Subject: Capitals Serve Up A Turkey To Begin Thanksgiving Week
Author: Angel92
Posted on: 11/23/2017 08:15:13 AM
In what is turning into one of the NHLs biggest unsolved mysteries this season, the Washington Capitals did another 180 Monday night and turned any positive vibes they took from their impressive http://www.officialblackhawksshop.com/brent-seabrook-jersey-c-1_8.html outing versus the Minnesota Wild and turned them into mutterings of discontent. The Capitals looked sluggish, clumsy and unfocused in a haphazard 4-1 thrashing by the Calgary Flames. Calgarys Johnny Gaudreau tallied a goal and an assist to extend his current career-best points streak to 10 games.
The Capitals gave up too many penalties (five of them), gave the puck away too often, were left puck-watching on numerous occasions, and were out-shot 39-30 on a night that must have left Caps fans, coaching staff and backroom bigwigs all scratching their heads.
The evening started out promising enough for the Capitals when Lars Eller scored after just 62 seconds from a dandy Jakub Vrana pass. However, that was before the Flames goalie Mike Smith had fully warmed up because it was all Calgary from that point onward. Smith went on to be first star of the game with 29 saves.
Johnny Hockey Has A Good Game
Gaudreaus goal came at 4:49 in the first period to tie the game at one goal apiece. Nicknamed Johnny Hockey, he and line-mate Sean Monahan were the best two players on the ice. Monahan scored a power-play goal at 5:22 into the second period assisted by Gaudreau; a power-play goal by Mikael Backlund with just over four minutes played in the third made the score 3-1 to the Flames, and a fourth goal went in to seal Washingtons fate when Calgarys captain Mark Giordano scored at 6:39 to bring up the 4-1 scoreline.
What Happened To The Capitals Never-Give-Up Style Of Play?
All in all, it was another disastrous performance by the Capitals. This season is proving to be one of the most frustrating in recent memory.
In previous years, the Capitals have gone on extended win streaks, put up some huge scores, recorded a slew of shutouts, lost some close games (but received A+ for effort in them), been number one on the power-play charts, and theyve always displayed a never-give-up mentality. All of that is missing this term, and its hard to come up with any reasons why.
The Defensemen Who Left Washington
One could point the team turning http://www.officialmapleleafsshop.com/william-nylander-jersey-c-1_15.html over six talented players during the offseason, and there is a lot of validity to that argument. Blue-liners Karl Alzner, Kevin Shattenkirk and Nate Schmidt (who all moved on from Washington) turned the puck over a lot less than their replacements Madison Bowey, Taylor Chorney, and Christian Djoos. That is not to disparage Bowey, Chorney and Djoos its merely an analyst attempting to find some sense to apply to a team that is so up and down; so hit or miss.
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