Thursday night the Washington Capitals were in town to take on the Coyotes. I was seeing a lot of #8 jerseys, looking brand-spanking new. I have decided the Caps have a bunch of bandwagon fans here in the Valley. Washington has a lot of great players, not just Ovechkin (I know, he is amazing though) but I doubt those people notice the rest of the team. I have a soft spot for Mike Green, Brooks Laich, David Steckl and Jeff Schultz. Last season, I actually thought we should trade our 55 for their 55. 🙂
We went down to watch the Coyotes warm-up and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Yandle was rocking out to his rap song. Carcillo was doing his guitar impression to one song. At one point, McGrattan and Sauer collided and Sauer hit the ice but they were both laughing. All in all, our guys were looking good and having fun.
Telly was given the start. I (and a few other people) was happy to hear this. He was spot on, even earned himself the first star of the game. There were times, if it had been Bryz in the net that I would have been scared to death of that puck going in. I think Gretzky needs to do more of a 1A and 1B tandem with Bryz. It just doesn’t seem he is quite up to the starter job yet or maybe now that he has his big contract, he doesn’t have to work as hard? I’m not sure but I think he needs to be challenged. Telly can’t be a starter, but he could sure give Bryz a run for his money. The coyotes need to use that and make it more of a competition for Bryz, make him EARN the starting role.
McGrattan earned his first start on Thursday also. On his first shift, he had his first shot on goal. I was surprised that Jose “the open door” Theodore was able to stop it (and all the other shots we made), must have been a good night for him. McGrattan seemed to be having words with Brashear. McGrattan looked like he was ready to go but Brashear didn’t seem willing (even though he was pissing off all our guys).
The boys fell apart a bit in the second period. Tiki was injured in the first and of course Gretzky couldn’t just make a small adjustment, he had to change ALL the lines. The boys were running into each other, passing to the Caps and just seemed to lack communication skills. Fortunately, they were able to hold the Caps (and Ovechkin) off and come back much stronger in the third.
Caps got on the board first and thankfully, we held them there. Boedker scored to tie the game (his third goal of the season) and Mueller got the game winner. They were a couple of sweet goals.
Carcillo seems to back to his old self (for the most part). He started laying out some bigger, harder hits. He was shooting like a mad man. I believe his leash has been loosened a little bit but he’s still not playing his game at 100%.
Dmo was awesome Thursday. He was on Ovechkin all night. He slammed him into the boards so hard at one point. It was amazing. We also saw angry Dmo. He was about ready to kill one of the caps. He was yapping at him all the way to the bench. He tried to go after him again, but the refs stopped him. He was ready to throw down, but the refs were letting that happen.
Also, it was great. Ovechkin totally fanned on a shot from the point (and he was going to smack it hard too) and totally fell on his ass. It totally cracked me up. Also, Doan split a puck in two. I have never seen a puck split.
Tonight the Flames are in town. This should be a good game. Iginla is a great player and we can always count on Dion to try to start something. Based on what I saw in morning skate, I am thinking Lisin and Rhino will be the scratches tonight, as the skating coach was putting them through some drills and really working them. Also, Tiki should be back. He was on the ice for morning skate and looking good.
Friday night I went to the RoadRunners game. They played the Idaho Steelheads (Dallas affiliate) and won 2-1. My goalie was in net again and just keeps showing me why he deserves to be on my goalie list. He is just so much fun to watch and he can stop the puck pretty damn well.
My favorite dman, Andrew Andricopoulos, was having words with one of the Steelheads and it looked like they were going to throw down. Then at the last second, the steelhead just turns and skates to the bench. Who does that? The refs weren’t even anywhere near by to stop it.
My other favorite dman, Rory Rawlyk, did not play as he was injured pretty badly in Wednesday’s game. He was missed because he is not afraid to jump in and help the goalie out. Plus he isn’t afraid to check and push and talk smack. He is one tough player.
Brett Thurston did get into a fight (and won) with one of the Steelheads. Ashton Rome didn’t seem like his normal self, no fights and not a lot of big hits. We were thinking he might be a little bit hurt.
We will be attending the next home game on Friday. They will be playing the Ontario Reign (Kings affiliate). Apparently I also need to learn how to skate by January, which means I also need to buy skates. We will see how that goes.
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