Postgame Notebook: Flames 2, Capitals 1

Post Game Interviews (Video)

Whistle While You Work – Fall is time for festivals, festivals of all kinds. On Tuesday night at the Saddledome in Calgary, the 19,289 fans in attendance were treated to a fall festival of infractions.

They witnessed what would have been an ultra-rare nine-minute power play for the Caps that was (predictably) cut to just over seven minutes because of a minor to Washington’s Michael Nylander in the midst of the mega-man advantage. They witnessed one man (Calgary’s Rene Bourque) collecting 19 minutes on one sequence, which led to the nine-minute power play. Bourque earned 42 penalty minutes in 62 games with Chicago last season.

Bourque took a fighting major, an unsportsmanlike conduct minor, an instigator minor, and a 10-minute misconduct at the same time when he took exception to Tyler Sloan’s clean hit on Calgary’s Daymond Langkow.

The Calgary crowd saw Washington incur eight consecutive minor penalties in between the Bourque meltdown and Calgary’s Curtis Glencross’ hooking minor late in the third. Included among those eight Washington minors was some overlap that led to four separate two-man advantages for the Flames. Those four two-man advantages totaled 2:33 and produced one Calgary goal.

The Tuesday night Saddledome throng watched as Washington’s eight unanswered minors came on eight different infractions whistled against eight different skaters. Included among those misdeeds were minors for throwing the stick, holding the stick,

The fans watched as the two teams logged a combined 25:36 in power play time, but combined for just one power play goal in 14 combined opportunities. In more than 25 minutes of power play activity, the Caps and Flames combined for a mere dozen shots on goal.

Killers – The Caps spent the better part of an entire period (14:31) of the game skating shorthanded, and were down two men on four separate occasions. Given that they did not go shorthanded until very late in the first period and were not down a man for most of the final period, the Caps were actually shorthanded for 14:31 during a game span of exactly 29 minutes.

In other words, they spent more than half of half of the game shorthanded, and were down two men for a decent amount of that time. Given that much adversity, they did well to allow just one goal (Jarome Iginla’s 5-on-3 tally) during that span. And just before Iginla’s goal, the Caps had a chance to clear the puck the length of the ice and get a change but failed to do so.

Power Outage – For the second consecutive game, Washington’s struggling power play cost it a chance at earning at least a standings point. The Caps were unable to cash in on a nine-minute power play, and were 0-for-5 on the night. Washington managed only five power play shots on goal in 11:05 with the extra man.

After going 4-for-15 (26.7%) on the power play in their first three games of the season, the Caps are 1-for-17 (5.9%) since. Overall, the Caps have slipped to 16th in the league in power play prowess with a 15.6% success rate.

Russian Record – Veteran Caps center Sergei Fedorov netted Washington’s only goal of the evening. In doing so, he moved into a tie for most goals scored by a Russian-born NHL player. Fedorov is now tied atop that list with Alexander Mogilny. Both players have 473 career goals.

Fedorov was also plus-1 on the night. He is now tied with several players (including teammate Alexander Semin) for second in the league in plus-minus at plus-7.

60 Good for 60 – Caps goaltender Jose Theodore did his job, giving the Caps a chance to win a game they had no business winning. Theodore played his strongest game as a Cap, stopping 26 of 28 shots and earning the game’s third star designation.

Theodore has a history of success against the Flames. He entered the game with a 9-7-2 mark, a shutout, a 2.14 GAA and a .922 save pct. lifetime against Calgary. While with the Colorado Avalanche last season, Theodore faced the Flames eight times. He was 5-3 with a 1.95 GAA and a .928 save pct.

Streak Stopped – Washington winger Alexander Semin went without a point on the night. His streak of five straight games with a point (six goals, four assists) was snapped in the process. Entering Tuesday night’s game, Semin was tied for second in the NHL’s scoring race.

The Calgary Kids – Half of the Caps’ defense corps on this night (Mike Green, Jeff Schultz and Tyler Sloan) were Calgary natives. Of the three, only Green had played previous as an NHL player in the Saddledome.

Green skated a mere 14:55 in his only previous NHL game at the Saddledome on Oct. 30, 2006. In Tuesday night’s game, he nearly doubled that figure with 29:43. He was minus-1 with two minor penalties, four hits, a shot on goal and two giveaways. Green skated 9:07 on the power play in Tuesday’s game, accounting for more than 80% of Washington’s 11:05 in power play time on the night.

Schultz had a strong game in front of the home folks. He earned an assist on the Caps’ lone goal of the night and was credited with three blocked shots and a hit in his 19:07 of ice time on the night. Schultz skated a team-leading 7:14 while Washington was shorthanded. He and Milan Jurcina were the only two Caps defensemen who did not serve time in the Saddledome penalty box on Tuesday.

Sloan skated just 9:03 in his first NHL game, but that total was minimized by the inordinate amount of special teams time in Tuesday’s game. He was a plus-1 with one minor penalty (for tripping), two hits, a giveaway and a blocked shot on the night.

The 27-year-old Sloan became the oldest Capital to make his NHL debut since 32-year-old Mel Angelstad on April 3, 2004. Sloan also became the first Capital ever to sport sweater No. 89.

Ice Men – Green is averaging 27:19 per game through the first six games of the schedule; he ranks fourth among all skaters in the league in average ice time. Last season, Green averaged 23:38 per game.

Alex Ovechkin skated 24:48 on Tuesday, a figure that actually dropped his per game average to 25:03. Ovechkin ranks 21st among all players in the league in that category and is tops by far among NHL forwards in ice time. Philadelphia’s Mike Richards is second among forwards and 46th overall with an average of 23:30 a night. Ovechkin averaged 23:07 a game last season.

O From the D – With Schultz’s assist in the Calgary game, Washington defensemen have now combined for a total of five goals and 14 points in six games this season. That pace is better than last year’s season-ending total of 34 goals and 148 points from Capitals blueliners.

Great Eight – As the Caps’ team bus loaded and prepared to depart the Saddledome after Tuesday’s game, a crowd of red-shirted Flames and Caps fans assembled beyond the security barriers. The crowd began chanting, “O-vech-KIN! O-vech-KIN!” for several minutes before their hero finally made his way out of the arena. At that point, the chant changed to “O-VI! O-VI!”

Ovechkin boarded the bus told Caps coach Bruce Boudreau, “Bruce, I must sign.” Boudreau told Ovechkin he could sign until the rest of the players were on the bus.

A Flame First – Calgary’s win over Washington was its first against the Caps since a 5-4 triumph in the District on March 13, 1999.  The Capitals brought an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) against the Flames into Tuesday night’s tilt in Calgary.