First off I want to give a big thank you to the pathetic Pittsburgh Penguins for helping the Caps end their four game losing streak, and the horrible Buffalo Sabres getting the Caps back on a winning streak with the score of 3-1.
Playing the Sabres was a perfect opponent for the Caps to get their mojo back after their mini slump. The biggest help in turning things around was our tendy Vitek Vanecek. Now if you follow any Caps fan sites or groups people are constantly calling for our goalies heads. To those people I say play a sport for me one time you fair-weather fan. The stretch were Vanecek didn’t have his strongest games were quick turnover games without having much rest and in this shortened season these things will happen and they usually will work themselves out. So please have a beer and actually watch the games.
Another note on Vanecek, it was very clear he was seeing the puck much better against Buffalo than he was on Tuesday night. He stopped 48-50 shots which gave him a save percentage of .960, which has tied him for most wins by a rookie this season with Chicago’s Kevin Lankinen.
One of the bigger improvements I saw was on our back end especially with top D pair Carlson and Dillion. These two really carried the load this week and it seemed to give a little spark to other struggling defensive pairings.
Also have to give a shoutout to Lars Eller he was able to accumulate his 300th career point from his primary assist on the Sheary goal. This is the third-highest point total among Danish- born players in NHL history…..not too shabby. He only sits behind Mikkel Bodker(327) and Frans Nielsen (470) so he definitely can be second all-time by seasons end.
The line of Eller, Sheary, and Panik has slowly become a line to be reckoned with especially with the stellar play of Sheary (thanks Shittsburgh). Sheary now has goals in back to back games and 4 goals in his last 7 games.
Tom Wilson is still producing like a madman, remember when those idiots were saying Ryan Reaves was better than him as a player, what a bunch of losers those people look now. Reaves is serving cocktails on the Vegas strip these days and maybe netting 1 minute of ice time this season if he is lucky. Wilson has 6 goals on the season now and has 13 points in 13 games. That’s a point per game right now for the non math folks.
The Caps look to keep the winning streak going on Saturday vs the NY Rangers and Sunday against the New Jersey Devils both games will be in D.C.
The Morning Skate 