed practice today. When asked Capitals coach Dean Evason was unsure why and said it could be for a number of reasons. I asked Danius Zubrus as well if he knew of any reason and he shrugged his shoulders. So hopefully this means it is no big deal.
• Richard Zednik took Semin's spot on the second line and looked as though he was practicing at full speed. When asked if there was any chance he would play in tomorrow's game Zednik said, "No". But look for him to be back in the lineup after the All-Star break.
  
• During 2 on 1 drills Boyd Gordon provided the highlight of the day scoring on an excellent backhand move around goaltender Brent Johnson. The play drew applause from Alex Ovechkin who pounded his stick against the boards in approval.
• A good portion of the practice focused on their defensive structure as coach Glen Hanlon's main focus that he was stressing to his players was to keep the opposition to the outside as they exit their own zone.
• The team had a shootout competition where Jeff Schultz put on a show going 3 for 3 before being stopped on his last attempt which was the championship round with Jakub Klepis. Klepis scored on his attempt past Johnson for the win. Ovechkin missed on both of his attempts.
• Mike Green came out at the end of practice and was skating around gingerly without pads. You could tell that he was trying to put pressure on his left leg, but looked very uncomfortable in doing so. He was skating for about 5 minutes before noticeably limping back to the locker room.
  

Capitals/Hurricanes Preview

Washington Capitals (19-20-7, 45 Points)
at
Carolina Hurricanes (25-18-5, 55 Points)

TV: Comcast Sportsnet
Radio: Sportstalk 980-AM
Gametime: 7:00 PM

Only two games to go before the Capitals reach the All-Star break. And it can't come soon enough as they enter Thursday night's game riding a six game road losing streak and a three game losing streak overall. The Hurricanes enter the game riding a five game point streak posting a record of 4-0-1 over that span.
The Caps lineup will be missing another key defenseman as Mike Green will not accompany the team to Raleigh. He was injured while blocking a Christoph Schubert shot (who has been known to hit 100 mph at times) during the Caps 5-2 loss to the Senators Tuesday night. While it was revealed today that the x-rays on his left leg were negative, he is still listed by the Capitals as being out indefinitely. In his place Washington recalled 20-year old prospect Jeff Schultz to take his place on the blue line. In 35 games for the Hershey Bears this season, Schultz has recorded 1 goal and 5 assists and is plus 11 defensively. It will be his second recall of the season as he played in 2 games in December for the big club.
Alex Ovechkin enters the game riding a 12-game point scoring streak where he has scored 5 goals and 13 assists.
It seems as though the Donald Brashear on the second line experiment lasted all of one game as he is listed on the fourth line in Mike Vogel's pregame report. Another interesting note on the lineup is that Boyd Gordon is listed as the second line center. He has been a solid checking line center all season long, and has shown in Hershey the ability to put up points. Hopefully that will transfer over given the opportunity to play alongside Alexander Semin and Matt Pettinger.
The Caps and Hurricanes will be seeing a lot of each other in the near future. Including tonight's game they will play each other three times in the next 10 days. The Canes come into this contest have having won the previous two in this matchup, outscoring the Caps 9-1 in those games.
A quick start will be critical for the Caps to avoid losing more confidence and because Carolina is 17-0-0 when leading after two periods.