The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

On the Road – The Capitals will take to the road this week for a three-game trip, a place where they are looking to improve their record. After starting 4-8-2 on the road the first two months, the Capitals improved 8-4-1 in the last two months but still remain at 12-12-3, good for only 27 of their 72 points. The Capitals have scored 81 goals on the road, compared to 95 at home, but have allowed their opponents to record 94 goals, which is a significant difference from the 59 goals they have allowed at Verizon Center.

Watch out – In the last two games the Capitals have scored in the first minute of the game while also scoring in the last two minutes of the game. On Feb. 7 vs. Florida the Capitals scored 33 seconds into the game and 1:13 left in the third period and on Feb. 5 vs. Los Angeles the Caps scored 15 seconds into the game and 1:06 left in the third period. This will help Washington as they storm into Madison Square Garden tonight. Last time these two teams played in New York the Capitals scored five unanswered goals to come back and win the game in overtime.

Green energy – Mike Green has goals in six straight games, the longest goal streak by a defenseman since Ray Bourque scored in six straight games in 1984. Green could tie the NHL record with a goal against the Rangers, a team he has scored against three times in his career, including twice in overtime. Green has 7-6-13 during his six-game goal-scoring streak, including multiple-point games in each of the last five outings.

Longest Goal-Scoring Streaks by Defensemen

7 games Mike O'Connell, BOS (1983-84)

6 games Mike Green, WSH (2008-09)

Ray Bourque, BOS (1983-84)

Barry Beck, COL (1977-78)

Bobby Orr, BOS (1971-72)

Harry Mummery, MTL (1920-21)



Five More Notes No Media Person Should be Without

More Green – There are only six players in the NHL – all forwards – who have played more than 11 games and averaged more points per game than Washington defenseman Mike Green (1.15; through Monday's games). Two of those six are Green's teammates, Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin.

Most Points Per Game, NHL (Min. 12 GP)

1. Evgeni Malkin, PIT 1.45 (80/55)

2. Sidney Crosby, PIT 1.33 (72/54)

Alex Ovechkin, WSH 1.33 (69/52)

4. Alexander Semin, WSH 1.28 (46/36)

5. Pavel Datsyuk, DET 1.25 (65/52)

6. Zach Parise, NJ 1.17 (63/54)

7. Marc Savard, BOS 1.15 (62/54)

Mike Green, WSH 1.15 (47/41)



Green's 47 points and 19 goals lead all NHL defensemen (by five points and five goals, through Monday's games), despite the fact that he missed 13 games due to injury. His 19 goals are a career high and the most by a Capitals defenseman since Sergei Gonchar had 26 in 2001-02. The NHL's Third Star of the Week for the second week in a row, he is bidding to become the first Washington defenseman to lead the league in defenseman scoring outright (Gonchar tied for the league lead in 2001-02). Washington is 27-10-3 with Green in the lineup and just 7-6-0 when he was out with an injury.



Clean sweep? – Washington , which has won five in a row against the Rangers dating back to last season, has a chance to sweep the season series for the first time. The Capitals' best year against New York was a 3-0-0-1 season in 1999-00. Bruce Boudreau is 5-0-0 against the Rangers in his career, although only one win in that stretch came at Madison Square Garden .



Road warriors – Washington is just 12-12-3 on the road this season, but 10-6-3 on the road against the Eastern Conference and 7-3-1 in its last 11 road games.



Like the old days – Washington is 11-1-2 against the Atlantic Division this season, with wins in six in a row. The Caps have played just nine games against their own division this season (6-3-0), but will face teams from the Southeast 15 times in the 27 remaining games after tonight.



Power to the people – Eight of Washington 's 23 goals in the last five games came on the power play. Those goals have come on the heels of an 0-for-11 stretch; Washington is now eight for its last 18 power plays (44.4%). Washington has scored on 26.9% of its power-play chances (45-of-167) since Nov. 12 and 30.8% of its chances in three games against the Rangers (4-for-13). The Capitals ranked as low as 27th in the league on the power play (14.8% on Nov. but have risen to fourth.

They fought some bad penalties (blame the refs if you want ... I usually don't but four in a row -- including a double -- was even hard for me to believe) and somehow got a point out of it.

BTW, I abhore the practice of not making all games worth the same number of points. It's already skewed any fair comparison of point totals of current seasons against those when ties were OK or even when OT wins still resulted in points being 2 for the winner and 0 for the loser.

I'll accept the Morrison double minor. It was an accident, but by rule a penalty. It drew a little blood, so it's a fair call for a double minor. What I won't accept is Poti being cross checked and getting penalized for "embellishment."

Embellishment? Embellishment of what? Oh you mean the cross check that you didn't call? If the cross check didn't happen than what was he embellishing?

I noticed they didn't call New York when their goalie tried to draw a penalty by throwing himself down to the ice when nobody hit him.

I also won't accept a "Delay of Game" for the puck riccocheting off of Mike Green's stick. He didn't sweep the puck over the glass, he blocked the shot and it bounced out.

If the refs want to call the game tight, that's fine, but call it tight both ways. Not one damned penalty on New York in the entire third period. It wasn't like New York wasn't guilt of infractions (like the diving I mentioned before, or the half a dozen instigating penalties they should have been called for)

In the end it wasn't the home-cooking officiating that cost the Caps the game, but it certainly didn't help matters.

Point per game is all they need – The Capitals are the only team to have four players averaging more than a point a game (Alex Ovechkin 1.32, Alexander Semin 1.28, Mike Green 1.17, Nicklas Backstrom 1.02). No other team in the NHL has more than its top two scorers above a point per game. There are six other teams (Boston, Detroit, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Jose) that have two players averaging more than a point per game and three teams (Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton) with just one player who is averaging more than a point per game. Ovechkin’s 1.32 average is only behind Pittsburgh ’s Evgeni Malkin who is averaging a 1.43. No Capitals team has had its top four scorers average more than a point per game (the closest was the 1985-86 team that had five players at a point per game or more, but not all of them were over a point per game).

Injury Update

Brian Pothier – Out indefinitely

Chris Clark – Out indefinitely

Brent Johnson – Out 6-8 weeks

Viktor Kozlov – Day-to-day

Alexander Semin – Day-to-day


Recent Transactions

Feb. 11: Recalled Jay Beagle from Hershey (AHL)

Feb. 9: Recalled Michal Neuvirth from Hershey (AHL)

Feb. 8: Assigned Alexandre Giroux and Michal Neuvirth to Hershey (AHL)

Feb. 7: Recalled Alexandre Giroux from Hershey (AHL)

Feb. 6: Claimed Staffan Kronwall off waivers from Toronto

Feb. 6: Recalled Karl Alzner from Hershey (AHL)

The Caps all have the day off today as they spend one more day in Florida with their dads.

After back to back wins in the Sunshine State, I'd say they've earned it!

So, no new team updates from the Caps today, you'll have to settle for my blog for now!

Capitals like their goal streaks – Capitals defenseman Mike Green just ended an eight-game goal streak, an NHL record for a defenseman. The goal streaks don’t stop there: Washington has two other players currently on goal streaks, Eric Fehr and Alex Ovechkin. Fehr is currently on a four-game goal streak (4g) and has goals in six out of his last seven games (6g), while Ovechkin has scored goals in back-to-back games (4g). Fehr is having a career-high season with nine goals, nine assists and 18 points in 36 games [move the games after the stats]. Ovechkin leads the NHL with 41 goals, seven more than any other player.

This seems to me to be a salary cap move.

Washington Caps Press Release wrote:
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have assigned defenseman Karl Alzner and forward Jay Beagle to the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Hershey Bears, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.



Alzner, 20, has played in 30 NHL games this season, recording one goal and four assists. He recorded his first NHL point Dec. 4 in a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders and recorded his first NHL goal the next game in a 2-1 victory at Toronto on Dec. 6. The 6’2”, 206-pound Burnaby , British Columbia , native has played in 24 games this season with Hershey, recording two goals and eight assists.



Beagle, 23, stands 6’3”, 207 pounds and returns to Hershey after dressing in two games for the Capitals, including his NHL debut Feb. 11 at the New York Rangers. Beagle has two goals and five assists in 25 AHL games this season.

The Caps are also notoriously tight-lipped about their injuries, so it could signify that someone may be coming back, but they won't let anyone know that until shortly before game-time on Wednesday.

Capitals defenseman Mike Green just ended an eight-game goal streak, an NHL record for a defenseman.

Passing a pair of Boston players named, I noticed, Ray Bourque and Bobby Orr. Two of the best of the best, ever.

I think the best part about Green's streak was his unselfishness throughout it.

He wasn't taking bad shots just to prolong his streak, he was still passing the puck if he thought someone else had a better chance.

He said several times during the streak that it was a minor detail, he was more interested in helping his team win.

Power Players – After ending a streak where they allowed a power-play goal in 13 straight games, the Caps have allowed only one power-play goal in the last four games (killing off 20 of the last 21 opportunities). The power play has also been exceptional, recording at least one power-play goal in seven of the last eight games. In those eight games the Capitals have recorded 10 power-play goals, with eight of them netted by either Alex Ovechkin (three) or Mike Green (five). Green also recorded his first career shorthanded goal during that span. Green is tied for the league lead in power-play goals with 15, while Ovechkin is tied for third with 13. The Capitals are the only team with two players recording double-digit power-play goals.

Settling in – Tonight the Capitals kick off a season-long five-game homestand, and they will play nine of their next 10 at Verizon Center . Washington is 22-4-1 at home this season, second only to San Jose for the best home record in the NHL, and have won 11 in a row at home against Eastern Conference opponents. Washington is just one home win shy of its season total from last year (23) and eight home wins shy of the club record (30, 1985-86). The Capitals are 43-12-4 at home under head coach Bruce Boudreau.



Five More Notes No Media Person Should be Without

Young guns firing – The Capitals are the only team in the NHL with four 50-point scorers: Alex Ovechkin (74 points), Nicklas Backstrom (60), Mike Green (50) and Alexander Semin (50). Philadelphia is the only other team with more than two players at or above 50 points.



Washington's top four scorers are all averaging more than a point per game; no other team has more than its top two scorers above a point per game.



The great 8 – Alex Ovechkin has 27 goals and 39 points in his last 29 games, including eight two-goal games and his eighth career hat trick on Sunday. His current nine-game point streak (10g-5a) is the longest active streak in the league. Ovechkin has posted 69 points in his last 46 games (1.50 per game, 39g-30a). He has more than 20% more goals than anyone else in the league and his 74 points on the season, through 55 games played, are second in the NHL and virtually identical to his own pace from last season.

First 55 GP G-A-PTS +/-

2008-09 41-33-74 +17

2007-08 46-27-73 +12



Stuck clutch – Alex Ovechkin has scored the game-winning goal in back-to-back games to give him a league-leading nine GWGs on the year. Ovechkin has scored a league-leading 20 third-period goals and added two in overtime; that means that if you only counted his goals scored after the second intermission, he would still rank tied for 23rd in the league in goals.



Red-light District – Washington, the league's third-leading offensive team with 3.32 goals per game, has scored 36 goals in its last eight games (4.50 goals per game). The Capitals have scored a goal in each of the last six periods and 22 of 24 periods in the last eight games.



Fehr game – Eric Fehr has six goals and nine points in his last eight games, with goals in six of his last seven, including four straight. Fehr, who had three goals and six assists in his first 28 games this season, was a healthy scratch for three straight games prior to his current hot streak. He and linemates Tomas Fleischmann and Sergei Fedorov have combined for four goals, six assists and a +14 rating in the last three games.

I have confirmed through the Caps that Alzner and Beagle's recent moves back to Herhsey were not salary cap related, nor is anyone returning from the injury list.

Looks like the Caps brought them along for the road trip (just in case) and had three healthy scratches versus Florida (Nylander, Erskine, and recent addition Staffan Kronwall).

More like “of the year” – SportsCentre on TSN in Canada runs something it calls the Highlight of the Night, and each of the best plays each evening are tagged as an “HON Candidate.” We can’t say for sure, but they may not have bothered to name more than one candidate last night. Alex Ovechkin’s first period, spin-o-rama, pass-to-yourself, score-from-your-side goal is one of the most remarkable of the 205 in his four-year NHL career. Where it ranks is a matter of some debate – “top 10 maybe,” Ovechkin said with a smile – but it’s bound to be the buzz around the NHL all day today and beyond.

That goal was sick. The pass off the boards and the spin were just crazy, and of course the sliding on his side goal was amazing. You come to expect this from him, every time he touches the puck something like that could happen.

Ok, so I don't know much about hockey but that game last night against Montreal was totally intense. Those guys that did the shoot out looked so cool and poised out there, congrats to the Caps!!

langleyparkjoe wrote:Ok, so I don't know much about hockey but that game last night against Montreal was totally intense. Those guys that did the shoot out looked so cool and poised out there, congrats to the Caps!!

No better time to jump on the Caps bandwagon!

Bob 0119 wrote:I have confirmed through the Caps that Alzner and Beagle's recent moves back to Herhsey were not salary cap related, nor is anyone returning from the injury list.

Looks like the Caps brought them along for the road trip (just in case) and had three healthy scratches versus Florida (Nylander, Erskine, and recent addition Staffan Kronwall).

Bob, on the NHL channel off XM today they were talking about the Caps picking up Chris Pronger, do you know if there is any truth to that? or just someone shooting their mouth off on the radio.

I still don't like Pronger. Who was it he nearly killed with a cross-check to the throat?

welch wrote:I still don't like Pronger. Who was it he nearly killed with a cross-check to the throat?

Not sure if I remember that incident, I do remember him taking a cheep shot at Mike Green earlier in the season that put Green out for a few weeks. but I would not mind seeing the Caps get a physical player back on the blueline for the playoffs.However I have no idea how they would be able to fit his salary into our limited cap space.

Key to success: third-period goals – Washington and Pittsburgh have combined for an average of eight goals per game in the last five meetings. The Caps came back from a 3-0 deficit, scoring four straight goals including three in the third period to win 4-3 at Pittsburgh on Oct. 16. On Jan. 14 the Caps scored four goals in the third period to win 6-3 at Mellon Arena. Washington is currently tied for second in the NHL with 70 third-period goals and average 1.19 third-period goals. In Washington ’s last 10 games they have scored 13 third-period goals and are 7-2-1.

Note of the Night

Star-studded cast – Today's game features the top three scorers in the NHL this season, the last two NHL MVPs, two of the last three Calder Trophy winners and three other players who have been Calder Trophy finalists in the last four seasons.



Five More Notes No Media Person Should be Without

Spreading the wealth – Seven Capitals accounted for the 10 goals the team has scored in its two games against Pittsburgh this season, with eight players posting two or more points.



Home run – The Capitals are in the midst of a season-long five-game homestand and a stretch playing nine of 10 at Verizon Center . Washington is 23-5-1 at home this season, second only to San Jose for the best home record in the NHL and matching the team's home win total from a year ago. Washington is just seven home wins shy of the club record (30, 1985-86). The Capitals have won 12 straight at home against Eastern Conference opponents and are 44-13-4 at home under head coach Bruce Boudreau.



Turning 60 – A win today would give the Capitals the team's best record through 60 games in franchise history. The 1984-85 team currently holds that distinction (36-16-8, .667). This year's Caps have already set the standard for most wins through 60 games (37 entering today). The Capitals are 20 games over the .500 mark for the first time since the end of the 1985-86 season (50-23-7).



Seventh heaven – Entering Saturday's games, Alex Ovechkin has seven more goals than any other NHL player and Mike Green has seven more goals than any other NHL defenseman. For good measure, Hershey Bear (and Caps prospect) Alexandre Giroux has 10 more goals than any other AHL player. Last season Ovechkin and Green became the first teammates to lead the league in goals and goals by a defenseman since Pittsburgh 's Mario Lemieux and Paul Coffey in 1988-89.



Backstrom, back-to-back – Center Nicklas Backstrom has goals in back-to-back games to give him 15 for the season, one more than he has last year as a rookie. Backstrom entered Saturday's games 12th in the NHL with 62 points, seven points shy of last year's total, and tied for fifth with 47 assists. Backstrom has never scored against Pittsburgh , but he does have a four-assist game and a three-assist game against the Pens.

Sir_Monk wrote:

Bob 0119 wrote:I have confirmed through the Caps that Alzner and Beagle's recent moves back to Herhsey were not salary cap related, nor is anyone returning from the injury list.

Looks like the Caps brought them along for the road trip (just in case) and had three healthy scratches versus Florida (Nylander, Erskine, and recent addition Staffan Kronwall).

Bob, on the NHL channel off XM today they were talking about the Caps picking up Chris Pronger, do you know if there is any truth to that? or just someone shooting their mouth off on the radio.

I hadn't heard anything about it, but I doubt it.

I'm checking with my sources now, and I'll let you know as soon as I hear something.

I can tell you that according to the other media people I've talked to, George McPhee stated that the Caps were going to make any trades the day before last year's deadline when they brought in Huet, Cooke and Federov.

If they are....McPhee won't talk until the deal is done.

*putting on seatbelt*... I'm soooooooooo on the Caps bandwagon, I mean seriously.. I'm even learning the game just so I can cheer and root for them properly. 5-2 over the Penguins and the only thing better than that is me walking past my PA co-workers and saying "crosby sucks, crosby sucks..."

langleyparkjoe wrote:*putting on seatbelt*... I'm soooooooooo on the Caps bandwagon, I mean seriously.. I'm even learning the game just so I can cheer and root for them properly. 5-2 over the Penguins and the only thing better than that is me walking past my PA co-workers and saying "crosby sucks, crosby sucks..."

I' happy you could see the gutless goldenchild at his whiny best yesterday. glad your on board!!!! go Caps!!

Setting the Bar – Sunday the Caps improved their season record to 38-17-5 at the 60-game mark. That record is the best mark in franchise history during that stage of the season. The Capitals have 81 points in 60 games, tying a franchise record for the fastest team to 80 points; the 1984-85 team also achieved that mark in 60 games. The Caps would finish the season with 103 points if they play .500 hockey the rest of the way. They are also on pace to maintain their status as the first team in franchise history to go over .500 in each of the first five months of the season.

In reference to the Pronger rumor, the official word is "I couldn't comment on it, even if I knew either way."

So, we'll have to wait and see...but I still doubt it.