Well, this game certainly had a little bit of everything.
My pregame, reverse psychology-infused tweet of, “Hope I’m wrong here bit I’m not overly confident in the Capitals dominance to suddenly disappear …” worked, as the Tampa Bay Lightning were finally able to outlast their Southeast Division rivals with a 7-4 decision on home ice.
After last night, this “rivalry” thing may only just be heating up …
The Good
Offensive Explosion
For a team that struggles to score goals more often than not, the touchdown/extra point the Bolts put up on Washington was remarkable. Driven by the usual suspects in Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay was also the recipient of offensive contributions from:
The captain: Vincent Lecavalier opened the scoring early in the first on a pretty exchange with Alex Tanguay.
Role players: Jeff Halpern and goal-starved Stephane Veilleux each chipped in.
The defense: Kurtis Foster, who is really coming on of late, tallied his seventh of the season.
Nothing like blowing a three-goal lead to launch scoring into hyperdrive, I guess.
Downie’s Upward Swing
He might not have recorded a point on the stat sheet last night but Steve Downie’s game continues to grow in a positive direction on a nightly basis. Simply stated, he is becoming every bit the player the Philadelphia Flyers envisioned when they made him a first-round draft choice in 2005 and every bit the player the Lightning hoped he’d become when they acquired him last season.
Games in which Downie does not make a major impact are few and far between and he has been the Lightning’s best forward on many occasions.
His exchanges with Alex Ovechkin – which, of course, we’ll get to in short order – will be all the talk today but Downie truly has honed his all around game. There’s a short list of players that can be as physically effective as he has proven to be that also hold down a top-six spot. The latter distinction is on and off for Downie at present but that, as a projection for his career, is not at all inaccurate.
He’ll have to fight the “As long as he keeps his temper …” battle for some time to come but Steve Downie is fast becoming the consummate teammate and the heart-and-soul type that the Tampa Bay organization wants in all of its players.
Half Way to …
(Well, I can’t just say it … I get called out by colleagues far too often as it is for ruining shutouts and no-hitters for doing as much.)
Two more goals for Stamkos last night is good for 25 on the season, which surpasses his rookie total by a pair already and has him in a truly elite group of scorers, league-wide. Top seven in the NHL? Marleau. Crosby. Gaborik. Ovechkin. Heatley. Kovalchuk.
Stamkos.
Impressive.
The Bad
Killer Instinct?
Sure, the Lightning finished off their opponents last night eventually (and did so convincingly in the end, no less) but surrendering a three-goal lead is always enough to make a coach’s head spin. (Rick Tocchet, post-game last night, was no exception.)
Mike Green’s power play goal that made it 4-2 Tampa to open the second frame brought with it that familiar feeling of impending doom. For some reason, you can see and feel when this Lightning team is about to let up. Sure enough, Washington charged back to tie things at four apiece before St. Louis’ momentum-changer late in the period.
Again, the end result is all that matters but, with an opponent that was a sleep through 60 minutes and a three goal lead after one, this game never should have even been a contest.
The Ovechkin Hit
So here’s what got all the hullabaloo started …
With just over eight minutes to play in the third and the Capitals putting pressure on in the Lightning zone, Alex Ovechkin broke his stick on a shot attempt. After showing outward signs of frustrations at his crippled twig, the Washington captain hustled back to his bench to receive some new lumber (or Kevlar, or whatever it is they use these days), circled beyond his own blueline before heading back up ice, where his eye caught Downie with the puck still inside the Lightning zone. Ovechkin took a direct path toward the Tampa puck carrier from at least the Capitals side of the neutral zone. I didn’t see a knee – you can have a look for yourself just below this paragraph – but the hit warranted at least a charging call on Ovechkin, in my opinion.
The OV/Downie tussle earned both men matching minors for roughing.
I love Alex Ovechkin’s game. Love it. Don’t know how you can’t. But I can see how some of the haters can back up their “dirty” claims. Far too often, hits thrown by Alex are questionable, either because of a knee, leaving his feet or because of the forty-nine strides taken beforehand, as in last night’s play in question.
After his suspension earlier this year, I argued staunchly that under no circumstances should Ovechkin change his game, maintaining that his type of goal output justifies whatever means necessary.
But I never said a little responsibility training wasn’t in order. And now I believe that someone should have a heart-to-heart with the Hart of the National Hockey League.
(More on OV and Downie in The Ugly, coming up.)
Konopka Starts with KO
(File this one under “Bad as in Good”.)
After all the Matt Bradley/Downie/Ovechkin hoopla, Tampa Bay’s resident face-masher/mashee Zenon Konopka took a faceoff against Washington’s David Steckel. And the battle of two of the league’s top draw men went in favor of the visitor.
That is all. (Hardly.)
To finish off the fisticuffs, Konopka and Steckel went head-to-head in that department as well and, despite giving up four inches in height and about ten pounds on the scale, Konopka dusted the Washington pivot handily.
His mettle on the ice has been proven and his popularity among Lightning fans continues to grow, which is more important than some might realize. This organization neads rear ends in the seats and players of Konopka’s ilk do just that to certain extent, particularly in non-traditional markets.
More importantly than anything, Zenon Konopka has been a physical force all season.
He doesn’t win ‘em all but he’ll take ‘em all.
And, last night, his convincing victory was the icing on the cake for happy Lightning fans in attendance.
The Ugly
Down Goes Smitty … Again
Goaltender Mike Smith, he of lengthy post-concussion woes from a year ago fame, was clobbered in his own crease yet again last night, this time by Capitals forward Brooks Laich. It appeared as though Laich’s hip made direct contact with Smith’s head as he drove to the Lightning net and the Tampa Bay netminder hit the deck quickly.
Replays showed Smith’s neck compressed and the word post-game was that he’ll be listed as day-to-day with a “cervical strain”.
Before last night, I’d already dubbed Smith the most abused goalie in the NHL and the Laich collision has now cemented my thoughts on that. I can think of, probably, a half-dozen instances of Smitty being trampled or otherwise run into in front of his cage this season alone. And, though I can’t get on his teammates for not coming to his aid last night – many of them asserted that they didn’t think Laich did anything malicious – I’d have to think that a stronger defensive presence (that “crease-clearer” mentality, if you will) might help to limit future incidents. Smith plays an aggressive style and maybe – maaaaaaybe – that, at least, has something to with this run of collisions but, pair his run-ins with the opposition with all of the goals that Tampa Bay has let in from below the hash marks this season and further credence is leant to my theory.
This team still needs to get tougher in front.
Smith later removed himself from the game and, given his history with trying to play through “upper-upper body injuries”, that was probably a wise move. (I’m waiting for any further word to be released on his condition today.)
But the bottom line is this: The goalie-plowing has to stop, for safety’s sake, if nothing else.
Chicken Bleep
Good, good, good on Ovechkin for answering the bell – twice, no less, really – and dropping the mitts to take on Downie. Round one fizzled quickly and only led to roughing minors but round two, helmets and gloves off, circle a bit before engaging, surely did enough to silence OV’s critics who have long claimed he isn’t willing to back up his aggressive play.
Only one problem …
Enter Matt Bradley, fresh off the Washington bench to interrupt the fracas.
Enjoy the automatic ten, Matt. Hope it was well worth it.
(EDIT: Looks like the league has determined that Bradley made a routine line change prior to engaging Downie and will not face supplementary discipline.)
Ovechkin later did the captain thing and said that Bradley did a good job in standing up for him but, come on! A beeline off the bench to jump in for a guy who was clearly a willing combatant? Bradley’s actions robbed us of a scrap that everyone wanted to see, for starters, did nothing to quell the Ovechkin critics and labeled him, well …
chicken(bleep).
Professional?
Ah, the perils of Twitter.
I don’t know this guy and I only caught wind of his public words second-hand but, apparently, the tenacity of last night’s Caps/Bolts tilt had Washington’s director of media relations Nate Ewell all hot and bothered.
Enough so, it seems, to tweet (@nateewell) the following:
“4,000 people can sure boo loudly”, a reference to Lightning fans booing Ovechkin each time he touched the puck after the run-ins with Downie.
And then, the kicker:
“Ovi would have beat (Downie’s) b*tch ass”
Really? From an employee of the team? Really? That’s public relations?
He later went on to say something along the lines of “protecting his players” which I get, knowing the roles of PR/media relations folks from my experience with the Lightning, but one: I don’t think your players need that kind of written “protection” and two: If they do, you can certainly go about it in a more professional fashion.
Because it’s out there for the public to see, I’ve all but ceased any objectionable language from my Twitter feed and will even put down the phone while watching a game at home, if I happen to be enjoying an adult beverage or two, just in case I get the urge to say something outlandish that I otherwise might keep to myself.
Others would be wise to do the same.
After much hesitation, I’ve embraced Twitter as a nifty tool to talk with fans, players, agents, writers, etc., break news and information and stay on top of things in other cities but, clearly, it still has its pitfalls.
Like we needed another avenue for virtual muscles …
(EDIT: Should also be noted that, this afternoon, Ewell said - again, via Twitter - "Was an error in judgment on my part - shouldn't have written it". Kudos to him for admitting as much.)
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