Undermanned Caps Fall
Semin Hurts Ankle Again During 6th Loss in Past 7 Games

By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 28, 2007

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 27 -- The Washington Capitals started the game short-handed, missing mainstays Chris Clark and Tom Poti. By the end of the first period, they also were without Alexander Semin, their second-most dangerous offensive threat.

Despite being without three of their most important players, the Capitals put a scare into the St. Louis Blues, rallying behind the first multi-goal game of defenseman Mike Green's career. But the depleted lineup ultimately was too much to overcome at Scottrade Center, and Keith Tkachuk and the Blues escaped with a 4-3 victory.

The loss was the Capitals' second in 48 hours and sixth in the past seven games as they continue to plummet through the Eastern Conference standings after a 3-0 start.

Following the game, the veterans held a players-only meeting that lasted about 20 minutes.

"We just cleared the air about a few things," Capitals winger Matt Pettinger said. "We're taking too many penalties right now. Whether they are in the offensive zone, or defensive zone. And just confidence. We had a swagger at the start of the year. We have to get that back. [The meeting] was good."

The news regarding Semin, however, wasn't. He injured the sprained right ankle that caused him to miss six of the Capitals' first seven games in the final minutes of the opening period. It wasn't immediately known whether he'll be able to play in Toronto on Monday.

The status of Poti and Clark for the Maple Leafs game also is unknown. Poti hopes to play, but the strained groin muscle that has caused him to miss the past two games has been slow to respond to treatment. Clark, meantime, did not travel with the team after suffering a gruesome ear injury when he was struck by a slap shot Friday night. He might meet the team in Toronto.

If all three are out Monday, the Capitals, who are averaging a paltry 2.4 goals per game, could be in for another difficult night.

When Brent Johnson's name was announced as the starting goaltender Saturday, he was welcomed back by a soft round of applause and some scattered cheers, an acknowledgment of the three seasons he spent in St. Louis before being traded in 2005.

Less welcoming, though, were the Blues, who were outshot 26-18 for the game but struck twice on their first four shots.

Brad Boyes (two goals) scored 45 seconds into the game after Tkachuk picked off an errant pass in the neutral zone, then threaded a pass to Boyes, who streaked down the middle of the ice in between Capitals defensemen Brian Pothier and Jeff Schultz. Boyes beat Johnson over the glove.

Eric Brewer made it 2-0 at 8 minutes 58 seconds when the Blues defenseman finished off a two-on-one with Tkachuk.

"They beat me three times on the glove side to start," Johnson said. "I made a couple of saves, but I needed to have that third one."

Just 40 seconds after Brewer's goal, Green launched a soft shot from the blueline through traffic that slipped past Blues goalie Manny Legace to cut the Capitals' deficit in half.

But that's about the same time that an already thin Capitals' lineup was stretched even thinner, with Semin going down. Ironically, the team announced earlier in the day that it had signed the high-scoring winger to a two-year, $9.2 million contract extension.

"We'll never make excuses," Coach Glen Hanlon said. "Where it has an effect is with your game plan. You work on things, then all of sudden you don't have Semin in there."

Despite having every reason to, the Capitals didn't quit. On the power play at 3:47 of the second period, Green fired a slap shots through traffic past Legace, giving him his first career multiple goal game and tying the score at 2.

Despite putting themselves in position to steal one on the road in front of 16,863, the effects of being so severely undermanned eventually caught up with Washington.

Boyes recorded his second goal of the night at 18:41 of the second period, and defenseman Christian Backman finished off the Capitals at 1:11 of the third period, when he fired a slap shot from the slot past Johnson extend the Blues' lead to 4-2.

With Johnson on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Michael Nylander scored with 1:12 left to play to make it 4-3. But the Capitals did not register another shot on goal.

Capitals Notes: Hanlon juggled his forward combinations and put rookie Nicklas Backstrom at center on the top line between Alex Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov. It marked the first time Backstrom has seen significant time at center, after spending the opening nine games of his NHL career playing left wing.