Three Stars & Game in One Picture: Washington vs. CBJ

Ahhh, back above the line. Feels good, doesn’t it? There’s a lot to be happy about with tonight’s performance and as always some things to be concerned with. Since inking Nathan Horton to a deal I’ve been wanting to see how he and Johanson would play together. Tonight I got to see that and with some more time together and some refinement I think the 38-19-8 line can become consistently dominant. Let’s see who the NHL thought was worthy of the stars this fine evening:

3rd Star: Jack Johnson

I liked a lot about Johnson’s game tonight. He generated good traffic towards the net (see his assist on Johanson’s 2nd goal) and had the type of physical game that gives your teammates a jolt of energy. Johnson logged about 7 minutes each on the 100% effective penalty kill and the 0% effective power play on the evening. He was key in setting the CBJ tone tonight, which was “I hope you’re ready to work for every inch of ice you want, Capitals”. While Johnson was the lone D man between Ward on Bobrovsky on Ward’s short-handed goal, I think he was effective in shutting down Ward’s passing lanes and forcing Ward’s hand to have no choice but to shoot. Sadly, that shot went in.

2nd Star: Sergei Bobrovsky

Can’t argue this one bit. Bob made some huge saves early, one of which I’m sure will be plastered all over NHL Tonight and NBCSN:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-pvv2hFPaA]As Billy Davidge mentions, you can only imagine Ovi was saying something along the lines of “that glove had better show up to Sochi”. It’s always nice to see that kind of respect amongst elite athletes. Bob finished the evening with 2GA and a .938 SV%, each an improvement to his overall stats.

1st Star: Ryan Johanson:

I’ve run out of ways to laud Johanson’s progress this year. The hands and finesse that he’s showing are truly a treat to watch. His first goal was a quick snapshot he found while closing in on Holtby and his second a goal that someone trying to show boat against their best bud playing goalie. I think the juggling of lines will be good for Ryan, assuming they stick with tonight’s formulas and should jump-start Horton’s scoring too.

Stud: Penalty Kill

Both teams were perfect on the evening when it came to killing off the man or two man advantage. Each team netted a shortie as well. Speaking of which, honorable mention to offensive juggernaut Derek MacKenzie for tallying the CBJ shortie.

Dud: Power Play

Not only were both squads’ power play units held scoreless but they each allowed a goal. The CBJ have allowed a lot of short-handed goals in the past few weeks and it’s getting pretty frustrating. Not having faith in your PP unit to keep the puck out of their own net is a great way to find your team playing entirely too conservatively with the man advantage and just end up burning time. Hopefully the CBJ can sort this out.