Oh my God...Johnson is in net. Well, here comes a loss.
This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Dec 23, 2005 7:03 PM This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Dec 22, 2005 9:57 PM This message has been edited by reallycrowesnest on Dec 22, 2005 8:09 PM
I know. I don't give up right from the start. I'm just busting his chops a little. Let's face it, he hasn't had a stellar showing so far this season. However, he has been looking pretty good this game...well, until Kovalchuk beat him just now. SIGH! Good one by Halpern though!
But...sometimes, I can't help but think that if Olie were in, he would make at least some of the saves that Johnson doesn't. Additionally, the way he usually plays, I still think they would have done well to keep Ouellet here and give him a chance to develop with the team. Johnson is just not consistent enough, well at least, not consistently good.
While I agree, CL says "Not the kind of game you want to be involved in with this team (the Thrash)- you want to be a little tighter defensively" while JB says "Johnson had little or no chance on those Atlanta PP tallies" - not a glowing report on the defense tonight.
Hi! It took me some time to wake up, but I'm here for the last two periods. Looks like we'll have to score ten goals if we want to win this one by one goal. And if we could avoid spending our time in the penalty box against the Thrashers, that would be great.
Great. Another 5 on 3 against the Caps. This is stupid. The one thing I dislike the most about Johnson is that he's a flopper. He flops to the ice at the slightest little thing and doesn't get back up very fast.
On a race to the puck for icing (against the Thrash), Sutherby takes offense at Exelby's overexuberance- jaws at him all the way back to the other end, with the refs trying hard to stay between them- we may see a "kerfuffle" later, as friend TAK would say.
Witt makes a run at Savard, who loses an edge just before Witt gets there- and Sutton takes offense, goes after Witt, and ends up in the box- Caps' PP again.
Now Johnson makes a save, AO and Savard get into it, and BJ goes behind the net to his own defense.... guys are showing some spirit, tonight!!!
Back to Roleman's original post- one should admit, the Caps' goals have been mostly hard work, while the Thrash's goals have been on no D, 5 on 3, and slow D. Not a bad night for Johnson, so far.
End of the second period. In those 20 minutes, the Caps scored 3 goals and Johnson made a few good saves.
The Thrashers will start the third period with 48 seconds left to their 4-on-3 PP, then we'll be back instantly to 5-on-5 hockey. Unless someone scores or takes a penalty, of course.
I believe Biron could stick on that fourth line. He's 2-4-6 in 12 games, so far. He probably deserves more time of ice. Plus, it's good to have a defenseman on the fourth line, in case of injury (we already have Clymer, but the CSB line can't be broken).
Couple of notes- on the Zubrus goal, the Thrash get caught with 2 D men behind the net, and AO just cleans Havelid's clock to make Zubie the open man (I mention this because, if you recall the first meeting between these two tems, havelid was Ovechkin's shadow all game- it looks like AO is learning how to handle that kind of response to his game)....
3rd on. Penalty killed. Johnson save, right as they go to ES.
With the Caps on the PP, Johnson learns the meaning of the words "trapezoid of doom" by playing the puck behind the goal line..... but the Caps kill it off.
For me, there's no doubt that Ove was the man again tonight. He's the real deal -- watching him skate, puck handle, check, deke, pass, shoot or score is just a pleasure. Overall, the team seems to have a much better work ethic than it had over the last 2-3 seasons. If they keep that up and can shore up their play on specialty teams, they will definitely be a force to be reckoned with, sooner rather than later.
Also, I'll take back my post from the beginning of this thread. Johnson was in goal but, it wasn't a loss after all.
Current Topic - Game 32 at ATLANTA Thrashers (W 6-5 SO)
And if we could avoid spending our time in the penalty box against the Thrashers, that would be great.
