It's been a while. A while since the Caps were able to hold onto a lead, a while since they've won two in a row, and a while since I've written an article. But, thankfully the semester is over, and the Caps are starting to pick themselves back up; everything is turning around. On Sunday they beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2, in a game that wasn't their best, but at least it was three periods of solid hockey. They continued that trend into tonight, beating the New Jersey Devils 5-1.
Now, I have a theory about what is going to pull them out of this slump; and if you watched the game against the Devils tonight, you might already know what it is. Here's a clue: it's not necessarily going to be the best or most experienced players. In slumps like these, everyone looks to the captain and the veteran players to do what they do best, to use their talent, experience and leadership to point the team in a better direction. The coaches do, the fans do, and usually, so do I. But in my opinion, that's not going to be the cure in this case. Take a look at who has scored these past two games: Matthieu Perreault, Brooks Laich, Andrew Gordon, Jay Beagle, Jason Chimera, John Carlson and Mike Knuble. Look at who has had the best games. Notice anything? The best players these past few games have been the Caps youngest and least experienced. If they are to successfully turn this streak around, it is going to be the second, third, and fourth lines that are the most important. And in my own personal opinion, it's going to be the young guys. The Caps are lucky in the respect that they have such a deep organization from which they can choose from any number of successful prospects. I'd say that the Caps are in luck with they holiday roster freeze. Starting at midnight on Dec 19, and lasting until midnight on Dec 27, there are no roster moves, meaning that the young men who are helping the team the most, won't have to worry about going home anytime soon (not that they needed to worry about anything anyways, based on their current play).
Thought they won against Ottawa, the game tonight was much more "Caps Hockey". They dominated the Devils for forty out of sixty minutes, taking off in the second period. New Jersey lost its ninth road game in a row as the Caps are trying to gun it past Atlanta and return as leaders of the Southeast division. It was a much more basic game than those that we've seen from the Caps recently. In the words of John Carlson, "good efforts snowball, and eventually they turn in your favor. We're getting back to doing the simple things, and it's working out for us right now." Work still needs to be done on the power play in order to return to the threat it used to be, but it's nice to see a much more shooting oriented unit, rather than the over-passing team which has been on the ice throughout the streak.
My stars of the game, in order of importance, would be: Marcus Johansson, John Carlson and Andrew Gordon. Though he didn't score a goal tonight, #90 had an oustanding game. He had several crisp passes, a number of quality shots on goal, and his physicality made him a presence every time he was on the ice. Carlson was the number two ice time leader with 23 minutes on the blueline, and a goal. And Andrew Gordon got the game going in the first period with his first NHL goal. Note: what do they all have in common? They're all young guys, and none of them are on the top line. Just saying...
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