Game #72 Recap: Caps 2 Detroit 3

All winning streaks must come to an end and last night the Caps had their 9-game ended in Detroit as the Red Wings pulled out a 1-goal victory against the Capitals 3-2. Washington put out an injury depleted lineup that was without Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Jason Arnott, and most recently Eric Fehr and John Erskine. The Caps gave up the lead three times in the game and at the end just couldn't break down the Detroit defense. In the first period the Red Wings struck first but the Caps answered 33 seconds later when John Carlson powered a slap slot into the Detroit net for a 1-1 tie. The tie was short lived as the Wings retook the lead two minutes later on a well placed redirection. In the second period it was vintage Alex Ovechkin. The big Russian winger took the puck down the left wing backing the defender into his own zone and then ripped a wrist shot through the defenders legs and past the goal for a 2-2 tie. The went back and forth from there with both teams trading possession in a really well played game. In the third period the Caps' Mike Knuble was called for tripping in the offensive zone. Then Henrick Zetterberg from zero angle threw up the most ridiculous backhand that beat Michal Neuvirth over the shoulder to give the Wings a 3-2 advantage. The Wings then clamped down on the Capitals and the two games in two nights appeared to be wearing on the visitors as they couldn't get a good look at the until the final seconds went Alex Ovechkin feed Alexander Semin and the Detroit blue line where Semin ripped a wrist shot off the cross bar and that was all she wrote. The Capitals now head to New Jersey for another tough road game with the Devils.

Of Note:

• In the loss Michal Neuvirth stopped 32 of 35 shots but looked a bit rusty in his first game back after having a shard of metal removed from his eye.
• Dennis Wideman was a force on the Caps back end and finished the game with 6 blocked shots and a +1 rating.
• Alex Ovechkin recorded his 29th goal of the season and had a team high 7 shots on goal.
• The Capitals special teams let them down in this one giving up a power play goal on 2 attempts and failing to score on 4 of their own chances.
• In his first appearance in a long time D.J. King chipped in an assist as did Alexander Semin, Scott Hannan, and Jason Chimera.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Event Summary

Game Highlights:

Game #72 Preview: Washington Capitals at Detroit Red Wings

Where: Joe Lewis Arena, Detroit, MI

When:  March 16, 2011, 7:30 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 11-6-1-0

Caps Game 72 Record: 15-13-5-1

All-Time vs. DET: 38-42-16-2

All-Time at DET: 15-21-11-2

Last Season vs. DET: 1-1-0

Last Meeting: 1/19/10, WAS 3 DET 2

Season Series: 0-0-0

This Year:

WAS Record: 41-20-10

Standings Points: 92

Division Rank: 1st

Conference Rank: 2nd

Last Game: 3/15/11, WAS 4 MON 2

Streak: Won 9

DET Record: 41-20-8

Standings Points: 90

Division Rank: 1st

Conference Rank: 2nd    

Last Game: 3/12/11, DET 5 STL 3

Streak: Won 2

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 21 LAICH, 28 SEMIN

Forward Line 2: 18 STURM, 90 JOHANSSON, 22 KNUBLE

Forward Line 3: 25 CHIMERA, 83 BEAGLE, 16 FEHR

Forward Line 4: 26 HENDRICKS, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY

Defense Pair 1: 23 HANNAN, 6 WIDEMAN

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, 4 ERSKINE

Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Back-up Goalie: 70 HOLTBY

Detroit

Forward Line 1: 40 ZETTERBERG, 13 DATSYUK, 93 FRANZEN

Forward Line 2: 11 CLEARY, 51 FILPPULA, 44 BERTUZZI

Forward Line 3: 26 HUDLER, 90 MODANO, 8 ABDELKADER

Forward Line 4: 20 MILLER, 43 HELM, 96 HOLMSTROM

Defense Pair 1: 5 LIDSTROM, 23 STUART

Defense Pair 2: 52 ERICSSON, 55 KRONWALL

Defense Pair 3: 4 KINDL, 24 SALEI

Goalie: 35 HOWARD

Back-up Goalie: 30 OSGOOD

Injuries:

Washington – 3 POTI (upper body) IR, (upper body) IR, 52 GREEN (head) IR, 1 VARLAMOV (undisclosed) DTD, 19 BACKSTROM (hand) DTD, 44 ARNOTT (undisclosed) DTD

DET – EAVES (groin) DTD, RAFALSKI (back) DTD

Caps Milestones:

Jason Arnott needs 2 goals to reach 400 in his career.

Jason Chimera needs 4 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Alex Ovechkin needs 3 goals to reach 300 in his career.

Preview:

This will be the biggest test of the season for the Capitals as they head into Detroit to take on the Red Wings. The two teams are even in the standings and have the talent to match. The Capitals will look to extend their winning streak to 10 games and take over the top spot in the Eastern Conference. They are playing much more consistent hockey lately and have started score on the power play. This has been a thorn in the side of the team for most of the year and if they expect to compete with Detroit they will need contributions from the special teams. The Caps will be without Mike Green, Jason Arnott, and possibly Nicklas Backstrom so they will need a full team effort to prevail tonight. Look for a tight checking game with lots of speed. The key for the Caps is to win the board battles and keep the Wings to outside as much as possible. I expect this game to be very close but the Caps have been playing well and have lots of confidence so look for a third period breakout.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 DET 2

Official Preview

Game #34 Recap - Capitals 3 Red Wings 4 (OT-SO)

The Caps played a tough spirited game against the Red Wings and came out on the short end of a shoot out. The game featured 4 power play goals. Two for Washington and two for Detroit. The Caps came back after giving up the lead goal to Detroit at the 15:17 mark of the third period. After Pavel Datsyuk took a delay of game penalty, Tom Poti found Alexander Semin for a power play goal to tie the game at 3-3 with 1:34 left in regulation time. The overtime had two almost moments as a shot went through Ollie Kolzig's pads and trickled wide of the net and at the other end Mike Green set up Alex Ovechkin 1-on-1 with Dominik Hasek but Alex's shot went straight into the glove of Hasek. The shoot out was not good for Kolzig as Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Juri Hudler all beat him with backhand shots. For the Caps, Victor Kozlov beat Hasek but his shot rang off the crossbar and out. Semin scored on his attempt beating Hasek and blasting the water bottle off the roof of the goal. A tough defeat to take but the Caps took away 1-point in the standing and the knowledge that they can play with anyone in the league.

Of Note:

• Alex Ovechkin scored his 11th power play goal of the season. He leads the league in that catagory. He now has 24 goals and 15 assists for 39 points on the year.
  
• David Steckel was outstanding in the face-off circle winning 13 of 16 draws.
• Jeff Schultz scored another goal and now has 4 goals in his last 5 games.
• Despite the result it was an overall good performance by the team. Hopefully, they can build on it. They play again on Thursday vs. Montreal.
  

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats

Game #34 Washington Capitals at Detroit Red Wings

Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI

When: December 17, 2007, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 10-6-2-0
Caps Game 34 Record: 11-16-4-1
All-Time vs. DET: 36-41-16-1
Last Season vs. DET: Did not play
Last Meeting: 12/9/05, WAS 3 DET 4

This Year:
WAS Record: 13-18-2
Standings Points: 28
Division Rank: Tied 5^th
Conference Rank: 15^th
Last Game: 12/15/2007, WAS 3 TAM 2
Streak: Won 1

DET Record: 23-6-3
Standings Points: 49
Division Rank: 1^st
Conference Rank: 1^st
Last Game: 12/15/2007, DET 5 FLA 2
Streak: Won 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 18 PETTINGER, 92 MICHAL NYLANDER, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 43 FLEISCHMANN, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 21 LAICH, 53 LAING
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 2: 2 POTHIER, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 3: 3 POTI, 23 JURCINA
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Detroit
Forward Line 1: 40 ZETTERBERG, 13 DATSYUK, 26 HUDLER
Forward Line 2: 18 MALTBY, 51 FILPPULA, 96 HOLMSTROM
Forward Line 3: 93 FRANZEN, 44 HARTIGAN, 37 SAMUELSSON
Forward Line 4: 8 ELLIS, 82 KOPECKY, 11 CLEARY
Defense Pair 1: 5 LIDSTROM, 28 RAFALSKI
Defense Pair 2: 55 KRONWALL, 3 LILJA
Defense Pair 3: 22 LEBDA, 24 CHELIOS
Goalie: 30 OSGOOD
Back-up Goalie: 39 HASEK

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 17 CLARK (groin) IR, 15 GORDON (hand fracture) IR
Detroit – 96 HOLSTROM (knee) DTD, 33 DRAPER (knee) IR

Caps Milestones:
Matt Pettinger needs 3 Points to reach 100 for his career
Brian Pothier needs 2 Points to reach 100 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 4 Goals to reach 200 for his career
Donald Brashear needs 5 Points to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
The Capitals are in snowy Detroit for a game against the best team in the NHL. This happened earlier this year when the Caps went into Ottawa and beat the Senators. However, don’t count on the Red Wings underestimating the Caps. The Caps have won 4 of their last 5 games and need to continue to do the things that have been working, especially winning the puck battles along the boards. Detroit is an extraordinary puck possession team and for the Caps to win they cannot get caught chasing the puck. Look for the Caps to keep up the aggressive forecheck and force the Red Wings to make quick decisions with the puck. The Caps are averaging 29.9 shot on goal per game and will need to keep pumping the rubber on the net to be in this one. It will be a challenge but a win would go a long way for the psyche of this team. I’ll go on a limb on this one and say the Caps win in a close game. Watch Ovechkin, he always seems to fly in these marquee games.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 DET 2

Official Recap