Now a Caps' PP, as Ovechkin gets interfered with, and his stick gets caught between two panes of the glass.... a fan takes the stick and returns to his seat, but is asked to return it to the ice....
Boston doing a good job on the PK so far. Huet's in net for the Caps....
Sorry for the interruption in posts, but an AOL problem, a reboot after having to actually unplug to shut down, a Boston-hits-the-post on a PP, a Caps' PP, another Boston PP, and scrums at almost every stoppage in play made this a very entertaining period of hockey!
One note- Ovechkin was only crushed by one guy on the play I mentioned- at first glance it looked like two, but the replay showed it was Hnidy caught him with his head down, and made him pay for it. Later in the period, Chara got him once along the boards, too.
Another note: the between period story is on Backstrom, and I noticed this article today at NHL:
15:54 left 2nd, Cooke takes Hnidy out of the play with a knee on knee hit- he's apologetic about it, but he's in the box.... and it's a 5:00 major.
Yikes!
Now I'm surprised at the severity of the penalty, since Hnidy is right back out on the ice.... Laich with a SH chance denied.... half the penalty gone, good job by the Caps' killers.... Chara with a huge shot, denied by Huet.... Bradley with a weak backhand SH chance.... under 1:00 left in the penalty.... Chara appears to have injured himself shanking a shot (he's off the ice, and headed to the room already).... save Huet... another, another....
totally killed. Awesome work by the Caps.
This message has been edited by reallycrowesnest on Mar 8, 2008 2:19 PM This message has been edited by reallycrowesnest on Mar 8, 2008 2:13 PM
Wow- 6:41 left, Brashear gets called for a high stick (going to be a double, there's lot's of blood)... Hnidy comes over to jaw, and brashear floors him with one straight left... Brashear in the box for the rare TRIPLE minor, 6:00....
The bad news was, it was Brashear's FIRST penalty that came off, so it stays a 2MA for the Bruins.... the Caps kill it, but now Poti called, and it's another 2MA for the Bruins....
and they score.
2-1 Boston, 2:16 left in regulation. Boston still on the PP....
One of the rare games the Caps lost after being ahead at the second intermission.
Looks like they tried to do everything to lose it. No discipline, dangerous plays. They got into the Bruins' trap.
Huet still got a third star for his efforts.
Something between Backstrom and Chara at the end, it seems (they both got penalties after the last horn). No wonder there was a general brawl. They better not touch our kid, hehe.
What happened to Green on the tying goal? I don't understand why he lost his stick. It would have not changed anything if he hadn't, though.
I missed this early one because I was at the opera, hehe (Händel's Giulio Cesare, fabulous). I'll be here tomorrow.
Looks like they tried to do everything to lose it. No discipline, dangerous plays. They got into the Bruins' trap.
Which is why I'm beginning to believe, as much as he's accomplished, that Boudreau is not the guy to take this team all the way. I think he's the right guy for McPhee's style of hockey, but not the right guy for the players. He seems to have the ear of the superstars, but they have most of the talent anyway. And guys like Semin (and at times, Kozlov, and, while they were healthy, Nylander and Clark) seem to float in and out of competitiveness on almost a game by game basis. There's no consistency in what they accomplish.
As well, I don't think I've heard Boudreau yet say words to the effect that "we (coaches) didn't have them adequately prepared; we let the guys down." Got into the Bruins' trap? Where was the coaching to help younger players recognize that, and get them out of it before the game got out of hand? If it was there, where was the discipline to reinforce that system in a game situation? Invisible, to me.
Have they (under Boudreau) had three consistent games in a row? And I'm not just talking about winning- losing comes into play here as well, what with the adversity of injuries and the stresses of the seasonal grind that professional hockey has become. Yeah, they can lose a Steckel and plug in a Fedorov now, but it doesn't really elevate their game beyond where they were in the first place. That's not enough to get them where they want to go.
Maybe I'm putting too much on a bunch of very young guys that apparently still have a lot of growing up to do, but it just looks to me like another totally wasted season unless they can all grow up at once and rip off 7-8-9 wins in a row....
