The Caps have two straight games that WON'T be on the Monumental Sports & Entertainment Network, the first starting tonight when Washington opens the NHL's "Frozen Frenzy" – a night where all 32 teams play 16 games starting every 15 minutes from 6-11 p.m., Caps-Leafs the first of those.
Still, Joe Beninati, the PBP voice on MSN, jumped on with the Junkies to give his approval of the concept.
"It has sort of a Red Zone feel to it, and I think it's only the second time in NHL history that they've had all 32 teams play on the same night," Beninati said. "You'll have wall-to-wall games from 6 p.m. until like 2 a.m. here in the East, and it's a cool idea."
The Caps are 1-2-1 with a minus-9 goal differential over the season's first 10 days – and were outshot 18-3 at one point in their one win, against Calgary – but Beninati chalks it up to growing pains, as he can see the growth game-by-game, and even period-by-period.
"There's nobody that's happy right now with the way they started, but the positive thing to me is you can point to small episodes or stretches where you see that's what they should be doing, and I believe the coaches can find those and say that's what they're looking for," Beninati said. "There's an element of growing pains here, but it's not like they've been completely wiped out in these four games, and there have been spells where you see what you're supposed to be doing, or how quickly we want to play. You can see the system starting to take hold, and the players reacting instinctively rather than thinking what to do. It's all part of the growing pains of a new system and adjusting to it."
Part of that is adjusting to teams with elite speed, a few of which they have coming up – and part of that is jumpstarting a power play that is scoreless so far in 13 chances, a weird stat given head coach Spencer Carbery was the power play guru in Toronto. Kirk Muller is that guy here, and while it's not working so far, Beninati also sees things being incorporated slowly but surely to make that unit better.
"It's interesting: I watch practice and watch them go through the paces, and there are new moves and wrinkles in that formation that I don't see yet being incorporated in games, but slowly but surely it's coming," Beninati said. "They were much better in Montreal, and it's just a matter of time, because that group is just too talented. All of a sudden, there's going to be a 2-for-4 or 3-for-5 night, and you'll say that's more like it."
Oh, and one other thing: they have to find a way to get Alex Ovechkin, who has more goals in NHL history than anyone not named Gretzky but went shotless for two games earlier this year, going.
"It's really unusual; he'd never gone two games consecutively without a shot on goal, and that was startling given he's the league's all-time leader in shots," Beninati said. "I think Alex is frustrated, and you can tell he's not happy with his own game. I saw flashes of the playmaking the other night you want to see – if he's not scoring, you want to see him setting up other guys and creating plays and avenues for goals. He's been so dependable for so long, and he's a streaky shooter, like a great outside shooter in the NBA – once he cans the first one, they'll start to come for him. He'll get his power play goals, but the question for me is how he can help drive the five-on-five play; will they find the right combo for him as an offensive trio to unlock some of his game there?"
