Capitals 2 Lightning 1

The Caps prevailed against the Lightning 2-1 last night. Alexander Semin scored the game winning goal on the power play in the second minute of the second period. The Caps penalty killers may be a bit tired today, but they found a way to kill off 5 3rd period penalties; including another 5 on 3 that lasted over a minute. While taking penalties in the 3rd period with a 1 goal lead is concerning, the ability to kill them off is very encouraging. It appears the young Capitals are beginning to learn how to win games.

Of note:

• Alexander Semin was a shooting machine. He recorded 3 shots on goal, had 4 shots blocked by the defense, and miss the mark on 4 other attempts. Semin earned the games #1 Star. This was Semin's first action of the preseason.
• David Steckel, who is battling for a roster spot, scored the Caps first goal on a redirect, had 2 hits, 1 takeaway, and won 14 of 21 face offs.
• Nicklas Backstrom led all skaters in ice time with 23:46, played all three forward positions, had the primary assist on Semin's game winning goal.
• Donald Brashear had only 7:48 of ice time on 12 shifts, but managed 1 assist, 2 missed shots, 2 hits, and, of course, 2 minutes in the penalty box. I love watching him play, real rough and tumble hockey!
• The Caps continued to be much improved in the puck handling department with only 2 giveaways and 8 takeaways. Unfortunately, Kyle Wilson's power play giveaway led to a shorthanded goal by Tampa' Martin St. Louis.
• The Caps were much improved in the face off dot this game, as they won 33 of 62. And more importantly winning 14 of 22 in their own end.
• Brent Johnson played the entire game giving up 1 goal on 19 shots and earned the games #3 Star.

Editorial Note: The NHL has come out with new scoring sheets for the games this year. In my opinion they are absolutely awful. As one who is very much into statistics I find these sheets hard to read and some of the most basic information has been removed. For instance, the Game Summary sheet does not give the shots on goal for each team per period, no power play totals, and no goalie information. They have added a lot of different information with the types of power plays and face offs but it is presented in a convoluted manner. This is nice information but maybe a separate game breakdown sheet should have been introduced. Also, the accuracy of the information leaves a lot to be desired. The rosters have been incorrect and as can be seen in Mike Vogel's game post some of the numbers just don't add up. Just my two cents.

Game Summary
Super Stats