The Caps venture into the Wild

The Caps venture into the Wild tonight at 7 pm. Considering the Wild don’t suck anymore, this game could be a challenge for the Caps.

The Wild are 9-4 this season and third in the Central Division, making them a shoe in for the Playoffs thus far. In contrast, the Caps are 8-7 (barely over .500) and are second in the Metropolitan Division, also making them a shoe in for the Playoffs so far.

What the stats haven’t told you? The Caps have been playing a more aggressive game of the late and have been really pressuring the other teams defense in the past few games. Since the Wild have a solid defense this season, the question of if the Caps offense can prevail remains. With Ovechkin back in the lineup and the power play as well as penalty kill on fire, the Wild are in for a treat.

Things to look out for

• 5 on 5 play-The Caps have been meh at best and with the Wild looking to continue their four game winning streak, they’ll be on fire for the start of the game looking for stupid mistakes by the Caps which could turn into a golden opportunity from them.
• Alex Ovechkin-This is his second game back after his injury and with a player on the Blues  holding the league record for highest goals scored, look out for him to make waves in the scoring department this eve.
• The power play-The power play was on FIRE Tuesday night and with all this new found success, the Caps aren’t going to shy away from the net if they get the chance.

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Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, and Urbom oh my!

Would you believe me if I told you Tom Wilson would score his first NHL point AND goal in the same night? No? I wouldn’t believe it either, but it happened. Tom Wilson scored both his first NHL point and first NHL goal against the Isles on Tuesday night. The icing on the cake? Wilson got a standing O from Caps fans. Talk about class, folks.

While I missed the first period writing my Common App essay (it’s about hockey, give me a break), it looks like I didn’t miss much. The Caps got most of their work done in the second and third periods of the game.

Ovechkin had a big game coming back from his undisclosed “upper body” injury with two goals in the second. Not bad for a guy coming back from injury, eh? The second continued to be productive for the Caps with Mojo scoring a power play goal making it 2-2, yes you read that correctly.  Even more notable was Alex Urboms first goal as a Cap assisted by Tom Wilson, recieving his first NHL point. I can dig it. The score was now 3-2, but it didn’t stop there. This is where Ovechkin’s second goal of the game came into play. He scored a very Ovechkin like goal from the Ovechkin spot and, well, what more could you expect?

That was the end of their stellar second and with a 5-2 lead you might;ve gone to sleep on the good laurels that the Caps would win, which they did, but you would’ve missed Wilson’s goal in the third.

Here comes the third and now comes Tommy Wilsons first NHL goal. It was a beaut. A pass from the great 8 himself and the biscuit finds its way to the basket. Not bad for a 19 year old, eh? Hope someone got that one on tape.

My opinion on the game? The Caps are finally starting to play like themselves and they’re doing it in a big way. Scoring goals and creating chances. A team like this is one to be feared in the new Metro division.

The Schultz bonanza

Nope, I’m not talking about the tv show from the late 50’s, but the Caps silent defenseman, Jeff Schultz. Schultz is a defensive D-man by trade, preferring to stay in his own end and help the goalie more than go to the net and get goals.

That’s not a bad thing, it’s actually a very good thing. The Caps have had a constant struggle the past few years trying to find good defensemen who are more defensive minded, than offensive like Carlson and Green.

Schultz has been having a pretty good season. Again, he isn’t supposed to be a flashy in your face kind of player, but he gets the job done by, for the most part, getting pucks out of the zone. So what’s with all the commotion?

Some say Hunter picked the line combinations out of a hat, I like to think he stole Project Runways tasselled black bag to put together the lines. Either way, Jeff Shultz appeared on the first line today in practice.

While this may be a shock and cause you to spin in circles, don’t you remember back in the good ‘ole days when the Caps won the Presidents Trophy and were supposed to win the Cup? yeah, Schultz was on first line with Mike Green. The entire time. Did anyone blow a gasket? I think not.

If anything, Hunter was trying out new line combos to find that magic “spark” that’s been elusive for some time now. If it works, does it really matter whose on which line? You win the same either way. Or lose…

My two cents; Schultz is a good defensive minded D who plays hard. He might not be a first liner in Washington (although I like to think he could on a different team), but he’s definitely a solid second liner.