Stop Wearing Football Jerseys: Caps Beat Thrash 5-4

I'm growing a little tired of listing scores like 5-4, 6-5, 6-4, 4-3. This Caps team is so damn good, and so infuriating at the same time. I should have known better than to pack it in after Chris Clark's tally put DC up 5-2 in the second period. Between our erratic goaltender and our undisciplined play, there was no way that score would hold up. Shocker...it didn't. Here are my thoughts of the night:

• Ilya Kovalchuk is good. Really good. So when you feed him the puck (stares at Keith Aucoin) in the high slot, he's probably going to bury it. I bet he felt two feet tall after that giveaway...oh wait...


• He looked two feet tall standing up against Antropov after the big red diving machine gave him a little bit of a cheap shoulder in the third. I didn't mean to offend Aucoin with that little height joke, and I like his guts in standing up for himself. Nice pass on the Giroux goal too.


• Brendan Morrison continues to impress me with the little things he does. He had some nice backchecks last night, and really seems to be playing with some consistency, even when he doesn't show up on the scoresheet.


• Speaking of the scoresheet, where has Nicklas Backstrom been? The top line looked lame last night, so thank God for secondary scoring.


• The power play was garbage, and so was the ice. I agree with Boudreau, but I don't know that we have room to talk on the ice condition issue.

I think the penalties are maddening, and although you can yell at the refs for that slashing call on Knuble, it didn't surprise me. The Caps are not only shooting themselves in their proverbial foot at the end of games, but they're now maintaining a reputation for stupid, sloppy play in the third. I think that had a lot to do with the quick whistles down the stretch last night. I don't think a disciplined team doesn't get called for slashing or cross-checking in the same situations. That is the most concerning thing about this loss. Boudreau's run the boys down in practice Herb Brooks-style, and that obviously hasn't done the job. What can he do to alleviate the problem? I say fines. I don't know if that's possible, but fining a guy for a third-period penalty makes me think they would get the message quickly. But that's why I'm behind a computer and Boudreau gets to make ASC commercials, I guess. Get it fixed Gabby.

Kudos Go To:

Eric Fehr. Fehrsie has looked like a man trying to save his job, and it finally paid off last night. Sick hands on that goal. He's also been flying around the net a lot more lately, which I'm sure has a lot to do with #22. Secondary props to Double Nickel on the 3-spot (even if the goal wasn't his), and Clarkie for getting on the score sheet. Does Matt Bradley really have 3 goals already?