Ted's Take

That is a fact. Last night was the first game this season where we were down three goals to an opponent. It was an odd game in that we jumped on them 2-0 to start the game.

Twenty games in and one loss of magnitude. It happens.

We seemed tired. We seemed short-handed. We didn’t draw a single power play for a long time last night either.

New Jersey is playing great team oriented hockey. They are the hottest team in the NHL. They deserved the win.

We have lost to them twice without Alex Ovechkin in the lineup in the last two weeks.

We have to regroup now.

Injuries are piling up on our end. Jurcina. Gordon. Knuble. Ovechkin.

It is a long season. It is a grind.

Back to back games are tough. We get a couple of days off before our next game against the New York Rangers perhaps reinforcements are on the way. Here’s to better health. Go Caps!

Don’t you think?

We have played a pretty tough schedule post All-Star game: Boston. Detroit. Ottawa. New Jersey.

We have garnered 7 of 8 points.

We have played quite well against the tougher foes in the East. We have a 14 point lead over the number 2 team in the Southeast division.

But we are all still restless. We know we can play better defensively and play better on the penalty kill. We still seem to be bitten by the injury bug with Clark, Johnson, Kozlov and Pothier.

As an aside, I knew Mike Green would play with a chip on his shoulder post All-Star team snub. He is looking like a first team All-Star on D to me of late!