And here we go – in the first of many upcoming moves designed to make us crazy with anticipation, the Caps released their preseason schedule today.

It consists of 6 games and 3 opponents, and offers a nice reprieve from the ‘all Flyers/Canes, all the time’ show we’ve been subjected to these past few years. Instead we’ll get glimpses of Buffalo, Chicago (now with 100% more Hossa!) and our old pals, the Rangers.

Yes, that’s right. Don’t forget your ponchos, folks…Torts is coming back.

Schedule:
TBA, @Buffalo, TBA
Sept. 19, @Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Sept. 21, vs. Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sept. 23, vs. Chicago, 7 p.m.
Sept. 24, @ N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Sept. 27, vs. N.Y. Rangers, Noon

Light of Day Thoughts – The slogan for the Caps this year is “Red is Caps Hockey”. You know what else red stands for? STOP. As in:

- STOP playing Mike Green on the penalty kill. Alexander Semin, sure. Alex Ovechkin…I suppose. Greenie? Not so much.
- STOP taking dumb penalties to begin with. Giving any team, even a supposedly less threatening one like the Thrashers, that many chances with the extra man can only end badly.
- STOP trying to do too much. Dump the puck in, set up the play and shoot the puck. Especially when trailing by 3 goals.
- STOP letting in softies – through the legs, over the head, wherever it goes. Both Theodore and Johnson are too good to be letting in at least half the goals they allowed last night.

And if you want a bright side, here’s one: While the Caps lost their season opener, so did the Canadiens (predicted to be a Cup finalist) and the Red Wings (predicted to repeat as Cup champs, on a night when they raised the banner from their last one). Proof that, if nothing else…no one goes 82-0.

So. Clean slate. We’ll pretend tonight is the real season opener and greet our Caps like the returning heroes they are – and not like the team that slunk home in the middle of the night, tails between their legs after an Atlanta thrashing.

Remember that there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned embarrassing beatdown in Game #1 of the season to humble a team that has been hearing only praise all summer. Expect them to come out firing tonight in front of their raucous home crowd.

Let’s raise that banner!

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Who: Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Where: Verizon Center
When: Saturday, October 11th, 7:00 pm

Today’s preview seems like an appropriate time to answer another question from our “Ask CapsChick” file. This one comes from Ladies’ Night co-creator Andi, who writes:

Should we boo Huet when he comes to the VC in October? How about Kolzig in November?

Booing is a very odd pastime, if you ask me. It’s so frequently misused and overused to the point where, in some arenas, the sound loses all meaning *cough*Philly*cough*. In my opinion, it should be used only if you have a legitimate beef with another player. Boo until your throat is sore. Daniel Briere, for example, will always earn a hearty boo from me; Jagr (when he was still an NHLer) was worth a chorus of boos any day.

Huet? I’m up in the air on him, because he really did come here with a great attitude despite being traded into a potentially horrible situation and, during the regular season at least, was consistently one of the best players on the ice. And I don’t necessarily blame him for seeking greener pastures, either. At no other point in his career is he likely to find himself the best goalie in the UFA pool; he’s 33, so this was his last big contract. And 5 years at that kind of money is hard to turn down. The way he went about it, though…well, you make the call. I certainly won’t cringe if I hear a few boos raining down on ol’ Cristobal tonight.

Olie on the other hand – that’s a definite no, at least for me. Sure, the parting of the ways was less than amicable; but the guy is a huge part of our franchise’s history over the last two decades and something like that doesn’t go away because he attempts to extend his career as much as possible.

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On to tonight’s game…we all know that no Caps season is complete without a little up and down, a little rollercoaster, a little heart-stopping action that makes you question your own sanity. And to combat that, you can use many tactics: some people pray, some meditate, some simply go for a long walk. All good options.

If you’re like me, you can drink.

So as the Caps kick off another season of stomach-lurching drama, the Cheap Seats is here to help. We’re proud to unveil the first ever Washington Capitals Drinking Game*!

Naturally we don’t condone the abuse of alcoholic beverages…but sometimes it’s just plain necessary.

*Please drink responsibly, and only if over the age of 21 (or living in Canada). CapsChick is not liable for any property damage, liver failure or visions of pink elephants and dancing Brieres experienced by those playing the Capitals Drinking Game.

Take a drink if:
- Alexander Semin falls down without being touched
- A Pulte Homes commercial is shown
- Joe Beninati refers to someone “scampering” into the zone
- The Caps complete three or more pretty passes…then turn over the puck
- Alex Ovechkin scores a goal
- Either Caps goalie makes a flashy glove save
- Either Caps goalie wanders aimlessly out of his crease
- Mike Green lurks behind the opponent’s net
- Brashear starts a fight
- One of the Comcast anchors mispronounces any NHLer’s name
- Locker uses any of the following terms: twig, biscuit, basket, breadbasket, coconut (or coconata), 7 hole or lumber
- Boyd Gordon lands on his butt
- Someone mentions Crosby and it’s not a Penguins game

Take two drinks if:
- Semin falls down without being touched and turns over the puck
- Tom Poti makes a flashy save
- Matt Bradley scores a shootout goal
- Ovechkin knocks over a teammate with his goal celebration
- Nylander dances around everyone in the offensive zone, including his own teammates
- Semin, Nylander or Morrisonn get called for hooking
- A Hershey callup scores a goal
- Locker refers to: Jay Bouwmeester as “Meester Bouwmeester”, Yanic Perreault as “No-Panic Yanic”, or Cam Ward as “The Warden”
- The Caps score 5-on-3
- Chris Clark starts a fight
- Gordon lands on his butt and still makes a good play
- Brooks Laich’s helmet falls off in a goalmouth scrum

Finish your drink if:
- Someone actually does scamper into the zone
- John Erskine scores a goal
- Semin falls down without being touched, turns over the puck and takes a hooking penalty. (Finish another one if he does all three then comes out on the next shift and scores a highlight reel goal.)
- Jeff Schultz has a multi-point game- Comcast goes an entire game without cutting pointlessly to the bench during a faceoff
- Nicklas Backstrom starts a fight
- Flash gets a hat trick

Cheers!

And ladies, don’t forget that tonight we take over Chinatown. Be there…or be in a pink jersey.

You never want a game to be over in the first two minutes of play but this one was, as before RCN’s cable geniuses had even flipped on the feed Williams had scored and that was it, game, set, match.

It almost seemed inevitable. The Caps have been going at full speed for so long now, playing great hockey and for the most part getting results; a letdown was bound to happen at some point. You could see the signs beginning in the second and third period against Nashville. The Caps were lagging, tired, getting away from their system, and they survived with two points thanks to a combination of goaltending, defensive desperation and sheer dumb luck.

But there was no luck tonight. There was no desperation. And right from the start it was lights out for the Caps, who gave up two quick goals to the potent Chicago offense and never fully recovered.

In a way it was the perfectly timed blowout for this team. No, a loss is not good, especially with both Buffalo and Carolina picking up wins tonight. But if they’re going to drop one on this road trip – and let’s be honest, one is all they can afford – it’s better that it comes against a team in the West. And the fact that it was so lopsided means they’ll be angry, fired up, and ready to go when they take on the Southeast Division in the final seven games.

We hope.

So what went wrong? The better question is what went right, as there seemed to be breakdowns on every inch of ice – poor defensive positioning, sloppy passes, undisciplined penalties. When they did connect with a pass their shots were blocked, the Chicago defense proving too much for the Caps. Olie didn’t look half bad but he got no help from his team, no rebound assistance or run support of any kind.

Frankly this was not the team we’ve been watching the last few weeks, the team that has every NHL analyst and pundit and commentator raising their eyebrows and claiming the Caps may just have a shot.

And they still do have a shot, despite that loss. It was a messy, unfortunate loss but whether it was a 5-0 final or 2-1 final they only fail to collect two points and they live to fight another day.

Time to put this one behind us, kids.

It was a nailbiter for sure towards the end but when all is said and done what matters is that the Caps got two points – and they did it in that coveted game in hand, drawing them even with Carolina and Florida in games remaining.

Frankly after last weekend’s losses it’s nice to see that the Caps still have two viable options left for a crack at the postseason. The win propelled them over Buffalo and kept them on pace with the Flyers for 8th, while also moving them within three points of Carolina.

Other thoughts on the game:

- Matt Bradley has been playing some stellar hockey lately, and his finish on the lovely Brooks Laich pass was just another reminder of that fact. When he, Gordon and Brashear are on the ice the shifts have been packed with energy and, amazingly enough, a few scoring chances as well – but it all seems to start with #10.

- All three of the Caps goals last night had something in common – they all involved the Caps driving the net in some fashion or another, something that seems to be missing when the offense sputters. Amazing.

- Scary moment #1: Alex Ovechkin taking a shot off his boot and getting up slowly, then walking with a pronounced limp back to the locker room after the first period.

- Scary moment #2: Cristobal Huet taking a slapper to the chin, sending his facemask flying.

- Scary moment #3: The last five minutes of the third period.

And around the league:

- It’s a wonder that Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg haven’t been sized for straitjackets just yet. The (useless) Thrashers were outshot by the Flyers 47-19 last night, making that the 10th game this year in which they’ve allowed 40+ shots. In only 19 games have they allowed fewer than 30 shots on net, and Atlanta has outshot their opponents a mere nine times (tying another five). And of course, they’re 30th in the league when it comes to shots against per game.

- You have to have seen that goal the Islanders scored – shorthanded, no less – in last night’s loss to the Maple Leafs, but if you haven’t do so immediately. 190 feet of slow, bouncing rubber that just kept bouncing slowly…right over Vesa Toskala’s glove and into the net. The scary part for the Leafs? Up until the third period that goal was holding strong as the potential game-winner. That would have been a story.

- The Penguins lost to the Rangers last night – and their dads were there to see it. (Of course maybe someone can explain why their father-son trip was NHL.com newsworthy and the Caps’ trip a few weeks ago wasn’t…)

So the Caps look to extend their winning streak to five, the first time they would have accomplished that feat in seven years. Ouch. And of course they’ll attempt to do it while playing their third game in four nights and the second of back to back games…but at least their opponent is in the middle of a slump of sorts, with the Hawks going 1-4-1 in their last 6 and having likely fallen out of the playoff pictures.

Watch out for the twin teens, though. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews haven’t slowed down much despite their team’s recent woes and they’re always dangerous, as are a host of others on the Hawks roster. This’ll be our first look at them against the Caps and it’ll be interesting to see how well the Caps defense, so strong lately, can shut them down – and how well our own rookie phenom, Nicklas Backstrom, matches up.

Oh, and if you’re keeping track, Ovechkin is sitting two goals shy of 60. Ho hum.

Your standings as of this morning:

Tonight Tampa takes on Buffalo and Atlanta hosts the Hurricanes – looks like we’re picking the underdog in both of those. Hey, the Thrashers have to win one eventually, right?