Boudreau Losing Bench?
While the Capitals ceded yet another perfect opportunity to get back on track versus an opponent who needed to do likewise, their stirring habit of allowing the opposition to jump all over them popped up once again as Toronto took complete advantage of Washington's wilting confidence, hammering them 7-1.
The flat-footed confusion
allowed the Leafs to steal the game from out underneath the Caps feet, prolonging Washington's November misery and pushing the best team in the NHL in October to the brink of disaster.
The root of the problems for Bruce Boudreau and the Capitals has been their declining effort levels and, once again apparent, lack of killer instinct.
Special teams have also disappeared, sending their overall game down the drain as they've dropped 3 games in a row and 6 of their last 10.
Ultimately, it all ties in to where I first began in
delving into the team's issue of quick collapses.
At the time of the article, the Capitals had lost 5 of 6 games due to quick collapses; allowing 2 or more goals to be scored in under 120 seconds in either the 2nd or 3rd period of the majority of defeats.
The stretch began with their
loss to the Dallas Stars, furthering the development of their bad habits with
losses to Nashville, Winnipeg and again last night to the Leafs.
Now, including the recent losses, the Capitals have allowed back-to-back goals in under 120 seconds in 6 of their 7 regulation losses, allowing 21 goals against in the periods which cost them the game. Those periods in question, usually the 2nd or 3rd period, have been frighteningly devoid of effort on the Caps behalf as they've mustered but 1 goal for while abandoning their netminders in the face of onslaught after onslaught from opponents.
With the 16th ranked power play and 25th overall penalty kill in the NHL, the special teams have all but disappeared during this recent stretch, a stretch which has seen the Caps lose 7 of 11 games since winning 7 straight to open the season.
Now, with patience wearing thin, calls for the head of coach Bruce Boudreau are resonating throughout the Washington fan-base.
While the consensus is that he's on thin ice, it is still hard for management to fire a guy who has the Caps playing to a winning record.
Considering they wouldn't let him go when he and the Caps lost 8 straight last December, they simply wouldn't see the point now.
Meanwhile, with team effort plummeting by the game and some visible signs of discord on the bench, thoughts turn to the situation in the dressing room. While Alex Ovechkin still sits as the captain of the team, the hope was that many of the veteran leaders who were brought on board to insulate the Caps top flight players would step up to help the young guns.
Yet, so far all we've witnessed is the vets getting left out to dry by a Caps core of forwards who simply seem out of sync.
Despite both Alex's struggling through 18 games, the truth is that there's something else going on in DC.
With high hopes and spirits renewed entering the new season, Washington tore up the league. A familiar sight, to be sure, yet it was a whole new team and it looked like they were finally getting over the hump.
Then, as is always the case, adversity reared its ugly head and the core players on this team once again buried their heads in the sand like a pack of frightened Ostriches.
To be fair, the players are certainly responsible for this current slide, but in sympathy with the concern voiced by the fanbase, what has the coach done about it?
He has preached about the depth on the team and how well-balance ice-time will lead to a stronger Capitals club for the entire season, yet when the team hit a wall and began sinking fast, Boudreau's decision to stick to his guns is proving costly. Costly on the scoredboard, and costly in the room as apparently the players aren't vibing with the way the coach is trying to spread things out.
While the balanced approach is worthwhile, the point of this is that players are upset because they feel they aren't being used in a proper manner. Though the benefits are certainly great, they only show up when everyone is on board.
And with many passengers hopping off at each passing station, you have to wonder how long it will be before management seeks a new conductor for this train.
Orlov Up, Schultz a Downer...
As announced by the team this morning, the Capitals have called defenseman Dmitry Orlov from the Hershey Bears.
A sound move as Orlov has 9 points in 15 games for the Bears, the young Russian blue-liner boasts speed, good hands and far better hockey sense that what Jeff Schultz has been demonstrating as of late.
Schultz, a former 1st round pick, has simply lost his way within the Caps new systems and defense pairings.
Recently skating with Roman Hamrlik, the young defender is completely out of sorts. Conditioning, confidence, it has to be something.
With a team low 1 takeaway in 17 games, Schultz has the 2nd most giveaways (10) on the Caps roster.
Contrasted with Roman Hamrlik, the veteran defender who was brought in to help stabilize young players like Schultz, it's easy to see why Orlov was called up.
Hamrlik leads the team in blocked shots with 38, boasts 13 takeaways (2nd on team) to 7 giveaways and 21 hits, all in averaging the 3rd most ice-time on the team.
Schultz, who is skating less then every defender other than John Erskine, continues to see his responsibility decline and with this recent call-up, it can be all but said that he is on thin ice just like his coach.
We'll see what comes of this recent turmoil in DC, but with players evidently suffering from serious power outages, the confidence and overall identity of this Caps club is quickly coming into question. Furthermore, in slowly losing their way, and with the coach seemingly losing their ear in the room, it won't be long before something gives.
Orlov, an elite prospect destined for this Caps blue line, will get to make his case tomorrow night as the Caps face the Phoenix Coyotes...something Jeff Schultz should be very worried about.
Finally, one last note I will leave you with, which though a more-or-less meaningless stat, certainly spells out what trouble the Caps are in right now.
Here are the only players on the Washington Capitals roster who are a minus:
Sean Collins -1
Mike Knuble -2
Alex Semin -3
Roman Hamrlik -4
Nicklas Backstrom -6
Alex Ovechkin -6
Notice the problem?
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