Jets 4, Caps 1
Caps may want to wait another 16 years before returning to Winnipeg after this latest loss. It looked good for about seven minutes there. Then Washington decided to play loose in its defensive zone – twice – and old friend Evander Kane burned them. He took advantage of both John Carlson and Joel Ward and now has seven career goals in 10 games against the Caps. And once Winnipeg took the lead things fell apart in the second period. With the crowd roaring, Blake Wheeler and Kyle Wellwood cashed in power-play opportunities and the Jets rolled to the victory.
You can poke and prod all over the place. Carlson didn’t look great tonight, He got caught reaching for a puck in the slot that Kane knocked down and with a lightning snap of the wrists fired home. Though – to be fair – that sequence started when both Cody Eakin and Marcus Johansson lost a loose-puck battle along the boards to Alexander Burmistrov. Two guys vs. one guy. Can’t happen.
Roman Hamrlik was burned on Wheeler’s goal – which came just moments after Brooks Laich somehow didn’t score on a 2-on-0 short-handed rush – and that tally made it a 3-1 deficit. As well as goalie Pekka Rinne played Tuesday night, Laich missed some golden chances in Nashville, too. Alex Semin took another penalty – this time for unsportsmanlike conduct to short-circuit a power play. Make that, let’s see…add the seven, carry the three…yeah, 13 minor penalties in 17 games. Anaheim forward Corey Perry – last year’s Hart Trophy winner – is worse, believe it or not (15 in 18 games). And Dallas defenseman Sheldon Souray (14 in 17 games) cheats a lot. Toronto forward Joffrey Lupul (13 in 19 games) has a few too many infractions on his record, also. But that’s it. That’s the list so far in this 2011-12 season.
Want more? Ward tried to handle the puck before his turnover instead of simply getting it out of the zone. Michal Neuvirth (27 saves) probably needs to pick up his teammates on that second goal by Kane, a wrister from the right circle with a clear line of sight. But he didn’t get much help from them all night so turnabout is fair play, I guess. The penalty kill gave up two goals. The power play was 0-for-4 and for the second game in a row didn’t score on a lengthy 5-on-3. No excuses. That’s losing hockey.
Washington did manage 32 shots on Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec. I wouldn’t exactly call it an anemic offensive performance. But you have to score. On the blueline, yes, they miss Mike Green (groin injury). But he wasn’t there the final two months of last season, either, and the blueline didn’t fall apart then. Carlson seems to be laboring a little bit lately. Hamrlik is really laboring. According to the web site Behind the Net, through 16 games his goals against/60 minutes was an unsightly 2.99. Well, he was on the ice for two more tonight.
The Caps are now 3-6-1 since starting the season 7-0. They are 10-6-1 overall and have just about used up their hot start. Time to regroup before a Hockey Night in Canada game at Toronto, which itself is struggling.
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