Redskins/Jets Preview

There's no position in sports that encompasses the hero/goat dichotomy as completely as the NFL quarterback and there's place in the world where it's easier to be scapegoated than New York. Just ask Chad Pennington. With his team sitting at 1-7 the five-year starter is going to be riding the bench this week against the Skins as second-year pro Kellen Clemens makes his second career start.

I've never been a fan of assigning win-loss records to individual players (pitchers, quarterbacks, goalies) in team sports and in my opinion to say the Jets struggles this year are the result of Pennington's play isn't fair. That's not to say Pennington is an ideal starter - his lack of arm strength lets teams put more guys in the box and makes it easier to stop the running game - but he has a 65.3 career completion percentage and has thrown 81 touchdowns to 53 interceptions. Plus it's not like Clemens (49% completion rate; 1 TD and 4 picks) have played so overwhelmingly well that he has to be given a chance.

The Jets offense really doesn't have much a chance to do anything of note in this game; despite their 52 points-allowed debacle last week the Redskins are still one of the best defensive teams in the NFL and a Jets offense that ranks 30th in the NFL in total yardage, 26th in points and has seen their running backs score exactly one touchdown to this point in the season won't give them too much trouble.

Of course it's not like the Redskins offense have been world-beaters so far this year, but this game should give them a chance to start getting things together. The Jets rank 29th in ranks allowed and 26th in points allowed and don't have anyone who can stop the Redskins receiving corps. Washington's offensive line is still beat up, but they should provide enough opportunity for a Skins offense that should be able to run a lot of plays as the defense shuts down the Jets pathetic offense.

Players to Watch:

Jets: Kellen Clemens. After several seasons of Jets fans bemoaning their horrible fate in having Pennington as their starting quarterback before finally seeing him benched could it be anyone else?
Redskins: Clinton Portis. Portis hasn't had a solid game on the ground since Week 5, averaging 3.2, 2.4 and 2.5 yards per carry in games after that. If the Skins want to compete for a playoff spot, especially playing Gibbs' style of football, Portis needs to get it going. He'll have the opportunity to against one of the worst defenses in the NFL.

Redskins 31, Jets 13 - and it won't even be as close as the score.

-DMG

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Caps Fall to Flyers

Flyers 3, Capitals 2

What's left to say at this point? Again the Capitals controlled the first period of play but couldn't capitalize on the scoreboard, and again fell by just one goal. Unlike many of their other recent games, the Caps did not lose despite being the better team - on a whole the Flyers played better hockey from the second period on and for the game, and penalties especially killed the Capitals.

Any team is going to get outplayed some nights. It just wouldn't be as frustrating if the Capitals had managed to pull out wins in games where they had outplayed better than the opposition.

So the Caps now sit at 5-8, with 10 points through 13 games. They're not out of it by any stretch (who is this early in the season?), but they either need to starting picking up some points or get Poti, Clark and Semin back now. I still have faith the Caps will be a playoff caliber team with those guys in the lineup but they can't go digging themselves a hole they can't climb their way out of.

Quick Hits

• Brooks Laich in a fight? Really? Brooks Laich? I don't think I can overstate how much I like this guy. Smart, hardworking, versatile. Exactly the type of role player a successful team needs.

• Unbelievably stupid first period penalty by Matt Bradley to give up at PP chance for the Caps. The coaches and/or captain need to call him out on that.
  

• I know it's his job to be tough guy, but does Riley Cote really think its a good job to challenge Brashear when he already has 2 black eyes?

• There were a good number of altercation in the first period alone, either instigated or responded to effectively by the Caps: Pothier/Coburn, Bradley/Coburn, Bradley/Hartnell, Brash/Cote, Pettinger/Lupul, and of course the fight between Laich and Richards. Great to see the Caps playing with a snarl on their collective face. That's the kind of attitude it takes to be successful in the NHL, especially when you're not the most skilled team

• Encouraging game out of Fleischmann. Not only did he score - he looked a lot more comfortable without the puck and was doing a pretty good job of getting into position. I think I even saw him throw a hit!

• I wasn't exactly surprised to see Jeff Schultz standing in front of the net looking helpless after Briere's goal. Yesterday Tarik El-Bashir speculated that Steve Eminger is healthy and ready to play. If that's the case I really don't understand why Schultz is in the lineup at this point.
  

• Does anyone get more of their shots blocked than John Erskine?
• He may not be be a great goalie but does anyone have a cooler helmet than Antero Niittymaki?

-DMG

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Caps/Flyers Preview

You'd think that a 5-7-0 team would have a lot of room for improvement after their first twelve games, especially one that made the kinds of significant additions the Capitals did in the offseason. In reality the Caps have for the most part outplayed their opposition and could be 9-3-0 (that three game stretch against the Isles, Rangers and Sabres should have resulted in three losses). That's not to blame the Capitals sub-par start entirely on bad luck, both in terms of injuries and on-ice bounces and bad calls. The team has still made bad plays at times, mainly turnovers and bad penalties. But the Capitals have lost three of their last four, while outplaying their opponents, and have been missing Tom Poti for all those games, Semin for almost all four and Clark for three. Those are hard losses to swallow. Especially when you see what happens when things go your way - a 7-1 win against the Leafs in Toronto. The Capitals need to realize that as a whole, as a team, they are playing well. They need to stop making costly mistakes, need to get a few bounces and need to bury their chances (Viktor Kozlov anyone?) and they will start winning if they play the way they have.

Tonight they'll need to do so against the revamped Philadelphia Flyers. Insert "I hope all our players survive the game clever and knowing reference to Randy Jones, Steve Downie and Jesse Boulrice here. I'll say this: given their track record thus far I would think about changing the 'Back With a Vengeance' introduction to the Flyers official website if I were working for them.

This is an important game for the Caps to win, both because of their ongoing struggles to pick up 'W''s and because they head out for three more on the road after this.

The Capitals are going to need to worry about the Flyers scoring depth. With Daniel Briere, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell and Joffrey Lupul it's not like you can shut down one guy, or even one line, and expect to win. I expect two things from the Cpitals - (1) to see Morrisonn and Jurcina against Briere's line because Briere is the biggest threat and (2) to see the Capitals break up their checking line forwards again since there isn't just one line they'll need to shut down. That means we could see Boyd Gordon skating with Kozlov and Ovechkin again. The somewhat unlikely line had a good night in New York and if Kozlov had buried any of his eight shots they would have looked even better (as an aside, if Kozlov could bury even half of his great scoring chances he'd have seven or eight goals by this point, rather than the two he does).

I'd like to see the Caps run a true top line out there, give Ovechkin the chance to play with a great playmaker (Nylander), which would result in something like this:

Ovechkin/Nylander/Kozlov
Pettinger/Backstrom/Fleischmann
Sutherby/Gordon/Laich
Brashear/Steckel/Bradley

Let's see the Flyer's less-than-stellar defense which will be missing Hatcher, Rathje and Jones stop that first line. If everyone's healthy I wouldn't advocate playing Nylander with Ovechkin - I'd want Clark and Kozlov with him and Nylander with Semin, but if you're missing two of your top six forwards, the lines are going to have to be shuffled a bit. Defense is Philly's weakness, especially tonight with the injuries/suspension. And Biron has been good but he really isn't that great. He's played six-plus seasons in the NHL with a .910 save percentage, the fact that he's at .940 this year doesn't mean anything other that he's been off to a good start and is due for a bad game. It might even be worse to face Antero Niittymaki who has got to feel like he has something to prove at this point.

Oh, if I were a betting man I would bet on Sutherby getting into a scrap tonight. He's frustrated that he's not playing he he's going to be playing a physical team. He's not a heavyweight like Brash but he's fought some big boys and looked like he wanted to go with Hollweg last night. Actually on that note can't we find a way to get Suts in the lineup on an everyday basis? I know he only plays left wing and center and not the right but wouldn't it be possible to put him on the left and Brash on the right on the fourth line? Suts is still viewed as a leader and is still an assistant captain and still a valuable third/fourth line grinder and agitator; I think he's better than Bradley or Fleischmann to have in the lineup.

Other Previews: washingtoncaps.com, PhiladelphiaFlyers.com

-DMG

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Caps Lose in MSG; Blanked by Lundqvist

Rangers 2, Capitals 0

I'm beginning to think the Capitals are cursed. They again outplayed their opposition, winning more faceoffs, getting more shots and scoring chances and controlling the play much more than their opponents, and again wound up losing. That's what a great goalie like Henrik Lundqvist can do for your team - let you win games you don't deserve to win.

Even when the team had played well in previous games they had more trouble that they should have getting the puck out of their zone; tonight they made great first passes and were responsible in their own end but ran into a great goalie having a great game. This team just can't catch a break

What's been particularly frustrating as of late is that the Caps keep losing close games, playing without Clark, Semin and Poti. It's not like those three are alone good enough to ensure a win but in close games they could easily be the difference. It's unfortunate the Caps are 5-7-0 at this point because they have played well enough to be deserving of a better record. As a fan you just have to hope they can keep playing well and start getting their share of the bounces and picking up some wins.

Quick Hits:

• The Rangers didn't register their first shot on goal until more than nine minutes into the game.

• Getting shutout, obviously the Caps didn't register a powerplay tally but the powerplay did look solid, registering seven shots during the double minor to Fedor Tyutin.

• I'm not saying Chris Drury did anything wrong on the play where Olaf Kolzig was shaken up, but the Capitals need to do a better job of letting the opposition know it's not okay to drive their net let that. Especially when Erskine is on the ice.

• The Capitals looked like they were on the powerplay for most of the first period. The controlled the puck, kept it in the Rangers zone and did a great job of forechecking. The Rangers were lucky that Lundquist was good enough that they were able to go into the first intermission tied 0-0.

• If Mike Green (6'2'', 201 pounds) can hit guys every game why can't Jeff Schultz (6'6'', 221)?

Quotable:

"It was an intense game. It felt like they were all over us a little bit."

-Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist

-DMG
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Detroit out, St. Paul in as Hockeytown, U.S.A.

Interesting article. This doesn't fit neatly in with our D.C. sports theme but I can't help pointing out how stupid the classification of Tampa Bay is.

For those interested, Washington falls into the following category:

They are what they are: Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York City, Washington. All big metro centers where there's strong competition for disposable income. Hard to carve out a niche and claim to be No. 1 compared to everything else that's going on.

My main issue is with Tampa Bay's classification:

Nice try, but this doesn't really work: Florida, Phoenix, Tampa Bay. Non-traditional markets that might join the endangered list after attention is diverted from Nashville.

Tampa Bay's attendance rankings:

2005-2006: 2nd (20,509)
2006-2007: 3rd (19,876)
2007-2008: 6th (19,175)

-DMG
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Caps visit MSG Tonight

Apologies ladies an gentlemen but real life has intruded on my blogging the form of my graduate course in econometrics. For today I turn you over the capable hands of JP at Japers' Rink and recommend this little bit of reading.

-DMG
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Wizards Go Down to Pacers in OT

Boy, did I ever botch this one. First, Jermaine O’Neal and Troy Murphy show up in street clothes, and then the Wizards go down in overtime 119-110. Not a good start for Washington with a date in Boston – one of the teams the Wiz should be battling for Eastern Conference supremacy – looming on Friday. As it turned out, Mike Dunleavy was part of the key match up, and all he did was drop 25 on 7-of-17 from the floor and pick up 12 boards in nearly 46 minutes of action. Then there was Jamaal Tinsley, who consistently beat Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels down the stretch and in overtime. The shifty, if not always slim, Tinsley put up 20 points and eight assists and connected on 2-of-5 treys. The Pacers as a team shot 45 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 13-of-29.

On the opposite end, the story of the night for the Wiz was the carry-over of their dismal shooting from the preseason. Washington shot just 36 percent from the field and was a woeful 6-of-20 from long range. The Big Three got their points, combining for 80 of the team’s 110, but they weren’t very efficient. And so much for bench production. Which leads us to the areas of concern and silver lining for Wednesday night’s loss.

Areas of Concern
-- Where was the bench? After an impressive preseason, third-year talent Andray Blatche managed just two points on four shots in 13 minutes. Back-up big man Darius Songaila contributed six (2-for-8) and Antonio Daniels scored 4 (2-for-4) in 29 minutes on the floor. No other non-starter scored more than three and starting two-guard, DeShawn Stevenson managed only three of his own. Rookies Nick Young (7 minutes) and Dominic McGuire (2) saw limited action and only Young got on the board with a triple. Even when the Big Three are scoring they’re going to need a little more support. Wednesday night’s display just isn’t going to cut it.
-- So much for defense. Washington’s perimeter defenders wore down late in the game as Tinsley consistently drove past Arenas and Daniels for pull-up jumpers or kick-out threes. When he beat his man on out front, the Wizards help defense left Danny Granger and others open around the arc. Granger hit two of his five threes in the extra period. Eddie Jordan stuck with Daniels late, rather than going back to Stevenson, who had been on the bench after hurting his knee earlier in the game. While Stevenson had been out for almost the entire second half – AD’s scoring ability usually makes him a good sub down the stretch – he could have provided a little more grit on the defensive end where Gil and Antonio faltered. If the guard’s can’t stop penetration from a middle-of-the-pack point guard in Tinsley, it doesn’t bode well for future match-ups with more dominant floor generals. Expect DeShawn to be in the lineup more in these types of situations.

Silver Lining
-- The Return of Agent Zero: The Hibachi was back on Wednesday night as Gil poured in 34 points – including 13-of-19 from the line. And while he only hit 10-of-25 shots from the floor, the 19 free throw attempts show that he’s got enough confidence in that surgically repaired knee to drive to the rim looking for contact. Gilbert was also back to his old tricks at the end of regulation. With the Wizards trailing and just seconds remaining, Gil dribbled patiently and the pulled back to get just enough separation to put up a 25-footer that tickled the twine as the buzzer sounded. HIBACHI!
-- With Etan Thomas out indefinitely, the Wizards need big Brendan Haywood to put up starting center numbers night in and night out for the first time since he helped the Tar Heels to the 2000 Final Four. He took a solid first step against the Pacers with a 10-point, 13-rebound showing. Most impressive – and what the Wizards desperately need from him – were his 11 offensive boards. With the rest of the team jacking up jumpers every possession, Haywood has to get his hands on the long rebounds to give the Wiz second chances to score. If he’s around the basket and banging, it should also result in lots of easy buckets (see dunks) for him – which is good, because after six seasons in Washington, he still has no jump shot to speak of. Now if he could only get his hands on more than two balls of the defensive glass.

Next Up
The Wiz continue their two-game road trip to start the season Friday in Boston where the Big Three will get their first crack at that other threesome. And count on the new green tag team of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett looking to make a splash in their debut in front of the punch-drunk New Englanders. The bench will have to give the starters some support for the Wiz to have a shot at winning what should be another triple-digit affair.

-- The Tar Heel

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