Groundhog Day

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Capitals played strong defense only to be on the losing end of another overtime game. It’s become frustrating to watch the team consistently struggle to fill the net, squandering their defensive efforts. And let’s not even get into the overtime dilemma.

Despite going up 2-0 early on the Montreal Canadiens, the Caps managed to lose Tuesday night in a shootout. Who leads the league in overtime losses, you might ask. Why, the answer would be Washington, who made it ten on the season after their dispirited play Tuesday.

After getting off to a hot start(which hasn’t happened often this season) the team seemed to coast through the next two periods. Mathieu Perreault scored on his first shot of the game, followed closely by a Mike Knuble power play goal to put the Caps up 2-0 in the first. Nice to see the 20^th ranked power play show up every once in awhile. Then, instead of going for the kill shot, the Caps backed off, allowing Brian Gionta to score twice in the second period. Gionta also scored the game winner in the shootout.

The bright spots for the team can be found on the defensive end. Even in a loss, Semyon Varlamov was a rock in net, stopping 36 of the 38 shots he faced. Varlamov’s play certainly has to put him in the running for the Vezina trophy awarded to the league’s top goaltender. I just wish coach Bruce Boudreau would stop the goaltending carousel. Not to take anything away from rookie Michael Neuvirth, but consistent goaltending is the one thing the team has going for it and the Caps should ride Varlamov’s coattails as long as possible.

The penalty kill is another area where the Capitals have been strong. Killing off all six penalties Tuesday night, the Caps now have the second best pk in the league.

The team heads into a rough patch of the schedule now, facing Southeast leading Tampa Bay on Friday before squaring off with the rival Penguins Sunday for NBC’s game of the week. It doesn’t get any easier after that, when the team plays five games in a row against some of the toughest competition from the Western Conference. Needless to say, the boys in red need to have a strong February if they want to back the division lead.