Peng-whiners 4 - Caps 3 (OT) Prognosis

The facts:

• This was another case of a game where the Capitals basically dominated the game but for a few brief moments. In those brief moments, the other team managed to capitalize and drag us back down. 1 point escaped us and it wasn't because Pitt was better than we are, but rather because they scored when we let our guard down.
• Brucey's system is working incredibly well. The Penguin Scum had basically no running room all night. The homers getting on the Crosbettes made me smile. The boos from the fans were deserved, because they recognized their team was getting thoroughly outplayed. Were it not for two $#!tty deflections off Milan "Lurch" Jurcina, this game is a 3-1 Capitals win.
• Cindy Crosby was the number one star of the game. He had two assists. So did Niklas Backstrom (the number 2 star of the game). Crosby got one of his patented secondary assists (aka an "I'll-let-the-other-guy-do-all-the-work" assist). The second was on the OT winner, but it was not a set-up but rather more of a broken play that went $#!ttsburgh's way. Just FYI, both of Backstrom's assists were primaries.
• I'll take Ovies goal to Crosbaby's two assists any day. And if Ovechkin isn't hurt for most of the 3rd period and all of OT, this game has a completely different take. You can't tell me that losing him didn't take some air out of the player's sails.
• Can't hang this one on Olie. Godzilla played well in relief basically pitching a shutout until the Jurcina "goal." He made some critical stops as the game was winding down to get the game into OT.
• Brashear vs. Laraque Round 2: Laraque - 0 points, 1 fight, -1 +/-, and 9:52 of ice time. Brashear - 1 goal, 1 fight, -1 +/-, 9:31 of ice time. Brashear wins this round easily. And that was a sweet goal.
• Brian Pothier is the new Jeff Schultz, 3 goals and 4 points in his last 5 games. We gotta start breaking other defensemen's thumbs.
• The Power Play was anemic. These guys gotta learn to shoot more (looking at you Nylander) and crash the net to get the garbage goals they got against Tampa.
• The PK looked great...until the very end.
• Laich has to win that face-off, Jurcina has to block that shot. If they do either, it's even strength, 2 minutes left and the Scum is in panic mode.
• Gordon or Backstrom (both with faceoff % over 50 last night) should have taken that critical face-off.
  
• I didn't see the Morrisonn penalty and no replay was shown. If it was legit, than shame on him for allowing the Whiners to get a shot at life. I wouldn't be surprised if the refs called a ticky-tacky penalty to give Crosby another shot. Uncle Gary works his magic again.
• A 2 goal lead is always better than a 1 goal lead. The Caps have only themselves to blame for sitting back in the 3rd period and not trying to lead the knockout blow.
  
• Evegeni Malkin was a better player than Cindy was last night. He got close to scoring on a number of chances. The fact that he doesn't get rewarded for that and the Crybaby does stinks.
• The above fact might be due to the fact that the Caps defense basically gave Cindy no running room all night.
• When Jurcina dropped the girl "on his wallet" (Joe B's words, not mine) I laughed. Hard. I want to see teams do this more often. It looks like Uncle Gary's been spreading it around the league not to hit the golden child. Other teams take a lot of liberties at Ovechkin, why not bury the Kid into the ice. Well...it might be because Crosby never hits anyone whereas Ovechkin plays with more intensity.
• Could someone please tell Ovechkin if he's gonna pass to anyone, don't make it Viktor Kozlov. The guy hasn't scored a goal this decade it seems (actually it's 3 on the year, and 19 assists, but a lot of those are of the BS Crosby variety).
• That said, sit Kozlov. It helped Pothier regain what he once had in Ottawa. Maybe Kozy sitting a few games will have the same affect. And recall Laing again. That guy played with such heart and intensity, he deserves to be a regular or at least semi-regular.
• A lot of people are down on Fleischmann, but his fore checking was pretty good last game. That said, he only had 1 shot last game and has only recorded 1 point in the previous 5 games. He could also get some benefit from getting a night in the press box.
• Having Gonchar score the game winner is adding insult to insult. Having Crosby get the only assist, just makes me physically sick.
• Since Ovechkin has entered the league, we are 1-7-2 against the Scum. Does that make anyone else want to vomit?
  
• If we had this same result against any other team, we got a point and couldn't seal the deal. Since it's against the Crosbette's it just sucks because now the rivalry is under scrutiny and we have to deal with obnoxious Pens fans (who don't have that much to jeer about considering they're a full 7 *gasp* points ahead of us in 8th place).

Bottom line: my dad said last night "at least they got a point." True, but 2 points is always better than 1. The opportunity to leapfrog the 'Ning out of the basement in the East and get closer to the 8th place cut-off (we'd have been 4 points behind $#!ttsburgh rather than 7 behind Barfallo if we'd have won this game in regulation) was there and we didn't get it. Ottawa is ahead and it's another "gotta win" game. There are some games that mean more to players and some which mean more to fans. This was one that fits both bills and its stinks to let a team as hated as this one off the hook.

Prognosis: Negative
Game MVP: Niklas Backstrom (2 assists)