Capitals 2 Lightning 5

The Capitals woes continued in Tampa as the Caps fell to the Lightning 5-2 last night. The scoring drought continued as the Caps failed to eclipse the 3 goal mark for the 7th time in 8 games. The special teams were terrible as the Bolts scored on 2 of 4 power play attempts and the Caps failed to score on their 4 chances. The team still seems to be waiting for someone other than Alex Ovechkin to step up. One bright spot was the play of rookie Nicklas Backstrom who worked on the first line with Ovechkin and Chris Clark. Backstrom assisted on an Ovechkin goal for the first time last night. Let's hope they keep that trio together. Some good news as Alexander Semin is expected to practice this week and be ready to return to the lineup. It will not be a moment to soon as something needs to spark this team.

Of Note:

• Alex Ovechkin scored in his 4th consecutive game last night. He now has 111 goals in his career. He also tied a career high with 3 blocked shots.
  
• The Caps out shot the Bolts 30 to 24 but were out drawn 25 to 29 in the face-off dot.
• Brooks Laich scored his 3rd goal of the year. He was assisted by Boyd Gordon and Shaone Morrisonn.
• The team had 25 shots blocked by Tampa defenders.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats

Game #19 Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning

Where: St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL

When: November 16, 2007, 8:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 1-9-1-0
Caps Game 19 Record: 13-17-2-0
All-Time vs. TAM: 43-23-6-4
Last Season vs. TAM: 2-4-2
Last Meeting: 11/10/07, WAS 2 TAM 5

This Year:
WAS Record: 6-11-1
Standings Points: 13
Division Rank: 5^th
Conference Rank: Tied 13^th
Last Game: 10/15/2007, WAS 1 FLA 2
Streak: Loss 2

TAM Record: 8-8-1
Standings Points: 16
Division Rank: 2^nd
Conference Rank: Tied 7^th
Last Game: 11/14/2007, TAM 6 CAR 1
Streak: Win 4

Game 1: 10/24/07, WAS 5 TAM 3
Game 2: 11/10/07, WAS 2 TAM 5

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 92 NYLANDER, 17 CLARK
Forward Line 2: 43 FLEISCHMANN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 3: 18 PETTINGER, 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 21 LAICH, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 23 JURCINA
Defense Pair 2: 2 POTHIER, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 3: 52 GREEN, 3 POTI
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Tampa
Forward Line 1: 20 PROSPAL, 4 LECAVALIER, 26 ST. LOUIS
Forward Line 2: 17 HLAVAC, 19 RICHARDS, 7 OUELLET
Forward Line 3: 24 KARLSSON, 77 GRATTON, 16 WARD
Forward Line 4: 36 ROY, 34 CRAIG, 74 TARNASKY
Defense Pair 1: 54 RANGER, 71 KUBA
Defense Pair 2: 55 O’BRIEN, 37 LUKOWICH
Defense Pair 3: 39 LUNDIN, 3 JANIK
Goalie: 40 HOLMQVIST
Back-up Goalie: 30 DENIS

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, SEMIN (ankle) IR
Tampa – 22 BOYLE (wrist) IR, 27 TAYLOR (hip) IR

Caps Milestones:
Alexander Semin needs 4 Points to reach 100 for his career
Chris Clark needs 3 Points to reach 100 with the Capitals
Matt Pettinger needs 5 Points to reach 100 for his career
Brian Pothier needs 6 Points to reach 100 for his career
Tom Poti needs 2 Assists to reach 200 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 6 Goals to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
The Caps can’t score and Tampa is scoring at will. The Caps fell last night to Florida 2-1 and look to rebound tonight against the high flying Lightning. Last Saturday, the Caps had an uninspired 5-3 lose at the hands of this same Tampa team. Lets hope the addition of Chris Clark will jump start their performance. With this team you never know what you are going to get so let’s hope for the best, but I’m planning on the worst.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 2 TAM 6. This might get ugly.

Official Preview

Capitals 1 Panthers 2

The Washington Capitals once again find themselves in the loss column. After a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers this team has got to be asking itself where is the scoring? An issue that wasn't supposed to be an issue has really brought this team to its collective knees. Overall, the team had a great effort. The pace was good, the team was physical, and mistakes were limited. The only thing missing was the scoring. The chances were there, but the puck just isn't seeing the back of the net. As I said before, someone has got to step up. The goalies have been playing very well. They are giving up 2.78 goals against/game, ranking them 14th in the NHL. Conversely they rank 28th in the league in goals for/game at 2.28. They have lost 6 of the 7 1-goal games they have played so far this season. Alex Ovechkin scored the lone goal for the Caps last night. It was his 12th of the season. Michal Nylander is second on the team with 5 goals. Someone needs to step up and start scoring. The Caps now head to Tampa for a game with the Lightning this evening.

Of Note:

• Ovechkin's goal ties him with Craig Laughlin for 22nd on the Caps All-Time Goal list with 110 goals.
  
• Matt Bradley's 2nd period fight gives him 18 penalty minutes on the year and 301 for his career. He's only 2,050 shy of catching Donald Brashear.
• Washington out shot Florida 27-25 and out drew them in face-offs 28-19. Boyd Gordon was superb winning 8 and losing 1.
• Olie Kolzig stopped 23 of 25 shots in a losing effort.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats

Game #18 Washington Capitals at Florida Panthers

Where: Bank Atlantic Center, Sunrise FL

When: November 15, 2007, 7:30 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 9-3-2-1
Caps Game 18 Record: 6-20-5-1
All-Time vs. FLA: 32-26-9-5
Last Season vs. FLA: 3-3-2
Last Meeting: 4/3/07, WAS 1 FLA 0

This Year:
WAS Record: 6-10-1
Standings Points: 13
Division Rank: 5^th
Conference Rank: Tied 14^th
Last Game: 11/10/2007, WAS 2 TAM 5
Streak: Loss 1

FLA Record: 7-11-1
Standings Points: 15
Division Rank: 4^th
Conference Rank: Tied 12^th
Last Game: 11/13/2007, FLA 2 ATL 3 (OT)
Streak: Loss 4

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 92 NYLANDER, 17 CLARK
Forward Line 2: 43 FLEISCHMANN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 3: 18 PETTINGER, 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 21 LAICH, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 23 JURCINA
Defense Pair 2: 2 POTHIER, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 3: 52 GREEN, 3 POTI
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Florida
Forward Line 1: 18 PELTONEN, 12 JOKINEN, 16 HORTON
Forward Line 2: 10 BOOTH, 15 STUMPEL, 14 DVORAK
Forward Line 3: 37 GLASS, 9 WEISS, 54 KREPS
Forward Line 4: 64 MEYER, 11 CAMPBELL
Defense Pair 1: 4 BOUWMEESTAR, 22 CULLIMORE
Defense Pair 2: 24 SALEI, 21 MURPHY
Defense Pair 3: 26 VAN RYN, 2 MEZEI, 7 MONTADOR
Goalie: 29 VOKOUN
Back-up Goalie: 31 ANDERSON

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 28 SEMIN (ankle) IR
Florida – OLESZ (wrist) IR, WELCH (shoulder) IR, 5 ALLEN (concussion) DTD, 53 MCCLEAN (hand) DTD

Caps Milestones:
Alexander Semin needs 4 Points to reach 100 for his career
Chris Clark needs 3 Points to reach 100 with the Capitals
Matt Pettinger needs 5 Points to reach 100 for his career
Brian Pothier needs 7 Points to reach 100 for his career
Tom Poti needs 2 Assists to reach 200 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 6 Goals to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
The Caps will try and put their last game out of mind as they take on the Panthers in Florida. Scoring has been an issue for the Caps who are only averaging a meager 2.35 goals per game. The special teams allowed 2 power play goals last game and the Caps have been outscored on the power play 18 to 12 this season. The goaltending has been very good with a 2.79 GAA and 0.907 save percentage. The goalies need some support. Florida is having another difficult year but with two of the biggest Capitals killers in Olie Jokinen and Jozef Stumpel they always play the Caps tough. Look for the Caps to try and put together a full 60 minute hockey game and get this road trip off to a positive start.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 FLA 1.

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Dallas Stars Fire GM

From the Dallas Stars Website,

"FRISCO, Tex., -- Dallas Stars Chairman of the Board and Owner Thomas O. Hicks announced today that he has relieved Doug Armstrong from his duties as General Manager of the hockey club.

“As an owner I have to be responsible for one person in Hockey Operations and that is the General Manager of the team,” said Hicks. “I thought that the team needed a change in direction. I know that change can be healthy and it was my determination that this move needed to be made. I want the Dallas Stars to return to being one of the elite teams in the league.

“Doug has been a great member of this organization for 17 years and has been a big part of the success we have had here in Dallas, starting under Bob Gainey and winning seven division titles, two Presidents’ Trophies, making two consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearances and winning the Stanley Cup in 1999. He has been our General Manager for the past five years, and we’ve been to the playoffs the past four seasons.”

Armstrong’s contract was set to expire at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season.

“There is no question that Doug will continue to have a solid career in hockey as the future general manager of an NHL team,” said Hicks. “I would like to thank him for his efforts and I wish him and his family nothing but the best.”

Hicks said that the team will announce interim positions to run the Stars’ hockey operations department in the near future."

I'm sure this will ignite a bunch of talk on the Caps message boards as many members have been vocal about the Capitals needing to make a change.

Capitals 2 Lightning 5

The Washington Capitals Jekyll and Hyde act continued Saturday night as the Caps fell to the Lightning 5-2. The team again started well in the first period but faded as game wore on. This team just can't seem to put the whole package together. It seems like the games where they are completely counted out they show up for and games where they are expected to compete they can't get it done. This team is much better than they are playing but for whatever reason they seem to freeze up when the pressure builds. There are 65 games remaining in the season and they better figure out how to calm down start playing complete games or it is going to be a very long season. The Team now has four days off before heading to Florida to face the Panthers. Hopefully, they will be able to work out the issues and start playing some consistent hockey.

Of Note:

• Alex Ovechkin scored his 109th career goal for the Caps. One more goal will tie him with Craig Laughlin for 21st on the Caps All-Time Goals list.
• Tomas Fleischmann scored a goal for the second consecutive game. He is 3rd on the team with 4 goals this season.
• Tom Poti assisted on both Capitals goals. Mike Green and Viktor Kozlov also had assists last night.
• The power play was 0 for 2 and the penalty killers were a porous 2 for 4.
• The Caps were out shot 34-25 and out drawn in the face off dot 31-27.
• Olie Kolzig stopped 29 of 33 shots and the team let in the first empty net goal against this season.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats

Honey How are the Kids? - QMJHL

The Capitals have three players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League:
Center Mathieu Perreault, Right Winger Francois Bouchard and Left Winger Maxime Lacroix. All three are perfoming well for their respective teams and are in the top 35 in scoring, with Perreault at 3rd, Bouchard at 19th and Lacroix at 33rd.
Here are their stats:
Player-Team-Games-Goals-Assists-Points-Penalty Minutes-Plus/Minus Rating

Perreault-Acadie-Bathurst Titan-16-11-19-30-14-+14
Bouchard-Baie-Comeau Drakkar-18-8-14-22-14-+9
Lacroix-Quebec Remparts-19-11-9-20-29-+4