Caps GM Leonis reacts to loss

Somebody posted this over on HF....enjoy!



-LTL

Caps get "Mased" in front of packed house!

Two game losing streak... 3 game losing streak at home.. one of the game's best players in this house for only the second time ever... a top Eastern conference team... a packed house.... how the Jackets would respond was anyone's guess...

So what do they do? Mason pitches his 2nd shutout... their captain scores 2 big time goals and the Jackets grab a huge two points in standings and end their 3 game home losing streak.

All in a night's work!

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW

GREEN

* First off... AWESOME crowd last night. Looked like a damn near sell out and at 17,400+ it almost was. I love it went that place is packed and you can bet the players feed off that energy and the fans were rewarded. Well done Cbus!

* Steve Mason was fantastic. He got his second shutout and some game saving stops.. I really love that early save on Backstrom in the 1st of a scoreless game when he was in alone... Backstrom scores there and who knows where this game turns.. just key goaltending and no doubt you have to keep playing this kid.....he's giving the Jackets a chance to win every time he's in the net. He tracks the puck so well and LOVE that glove on Ovechkin in the 2nd... sweet.

* The Monster Nash was indeed a monster. A couple of big time goals including the back breaking short handed goal in 3rd...on a breakaway (finally!)... it just wasn't his scoring either.. his line was dangerous all night.. he drew penalties and was big on the kill.

* He's not getting rewarded enough but Huselius is playing outstanding hockey.. he's creating... he's backchecking..he's skating hard and well... he's just been snake bitten but the key, like Nash when he was slumping, is that he's getting chances... an how many posts has this dude hit?

* Commodore and Hejda... what a game by this duo.. held the Ovechkin line scoreless... were a combined plus +5... They each threw 3 hits.. .Hejda had 4 blocked shots.. and both played over 24 minutes.

* PK was great... always helps when your goaltender is our best killer which Mason was.

* Was great to see Torres pot one and get rewarded for his solid play the past few games. In fact that line of Modin-Peca-Torres did a solid job themselves shutting down Ovechkin's line. Also liked Modin's work in front of the net on the PP and he was driving the net well last night -- would like to see more games from him like last nights.

* That sounds of the game segment on FSN during the 2nd intermission was slick.

* Cool to see two former Ohio State first round picks in RJ Umberger and David Steckel going at it in the NHL level. Umberger got on the board with a nice drop to Nash on his first goal... Steckel is a maniac in the circle winning 71% of his draws (12 of 17)... and to top it off the hockey Buckeyes also won last night in a come from behind 3rd period win over 14th ranked Omaha-Nebraska.

* Great promotion with the youth hockey sticks. Would love to see more of that.

* Tyutin seems to get more and more confident by the game... I really like him paired with Methot. He had 4 shots and logged over 23 minutes.

* Had a couple of new young hockey fans with me last night ages 12 and 13.... they now love #61... hope you had a good time guys.

* Russell was a solid again... move well, got some pucks through.. took hits to make plays.

* Man is Ovechkin fun to watch...

YELLOW

* Much better in the circle last night winning 51%. Peca showed the importance of winning an offensive zone faceoff on Torres' goal...and then Methot showed what happen when you get shots through from the point which created chaos in front of the cage. Manny was king of the dot winning 13 of 16 for 81%.

* There line wasn't bad but it seemed like a quiet night for the "goat" line. Chimera worked hard, especially defensively. Brass seems to be fighting the puck a bit lately...perhaps going through bit of a rookie slump which will happen. I liked the confidence Hitch showed in Brass and Voracek throwing them out there in the dying seconds with a shutout on the line.

* Another decent game for Backman... I think it helps to keep this guy's minutes limited which Hitch is doing.. he only played 11+.

RED

* PP came up empty handed again and we took a lot of penalties but hard to critique much when you win a game 3-0 so I'll just sit back and enjoy this win!

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT

1. Attendance. Aaahhhh...love a full barn!

2. Mason. Shutout #2....this kid is rolling.

3. Nasher. Timely goals to help lift this team to a much needed win.

HM: Torres for his first goal of the season and as a Jacket.

If you recall last year when we played the Caps Nash had a 5 on 3 shorthanded goal however the Jackets ultimately lost in OT off a Ovechkin shot from the circle. Fast forward to tonight and its Nash on the board again with a shorthanded tally but its the Jackets as a team that kept Ovechkin off the board for the win.

This victory moves Columbus to 10-10-3 on the season. They will look to get on a roll against a Luongo-less Vancouver team at home on Monday.

Enjoy your Sunday!

-LTL

Flames, Bruins and Caps final teams eliminated in 1st round

Round two begins tonight. As I've done with all 1st round teams that were eliminated lets a take look at the final three teams that lost in game 7 of their respective series to see if there may be any potential targets for the Jackets.

Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames have a whopping 44 mil committed towards next season with only 15 players signed. They have identified the core of their team and have paid handsomely for it. That core being Jerome Iginla, Dion Phaneuf, Robin Regehr and Mika Kiprusoff.

They have 10 UFAs and no key RFAs.

Out of these three teams that got eliminated there is no doubt that the Flames have the most attractive pieces to the Jackets. We know guys like Iginla, Phaneuf, Regehr and Kipper are untouchable but there are still some pieces here that could help the Jackets and with the Flames going out in the first round again, they may want to shake some things up.

Daymond Langkow - he is a 30 year old center UFA who has scored over 50 points in each of his last 7 seasons. He has played at least 80 games in 6 of those 7 years. He is the most attractive center of this year's crop and its said Calgary will find a way to lock this guy up. So far though it hasn't happened and if this guy is allowed to hit the market there is no doubt, unless the Jackets acquire a couple of centers via trade prior, that the Jackets will make a big pitch for his services as he's a north/south Hitch type player. The only problem with Langkow is that he's really a number 2 center but even then he'd be the best center we've ever had. He'll be looking at a big payday in the 5+ mil a year range...at least. The Flames will have to clear out some salary to keep him I think.

Kristian Huselius - a 28 year old winger UFA who is a very streaky scorer. He was second in Flames scoring with 66 points in 81 games and made 1.5 mil last year. It appears that Calgary will let him walk as he's isn't a favorite of coach Mike Keenan and is to streaky for Flames brass. Not sure what to think about Huselius. I think there are many other options on the wing that Howson would pursue first but if those fall through they could look to this player to help an anemic offense and PP. He doesn't strike me a Hitch guy though who is willing to play a team game and pay the price in front of the net to score - more of a perimeter guy.

Craig Conroy - a 35 year old center UFA whose best days are behind him. He only had 34 points in 79 games and its doubtful the Flames resign unless its a cheap deal to play in their bottom 6. I don't see the Jackets having much of an interest as they have Malhotra, Murray and Novotny competing for bottom 6 center holes.

Alex Tanguay - a 27 year old who is listed as a center on hockeydb but plays mostly a wing. Tanguay is signed for one more year at 5.375 mil. He had a down year scoring only 58 points in 78 games (which would have been good for 3rd in scoring on the Jackets) but has scored over 60 points 5 out of 8 years in the league. He is more of a play maker than goal scorer which is something Jackets desperately need. Not sure if this guy is on the Jackets radar or not in terms of trades but to me he should certainly be an option if the Flames look to move him to clear out some cap space and shake it up. He could really help this offense.

Mathew Lombardi - a 25 year old speedy, but on the small side, center who is signed for two more years at 1.550 & 2.350 . His size reminds me of Brule but he's got better wheels and a more mature game. Lombardi was buried a bit in the Flames lineup but had 36 points in 82 games which unfortunately was down from his production last year when he had 46p in 82g. Whats intriguing about Lombardi is that he still has plenty of room to grow and the thought is that if he was given top 6 minutes with some more skill he would produce more. Remember last year at the World Championships he and Nash absolutely lit it up. Lombardi plus some more help down the middle (Jeff Carter, Antoine Vermette, Patrick Marleau anyone?) would certainly solve some problems.

There are some other guys like Stephan Yelle, Owen Nolan, David Hale and Jim Vandermeer but this organization needs skill guys and this group is more of your bottom 6 forwards or bottom pairing d-men group. We have those kinds of players in spades.

Boston Bruins

Now here is a team that really overachieved this year and because of that I don't see them doing a lot of "shaking up" in their lineup. Sure there will be some turnover but it won't be impact guys and will be more of a salary dump situation.

The Bruins have 38 mil committed next year with 18 players signed. They really don't have any key UFAs outside of maybe Metropolit but do have a number of key RFAs that they will need to lock down in Mark Stuart, Chuck Kobasew and Denis Wideman. They will have money to spend and like most teams they have a puck moving d-man high on their wishlist.

With that said here are a couple of names that the Bruins may have on the block that the Jackets may or may not have an interest in:

Glen Murray - a 34 year old right wing who the Bruins would love to offload. Murray has had a prolific career but is definitely on the downside of it. I don't think the Jackets would have any interest in Murray has he's more of a goal scorer and we have him already in a guy like Freddy Modin.

Glen Metropolit - a 33 year old center who really helped the B's after Bergeron went down. He's an interesting player who gives it all every shift. He only had 33p in 82gp but his game is the type that would fit well with the Jackets in the bottom 6. The problem of course is that we have to many bottom 6 guys on the payroll as it is. Baring some kind of trade to clear some guys out he probably is not on the Jackets wishlist.

Phil Kessel - a 19 year old center who was the 5th overall pick in the 2006 draft (Jackets picked one spot behind or he could have been a CBJ). Some Bruins fans think this guy is trade bait. He had 37p in 82g last year and was a healthy scratch in a few playoff games this year. Once he did get back in the lineup though he made certain not to get out of it again notching a few goals. The knock on Kessel is that he just doesn't pay the price and isn't much of a teammate. I think the Jackets have their version of Kessel in Zherdev and wouldn't go there. I could see alot of teams lookin for more offense who would be interested though - after all he's just 19.

Denis Wideman - a young 24 year old puck moving defensemen who had a break out year of sorts. He's an RFA and the B's would be nuts not to sign this guy but if contract negotiations break down for some reason and they chose to move him he is most definitely a guy that could help us.

Of course the Jackets would live a guy like Marc Savard or Zdeno Chara but those guys are untouchable. So are guys like Bergeron, Krejci and Lucic.

Washintgon Capitals

Like the Bruins, the Caps overachieved this year after making a miraculous recovery from a disastrous start to make the playoffs and even force a game 7. They won't be looking to make any big roster shakeups as their transition to their young players is all but complete.

Right now they have 13 players signed for 34 mil next year. Of course guys like Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Semin, Clark are on the do not touch list. I don't see veterans like Nylander, Clark, or Poti going anywhere either.

They do have one key RFA and that is Mike Green so lets start with him.

Mike Green - a 21 year old puck moving defensemen that just about GM would give their new born for. He is exactly what the Jackets need and hope that maybe a guy like Kris Russell can become. No way in hell the Caps let this guy walk but he's gonna want paid and it wouldn't surprise me if an offer sheet comes his way. Caps will lock him down before July 1st I think. If for some reason he does become available Howson would be in the long line of GMs making a pitch.

Sergei Fedorov - just seeing if your still paying attention!

Matt Cooke - a 28 year old 3rd line winger who is of the agitator type mold. Again more a bottom lineup type player which we don't need - especially with Boll in the lineup and Dorsett and Sestito on the way.

Steve Eminger - a young 23 year old defensemen who didn't get a ton of playing time with the Caps this season. He is the classic case of a guy who could probably use a fresh start elsewhere. He only played 20 game and registered 2 assists. With guys like Aaron Rome, Kris Russell, Mark Methot, Clay Wilson, Plekhanov, Grant Clitsome on the depth chart I can't see Howson adding a guy like Eminger. Again he needs higher skilled guys who can play further up the lineup. I wouldn't completely rule him out as I don't know how highly thought of he is by the Jackets but he would be pretty far down their priority list.

**********************

There you have it. I don't see the Jackets targeting many players on the Caps or B's but I do think the Flames have a lot of interesting possibilities. Its to bad they play in the West as if they were an Eastern conference team I would put them up there with the Sens and very likely trade partner. At least they are not a division opponent.

Discuss - any of these names of interest to you out there? How much would you be willing to pay for a guy like Lombardi via trade or Langkow via free agency?

-LTL

Ovechkin scores two as Caps rally to beat Jackets in OT; Leclaire injured

There he was...the leading goal scorer in the NHL...left W-I-D-E open in OT....well it should come as no surprise to us that Alexander Ovechkin burried that chance that capped off a rally from 2 goals down and sealed two points for the Washington Capitals.

How the Jackets leave a guy like that wide open is beyond me. I've been to 7-11s that aren't that open.

Lit it up

Nash shows up. I thought about putting him in the "dim the light" section b/c of his breakdown on the OT goal (he should have been covering Ovechkin) but this guy did play much better last night. His play and subsequent goal on the 5-3 was nothing short of spectacular. What I liked more was that he was finally driving to the net again and getting physical out there.

Leclaire. Was razor sharp while he was in. Stiopped 23 of 24 shots including some of the spectacular variety. Unfortunately he'll also make an appearance in the "busted bulbs" section.

Jared Boll's hit on Brashear = AWESOME! Seriously, this kid play with no fear. To take a big man like Brashear down like he did was pure art -- I'm talkin Picasso here!

Jason Chimear. Got the goal but played one of his stronger games of the year in all 3 zones.

Of course I've got to give a nod to Ovechkin here. I know the Jackets lost but its hard not to like this guy. He just "gets it". He was the last player off the ice in pre-game skate.....he was giving pucks to kids....stayed after the game was over to sign autographs...and this dude is just unstoppable on the ice. I mean really, what an awesome awesome talent. A treat to watch. He is just one of those rare players we should all enjoy no matter whom he plays against b/c they just don't come around very often.

Dim the light

Jackets PK was strong killing off almost a full two minutes of 5 on 3 play. The PK continues to do its job.

Strong Tuesday crowd on hand. The atmosphere was great last night. That first goal by Nash really had that place jumpin.

David Steckel, who played for the OSU Hockey Buckeys for 4 years, had a warm reception and definitely held his own for the Caps out there. Always fun to see a former hockey Buckeye carve out a space for himself in the NHL....and there is nothing like having a beer or three with "Steckel's dad" -- as my buddies and I call him.

The Captials are good. They are big, strong, fast and skilled. I look at their lineup and think "where are all our good young skilled guys?" -- we've been as bad or worse than they have been but we don't seem to have alot to show for it. Answer -- Doug MacLean has funadmentally built this team wrong and its just now being fixed but that another discussion for another day.

Didn't see much out of Z last night. Was kind of quiet which was a bit surprising considering 8 was in town. He did get a nice jab to the face of Ovechkin though.

Busted bulbs

No killer instict. The Jackets had a chance to really put this game away after they got up by 2 but failed to score on an extended 5 on 3. That allowed the Capitals to climb back in it.

Defensive breakdowns. Of course we all know the OT but what about Semin's goal....where in the hell was the coverage there? That's the kind of play this team was not making prior to the All Star break.

Of course Leclaire's inury. I don't need to explain much more... I think we all know the impact of this guy getting hurt. We can only hope its just a few games.

Freddy Norrena. Allowed 3 goals on 12 shots. Hitch is right, this guy looks nothing like he did last year.

Retaliation. How the Jackets don't respond to Laing running our goalie is a fundamental problem with this team. I know they got a PP out of it, but I think later in the game somebody has to make a statement. I would have like to have seen Hitch put Boll out there for a shift against this guy but didn't happen.

Brassard, Brule, Hainsey, Malhotra -- all looked intimidated by the Caps forecheck, skill, size and speed. They played scared.

Haisney was just downright horrible last night. No other way to slice it.

Peca has got to score on that chance with an open net. He's got to burry it.

Reffing. Thanks for the assist on the Nash goal but if I'm a Caps fan I'm absolutely irate. What in the hell was that guy doing in the middle of the ice anyways? McCleary was also whistle happy. How do you call Foote for that penalty on Ovechkin -- if anything that needs to be a coincidental call.

Did David Vyborny play last night?

3 bright lights on the night
1. Rick Nash - gets the first 5 on 3 shorty in CBJ history and has a realatively strong all around game
2. Boll's hit on Brashear - pure art!
3. Ovechkin - this guy is somethin special

The Jackets fall to 25-23-7. They've lost their last 4 games including 3 at home. Anybody out there still thinking playoffs at this point? Especially with the next 7 of 9 on the road and our best player in Pascal Leclaire is out of the lineup?

Expect Steve Mason to be called up on emergency basis until Leclaire is back.

This team could go into sell mode any day now.

Next up the Coyotes on the road on Thursday.

-LTL