Game 39 - Hurricanes 6 Caps 3

So I guess I'm not yet convinced these guys are for real.

You could see this Charlie Foxtrot of a game coming from a mile away and one assumes that the emotional uncertainty of having their captain traded hours before the game only contributed to the cause.

There was plenty of blame to go around on this one but let's set the scene. Two days after completing a two game sweep against two of the better teams and goaltenders in the league (Sabres and Devils; Miller and Brodeur) the Caps got to host the worst road team in the league (one win) with the most anemic offense in the league (dead last) and, by a substantial 10 point margin, the worst team in the league.  Smells like a letdown to me.

The Caps defense treated their own crease like a nuclear hot zone and all night long Eric Staal got more time and space than a swine flu carrier at hypochondriac convention.

On a better day, the goaltender might have pulled a few big saves out of his butt and paved the way to a comeback - but this was a moody Jose ("Three-or-more") Theodore playing somewhere between bad and average and didn't make a big save all night. With the support he got from his teammates on his first start in two weeks - a game where he should have been anxious to prove that he's at least a capable backup for the remainder of his contract - well, he probably wished he was included in the trade to Columbus.

But since it’s a favorite topic of mine let me point out the Mike Green penalty. He's taken this particular penalty so many times now I just refer to it as "the Mike Green penalty".  It’s the one where he's been caught behind the play (I know, what are the odds?) and does the one thing ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED to draw a penalty every single time; the one thing that has VIRTUALLY NO CHANCE of producing a positive result - he put his stick in mid-section of a skater on a breakaway. While they were killing off a four minute penalty.

Now, I know the call was a weak one; that he barely made contact with guy; that he had no effect on the goal scoring opportunity; but all of that only proves the point. If you even think about touching a breakaway skater above the knees they'll call it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Put your stick on the ice and move your feet. If you must do something dive at the guy and sweep at the puck with the stick. You'll probably still get a penalty but at least you might actually prevent a goal.

The whole point here is that this mess occurred in the first six minutes of the game, the Canes converted the 5 on 3 and it was all downhill from there.

The worst game of the year to this point.