I know it goes into the standings as a loss - and we only garner one point - but it felt like a more uplifting night than that, didn’t it?
We held the Pens to a few quality chances and very few shots. We played with vigor and with discipline.
We came back from a two goal deficit and then lost in the shootout.
I thought we played the way we are capable of playing again and we played with pride and with passion and energy.
Sometimes the breaks don’t go your way a la Poti’s shot that I thought was a goal but was ruled a no goal instead.
I was proud of the team and feel more comfortable that we can play playoff-like hockey once again.
In a bit of irony, as OT ended, I saw Ron Weber and his wife literally sprinting up the stairway near our box. I said, “Hey Ron - you OK? Where are you going? The shootout is about to start.” Ron replied, “I have never watched a shootout and don’t intend to today. It isn’t “real” hockey. Good night.”
It isn’t a lot of fun losing in a shootout in front of your home crowd fans.
Take the point; build off of it; and start to generate some momentum. There are 15 games left in the regular season. If we play just .500 hockey, we can end the season with 101 points, a successful regular season campaign. No time like next week where we play three games to start to generate points and march toward 100 points. Go Caps!
Tags: Hockey, NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Washington Capitals
woulda have loved the win though. The nagging from my friends who are Pens fans was insane….
[...] -Washington owner Ted Leonsis shrugged off the loss. [...]
They did look really good yesterday, a couple of bounces in the OT, and perhaps the Caps get 2 points and the Pens get the 1 point. No worries, we beat them 7-2 in points in the season series.
As for Poti’s shot that hit the iron, they showed the overhead view on “On The Fly” last night on NHL Network, the puck clearly did *not* go in the net, it was off the post and out, never crossed the line completely. It did come out a weird angle, mostly because of how it hit (it hit pretty well on its side).
And kudos to Ron Weber for sticking up to his principles. I’d love to see the shootout gone as well, if a game needs a winner, fine, then play 10 minutes of 4-on-4 sudden death. If that doesn’t get a result, then maybe take the goalies off the ice for an untimed 4-on-4 after the 10 minutes…even then, what’s wrong with a tie in a regular season game?
Ted,
Well spoken….I thought the boys played well…and loved the fact that we had someone in front and crowding Fleury for that second goal. I though the boys did play much better though…
Go Caps…here’s to a solid week!
Ron
Ted –
It was a great game and worth any price for admission. I am a little disturbed that the Caps would glorify the fans who showed up with rattles, babies, as well as “Crosby Sucks” jerseys by putting them on the jumbotron time after time. There is a lot of passion in this rivalry and fans on both sides will stray over the line now and then. I have never seen the Caps showcase the worst common denominator like they did yesterday. This has been a huge year for the organization and DC can now be discussed as a legitimate hockey town. Rewarding obnoxious fan behavior like that is beneath the organization and does not reflect very positively on the fan base. Focus on the positives — the use of the fan leadership for cheers, the enthusiasm for the game and amusing videos has been great. One of the great things about the Caps has always been that you could take kids to the game and feel comfortable with the environment. I don’t know that yesterday was a very good example of that. When you wrote your ‘Take the High Road’ post this week, I agreed 100%. You have been a classy owner from the outset — don’t reward behavior that reflects poorly on the team and you as an owner. Thanks for listening.
As a Pens fan with many passionate Caps fans as friends, my trip to DC for Pens-Caps games is a ritual…..It is a rivalry that has been great for years. I have to agree that the apparent encouragement the Capitals organization gave to some of the over the top Crosby bashing seemed a bit of character. As fans of both teams can get out a little out of hand, but yesterday the selection of the girl with the “Put a cork in that whine Crosby” sign as fan of the game, and some of the other items discussed above, you went a bit over the line of good taste as a franchise. Fans will be crazy on both sides, but let the fans do that. I am sure the PGH crowd will give AO a similar welcome next time. We sat right behind the Pens bench and had a REALLY good time with good natured ribbing back and forth with the Caps fans in that section, and I sure hope that is the atmosphere you continue to promote. Best of luck Caps and I hope we renew our playoff rivalry this year!
Ted,
I was VERY hard to take yet another lose on home ice, but it being the Pens made it all the more awful! I did like the spirit the fans took towrds the Pens, some might have been borderline vulgar, but some made me chuckle. The hatred for a certain Penguin is valid, well in my eyes, the way he tends to embellish in all that he says and does. But I also agree with Tim that we really shouldn’t have put the signs up on the jumbo screen, would we want other arenas to show that little respect for our Caps? Well, I sure hope the road will be better for us than home ice as of late. Let’s Go Caps!
We played a good 3rd period, but the 1st and 2nd were sloppy again. Playing for 20 or 40 minutes, we’re lucky to get 1 point.
“Crosby Sucks” t-shirt is terrible! We have plenty to celebrate about our team w/o having to lower ourselves to the fan base of other teams, PA…we should take a page out of another Big Red, Nebraska.
One last thing on our fans…the far too often collective rant of “refs you suck” is annoying and doesn’t benefit our team. Boo the no call/call, them move on…ever notice we tend to see another bad call in the same period this childish chant occurs? I a STH and I have too often.
Thanks Ted.
Tim-So the pens fans trashing our streets and gloating to us is ok?? maybe you showed go watch some ballet at the kennedy center ya jerk
I applaud the purposeful display of the penguin hatred on the jumbotron…it’s hockey guys..and least we’re not like the city of brotherly AIDS and chant f++++ ovechkin like they did in the playoffs…seems like there’s so many untrue cap fans that want to see hockey in a tennis or golf like environment instead of the intense reality that it is…GO CAPS!!