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Ovie "the King," another tanking team plus Sabres notes from last night |
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Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals were a tired lot last night. They came in to Buffalo after an emotional, hard-fought shutout victory over the Boston Bruins the previous night to face the last place Sabres. And true to coach Barry Trotz's pregame warning, Buffalo did indeed represent a trap game.
As sluggish as the Capitals were they still managed to overcome a dedicated Sabres squad 4-3 in the shootout. As tired as Ovie was, he still managed to fire over 20 shots Buffalo's way with nine of them being registered as shots on goal with none of them tinkling the twine.
One can't dismiss "The Great Eight's" supreme talent. Ovechkin's skill-level is outstanding and when he wants to compete and be hard on the puck, he's a tough customer. But my word, what a lazy, goal-sucking slacker he can be.
I've never been a fan of a player so focused upon himself that he feels it's always necessary to shoot whenever he thinks he's open. Nor have I ever been a fan of a player who watches a teammate do all of the dirty work to get the puck only to pass it to said shooter. It reminds me of a king watching his servants do all the work.
Much to the dismay of many Sabres fans, the Capitals almost lost last night to a team full of AHL'ers with less than half-the talent Washington has, but with more heart in one skate than the entire Caps team had collectively. Sure they were tired, and it was a classic trap game, but with the talent Washington has, they should be able to play the third game of a back-to-back-to-back against the Sabres and beat them.
I don't care that they pulled out a win, which is the mark of a good team. Nor do I care that Ovie went after the Sabres Mike Weber after he checked the Caps Nicklas Backstrom behind the Buffalo net. It was a foolish play on Ovie's part as he didn't even have the gumption to drop the gloves. Not that he should have with Weber, but if you're gonna go in and "protect" your "bread and butter" as one announcer put it, feigned anger and a wussified crosscheck won't get you very far.
Nor do I care that Ovechkin will end up in the Hall of Fame. I'll tell anyone who'll listen that he was a great talent who took an incredible number of shots to reach his Hall of Fame goal totals and the reason he didn't win the Cup is because his teammates deep down probably weren't thrilled at being cast in a subservient role subject to the whims of such a selfish goal-suck like him.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are a pathetic lot right now.
From our good friend Dave "Thumbs-up, Thumb-down" Hodge of TSN:
"I'd say 'thumbs down', but I'd rather shake my head at what has become of this Toronto Maple Leafs' season. Statistically, their worst performance came in 1984-85, when they won 20 of 80 games. This descent into shame can't be measured by numbers."
It can be measured by one word, Mr. Hodge, a word that has been thrown Buffalo's way all season, yet hasn't been used to describe the same path the Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes and now Maple Leafs have chosen.
But, before we get to said word, a little background as to why Hodge is disgusted with the Leafs. On Wednesday December 17, 2014, the Toronto Maple Leafs were 19-9-3, on a six-game win-streak, in the top wild card spot and just one point behind the Montreal Canadiens who were third in the Atlantic Division. After a 2-7-0 slump the Leafs fired their head coach.
Continued Hodge, "What remained of the Leafs' season following the firing of coach Randy Carlyle was supposed to contain a response to the words of club president Brendan Shanahan. He addressed the players and told them, 'We're watching. We're on it. You're going to tell us who you are.' What he has been told by most of them is that they have no business wearing the Toronto uniform beyond April 11, the 82nd game, the merciful end."
What the players did was mirror what management did--give up on the season.
Last night Toronto was down by four goals to the Oilers within 11 minutes of the game and they ended up waltzing through a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the 29th place Oilers. Since December 17th they've gone 8-29-3 and sit 27th in the league.
What the players weren't told by Shanahan is that, with the firing of Carlyle, the Leafs were ready to...tank. That's what they're doing, Mr. Hodge. Tanking. The same thing the Edmonton Oilers are doing. The same thing the Arizona Coyotes are doing. It's the same thing the Buffalo Sabres have been accused of all season.
Granted, there's no chance the Leafs finish at the bottom of the league. In fact I highly doubt they'll finish any lower than 27th. But they're in "rebuild-mode" right now and have the Connor McDavid sweepstakes looking them straight in the eye. With generational talent up-top and a strong group just below, methinks "The Center of the Hockey Universe" is thinking about getting the best odds it can at landing hometown boy McDavid.
But good Canadian teams wouldn't stoop so low, would they?
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Sabres "top center" Johan Larsson scored the game-tying goal last night, had over 23 minutes of ice-time and was named the game's first star. It was yet another strong game by a player who was skating on thin ice (pun intended) until just after the trade deadline.
Larsson seems to have finally figured out what he needs to do to not only stick in the NHL, but have an impact in the NHL. And that is, simply play the game that he's always played--be a pest to play against, hard on the puck and get into the dirty areas to score.
Twice last night he slipped into the slot for a re-direct. The first time was early in the first period on the powerplay (he had 3:47 of pp time) where his tip went just wide and the second was when he zipped past Caps d-man Nate Schmidt and tipped Chad Ruhwedel's point shot past Brayden Holtby. Larsson showed some great on-ice awareness in both instances. He found some open ice on the first one then caught Schmidt sleeping for his goal. It was Larsson's third goal and fifth point in the last four games.
On two separate occasions last night Larsson was the driving force behind a strong forecheck which saw the Sabres cycling in the Caps zone for over a minute. The cycle was so long both times that the Sabres were able to get a number of fresh legs on the ice while leaving the Washington players exhausted.
Larsson was also 62% on the faceoff dot.
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Goalie Anders Lindback had yet another strong game in net for the Sabres in a losing effort. Last night he sported a .921 sv.% which is right in line with his .924% average since being traded to Buffalo. Although he's winless for the Sabres (0-3-2) he's been playing very well.
One thing that really stands out concerning his game, other than he takes up a huge portion of the net, is his puck handling skills. On numerous occasions last night he grabbed the puck and cleared the zone. One time he sent it the length of the ice. It's a boost to his defensemen that he can relieve pressure like that and it's something not witnessed in Buffalo for a long, long time.
Lindback came in as comic relief but his play to this point has the pending UFA screaming legitimacy. We know he has the size Sabres GM Tim Murray likes. Perhaps he'll impress enough to be in the mix for a wide open goalie battle in Buffalo next season.
And hopefully he won't steal enough points to derail the McEichel express this season.
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Other notes:
--Sabres captain Brian Gionta had another breakaway last night. He didn't score. Again. Must be channeling former Sabre, Mike Grier.
--Rasmus Ristolainen had a real nice game last night which included jumping in on offense with more confidence. He seemed to back off the defense more than normal and was part of a real nice give and go with Tyler Ennis who scored the game's first goal. With Zach Bogosian out, Ristolainen logged some heavy ice-time with a team-leading 28:11 minutes.
--I can't wait to see Ennis when he has more ice to work with next season. The "greazy" forward who can stick handle in a phone booth, is on pace for another 20-plus goal season. Ennis is 25 yrs. old and is just entering his prime. After playoff appearances in his first two seasons in the league, it's been all down hill and despite the Sabres headed for another bottom-finish, he's still producing. Next season he'll either be playing with superior talent on the top line or facing lesser talent on the Sabres second line. Regardless, next year could end up being a career year for him.
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