Beninati: Groundhog Day

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

This feels like Groundhog Day. Even if this game with New Jersey was never going to win any beauty contests, the way it unraveled was miserable.

Once again undisciplined penalties in the third period led to the Caps demise, and I am sure I speak for all Washington fans when I say it must stop and stop soon.

The Devils are always going to grind away with their structured play, making it very hard for teams to produce much in the way of offensive chances. For two and a half periods the Caps countered New Jersey's strategy as best they could.

Then the game turned into a special teams contest when Alex Semin and Brendan Morrison committed penalties that left people scratching their heads.The Devils buried power-play goals on those two opportunities. And then with the Caps only having just a few minutes left to mount a comeback, Semin took another penalty which in effect helped to kill any chances for a tie.

All you needed to do was take one look at Bruce Boudreau behind the bench to realize just how upset he was at the turn of events. This problem has been addressed on more than one occasion and it still continues to occur.

Otherwise, the Caps had to be pleased with Mathieu Perreault's NHL debut. The feisty center waited his turn while many others were called up from Hershey. And when he got his chance tonight he made the most of his nearly 11 minutes of work. He showed a nice touch on the Tyler Sloan goal with a saucer pass out of the Nick Backstrom playbook.

Semyon Varlamov was very solid again in the nets. His rebound control was very good, and for a while it looked like he would outduel Martin Broudeur. I liked John Erskine's return to the lineup, he was steady. Brooks Laich and Tyler Sloan were both deserving of praise up front.

The Caps finally get to see another Southeast Division opponent the rest of the week. The Florida Panthers have been getting super netminding from Tomas Vokoun, and he figures to be tough on Friday.

Alex Ovechkin said he's improving and feeling better, but you could sense his frustration in not being able to help his mates tonight. Here's hoping his stay on the sidelines will be brief.

Tags: capitals, hockey, nhl, beninati

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Perreault and Giroux
Joe B (and Craig L) - thanks as always for the excellent work behind the mike and on the blog. Perreault looked great last night and I congratualte him on a fine showing. Question - what do you think are Giroux's prospects (salary cap aside) for future games with the Caps. Unfamiliar with his contract structure, but am aware hs is an UFA @ end of season. Despite low goal count earlier this year, I like how he shoots out the lights in Hershey and would like to see more of him in the bigs @LW. have fun in FLA.
Posted by fedorov91 at 12:41 pm Nov 05, 2009 |

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singles night
what is it about.....thanks
Posted by hockeymom99 at 11:05 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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Ovechkin
Ovechkin was definitely missing. We all saw it, there was a huge difference in their comfident and play. It was also sad that the best line was like the third line.. and that is not good enough against a team like Jersey. Hopefully Ovie will be back soon.. I just hate Columbus. :/
Posted by Joel at 11:02 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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Remember CSN Plus on Friday
Just a reminder, Friday's game from Sunrise is a CSN Plus game for the Caps. Please locate the CSN Plus channel in your cable area. There's a link / locator on this csnwashington.com site that should help direct you to the proper channel for Friday. Enjoy the show!
Posted by Joe at 10:31 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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Feel your pain 98 Caps
The guys are closed to fed up with this recent slide. I remember last year they played close to a perfect game to beat Florida down here 3-0. I hope they bring that game to the rink Friday and again for all of you guys back at Verizon on Saturday
Posted by Joe at 10:28 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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A CCM sweater
Hi Matt, thanks for tuning in last night. I go back and forth with sweater and jersey when referencing player uniforms; I mention them both. In the purest old-school sense, they are sweaters, but we've come to call them jerseys too. Whenever the Caps play the Devils I am reminded of working with Ron Weber on radio and how he would occasionally refer to the guys in the Jersey jerseys; I always liked that one and break it out from time to time.
Posted by Joe at 10:25 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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Good morning all
Long trip overnight from Jersey to south Florida. Pretty quiet plane ride. The coaches were huddled up around their laptops breaking down elements of the Devils game and of Florida's game last night with Carolina. The best way a coach can discipline players is by taking away their ice time. That's more difficult to do with Semin, now that Alex Ovechkin is injured. But Bruce has other ways to get his message across to Semin, and the players as a team know this penalty stuff has to stop. They have to police themselves on this one too.
Posted by Joe at 10:18 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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Lineup Changes?
Joe, Do you think Coach Boudreau might change the lineup and make a point to the guys that are costing the team games in the late stages? For Semin to get 3 penalties in one game is unheard of, especially when one of them killed any hopes of a comeback. Also, good to see Flash back in the lineup and producing. Hope there's more of it to come.
Posted by Eric at 9:51 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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You meant "sweater", not "jersey" right?
Hi Joe, Hockey's my main sport, and I've always dug the traditions of the most fun game there is to play. Last night, when you described Erskine as getting a "jersey" for the game, I think you meant "sweater", right? Keep up the great work!
Posted by CCM-Matt at 9:41 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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hey brucie adams
joe..the d-fence is not changed since last seasons unraveling in post season..same this season...its time for brucie adams..to take a stand no more stupid mistakes...or no more ice time..open eyes up..the coach is to blame at this lack of better play..this team has so much talent and its the coaches job to bring it out.....98caps
Posted by 98caps at 7:48 am Nov 05, 2009 |

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