| Page 2 of 2 < |
Back at Full Strength, Caps Remain in a Rut
Chris Clark strains to stop the Panthers' Radek Dvorak on a Capitals' power play in the second period and is called for hooking.
(The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
The play started with an errant pass deep in the Florida zone. Seconds later, Richard Zednik was racing into the Capitals' zone. He faked his trademark wraparound, then threw the puck off Kolzig. Jokinen, the Panthers' captain, flipped the puck in off Capitals defenseman Brian Pothier.
Making the loss even more painful for Washington was that it came on a night when some of the longtime players said goodbye to a friend. Center Brian Sutherby was traded to Anaheim for a second-round draft pick in 2009 in order to make room for Semin on the 23-man active roster.
"I've been expecting something to happen for a while now," he said earlier in the day before boarding a flight to Southern California. "Every day I came to the rink not knowing if something was going to happen."
Sutherby, 25, finished his Capitals career with 26 goals and 61 points in 259 games spread over six seasons.
It turns out he got out of town just in time.
David Booth put the Panthers ahead 1-0 only 3 minutes 33 seconds into the game when he inadvertently redirected Ruslan Salei's point shot past a screened Kolzig.
Moments later, Capitals defenseman Mike Green was assessed a hooking penalty, and Washington appeared ready to go down two.
But Brooks Laich stripped the puck from Jokinen and put a short-handed shot between Vokoun's pads to tie the score at 1.
The Capitals were awarded two-man advantage for 51 seconds moments later, but came up empty, extending their five-on-three futility this season.
"It's only a quarter of the way in," Kolzig said. "But I'm not going to lie to you -- we've got an uphill battle. It's getting to the point where we've got to put some wins together. But it's got to start with one win."
