The B's came out skating hard - they understood that a weak effort against the hottest team in the league while ten games into a bad slump just wouldn't be acceptable. The Caps did not match the effort early and a penalty filled first period (I'm looking at youe Alex Semin) had the Caps on their heels and down by a goal.
It wasn't until early in the third period that Alex Semin redeemed himself and put the Caps ahead with a perfect setup to Brooks Laich. They only had Theodore to thank for even being in the game as they were generally outplyed and woefully outshot at that point,
Tom Poti stepped up his game considerably in Mike Green's absence - moving the puck well all night and setting up Boyd Gordon for the decisive third goal.
Penalty killing is going to be the death of this team. For the second game in a row they made a bad decision while on the PK to go down 5-3 and give up a goal. I know Alex Semin is a pick pocket artist with good hands; he probably forces more turnovers than anyone on the team. But there's a time and place. Attempting a lift check to steal the puck from behind on a player turning up ice with speed is high-risk move - half a dozen things can go wrong. Trying it while killing a penalty is just reckless.
Tuesday, February 9
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