What a game for Caps fans!!!! Before I get into the game recap, let me just say that NBC's camera work was horrific! I am not sure why they thought camera angles from so far away were such a novel idea. I have always disliked the way NBC seems to zoom out just a little too far during their hockey coverage, but these new skycam angles took the cake. I nearly threw up in my mouth several times when they would rotate the skycam 180 degrees as the puck crossed the centerline. I think NBC was catching on to the dislike of the camera work and started to zoom in a little more half way through the 2nd period. I hope they receive a lot of feedback about their coverage and start zooming in enough on future coverage to read players numbers, not to mention player's names. I am not sure why it is important to see the entire rink during play if you are unable to see player's numbers. It was very comical reading the tweets I was getting about the camera work.
Here are the top 5 tweets I received during the game:
@HornGuy (Caps unofficial "Let's go Caps" horn blower): #NBCFail for the extreme high-angle shot during the #Caps power play
@LoudGoat (Guy who yells "Let's go Caps" during every home game): Somebody in the NBC control booth is really feeling their "creative side" tonight... and REALLY sucking at covering sports as a result.
@TheHornGuy : Am I the only one getting vertigo from these ridiculous camera tricks? Bleeeaaarrgh.
@ngreenberg (Neil, www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com): NBC is right, seeing goals scored is overrated (See the link further down for Fehr's 1st goal)
@ngreenberg (Neil, RMNB): Coincidentally, NBC cameras are 51.7 miles away from rink RT @SkyKerstein: Official gametime temp 51.7 degrees#Caps
Game Recap:
The first period was scoreless but featured a fight between John Erskine and Michael Rupp. I wish a could report that the fight was the bout it could have been, but unfortunately due to a problem with a contact lens Michael Rupp had to ask the referee to stop the fight. It seems that a lot of people are suggesting Rupp tapped out because he was scared of Erskine or something along those lines...that kind of gibber gabber just sucks. Had Rupp not had a problem seeing, it would have been a hell of a fight!
After a scoreless first period, Evgani Malkin scored a breakaway goal assisted by Kris Letang and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury . The goal was Malkin's 14th goal of the season . Fleury's assist was his first of this season and his third consecutive season with an assist. This was the 27th assist Kris Letang (who leads my fantasy team in assists) this season.
The Capitals answered that goal four minutes later with a power-play goal by Mike Knuble. The goal was assisted by Nicklas Backstrom (26th assist) and Mike Green (11th assists). I have been saying that the Caps poor performance in converting power-plays to goals in previous (who knows how many) games has been a really big issue. It was good to see the Caps get back into the game with a goal scored during a power-play.
The next goal also came from the Caps with a Eric Fehr(6th goal) one timer, setup from a pass from behind the net by Marcus Johannson(4th assist) from behind the net. The secondary assist was given to Jason Chimera(7th assist). This was the goal that NBC showed via the mars cam.
The Penguins were unable to answer the Caps second goal during the remainder of the 2nd period and were also unsuccessful in the 3rd period. Eric Fehr (7th goal) struck again in the 3rd period with a breakaway goal setup by a centering pass from Jason Chimera(8th assist). The secondary assist was given to John Erskine(6th assist).
The Steckel hit on Crosby in the last few seconds of the 2nd period continues to be a big topic of conversation. To me the hit looked like 2 guys who didn€™t see each other and ran into each other. Maybe it was intentional, maybe it wasn't, but Steckel who only has 17 penalty minutes this season, isn't a retaliatory kind of player, and I doubt he would want to be known as the guy who targeted the golden boy of hockey. I feel like this hit was handled by the referees and should be left as it was called on the ice. It is the same thing with Mike Greens shot that was caught on top of the goal line by Fleury in the previous meeting. It might have been a goal, it wasn't definitive, the call on the ice was made, let's all move on!
Semyon Varlamov stopped 32 of 33 shots during the game for a SV% of .970. Varly was named the the 1st star of the week by the NHL. Marc Andre-Fleury stopped 29 of 32 shots for a SV% of .906.
Mike Green, who usually leads the team nightly in ice-time, had fewer minutes than both John Carlson(26:28) and Karl Alzner(24:25). Green had 21:15 minutes on the ice. I read somewhere that Boudreau has finally watched 24/7, so perhaps the 3rd episode showing the Pens locker room specifically mentioning targeting Green played into the reduced minutes. Another time on ice stand out from this game was Mathieu Perreault who had the third most power play minutes with 2:13, trailing Ovechkin and Green who both had 2:32.
A few random items:
Caps and Pens shoot field goals at Heinz Field (not a great quality video, but still kind of cool)
Ovechkin hangs out with friends and family after practice until 4:00pm on the 31st, which happens to be midnight in Moscow. (This link features an Atomic Wedgie!)
Second installment by Mathieu Perreault on OnFrozenBlog.com
Capitals/Lightning pre-game report will be posted in an hour or two! (Went to practice this morning, and Varly was the first goalie off of the ice.)