Snow Blindness

This morning, Mother Nature took the opportunity to dump some snow on the DC area.

This afternoon, the Caps took the opportunity to dump a completely different substance out on the ice.

It's not that they played particularly badly, but they didn't play particularly well either. It looked like they never quite woke up for this one, like they had been out celebrating yesterday's win last night. For their part, the Devils looked they had been out trying to forget yesterday's loss (although when do they not, really?)

There's not really much to go into on this one. They alternated between being flat and having momentary bursts of energy. Good goals by Brooks Laich and Ovie, who looked like he was going to jump through the roof after he scored. Another solid game for Johnny. Clemmensen, who has either the easiest or hardest job in the NHL as Brodeur's backup, played okay but didn't really have to be brilliant. The Caps' power play continues to sputter, although the Devils only gave them only one opportunity so it's not that bad.

And the officiating...oh, the humanity. Far too many missed calls out there, blatant penalties that should have been called but weren't, that could have changed the flow of the game. For a moment I thought it was ol' Eagle Eyes Koharski and Pageant Hair Fraser refereeing instead of their evil twins, Marouelli and St. Laurent. That was bad enough.

But then to call a penalty on Brian Pothier, who made a brilliant diving poke check and had the misfortune of being around when the New Jersey player stumbled and fell on his own, is ridiculous. True to form, a bad call resulted in a power play goal for the Devils and that was that. The Devils shut it down, making the neutral zone a familiar place for them - a swamp - and another one goal loss goes into the books.

I don't know...maybe they just wanted to get through this one so they could go out and build snowmen.