Game #28 Recap: Caps 1 Atlanta 3

The Capitals played a good game but were on the short end of a 3-1 score. Washington put 46 shots on Atlanta goalie Ondrej Pavelec but only got one behind him. Many are saying that this is the same thing that happened in the playoffs with the Caps falling to a hot goalie after not finding a way to get more than one in the net but I think that is a bit of a stretch. Sure the Capitals have lost every game they have score 1 goal or less but I don't think there is a team in the league that has a winning record scoring one goal or less. On the flip side, in games the Capitals have held the opponent to 1 goal or less they are undefeated so these generalizations are pretty useless. It was good to see the Capitals captain get back on the board as he wired a one timer into the net capping off a shift where they had the puck in the offensive zone for about a minute and a half. Semyon Varlamov was solid in net for the Caps with 30 stops on 33 shots and could not be faulted for the 3 goals against. In the last two games Washington has been on the wrong side of the referee's calls as they had a goal washed out in Dallas and there were at lease 4 hi sticking non-calls against the Thrashers last night. Just ask a bloody-faced Jason Chimera who took 3 sticks to the face but only one was called. The Caps next opponent is Toronto on Monday night at the Verizon Center.

Of Note:

• Alex Ovechkin ended his 9-game goal scoring drought. Over those 9 games, he assisted on 8 of the Capitals 29 goals. 
• Alexander Semin and John Carlson assisted on the Ovechkin marker. Semin has now gone goalless in the last 3 games. Start a new controversy...
• The Capitals pumped 46 shots on goal, missed the net 16 times and had 20 shots blocked. However they allowed 33 shots on their own net but only blocked 4.
• The defense is still not completely healthy as Tom Poti and John Erskine were both out and Tyler Sloan returned after missing 5 games. I think this has more to do with the Caps play this year than anything else. The Caps have lost 32 man-games to defensemen in 28 games and that has to have an effect on continuity in their own zone.
• For the first time in 14 games the Capitals were bested in the face-off circle. The Caps won 23 and lost 25 draws with Nicklas Backstrom having a real bad night winning just 5 of 17.
• The power play did not click at all for the Caps last night. The team went 0 for 5 with 15 shots on goal and they allowed Atlanta to score on 2 attempts.
• John Carlson continues to be impressive. In 22:51 of ice time, he assisted on the Caps goal, had 3 shots on goal, blocked 1 shot, and was not on ice for any of the goals against. He seems to get better with every game he plays and has to be considered an early favorite for the Calder Trophy.

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