Yesterday was not a good day for me for more reasons than I can remember. But all was made better at 7:00 when the puck dropped. Even with the lackluster first period and sub-par goaltending from Michal Neuvirth, I still felt better than I had all day. I only saw the first two periods. Here's what I noticed.
*Ovechkin and Semin being used on the penalty kill. Semin is less known for his defensive play than Ovie but it was still surprising to see either of them out there. My guess is that Bruce is just trying utilize their speed to create more shorthanded breakaways, much like Tampa Bay does with Marty St. Louis. No better place to try it than the preseason.
*Michael Nylander was the only player to play in both games this week. There has been talk for months about the Caps possibly shopping him around. The usually reliable Bob McKenzie even mentioned it in a TSN article last week. My guess is that he won't go anywhere. But playing in both games only adds to the speculation.
*Alex Ovechkin was by far the best player on the ice last night. His presence lifted everyone on his team and he looked stronger and faster than I have ever seem him. I recall one shift in the second period where he threw three or four hits and hardly seemed out of breath. I have no doubt he was the hardest working player in the offseason.
Sorry I can't add more. I'm going home for the weekend and my ride is almost here. Hopefully I'll be able to make practice tomorrow morning. The Caps sent 20 players to Hershey this morning so tomorrow should be mainly the guys who will be there for the regular season with a few exceptions (Varlamov, Carlson, Perreault). I'll be back Sunday night.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment