Live from Washington

WASHINGTON -- Random thoughts from Verizon Center:

*Sidney Crosby is great. Vincent Lecavalier is a star. But if I'm starting a team, I'm taking Alexander Ovechkin.

The Capitals' superstar is a pleasure to watch. He hits, as a crushed Brian Campbell would attest just 40 seconds after the opening faceoff. He scores, as Ryan Miller found out in the first period. He has fun, as the huge smile and jump from the ice showed after linemate Nicklas Backstrom scored.

*Good crowd tonight in D.C. The top shelf is rocking with an equal number of Sabres fans and Cap fanatics, and the lower bowl is almost full. The club level is empty, but you can't expect it all when the home team is in last place.

*You know how fans in HSBC Arena cheer when they show soldiers on the video screen? This place went bonkers when soldiers from Walter Reed, the army medical center, were introduced. Nice stuff.

*Andrej Sekera just fed Maxim Afinogenov with a long pass to set up a breakaway goal. And I thought they should have sat the rookie defenseman and started Nolan Pratt.

*Nice to see Drew Stafford still plays for the Sabres. Hadn't seen him in a while, but he scored against the Capitals.

*Tim Connolly is a top-line player when healthy. He is now, and the stats show it. Four-game points streak and 10 points in the past eight games.

---John Vogl

Comments

[danp727]

To Don H … Thanks … much appreciated.

To W … The point I was trying to make about Ovechkin is that the truly great ones elevate the level of those who they play with and make the whole team better. From Gilbert Perreault to Briere and Drury, we’ve scene many examples of this with the Sabres including this year’s team. Ovechkin comes off as more of a cheerleader than a team leader and the big kid in him, while enthusiastic, is still capable of the cheap shot like the one that sent Briere flying into the bench area last year as he was trying to get off the ice. He’s still young so time will tell what kind of player he becomes. At present, he seems to be building personal stats on a team that needs so much more.

[W]

Ovechkin is a man among boys out there. He is young and exciting, even on a really bad team. Imagine if he played for Ottawa or Detroit right now...he would be darn near unstoppable on a team with more than one line.

[Don H]

It's good to read some intelligent comments. Thanks danp.

[danp727]

I thought having Teppo Numminen back at practice would give the team an emotional lift … he’s certainly proven to be an inspiration for everyone … but even with Tallinder back the defense appeared to be disorganized as ever. Sloppy play, poor clearing passes … Come on, guys, this is the last place Capitals you’re playing.

On the fluky third Washington goal, Miller had no choice but to play the puck as all three Capital forwards were in ahead of Spacek and Campbell ... neither of whom ever did catch up with the play.

Campbell and Spacek both got away with a season full of cross ice passes in their own zone.

I was not surprised to see Sekera in the line-up. He had twice as much the ice time Pratt on Wednesday and continues to show signs of improvement. His on the money pass to Max was one for the highlight film.

Having both Kalinin and eventually Numminen back doesn’t mean we have too many good defensemen, just too many defensemen,

What was Max doing on the ice in the last minute of the game?

Ruff is rewarding Roy and Connolly with extra ice time and it is well deserved. Both are playing well and with a lot of confidence. Hecht, too, has been playing especially well.

I think it’s really hard to get a good read on Alexander Ovechkin. He has size and skill but putting up big numbers with the last place team means what? Washington could be in last place without him so what’s he really bringing to the team?

Just as a loss is still a loss, a win is a win no matter how it was accomplished. But, this was a team we should have thoroughly dominated.

Going back to Wednesday night and Stafford’s disallowed goal, isn’t that a dumb rule? A player can use his skates to control, deflect or pass the punk but not to put it in the net? In a league that’s concerned about scoring, this one seems like a no brainer. Twelve guys sitting in a replay booth trying to determine if there was a kicking motion with the foot?

Andrew Peters in the line-up remains a mystery. We should be embarrassed to put him on the ice.

OK, great third period, good win and hopefully we’ve got a little momentum going.