Caps (6-4-0, 12 points) at Flames (6-4-0, 12 points)
What » Game #11
Where » Scotiabank Saddledome
When » 10 p.m.
TV » CSN (HD)
Radio » WFED-1500 AM
We’re 10 games into the NHL season and it’s been an up-and-down month for the Caps. Michal Neuvirth has taken control of the No. 1 goalie job – thanks to Semyon Varlamov’s injuries, but also his own stellar play. He’s expected to get the start again tonight in Calgary, according to the Post’s Katie Carrera. The penalty kill – employing a far more aggressive version of last year’s system – ranks fifth in the NHL at 88.9%. Small sample size, but encouraging. A bunch of minor injuries, but no one is out long term at this point – though Bruce Boudreau would demand that I knock on wood.
There have been some shaky games, too. Boudreau wasn’t happy with Thursday’s effort against Minnesota in a 2-1 loss. The Bruins and goalie Tim Thomas are clearly playing as well as any team in the league, but back-to-back losses to them didn’t sit well with the Caps, either. They also put up a stinker on opening night against Atlanta and needed overtime to beat to the Thrashers, Nashville and the New York Islanders. So while 6-4 is fine 10 games into an 82-game schedule – Montreal leads everyone with just 15 – it’s not exactly all peaches-and-cream here.
Washington finishes a three-game road trip with a Hockey Night in Canada matchup in Alberta. It’s a homecoming for defensemen Mike Green, Jeff Schultz and Tyler Sloan – all Calgary boys. Don’t underestimate what playing in front of friends and family means to these guys. Something tells me you’ll see a better effort than Thursday’s loss. Jason Chimera has played pretty well so far this season and he’s an Alberta native, too. The Caps will fly home immediately after the game and likely won’t get back until around 6 a.m. EST. They’ll have earned a day off the ice on Sunday.
The Flames weren’t very good the first week of the season with a 4-0 loss to rival Edmonton and a 3-0 shutout to Florida. Needless to say, that’s changed. Calgary has scored 20 goals over its last four games. Somehow the Caps have topped three goals just twice this season.
Old friend Brendan Morrison is off to a fine start for Calgary. He’s got three goals and six assists already. Wait…that sounds familiar. Oh yeah, Morrison had four goals and five assists in the first 12 games for the Caps in 2009-10. In fact, Morrison was sitting at 10 goals, 15 assists on Christmas Day last year. He added just two goals and 15 assists the rest of 2010-11 and had a single point in the playoff loss to Montreal. We’ll see if Morrison has some staying power this time around.
A bad sign for the Caps: This offensive outburst for Calgary has come with limited contributions from star forward Jarome Iginla (two goals, five assists). It doesn’t help that in its history Washington has won just eight times in Calgary. The Flames took last year’s meeting, 5-3, at Verizon Center on March 28. Congrats are in order for forward Mike Knuble, who plays in his 900th NHL game tonight.
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