Thursday, May 29, 2008

81

It's not Sidney Crosby's new number. It is the number of shots the Red Wings attempted in last night's 3-2 loss at the hands of the Penguins. But it's how they break down that tells the tale...

34 shots on goal
26 shots blocked
21 missed shots

The defensemen for Pittsburgh had a combined 22 blocked shots. It was a tremendous effort on their part to give Marc-Andre Fleury help in repelling the Red Wings.

But therein lies the problem, too...81 attempts in 60 minutes. That's an attempt every 45 seconds. By way of comparison, the Red Wings had 68 and 64 attempts in games one and two, respectively. Part of that was late pressure (12 attempts in the last 6:23 after the Samuelsson goal to bring the Wings within one), but it is still almost Gatling gun production.

Looking at the shot charts for the two teams (as compiled by ESPN), Pittsburgh did a better job in Game 3 of getting chances in the middle of the ice, but even the shots Detroit put on net were largely in quality areas.



With that effort on the part of the Penguin defense, they can compete, but can they continue getting in the way of Detroit shots often enough to give their offense a chance?

Post Season Analyses...They're Everywhere!



In this interlude between the end of the Caps' season and the draft, your Caps' bloggers have been hunkered down, going over the year and providing their own season-in-review summaries for Caps fans. Have a look...they're really good (except for that doofus who writes about "the tens")...

Japers' Rink "Rink Wrap"

On Frozen Blog "Top 10 Story Lines"

A View from the Cheap Seats "Season in Review"

Bleatings from a Caps Nut "Season Wrap Up"

In Ahead of the Play "Roster Review"

Caps Blue Line "State of the Team"

...and of course, our own "the tens" (more of which is coming, honest)


If we're missing anyone, let us know, and we'll update this list.

Happy reading, Caps fans.