It is easy to forget sometimes how simple a game hockey can be. Send the puck deep into the opponents’ defensive zone and chase after it hard. Do that enough times and quality scoring chances are guaranteed.
But while a good forecheck is a basic mantra for any NHL team, nothing disrupts one more than a stickhandling wizard in the opposing net.
Few in the NHL are better with the puck than New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, whom the Capitals face tonight at Verizon Center.
“With DiPietro, it’s almost like having a third defenseman,” said Caps forward Matt Bradley. “He’ll fire a bomb from the goal line all the way to the blue line and their forwards know that and blow the zone. We have to be aware of guys getting behind us because even if those plays don’t always work all it takes is one time and it’s a breakaway.”
DiPietro, 26, is second among NHL goalies with five assists this season. His passing skills are of special concern considering the Caps were burned for a goal last Wednesday on a long pass from Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen to teammate Marian Hossa in a 3-2 shootout loss.
“We know how great [DiPietro] is with the puck,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau, who noted that his team’s lowest shot totals of the season — 12 in a 2-1 win Oct. 8 and 16 in a 3-2 overtime loss Dec. 22 — have both come against the Islanders in part because DiPietro swings the puck out of the zone so quickly. “It’s hard to get sustained stuff unless it’s off the rush. But we have to find a way to get around it so we can score three or four goals.”
