Blackouts Stink

- There were some strange doings around the league last night. On a night when Pascal Leclaire wasn't even playing, there were 5 shutouts among the 8 games - three of those by a final score of 5-0.

- Yahoo! Sports has put out a list of underrated players for each team, and I don't think it's any surprise that Boyd Gordon is the Capitals' representative. Even less of a surprise? The fact that 85% of them are guys I enjoy watching. What can I say, I love the underrated underdog.

- Kolzig and Ovechkin both will appear on this year's All-Star ballot - again, no surprises there, although it's nice to see Olie get on there. People, I beg of you, let's avoid the whole embarrassment we had last year. Vote early, vote often to get them both in there. It may be a meaningless, badly played game but it shows the league that Caps' fans have passion for a change. I know we can do it. Voting opens November 15...

- And finally, Chris Bourque gets the call tonight for his long-awaited NHL debut. Of course, none of us will get to see it (thank you, Versus) but I think this could be a spark for the Caps. Frankly it has to - something has to.

- So Brent Johnson will probably get the nod tonight against Atlanta given his numbers against them and the fact that Olie was chased in last night's game (although you can't really blame him for any of those goals). The Caps on the other hand will be facing Lehtonen's backup's backup, Ondrej Pavelec, who will be appearing in just his fourth NHL game.