Eric Fehr had a shot on his first NHL shift. He had to wait a few minutes for that first shift, because of all that 4-on-4 hockey at the beginning. Shots are 10-2 Caps.
Luongo up to 34 saves, after Zubie gets stuffed twice in close- still 2-1.
Never fear, Caps fans- I said long before I left, at the end of the 1st, that this was looking like at least OT if not a shootout.... neither team was showing me a whole lot, as far as speed and effort.
One of those games where the Caps are outshooting, out shotblocking, out faceoffing, out chancing, out almost everything except the score..... they should tie this up, with some effort in the 3rd.
Florida is only .692 leading after 2 (the Caps .857, the Blues .333, LOL!). We can still win this one. It's a pity we can't score on the PP, though. Hopefully, some slap shot by Heward, Muir or Ovechkin will find the back of the net.
Comcast keeps showing this commercial- "Alexander the Great- One Man Does It All".... I sure wish someone else could kick a goal or two in, once in a while.
Caps get a break, early in the 3rd- Eminger, thinking icing would be called, made an easy flip behind Olie to a waiting Panther player.... no whistle, play on.... but, with some work, they finally got it out of the zone.
I think at the end of the season, we'll have Ovechkin with about 50 goals, then a desert, then several guys with 15-20 goals (career highs for some of them). It's true that we need at least one other sniper. Too bad Friesen is injured, and out for at least six more weeks, I believe. I don't expect more from him than from our other forwards, though. Pettinger and Sutherby have showed more.
Goal is ruled to Olesz, who looked like he hit it with his stick above the crossbar..... bad break for the Caps, but these things even out- in the 1st, Florida had a shot hit the post, go through the crease, and the rebound shot hit the other post, and went through the crease....
They said that, immediately after the goal, Olesz went to the refs to tell them that he had not touched the puck, because he knew it could be waived off because of a high stick (the Panthers announcers are honnest like that). Now, they're very surprised that the goal is given to Olesz from Van Ryn. That would mean that there was no high stick. BUT OLESZ HIMSELF SAID HE DID NOT TOUCH THE PUCK, FUCKERS!!!
Meanwhile, the Caps can't buy a goal- when Luongo gives up a juicy rebound, there's no one within 30 feet of the puck.... when the Caps have 1-2 guys rushing in to follow up on the shot, Luongo saves it clean. Yikes. Up to around 45 SOGs now, but only 1 in the net.
And, finally, here's the line- Ovechkin, Zubrus, Fehr- on the ice together. Fehr gets a quick chance, but Luongo is ready.... then Zubie gets one a moment later, but.... Luongo.
Pettinger with a SH!!!! But it's waived off- quick whistle, and the puck was clearly visible.
It took them a few years, but really, I'm proud of what Pettinger and Sutherby have become. I also believe they're some of the best short-handed threats in the league.
Bradley and Gratton at it again! Gratton wins again.
This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Dec 18, 2005 8:30 PM
Now, the controversy goal has its importance. It was either high stick and no goal, or goal by Van Ryn. We got stolen, even if the refs didn't see the other litigious action. They saw Olesz with a high stick, and they gave him the goal.
Just watched the hightlights, this morning. Heward had lost his stick and couldn't help Kolzig on the second PPG scored by the Panthers. He only found it after the goal. Both Kolzig and Heward looked very sorry after that goal.
The Olesz goal looks like a high stick, and he does try to influence the refs afterwards, I think. There's a contradiction, there. Oh, well.
Great goal by Sutherby, once again. Great pass by Pettinger on Clark's goal. I'm proud of our guys. Good to see Clark and Witt stick up for their captain, too.
According to nhl.com's recap of the game, Fehr was sent back to Hershey after the game. And Tarik El-Bashir says that Peat cleared waivers Saturday and has been assigned to the Hershey Bears.
Also:
16 Hits for rookie LW Alex Ovechkin in the four games preceding last night's meeting with the Panthers. Ovechkin is the only player ranked among the top 25 in the NHL in both scoring (34 points, 22nd) and hits (63, 19th).
This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Dec 19, 2005 2:05 AM
The biggest problem youngsters have is in learning how to win close games like this where they have their chances. They're now 8-10 in one-goal games, but only 4-9 in their last 13. That will probably be the last part of their development.
___________
Play hard, shake hands, drink beer.
"LA needs two hockey teams like Switzerland needs two navies" -- Norman Chad (from "My 10-Point Plan to Save Gary Bettman from Himself")
If you've read this far, you probably could use a hobby
Current Topic - Game 31 vs. FLORIDA Panthers (L 2-3)
