CAPS SUFFER RARE HOME LOSS TO THE THRASHERS

Final Score: Thrashers 3- Capitals 1

W: Pavelec

L: Varlamov

Goals: Wash- Ovechkin (Semin, Carlson)

Atl- Peverley (Byfuglien, Ladd); Burmistrov (Antropov, Eager); Ladd (Peverley, Antropov)

DC Hockey Spot's Recap

The Capitals suffered a rare loss at home to the Atlanta Thrashers Saturday night, snapping an 8 game home streak against their Southeast Division rival. Ondrej Pavelec continued his recent dominance of the NHL, stopping all but 1 of the 46 Capital shots. Bruce Boudreau lamented that the game felt like the Montreal series in his post game report, and he was right. The Caps were shooting on from the perimeter and were unable to beat the red hot goaltender. Alex Ovechkin did finally break his 10 game goal-less drought, but it was not enough to stop the much improved Thrashers.

Highlights, Lowlight, and Tidbits

- MVP: Thrasher's Defense: The Capitals were kept out of the goal and away from the front of the net just about all game. Is this the formula to beat the Caps? Let's hope not....

- Highlight of the Night: The Ovechkin goal. And not just because it was a goal or because it broke the much covered dry spell for the Great 8. The Capitals line of Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, Carlson, and Alzner kept the puck in the Thrasher's zone for almost 2 straight minutes and looked like they were playing pond hockey. Insane display of talent that is one of the reasons the Capitals are one of the top teams in hockey,

- Lowlight of the Night: The Capitals had their normal 3-5 minute lull which allowed the Thrashers to take control of the game as Peverley and Burmistrov scored.

- Revelation of the Night: The Thrashers are a good team now that have the Capitals number. They have excellent goaltending and a lot of talent all over the ice. Burmistrov reminds me of a young Semin.

- Pleasant Surprise of the Night: Hannan can be a little fast when he needs to be. Seemed to get back on defense well last night.

- Disappointment of the Night: How often the Capitals big guns miss the net. It goes back to the perimeter idea. But the pucks on net and you get rebounds. Miss the net and you normally lose possession.

- The Counts

- Chimera "I'm Faster than You": 1

- Green Slips: None

- Semin Stick Penalties: None

Final Thoughts

The Capitals need to get tougher on offense. And it is not like the front office has not tried. Chimera, Knuble, and Hendricks were all great additions to add grit up front. But if the pucks are not hitting the net on the initial shot the grit does not do much. Ovechkin, Semin, and Green need to get their shots on net.