Joel Ward

Giroux, Hartnell Lead Flyers to Impressive 4-1 Win Over Caps

February 27, 2013

The Flyers played that 60-minute game Scott Hartnell was talking about on Monday.

The Flyers jumped on Washington early and often, capitalizing on a tired Caps team. Hartnell and Claude Giroux each tallied two points, leading Philadelphia to a 4-1 win over Washington Wednesday night in Philly.

(Pictured: Claude Giroux. Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

Caps smother Panthers, 5-0

February 9, 2013

Carden Hedelt

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It might have come against another one of the worse teams in the league, but who gives a damn.

Half price pizza from Papa John's will always taste sweet.

The Capitals recorded their third win of the season and their only shutout of the year against the Florida Panthers with a 5-0 win (Caps win by 4+ goals and Papa Johns in the DC/MD/Northern VA area give you half price on your slice, look up the deal, y'all).

Last night was the first time that all that phantom 'better play' became tangible.

Alexander Ovechkin looked like a new player--better yet, the Ovechkin of old, who flew around the ice as fast as he could. And he didn't just stick to the on...

Caps hold on in third against Flyers, win 3-2

February 2, 2013

Carden Hedelt

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The Capitals aren't in the basement anymore.

With a 1-1 score at the start of the third period, the Caps scored twice on the visiting Flyers and managed to hang on to it for the first time in three games, with the final score 3-2 in the home team's favor.

The win took the Caps from 15th in the East to 13th. Although it's not a huge leap, not being last anymore is just fine.

This game, a home game against a rivalry team after two come-from-ahead losses was a must-win game early in the season. The Flyers had been struggling similarly in the first weeks of the new season.

Spots that were problematic for the Caps started to look a lot better.

The Caps...

Caps lose late again, 3-2 to Toronto

January 31, 2013

Carden Hedelt

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So let's talk about the ending. The Caps just lost 3-2 after leading 2-1 coming into the third period.

It's great that Alex Ovechkin scored again on the power play and for our own selfish purposes, it's fantastic that Joel Ward scored again. Wardwatch lives another day and we're all the better for it, every one of us.

It's great that the Caps were better on the penalty kill. They killed off all but one of eight penalties that all came in the first two periods.

But that third period.

That was bad.

It wouldn't have been so bad had the Caps not lost the previous game by the same score by giving up two goals in the third period.

You ...

Caps beat the Sabres 3-2 for their first win of the season

January 27, 2013

Carden Hedelt

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Remember a few days ago after the Capitals lost 4-1 to the Winnipeg Jets and this writer told you to panic?

Hit the pause button on the painic.

The Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2, their first win of the season.

It's the first win of the season for the Caps.

It wasn't a perfect win but a lot of things looked better.

Maybe the Capitals are understanding bettter what Adam Oates wants from them, the system that he runs.

The shortened training camp was always going to be a bigger problem for any team with a new coach.

One game doesn't prove that everything is all better, but a few things did improve from the first four gam...

4-1 loss to the Canadiens signals panic time for the Caps

January 24, 2013

Carden Hedelt

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It is now time to panic.

The Caps are 0-3 after a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

More shocking than the record is the regression.

What was once a below average penalty kill unit is now a horrible penalty kill unit.

What was once one of the two best players in the league has become a shell of his former self.

What was once a young team, full of promise, now looks like a team of lost causes.

What was a team conceivably within one lousy penalty of the Eastern Conference Finals is looking awfully lost at the moment.

Losing isn't the problem. Teams lose all the time. Three-game losing streaks happen all the time.

Losing and looking this ...

Jets soar over Caps, 4-2; Not time to panic yet

January 23, 2013

Carden Hedelt

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Tonight's game was the 154th consecutive sellout for the Washington Capitals in the Verizon Center, what turned out to be a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

Nobody would want to watch what just happened.

On Comcast now all the players are saying things that they've said before--didn't make enough of their opportunities, didn't execute and the like. They say that because it's easier to say those things than what actually happened.

They didn't show up.

The worst was the penalty kill. Going on the kill 12 times in two ...

A couple things on the Caps opener

January 19, 2013

Carden Hedelt

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The Washington Capitals lost their season opener to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3.

It was just 3-3 at the beginning of the third period but the final third was most certainly lackluster for the Caps.

Let's talk about some things real quick, shall we?

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This is the first game of the season under a new coach. After a six-day training camp. On the road.

Now is not the time to panic. Just hang loose.

There are going to be growing pains.

The sooner those growi...

NHL 13 Review: New Physics makes EA's latest in the NHL series a must-buy game

September 20, 2012

Carden Hedelt

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The best chance we all might have for seeing any NHL hockey between now and the winter of 2013 might be on your PS3 or Xbox 360.

NHL 13, developed by Electronic Arts and the yearly update in their long-running NHL series, is where hockey fans will have to turn for their NHL--for the time being, at least. Like any good series, the folks at EA have done their damnedest to make NHL 13 fresh for anyone who will be swapping out NHL 12 for this year's version.

The new big thing is Total Control Skating, which takes physics into account more fully.

Bravo, EA.

Gone are the days of zipping around the back of the net, cutting in hard and not losing any momentum. Cutting ...

No Balance to Washington Capitals Lines

August 21, 2012

Carden Hedelt

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Balance is good. It's good for a lot of things. It's good for tires. It's good on a beam. It's good on a seesaw. Having balance on a seesaw is having two riders of near-equal weight who get to enjoy flinging themselves up into the air with the help of the weight of the other rider. Without balance, the lighter of the two riders is stuck up in the air, legs waving wildly, until his fellow rider decides that this ride isn't worth it, gets off and sends his partner crashing back to the ground. Expect a lot of wild waving legs from the Washington Capitals right wingers this season as the team is left-wing heavy. Right now, the right...