Weak Start, Strong Finish - Marathon December Ends With A Bang
Although Washington endured an excruciating stretch of 8 straight games without a win to start the month of December, they've certainly made it a point to get back on track before the end of the calender year.
The Capitals, who managed but 2 points during the first 18 days of December, have since collected 9 points in their final 5 games of 2010, pushing them back atop the Southeast division with 49 points in 39 games.
Tonight's win over the Montreal Canadiens wasn't exactly the same sort of competition that fans witnessed during the springtime playoff series that saw these two clubs fight to the bitter end of a 7 game series, yet it was a convincing win defensive victory by a club that has gone through quite the metamorphosis.
Although the key to victory this evening was technically the fact that Semyon Varlamov stopped all 25 shots he faced, it's more the fact that of those 25 shots faced, only 5 came from within the faceoff dots(the slot) in the Caps zone.
Montreal had 7 shots that were legitimately within scoring range:
In the 1st period...
1) Yannick Weber managed a shot from the left faceoff circle at 1:08 of the 1st - Varly kicked it away.
2) Tomas Plekanec had an opportunity to score when he closed in on Varly at 2:16 of the 1st, yet was turned away by the Caps netminder.
In the 2nd period...
3) Brian Gionta snuck into the slot only 1:10 into the 2nd while the Habs were killing a penalty, but it didn't really amount to much.
4/5) Andrei Kostitsyn and Michael Cammalleri had back to back opportunities from point blank range in front of Varlamov at 3:45 and 3:47 of the 2nd frame, with little success, in what would prove to be Montreal's only opportunities of the period from close range.
In the 3rd period...
6/7) Lars Eller, who hasn't yet quite grown into his NHL form for the Canadiens, wired 2 shots at Varlamov(basically collecting his own rebound), but again, it wasn't much of a test for Varlamov.
In the end, of the 7 shots that came from within 20 feet of the Capitals goal, only 4 were actually threatening.
The point of this breakdown being that the Capitals did a tremendous job of holding the Canadiens to the periphery.
And that is this team's new silent killer.
The defensive system that caused so much trouble for the Caps only 2 weeks ago is already yielding positive results, all to the benefit of the team's young goaltending.
The other positives that can be drawn from the Capitals final game of 2010 are the productive games from Mike Green and Alex Ovechkin.
Green played much like the Mike Green of old, skating monstrous minutes while throwing his weight around and playing in all areas of the ice. His goal was a key moment in the game as it set the Canadiens back on their heels and was a vintage #52 play.
On the other hand, Alex Ovechkin, he of the 13 goals entering tonight's game, was also interesting to watch.
As far as his critics are concerned, OV's lack of goal production seems to be a direct indicator that he isn't quite capable of handling the load while being leader of the Capitals. As captain of the team Ovechkin has had to take on far more than he was used to dealing with during his first few years, yet his lack of goal production should not be construed as poor leadership, in fact, reality is that Alex's game has undergone a very important change - much like how the Capitals as a whole have had to undergo their changes.
Ovechkin's change is only visible in the sense that you can tell how much has changed for him mentally. The freedom he once skated with is no longer a privilege he has, and as is the case with any young leader in need of taking the next step, Ovechkin is making the necessary adjustments and commitments to make himself a winner in the long run. The critics will point to many facets of his development and call into question several elements including timing, but Ovechkin knows that there is no answer or excuse for the past, only that which lays in front of him. He knows he is on a different path than that of his number 1 rival Sidney Crosby, but he also knows that in order to achieve what Sidney already has, it is going to take even more of an effort. Whereas Crosby entered the league as a playmaker with an ability to skate in both ends of the ice, OV has always been painted as a one dimensional freight train. And as much as those descriptions may have applied to the two when they entered the league, the truth is that Crosby has since becoming a goal scoring menace and, almost in opposite fashion, Ovechkin is learning to play on the defensive side of the puck.
Ideally it's alot easier for Crosby to improve on his offense when he's got a strong grip on his defensive play. As for Ovechkin, it's a slightly different matter as he turns his attention to defense for what(for some) could be considered the first time.
Yet it's all part of the master plan and if you read between the lines, and Alex Ovechkin's stats, you will note that he still leads the NHL in shots on goal, entering this evening's game with 169 shots in 38 contests. Tack on another 5 from tonight's win over the Canadiens and Ovechkin now has 14 goals on 174 shots, good for a shooting percentage of 8.0% on the year.
The rough shooting percentage can be attributed to taking on a much larger burden mentally, yet with his rate of attack remaining the same, it will only be a matter of time before Ovechkin gets things under control and begins to find mesh more often than goaltender.
Whatever the case may be with the future of Alex Ovechkin's game, one thing I wouldn't hesitate in betting on would be Ovechkin scoring 40 goals in the 2nd half of the season. He's due to break out and no one is silly enough to think he won't eventually find the confidence he needs to regain his dominance.
As for the Caps, it was an absolutely bizarre month of December, yet after all is said and done, the HBO cameras will have everything they could have wanted and more as the Caps demonstrated the true highs and lows of what it truly means to play in the NHL.
They've ended 2010 on a high note and will have a few days off to rest before turning their attention to 2011 and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Winter Classic on January 1st.
*Special Note: The 3rd episode of HBO's 24/7: Road to the Winter Classic will premiere tomorrow night. I will post the times tomorrow morning.
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