In the win, Braden Holtby played a great game stopping 20 of 23 shots he faced.  In the shootout, Holtby would not allow one goal which put no pressure on the Caps shootout lineup.

As for the Capitals offensively tonight, they got goals when they needed them most.  In the second period, Alex Ovechkin would cut a 2 goal deficit to just a 1 goal deficit with a power play goal.  Then in the third, Troy Brouwer would score a short-handed goal which the Caps desperately needed to get back in the game.  Then with just 40 seconds left in the game, Mike Green would tie things up to force overtime and later a shootout.

In the shootout, Matt Hendricks would get the Caps on the board first and after Braden Holtby’s second save, Alex Ovechkin would end the shootout with a goal.

All around, the Caps played a great team game tonight to get the win.  While it was not a pretty win, the Caps got their two points and sweep the Sabres 3-0 this year.  The Caps will play their next game tomorrow in Philadelphia against the Flyers.  The Flyers are coming off of a huge win over the Bruins so hopefully the Flyers will have a hangover and the Caps can come away with a win and two points tomorrow in Philly.

Washington Capitals captain, Alex Ovechkin, scored his 17th goal (PP) of the season and netted the shootout winner as the Caps defeated the Sabres, 4-3. photo by Bill Wippert/ Getty Image

+’s:

• Matt Hendricks bleeds and draws a double minor penalty on a high stick.
• PPG Alex Ovechkin (17^th of the year) League leading 11^th PPG (2-1 Sabres)
• Caps are outshooting Buffalo 27 to 15 through 2 periods. (No puck luck today)
• SHG Troy Brouwer (13^th of the year) Branden Holtby’s 2^nd assist of the year.
• Goal Mike Green!!! (4^th goal of the year) to tie the game with 39.2 seconds left in the game. (I think he redeemed himself for the mistake against the Islanders)
• Caps were 1/5 on the PP (double minor to Weber)
• Caps were 2/3 on the PK
• Holtby blocked 18 of 21 shots (does Neuvy play against the Flyers?)

-‘s:

• Goal for Christian Ehrhoff 4^th of the year (Holtby should have had that on the glove side)
• Sabres are doing what they want with puck possession in the 1^st period
• Constant turnovers along the boards in the 1^st period from the Caps, and its giving the Sabres scoring chances.
• Matt Hendricks bleeds and draws a double minor penalty on a high stick from Mike Weber and Caps do not capitalize.
• Ville Leino scores his 1^st goal of the year. (2-0 Sabres)
• Jack Hillen with his gamely penalty 2 minutes for Holding (Erskine please get healthy soon)
• PPG Ville Leino 2^nd of the year and game (3-1 Sabres)

Summary:

The Capitals were playing in Buffalo and stole points from the Sabres; as the Buffalo Sabres held the lead the entire game until Mike Green tied the game with 39.2 seconds left in the 3^rd period.  That goal sent the game into an overtime that guaranteed the Capitals leaving Buffalo with at least 1 point.

In the 1^st period the Sabres won the puck possession aspect of the game to an effect that it looked like they were toying with the Capitals, getting turnovers against every line the Caps threw out on the ice. This would lead to the Sabres taking a one-goal lead on the stick of Christian Ehrhoff for his 4^th of the year.

The second period was more of the same for the Caps; the Sabres scored their second goal to make it 2 to 0 on Ville Leino’s 1^st goal of the year. Alex Ovechkin would give a shot of life to the Caps by scoring his 17^th goal on the year and the league leading 11^th power play goal. But to the status quo of the first 2 periods of the game the Sabres kept the puck on the Caps side of the ice and it led to a 3^rd goal for the Sabres on a lucky bounce for Ville Leino (2^nd goal of the game and year). At the end of the second period the Caps were winning the shots battle 27 to 15 but the puck luck was clearly in favor of the Buffalo Sabres.

But the game lasts 60 minutes long and the 3^rd period would be the Capitals comeback period. With the urgency that they lacked in the first two periods the Capitals began their comeback effort early in the 3^rd period against the Sabres when Troy Brouwer scored a shorthanded goal; his 13^th goal of the year of off a Branden Holtby assist; his 2^nd on the year. Now for the fans that ridiculed Mike Green for his fumbling of the puck against the Islanders on Tuesday night, good ol’ Mike Green served redemption on a silver platter (or on a PING sound off of a red pipe) to tie the game 3-3 with 39.2 seconds left and net the Capitals at least one point on the night.

The game would go into OT where Jhonas Enroth (like he had been doing all night to the Caps) robbed Mike Ribeiro of a game-winning goal to send the game into a shootout. In the shootout the trio of Holtby’s blocking, Hendricks’ paralyzing moves, and Ovechkin’s pure awesomeness led the Capitals to a 4-3 win (2-0 shootout) and 2 points in the standings.

The Caps saved their skin by stealing this game; a game that they did not deserve to win by the level of play in the first two periods, but ultimately did win by their play in the 3^rd period, OT period, and the shootout. Now the Caps head south to Philadelphia to play a Flyers team coming off of a big win against the Boston Bruins. The Flyer will come out (for a lack of a better word) “flying” against the Caps, if the Caps play like they did in the first two periods of tonight’s game against Philly there will be no chance of them getting any points. So we shall see what happens on the ice tomorrow against Philadelphia.

Side Note:

• Sabres trade Jordan Leopold because they claim their season is over, but they have the same 31 points coming into tonight that the Caps do. So what is the difference? The outcome of the game today and how it came about. Caps are fighters and looking to be in the playoffs while the Sabres “hope” to be in the playoffs.
• Ryan Miller is on the trade block as Buffalo cleans house, if Jhonas Enroth plays like he did tonight, the Sabres won’t miss Miller at all.
• Erskine please come back for tomorrow’s game against the Flyers, I don’t want to see Schultz or Hillen on the ice anymore.
• Holtby played tonight, does Neuvy play tomorrow against the Flyers?

• Ville Leino scored his first two goals of the season. Leino now has six points (2+4) in eight games since returning from an injury that sidelined him for the first 27 games of the season.
• Christian Ehrhoff, appearing in his 600^th NHL game, scored his fourth goal of the season. Ehrhoff now has five points (2+3) in his last five games.
• Tyler Ennis recorded an assist on the second Buffalo goal; he now has eight points (2+6) in his last seven games.
• Andrej Sekera also recorded an assist on the second Buffalo goal; he has six points (1+5) in his last six games.
• The Sabres now have points in five straight home games (3-0-2).

Top Quotes

Buffalo forward Steve Ott:

On the tough loss: “It’s a tough one, obviously. They score a goal with 39 seconds left in the third and all the guys responsible on the ice – myself included – we tried to get in the lane to block the shot and it obviously got by me and it hit the post and goes in. We obviously lose the game and it was a hard one to loose because of how tight we were all night.”

On starting off well with urgency and being fast pace: “You know, the urgency was there. Ville had a couple huge goals. [Christian Ehrhoff ] started us off in the first period, I thought we were obviously on them, giving up a short-handed one stinks. You give up one of those and that’s obviously a big no-no. We had a chance to win the game right to the end, the issue is we didn’t close out the game, plain and simple. You have to win those ones.”

On the power play working again: “Any time you get the chance to go up 3-1 in the game that’s huge. We haven’t had that very much this season to kind of get that insurance goal, to give us a cushion I guess you can say. Getting that was huge but obviously that short-handed one put them right back in it and we didn’t get the job done six-on-five and that’s a difference in the game.”

Buffalo forward Ville Leino:

On the short-handed goal turning the momentum around: “It’s disappointing. That is a big goal to give up and after that they were fired up and wanted to win the game and that’s just things that shouldn’t happen.”

On wanting to put out a good performance after being benched Thursday: “Obviously I wanted to come back and it’s not fun you want to be at your best when the game is on the line and playoffs are on the line, you should go out there and enjoy it, not be nervous or anything.”

On the team being aggressive at the beginning of the game: “I think we have to stay aggressive. We start games aggressive and some games we do really well and we just have to keep going 60 minutes, it is not enough to do 40 or 20 minutes, we have to go all game and stay aggressive.”

Buffalo defenseman Robyn Regehr:

On Washington’s power play unit: “Washington, I think, is in the top three in power play in the league so you don’t want to give those units the opportunities. I forget how many penalties we took tonight – I think four or five – and that’s too many, but when we do take a penalty we have to get the job done. Those are big swings in the long term, when you can kill off a penalty.”

On Enroth being the best penalty killer for the team: “I think he was the best player for us by far. He played a great game and he gave us a chance to win. We should have won that game – unfortunately it came down to special teams.”

Washington goaltender Braden Holtby:

On the Rangers’ loss helping out the Capitals in the standings: “I didn’t know they lost actually so that’s big. But our focus is on our games so we will let the other guys sort themselves out, so we know if we win a certain amount of games that we give ourselves a good opportunity to make it to the playoffs so that’s our goal.”

On coming back from a two goal deficit to win in the shootout: “It’s a credit to our guys for sticking with it, Greenie [Mike Green] came up with a huge goal and that’s what the leaders on your team and he did a great job of that.”

On their playoff chances and getting help from teams close in the standings: “I said earlier, we are not trying to pay attention to the other guys too much. There are so many guys in the race right now that just let them sort it out. Our job is, we want to win a certain amount of games to be in that playoff picture in the end. Whether it is 10-5 or 11-4 who knows but we know what exactly we have to win, guys get hot and that will give us the best shot.”

Washington forward Alex Ovechkin:

On the Capitals ability to win after falling behind: “Unfortunately we didn’t have a good start but we still had chances and I think I can get two goals in the first. They just use what they have, it’s kind of frustrating when they have one shot on goal and it goes on and they have two shots on goal and it goes in. We know that the third period was going to be the biggest period of the year and the guys handled it with the goal, short-handed by Browsy [Troy Brouwer] and dumped it in and we get in position and we get rewarded.”

On his own play: “Again, I think I can score almost every shot tonight especially when I scored on the power play and we have four-on-four, why it gives me almost a 100% chance to score and I just shoot it and like I said, almost an empty corner of the net and I just missed it, it might be a tie game.”

Washington defenseman Mike Green:

On the third period: “That’s it right there is character, you know we had a big goal by Troy [Brouwer] early in the third and that gave us the momentum to go on and believe that we could do it and it was just a matter of getting it done.”

On whether the one shot, which he missed felt different from the shot where he scored from the same position: “No, almost exact same spot on the ice and shot. The first one, I seen the whole way, it hit the post and went out and I went back to the bench and said to myself I wish I would have hit the back of the net.”

On the Capitals chance to improve to .500 on the road and overall tomorrow: “It is a huge trip for us. We have been playing well on the road lately and we need to continue that. It’s harder to win on the road and these points are huge for us.”

The font matters not, it’s all about the CAPSICLES!

It was on March 9th that my world came to a crashing halt. As I readied myself for the games that evening, the Washington Capitals sent out a pre-game tweet with an alarming message: #CapsIsles.

#CapsIsles?! Capsules? Wait… did you mean Capsicles? Like Popsicles? Tasty treats like corn dogs that are perfect because you can eat them from a stick? Riiiiight. You can’t fool us, you’ve seen The Avengers one too many times, and just what are you implying regarding your Captain?

The Capsicles’ evil plan worked and they gained a follower, someone who celebrates every pre-game when another photograph with a creative take on the English language is fired out to fans and admirers. That follower may have even backtracked to “investigate” the trend and locker room pics further. I give to you The Best of The Capsicles, Part One.

February 9, 2013: Michal Neuvirth appears with a sign stating #CapsPens. Unfortunately by the end of the evening, the sign should have read #PensCaps as the Capsicles got owned 5-2 and Neuvirth took over for Braden Holtby less than half way through the game.

(Photo via Washington Capitals Facebook)

Maybe the uneasy I-don’t-even-know-what look on Neuvirth’s face in the photograph was an indication of what would come that evening? Maybe we can read more into these photographs than we realize? Or maybe they’re just fun to look at?

I like fun.

February 14, 2013: Can Jay Beagle be your Valentine? He promises to make your evening electrifying with a little #CapsBolts action. Cue “Thunderstruck.”

(Photo via Washington Capitals Facebook)

March 5, 2013: No, ugh not the #CapsBruins. But don’t worry, Mathieu Perreault will make it all better, likely when he stops smiling like this and goes back to being Mathieu Perreault again.

(Photo via Washington Capitals Facebook)

March 7, 2013: By the look in his eyes you could just tell Troy Brouwer was clearly ready to tame some wild beasts, but #CapsCats was a pretty far wander from Wild Kingdom. The Capsicles beat defeated the Panthers 7-1 and I’ll just stop while I’m ahead.

(Photo via Washington Capitals Facebook)

March 9, 2013: Joey Crabb-buh-buh inspired my Capsicles obsession. I don’t even know what happened that night. I have been told hockey was played. I will not argue with that as I consider my source reliable.

A very manly and handsome Joey Crabb-buh-buh is back from Alaska. I wonder if he brought his Beanie Baby crab-buh-buh with him? (Photo via Washington Capitals Facebook)

March 24, 2013: I didn’t grow up on Disney cartoons so I was unaware of what “Disney Prince Hair” was until I saw this photo on Tumblr on a day of the week I was unaware of, that being “Mike Green Monday.” Yeah, I slacked for about 12 hours on this gem.

(Photo via Washington Capitals Facebook)

March 26, 2013: Braden Holtby tosses #CapsIsles out in a new font! Oh, you can’t fool me Capsicles. And you didn’t fool the Isles either because they went on to beat you again, just like the last time the #CapsIsles battle cry rang out.

(Photo via Washington Capitals Facebook)

Since I like fun, here’s a fun little bonus Capsicles wrap up. Because I can.

In the loss, Braden Holtby played solid stopping 28 of 31 shots on goal.  Two of the goals that got behind Holtby were not on him as their was defensive break downs from John Carlson who had his pocket picked which led to a goal and Mike Green who tied himself up which allowed for a point-blank goal for the Islanders which turned out to be the game winning goal.  Hopefully next game Holtby will be able to get some help from his defense.

Along with the defense, the Caps offense also struggled against a team who loves to give up goals.  The Caps goals came from Mike Ribeiro in the second at 10:05 and John Carlson in the second at 13:28.  Hopefully, the Caps offense will show up in their next game.

The Caps will play their next game Saturday night in Buffalo against the Sabres.  The Caps have beaten the Sabres two times this year.  If the Caps want to make it three wins against the Sabres on Saturday, they will need to get all hands on deck and get a team win.

The Capitals were back in action tonight, looking to keep the win streak that stands at 4 alive as well as keeping their playoff hopes alive by adding another win to their record. Last time the Islanders and Caps faced off a penalty-ridden game for the Caps gave the team a sloppy loss, the difference tonight is that the Caps are in “Make or Break” mode. Lets hope this time the result is different with a W in the Caps favor.

The Islanders John Tavares skates by the Capitals Jason Chimera. Tavares scored the game winner as the Islanders defeated the Capitals, 3-2. photo by Patrick McDermott/ Getty Images

+’s:

• If Caps are going to win they need to make a comeback, if they do it will be good for the confidence
• Goal Mike Ribeiro 11^th of the year, Troy Brouwer assist (11)
• Goal John Carlson 5^th of the year, Marcus Johansson (6) & Alex Ovechkin (16) with the assists
• Capitals want to win this game, they are putting the pressure on the Islanders
• 2^nd Period PK 1/1
• Capitals were 1/1 on the PK
• Holtby saved 28 of 31 shots

-‘s:

• Early goal Michael Grabner (11^th) assist K. Aucoin (4^th) (Former Capital, I guess he didn’t get the memo to always help the Caps even if your on another team)
• Josh Bailey (5^th goal) assist to Okposo (11) & Nielsen (15)
• 1st period PP 0/1
• 2^ND Period PP 0/1
• 3^rd Period PP 0/1 no shot on goal
• Turnover by Mike Green leads to a goal for John Tavares (20) assist to Moulson (23)
• Capitals were 0 for 3 on the PP.

Summary:

The Capitals came back home to play the New York Islanders, but like the game a few weeks ago against these very same Islanders, the Capitals were not able to get a win against a team that well in simple words they should beat. Yes the turnover by Mike Green was the cause for the 3^rd goal but it was not the reason why the Caps lost the game, and this loss is certainly not the reason why the Caps won’t make the playoffs (which they will as the 7^th seed by the way)

The scoring began early in the game like most recent games have for the Caps but this time it was the “other” team scoring first and in back to back fashion. The first goal was Michael Grabner scoring in the first 5 minutes of the game to tally up his 11^th goal of the year. 2 minutes later came Josh Bailey’s 5^th goal of the year to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead over the Caps. But as quickly as that came the Islanders seemed to try to give it away.

The second period came and the game was back to even, with the first tally coming from Ribeiro’s 11^th goal of the year and John Carlson’s 5^th goal of the year. The Capitals had the momentum but missed opportunities in the failure of the power play going 0/3 and failing to put a shot on goal in the final man advantage. A costly mistake of losing the puck by Mike Green in the d-zone would prove to be the 3^rd goal and deciding goal of the game when Tavares buried his 20^th goal of the year.

Why Mike Green was not the cause of the loss was because the failed opportunities on countless scoring opportunities that the Caps had even in the empty net situation in the last minute and a half of the game. It is easy to blame Green but don’t,  this game should have never been this close. Also Laich was more to blame for the pass that sent Green behind the net with the puck than Green himself.

Now the Capitals aren’t out of the playoffs either, they are not making it any easier but they are able to lose a game in any given week but that is all they can lose just one and the quota has been met for this week, time to “Make or Break”. The Capitals will be able to rest for a while until Saturday comes when they will play the Sabres, and last time they played the Capitals turned off the lights in the Verizon center. See you then.

Side Note:

In all likelihood big John Erskine will be back for Saturdays game, so who does he replace? Oleksy or Hillen or do the Caps go with 7 defensemen? Hillen moves the puck and creates offensive passing lanes on the ice, while Oleksy, well, he is Oleksy and he hip checks and punches anything in sight. I do think it will be a rotation of Hillen and Oleksy taking a seat. And I also think that this is the end of the Volpatti in a Caps sweater to make room for Erskine. Good problem to have in the final stretch of the year.

In the win, Braden Holtby had another sensational game in net with 30 saves.  Holtby really looked good in the series with the Jets and his numbers showed it.

Offensively, the Caps had another strong night with 6 goals.  In the first period Brooks Laich would get his first goal of the season after returning from a groin injury.  Troy Brouwer would also get on the board for a second straight night with a goal in the first.  To the second period Jay Beagle would score and Alex Ovechkin would get his first goal of the night.  In the third period Mike Green would score early, and Alex Ovechkin would record his second goal on the power play.  Had the Caps offense been able to perform this well all year, they would certainly be in a much better position.

The Caps will play their next game Sunday night in Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.  The Rangers have been struggling lately so maybe the Caps caught them at the right time.  However, you never know what you’re going to get with the Caps this year but if they are able to play like they did in Winnipeg, they will be able to handle the Rangers with no problems.

Sutter took a pass from Matt Cooke in front off a 2-on-1 rush and scored past goalie Evgeni Nabokov 1:46 into the third period. Joe Vitale and Chris Kunitz had second-period goals for Pittsburgh, which erased a pair of one-goal deficits after a sluggish first period.

Pascal Dupuis added an empty-net goal with less than a second remaining, with an assist from Vokoun, to make it 4-2.

Mark Streit put the Islanders ahead in the first, and Josh Bailey answered Vitale’s goal to make it 2-1 in the second, but New York lost its third straight at home of a four-game homestand.

The Islanders have led or been tied in the third period of 25 of their 31 games, but have won only 13 (13-9-3).

CAPITALS 6, JETS 1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored two goals and Braden Holtby made 30 saves and Washington beat Winnipeg.

Brooks Laich, Troy Brouwer, Jay Beagle and Mike Green also scored for the Capitals and Mike Ribeiro had two assists as Washington picked up a much-needed four points in two nights thanks to the Jets.

Dustin Byfuglien scored Winnipeg’s goal in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 5, FLAMES 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Nick Foligno scored twice in a club-record 51 seconds and Columbus scored three goals in a 1:15 span of the second period to beat Calgary, extending its franchise-record points streak to 12 games.

Artem Anisimov, Colton Gillies and Jared Boll also had goals and Sergei Bobrovsky continued his strong play with 24 saves as the Blue Jackets, last in the NHL on Feb. 24, ran their record to 8-0-4 in their hot streak.

R.J. Umberger and Derek MacKenzie each had two assists.

The two goals by Foligno and one by Anisimov in 75 seconds also were the fastest three goals by the Blue Jackets.

Curtis Glencross scored for the Flames.

Back in Winnipeg the Capitals are closing out the 2^nd part of a 2 part series against the Jets. The plan was to steal 4 points away from the Jets in the Southeast division standings. Last night the Caps took the first 2 points and tonight they have the chance to take the last 2 points from the Jets. Umm, the Caps didn’t steal the points away, they flat out took them away.

Alex Ovechkin celebrates with one of his two goals of the night with John Carlson and Troy Brouwer. The Capitals beat down the Jets, 6-1. photo by The Canadian Press

+’s:

• Brooks Laich defending Karl Alzner picks up a 2 minute minor for roughing, I like this penalty though, a player watching his teammates back.
• PK in the 1^st period has been 2/2
• Brooks Laich score his first goal of the season, Ribeiro with the primary assist (23)
• Brouwer scores his 12^th goal of the year on a 2 on 1 rush, Ribeiro with the assist (24) (Ribeiro want$ to get paid)
• PK in the second period 2/2
• Jay Beagle scores his 2^nd goal of the year, Joel Ward’s 11^th assist and Matt Hendricks with his 3^rd
• Ondrej Pavelec gets pulled out of the game
• Alex Ovechkin scores his 14^th goal, Marcus Johansson (4) and Karl Alzner (3) assists on the goal
• Mike Green’s blue line slap shot tallies up his 3^rd goal of the year, Dmitry Orlov’s first point of the year on the assist, Johansson (5)
• The PP for the Caps is the equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters in basketball, beautiful passing.
• Ovechkin’s 15^th goal of the year comes on the PP with Carlson’s 10^th assist and Backstrom’s 23^rd assist.
• Hotlby stopped 30 of 31 shots.
• The Capitals were 5/5 on the PK
• The Capitals were 1/4 on the PP

-‘s:

• Steve Oleksy picks up a 2 minute minor for holding
• Two nights in a row Pavelec stonewalls Brooks Laich on a rush.
• Perreault heads to the penalty box for slashing (2 minutes)
• Dustin Byfuglien ends the Holtbeast’s shutout streak scoring his 5^th of the year.
• (Believe me I’ve been looking for a lot of negatives to fill in this section but can’t find any and I like leaving it somewhat empty)

Summary:

The Capitals went into Winnipeg and took 4 points away from the Jets, at no point in yesterday’s game or in tonight’s game did the Jets have a chance to win. Not with the forecheck pressure and puck possession that the Caps were playing with. When you have the puck you win the game simple as that.

Brooks Laich started the scoring with his 1^st goal of the year from an a$$i$t from Ribeiro. (Ribeiro is going to get paid this off-season) For a moment I thought the hockey gods were not going to allow a goal to Laich because of the fact that in two nights Laich has had two shorthanded breakaway opportunities and came up short on both. Thank the hockey gods that was not the case. A few moments after Laich’s goal Troy Brouwer and Mike Ribeiro played pitch and catch with each other on a two on one rush to give Brouwer his 12^th goal of the year and Ribeiro’s a$$i$t was his 24^th of the year. Keeping up the forecheck pressure has been key for the Capitals in these past two games and it was evident when the 4^th line got a goal for Jay Beagle his second of the year off a Joel Ward and Matt Hendricks assist tallying up their 11^th and 3^rd assists, respectfully. After seeing the 4^th line score, Captain Alex Ovechkin got into the mix with his 14^th goal of the year.

Mike Green kept the fireworks going in the 3^rd period scoring his 3^rd goal of the year and Dmitry Orlov’s assist gave him his first point of the year. Dustin Byfuglien ended the shutout streak for Braden Holtby against the Jets by scoring his 5^th goal of the year, (all good things must come to an end I guess). Ovechkin added his 15^th goal on the year on a PP opportunity just to make sure that the Jets knew that they weren’t going to make a comeback tonight.

As for Holtby tonight, he did not get the shutout but he did stop all 30 of 31 shots thrown at him. The Holtbeast is alive and well in Winnipeg, somebody make sure the Holtbeast gets a flight seat to New York.

The Caps are 4 points closer to the Jets and Hurricanes for the division lead, and this part of the season will define what the 2013 Capitals were about. The New York Rangers are the next target in the Caps line of sight, and nothing would be better than to end the losing streak to the Rangers. The Capitals are healthy and they look like it, and they now need to take advantage of that coming up this Sunday. See you guys then.

Side Notes:

Brooks Laich is playing like he has rested all during the lockout and IR stint, and now he wants to make up for that rest. Take the “ootsourcing” to New York Brooksie.

What is wrong with the referee’s microphones in each NHL game? Every time the ref needs to talk and or announce something the microphone sounds like they are using the walkie-talkies from WWII. You’d think it is the year 2013 and you’d think there was technology available.

The Washington Capitals are having one of the worst seasons in a long time.

Why are the Washington Capitals so bad?

I’ll tell you why.

It’s their system.

Let’s first start with last year.  The Caps were being touted as a highly defensive team, thanks to the new system put in place by Coach Dale Hunter.  This was a system improved over the last few years as the Capitals made the switch from an offensive juggernaut to a defensive club.

The Capitals were known for scoring tons of goals and putting up over 100 points every season, but they also coupled that with early exits from the playoffs each season.

This is something that Coach Bruce Boudreau tried to fix before he was given the boot during the 2011-2012 season.

When Hunter took over he turned the Capitals into a shut down team.  They scored very few goals, but somehow managed to get some wins.  Finishing 14^th overall in goals for, they were really average at best.  When it came to plus/minus Washington broke even, with a plus/minus of +12 at home and -12 on the road.

Last year the Caps gave up 226 goals in the full 82 game season.  Right now, they are sitting at 82 in just 27 games (that is 25^th out of 30 teams).  With that they are giving up an average of 3.03 goals per game.  Multiply that by the number of games that would be left and you get some terrible numbers.

If this shortened season were the full 82 games, they caps would end up with 247 goals against.  That is a difference of 21 goals.

Not quite as defensive as they used to be.

Braden Holtby during the 2011-2012 playoffs

A lot of this starts with goaltending.  I really do believe Washington made a mistake with Braden Holtby.

Granted he was a wall during the playoffs last season, posting a 1.95 goals against average and a .935 save percentage, all in 14 games.  This season, however, seems drastically different.  With 18 games played he has a 2.97 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.

It is worth mentioning that Holtby has played 25 games in the American Hockey League this season.  He posted a record of 12, 12 and 1.  During this stint with the Hershey Bears, he had a 2.14 GAA and a .932 save percentage.

I cannot help but think that this is the product of a system change.  Exposing the goalie for how underdeveloped he actually is.

This offseason the Capitals hired Adam Oates.  He is clearly an offensive minded coach as his play style showed.  He has also worked with the Tampa Bay Lightning.  While there, Oates was credited with boosting Tampa’s power play and helping hot shot goal scorer, Steven Stamkos, become who he is today.

Oates has the Caps playing an offensive game, when they have lost the good majority of their offensive players.  Gone are Alexander Semin, Mike Knuble, Keith Aucoin and Dennis Wideman.  Adding to this is the never-ending injuries to blue-liner Mike Green.

Alexander Semin was 2^nd overall on the Caps in terms of point production.  21 goals, 33 assists for 54 points will and are being missed.  The aging veteran Mike Knuble was 12^th overall with 6 goals and 12 assists for 18 total points.  Keith Aucoin had 3 goals and 8 assists in just 27 games, but also posted a plus/minus of +4.  Finally Dennis Wideman finished 4^th overall in point production for the Caps.  Wideman, a defenseman, posted 11 goals and 35 assists for 46 points.  All of these losses combined are a total point production loss of 129.

Mike Green’s injury issues have been an ongoing drama for the last 3 seasons.

By far the greatest loss of the last few seasons (and ongoing drama) is that of D-man Mike Green.  In the 2010-2011 season, Green played only 49 games and posted 24 points.  Only playing 32 games last season, he tallied 3 goals and 4 assists for only 7 points.  This season the injury woes continue for Green.  He has only played 16 games, again posting just 7 total points.

Quite a large change from the 09-10 season where Green scored 76 points in just 75 games.

The Capitals did trade for forward Mike Ribeiro, a solid second line center that the Caps have needed for some time.  Ribeiro had 18 goals, 45 assists and 63 points with the Dallas Stars last season.  Currently he is leading the Caps in scoring with 10 goals and 19 assists, totaling 29 points.  He leads Washington in goals, assists and points.  A great acquisition for what they traded, but nowhere near the 129 point production the Caps lost in the offseason.

Alex Ovechkin has struggled to hit the offensive number he used to put up.

Last season Alexander Ovechkin somehow managed to score 38 goals and ended with 65 points, despite the fact he saw a decrease in ice time due to the defensive style that Dale Hunter had implemented.  This season he currently has 20 goals and 19 assists in 27 games.  Still not even close to the Alex Ovechkin of old.

Part of me thinks that with video scouting and the fact that Ovechkin does nearly the same thing EVERY SINGLE TIME he is in the offensive zone (bringing the puck up the left wing boards or while on the power play, stand/creep into the left hand faceoff dot for a one-timer) he will never get back to the goal scoring machine that he once was.  Perhaps what is needed is an offensive coach to help him reinvent himself.

With a horrible loss to the Boston Bruins today (4 to 1, Boston) the Capitals are 11, 15 and 1.  Good enough for 14th in the East.  They are currently 3 points ahead of the last place Florida Panthers.  The 1 goal that they did score (credited to Marcus Johansson) was put into the net by the Boston Bruins.  A pass was bounced off of another Bruin and landed in the net.

The Capitals literally have slim to no chance of making the playoffs this year.  Their only hope is to win the Southeast Division (which they are 8 points out of 1^st place at the moment).  Hopefully this is just a product of a system switch and a shortened season (due to the fact that there was no training camp this year).

Otherwise the Capitals are in for a long remainder of the season and another long off season, spent watching the playoffs from home.

Jeff Schultz plays a homegame against New Jersey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Washington Capitals have four defensemen from their current NHL roster under contract for next season (listed here with their ’13-’14 cap hit, according to CapGeek.com):

Mike Green – $6,083,333
John Carlson – $3,966,667
Jeff Schultz – $2,750,000
John Erskine – $1,962,500

Restricted free agent Karl Alzner, currently making $1,285,000 will certainly be re-signed, at a much higher salary than what he makes now, but for less than what the Caps pay the more offensive-minded Carlson. That would bring the total under contract to five.

Dmitry Orlov, who just returned to action with the AHL Hershey Bears last week after being injured in a December game for them during the NHL lockout, should be back with the Caps next season and will earn $900,000.

Newcomer Steven Oleksy is set to make $541,667 in 2013-14 if he remains at the NHL level, while Tomas Kundratek could be re-signed for a reasonable price and brought back as well. This would bring the Washington defense total to eight players.

Prospects Cam Shilling, just recalled to DC from Hershey, and Patrick Wey, a senior at Boston College, could be in the picture for the Caps next year as well, taking the field to 10.

I’ve left Tom Poti off that list, as I don’t expect him to be back, and Jack Hillen, who has played only one game this year and will be an unrestricted free agent at the season’s end. Hillen could be re-signed as an inexpensive seventh or eighth option on defense for well under $1 million, but it’s difficult to tell his status for next season at this point and I’m going to leave him out of this discussion.

Taking all that into account and not knowing if a trade or free agent signing will occur, here are the defensemen that would be in the picture next season, broken down by the side they shoot from:

Left: Alzner, Erskine, Schultz, Kundratek, Orlov, Schilling

Right: Green, Carlson, Oleksy, Wey

If Capitals coach Adam Oates wants to go with three right-shooting and three left-shooting defensemen in the line-up next season, things look a little thin with the righties if Green continues to battle injuries. Provided he’s healthy, Green, Carlson and Oleksy could make up that side for the Caps, with Wey starting off in Hershey.

With the left-handed shooters, things get more interesting. Alzner will, without a doubt, be an everyday player. Erskine has just been re-signed and though he’s been a seventh defensemen for Washington at times in the past, I expect he’ll be in the line-up regularly based on how he was being utilized by Oates before his recent injury.

If Orlov returns to his form of last season, it will be tough to keep him out of the line-up and Kundratek has shown great promise, with the potential to earn a starting job next season too. Schilling could end up back in Hershey if things shake out this way.

That would leave the seven dmen as: Green, Alzner, Carlson, Erskine, Orlov, Kundratek and Oleksy. If there’s an injury and an eighth is needed, Shilling or Wey could be called up, depending on how they’re playing and whether a right or left shot is needed.

There’s one guy I’ve left out of the group: Jeff Schultz.

I’ve never been a Schultz hater. While there are flaws in his game, as there are with many players, he often gets blamed for more than he deserves. He’s been somewhat like Alex Semin was for the Caps on a smaller scale, getting called out for his mistakes more than other players and not given some credit when he deserves it. But I do think Schultz and his $2,750,000 salary next season are something the Caps could do without.

With what will likely be an abundance of left-handed shooting defensemen going into training camp and younger, less expensive options like Kundratek and Orlov, now might be the time for the Caps to take what they can get for Schultz, freeing up nearly $3 million for next season to spend on other pieces, such as Top 6 forwards.

If a team is looking for an experienced dman in the off-season and is willing to take Schultz for a prospect or a pick, the Caps should pull the trigger. Depending on their playoff position and the health of Orlov, the Caps could even look to make a move like that before the April 3 trade deadline.

Another option is for the Caps to include Schultz as part of a package this off-season or during ’13-’14 to fill another of the team’s needs, which could be a Top 6, goal-scoring forward or a right-shooting, offensive defenseman if Green can’t stay healthy. The team will also need a second line center if Mike Ribeiro isn’t back next season.

But whatever the approach, with things looking crowded for left-handed defensemen next season, moving Schultz is certainly one way the Caps could free up some cap space to address some other areas where the team is short on talent. And this has more to do with cost and other assets in the organization than it does with Schultz’s abilities.

Related articles

• Slumping Caps Fall to Surging Hurricanes (washington.cbslocal.com)
• Soon might be the time for Caps to trade goaltender Michal Neuvirth (brookslaichyear.com)

• Justice League #17 concludes the “Throne of Atlantis” event in perhaps one of the most morally ambiguous, honest endings.  With Arthur’s former adviser and friend, Vulko, revealed as the architect of the war between Land and Sea, Arthur has to subdue his brother King Orm, aka Ocean Master, to usher in peace.  Of course, he succeeds, however the cost is very painful to behold.  Since the first time he appeared in Aquaman, Ocean Master has been a very fair leader.  His home was attacked and he responded harshly.  No one can deny that point.  His treatment by his brother and the Justice League, who already have been portrayed as unsympathetic bullies, is hard to watch.  This is the birth of a villain and I can’t say that I won’t be cheering Orm on in the future.  When you marginalize a person with legitimate grievances you create concrete animosities.  And the hollow victory bought by offering his brother up like a herring on a silver platter is very hollow, considering that people still do not trust Arthur.  Perhaps its super realistic, but I again find it lackluster and hard to love the protagonists.  Better luck next time, Geoff Johns.
  

  The Birth of a Super-Villain

• Action Comics #17 delivers the first half of Grant Morrison’s big finale on his Action run.  The issue’s really a recap of all the things that define Superman as a comic book icon and as a paragon of heroism.  Starting with the Kents who shaped this young, omnipotent alien into a compassionate everyman, the issue shows how many people Superman has touched over the years and to what degree.  The fifth dimensional madman Vyndktvx offers the people of Earth eternal life and their hearts desires if they refuse to help Superman in his hour of need.  That hour is now, and even with a multiversal behemoth throwing him around like a ragdoll, and depsite his own warnings to stay back, the people come to his aid.  Also rushing to his aid is perhaps the most unlikely of people.  Morrison tells this story brilliantly, tying everything he has done together with a quick narration by Vyndktvx himself, breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to us.  Sholly Fisch tells a heartwarming backup story that will have occurred after the next concluding issue of Action Comics.  Superman goes back in time somehow to talk to his father on the night he and Ma both die.  It’s sweet, it’s heart warming, and very personal.  Superman doesn’t tell them they are going to die, and even though Pa intuits that this might be the case, he doesn’t want to know either.  The two just share one last moment of happiness together, and Clark gets the chance to, in essence, say goodbye.  The scene is very reminiscent to but much briefer than Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman #7 in which Superman gets that chance in that story’s reality.  Just a great issue heralding the end of an era to come next month in Action Comics #18.
• Justice League of America #1 is a decent introductory issue.  When starting a group book there are two ways to go about it: assemble immediately or have the team snowball, with members joining as the issues accumulate.  In this one issue, writer Geoff Johns harkens back to a brief moment at the end of his first arc of Justice League with a scene involving two men meeting, hinting at the formation of a fraternity of supervillains.  Beginning with this interaction, the comic then goes to an overarching conversation between former League liason to A.R.G.U.S., Col. Steve Trevor, meeting with current liason Amanda Waller in the interest of creating a second team sanctioned and moderated by the American government.  A Justice League of America.  As they discuss each member, the story cuts to the recruitment of said member in whiplash cutaways that do the bare minimum to introduce that character to you.  If you haven’t read Catwoman, Green Lantern, Stormwatch, The Savage Hawkman, or the two new ongoing series Katana and Vibe, that’s just too bad.  On the outside of this conversation also is a quick, tense scene of an Oni masked hero racing through a jungle from unknow assailants, bleeding out and attempting to get a message through.  This was the aspect of the book that buoyed the plot up and compelled the reader to know more.  At issue’s end he makes it back to A.R.G.U.S. and his identity is revealed, but his message has yet to be delivered.  I liked this first issue.  I am familiar with the characters and was able to fill in the blanks, but that may not carry over to new readers.   Art provided by David Finch is liney, dark, and ominous, really setting a harsh and uncertain tone to the overall plot which engages the reader almost immediately.   I will liken this series to a baby born of a diseased mother, the metaphorical mother being Justice League.  Geoff Johns has shown in JL that he seems incapable of writing a team book without losing the characters within to pettiness and ego, rendering them unrelatable caricatures of their current solo selves.  Here the new series is exhibiting what could be the beginnings of these symptoms of the diseased parent, but not without some signs of vitality.  Time will tell as to how this series comes out.  Martian Manhunter is perhaps the most disgusting character that the reboot and, I am assuming, Johns himself has birthed into this New DCU.  J’onn J’onzz was an alien that came to Earth as a stranger in a strange land, curious and full of optimism.  His delving into human society was about finding what was good in this strange new species.  Here he is a cold, hollow figure with incomparable power that dwells on the harsh, sinister motivations in men and offers it back in kind.  Maybe Johns and his bosses are trying to be edgy, but they are failing horribly and taking down beloved characters as collateral damage.
  

  The Mission

• Batwoman #17 is a red letter issue.  There has been a continuous plot stretched over three story arcs of missing children in Gotham having been kidnapped by Medusa and Batwoman attempting to find them and bring them home safely.  That has also been the goal of Capt. Maggie Sawyer of the Gotham City police, who also happens to be the girlfriend of Batwoman’s alter ego, Kate Kane.  This third arc has had Batwoman teamed up with Wonder Woman to stop the crazed gorgon, Medusa, from using the children as a sacrifice to lure Ceto, the Greek goddess who birthed all monsters into the world, back into reality.  With this final issue Ceto is summoned forth and Batwoman and Wonder Woman must find a way to stop her from tearing the fabric of reality to pieces.  There is so little I can say about this issue because of how remarkable it is in both story and art, brought to us by J.H. Williams III in both capacities with co-writer W. Haden Blackman’s assistance.  In both her identity as Batwoman and Kate Kane, this issue changes everything.  The missing children plot that consisted of these first seventeen issues was interesting, considering the main issues that dominated her first solo appearance, pre-Reboot.  Well with this overarching plot concluded, Williams and Blackman tease us on the last page with a return of Batwoman’s personal ghosts.  I am dying to read the next issue in March and would urge you to do the same.
  

  That’s a Game Changer

• Green Lantern #17 ushers in the “Wrath of the First Lantern” event, which also is the last event in the runs of the current Green Lantern titles’ creative teams.  Obviously, Geoff Johns’ run on Green Lantern is the most lamented of these casualties with his having been on this title longest of any of the current series writers and also being the visionary that brought Hal Jordan back to life and reimagined the GL mythology to the complex, multifaceted marvel it currently is.  After the Green Lantern Corps Annual last month, Volthoom, the first Lantern, is released upon the universe.  The issue begins with a brief explanation of how he came to meet the Guardians and what he embodies and then proceeds billions of years later in our present to show what he plans to do.  Somehow Volthoom is possessed of infinite power including the ability to warp and manipulate time to venture into tangential universes predicated on every single decision ever made or that ever will be made.  That coupled with a sadistic desire to feed off of pain like an emotional vampire paints an even more twisted villain than the inhumanly cold Guardians.  Also in this issue, newly minted Green Lantern, Simon Baz, comes face to face with the Black Hand on his quest to find Hal Jordan and by extension stop the Guardians.  This event promises to be a stunning finale to what has been an incredible eight year run on the title and the Green Lantern line of books.
  

  VOLTHOOM!

• Green Lantern Corps #17 brings Volthoom into Guy Gardner’s life both literally and figuratively.  The emotional vampire attaches to the surliest of the Green Lanterns like the Ghost of Christmas Past and Christmas Might Have Been preying on the raw feeling that lie beneath Guy’s cynical attitude.  Anyone who knows how abraisive Guy can be can only imagine the horrors from his past.  We are shown them and alternate versions of them as Volthoom tortures Guy over his mistakes the circumstances of his life that held him back from where and who he wanted to be.  Peter Tomasi plays this issue like a stratevarius, plucking the heartstrings of his readers who can’t help but empathize with our sarcastic hero.
• Green Lantern: New Guardians #17 mimicks Green Lantern Corps with Volthoom trapping Kyle Rayner in his temporal web.  Next to Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner is my favorite Green Lantern and this issue proves why.  Kyle is someone who had horrific things happen in his past, including his girlfiend being killed and her mutilated body stuffed into his refridgerator and his father walking out him and his mom when he was very young.  Volthoom plays his sick games by altering these events to torment Kyle, but to Kyle’s credit Volthoom has to bust out his A-game, as Kyle continues to see the silver lining to most of the things he’s exposed to by the sadistic First Lantern.  In trying to torment this paragon of will power, Volthoom only proves to us how strong and amazing Kyle is and how the greatest heroism sometimes is just refusing to let life and circumstances get you down.  Tony Bedard is amazing and as stated above his run on this title is ending in May with the twentieth issue of this series.  I have to say that I saddened by his departure considering this issue and all the issues he’s written in this line that has been exemplars of storytelling.  Aaron Kuder’s run also ends with #20 and he will also be missed as he too renders the subject material with grace and eloquence second to none.
  

  The Unsinkable Kyle Rayner

• Nightwing #17 gives the epilogue to “Death of the Family” from the perspective of Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing.  As a result of him being in the lives of the people at Haly’s circus several members including their clown, James Clark, and his former girlfriend, Raya, are killed and the rest hospitalized after the Joker’s attacks.  Alfred tries to console him and he says he’s fine.  He goes to visit the survivors in the hospital and those that don’t hold a grudge try to tell him he’s not to blame and its not his fault and he says he’s fine.  He goes to the funerals and his ambiguously romantic friend Sonia Branch (nee Zucco) tells him not to blame himself and he says he is fine. However, when criminals try to pillage the remains of Haly’s Circus, he goes bat-sh** crazy.  As solicited on the cover, Damian is the only person that can bring him back from the brink.  Ironic, considering how sociopathic Damian is and what his usual modus operandi when dealing with criminals consists of.  What this issue does so well is underscoring how incredible the relationship is between these two truly is.  When Dick took over the role of Batman following Bruce’s disappearance it was his choice to take Damian on as Robin and his faith that Damian could be more than the psychopathic killer his mother, Talia Al-Ghul, fashioned him into.  As a result I think that this issue shows him looking out for his “older brother” and not letting him cross lines he will regret.  Also it shows how well he knows Nightwing.  Dick told everyone he was fine and did a good job putting up the charade, but Damian knew with complete certitude that he was not.  Damian puts up a facade of apathy that in a lot of instances isn’t a facade, but rather him just not caring.  But here despite his cavalier attitude, he cares enough to follow Dick for several days to make sure that when the pressure building up within him finally burst out, he’d be there to stop him from breaking his moral convictions.  Kyle Higgins writes it quite well and with art by Juan Jose Ryp, the issue comes off quite well.
• Red Hood and the Outlaws #17 provides a thoughtful epilogue for Jason Todd after the “Death of the Family” storyline.  Jason is someone that was burned early on by the Joker and has thick skin when it comes to such things, but tender flesh beneath.  While the others may have been really messed up by what the Joker did, Jason has already been lured into a trap by the Joker with his supposedly departed mother as bait and beaten to death and blown to smithereens.  However, learning that the Joker was the architect of his becoming Robin and most of the misfortunes that led him to that horrible place doesn’t fail to register.  So going back one last time to the Manor and the Cave he talks to various members of the family and says his farewells once again out of duty.  Though its a perfunctory visit, Bruce tells him perhaps the only thing that could heal a wound like finding out the Joker engineered your traumatic childhood, “No, Jason. He didn’t make you. I never did either. You made you.”  The visit seems to end on a high note, except that the Joker is not one to let things end with his having the last laugh.  When Jason retrieves his signature red hood and puts it on there is a surprise waiting for him within.  I have NO idea what that means for future stories, but its still a chilling ending point.  Scott Lobdell is close to ending his tenure on the title and appears to be  throwing a live grenade into the works for his successor James Tynion IV to pick up.
  

  We Are the Masters of Our Own Destinies

• DC Universe Presents #17 follows Red Hood and the Outlaws by spinning a yarn about Roy Harper, aka Arsenal, that captures his history, his flaws and virtues, and how he is viewed by those around him.  Arsenal has been depicted in the past as a hard edged, loose cannon whose actions often result in a self destructive spiral.  In this new DC Universe he is more buffoonish, and jocular.  Starting off with him missing a mission with teammates Red Hood and Starfire, he’s made fun of and called worthless by his “friends.”  In reality he is in Hong Kong, imprisoned by the Triad after attempting to rescue Killer Croc, a Batman villain he ran afoul of in Red Hood and the Outlaws #3 and who consequently helped him get back on his feet.  Shackled in the basement of a Triad hideout, Roy not only steals a “quarter” from one of his tormentors  but also uses it to break his shackles over the course of hours and then cleans out the  place with nothing but a tool box.  Yes he is a bit of a joke, but what he’s capable of doing when he puts his mind to the task is no joke, nor is the lengths he will go to help someone that showed him a modicum of kindness when he most needed it.  Joe Keatinge writes this incredible one-shot and Ricken provides art.
• Legion of Super-Heroes #17 was brutal.  This issue was incredibly good on all fronts.  The writing by Paul Levitz was phenomenal, taking place on Rimbor as well as a far distant location (whose importance to the plot becomes integrally crucial) amidst explosions and complete chaos.  All of that rendered on the page gorgeously by artist Keith Giffen with his Kirby-esque pencils.  Shortly after being elected leader, Phantom Girl is dealt perhaps the worst hand imaginable as she and two other Legionnaires become marooned after a malfunction of their spacecraft crashes them into an unknown locale.  Across the universe Ultra Boy, Glorith, and Brainiac 5 witness an equally cataclysmic disaster on Rimbor after a massive planet-wide electrical malfunction.  The lead up to this issue has been in the works since the very first issue of the rebooted series almost two years ago, and the consequences will be felt forever.  This is a DARK turn in the world of the 31st century.  If you are a fan of the Legion, you will feel this issue deep in your bones.  I had to set this issue down twice to get my bearings and take a few breaths.  Levitz and Giffen hit this one out of the park. It should be noted that these two collaborated almost exclusively on Levitz’s first run on the characters in the 80′s.  Thirty years later, they’ve come a long way but haven’t taken one step backward.  I can only imagine that Levitz got Giffen on this arc for the very reason that both of them needed to be on it for sentimentality sake.  If you love the Legion read this book.  If you don’t love the Legion, please don’t.  Not to be an elitist, but if you don’t understand and love the characters, you wouldn’t appreciate the truly sorrowful events chronicled within.
• Supergirl #17 picks up on two of the conflicts Superboy ended on last week.  Wonder Woman took on Supergirl and Superman took on H’el in the hope of giving Superboy a chance to disable the Star Chamber that is literally draining our Sun of its energy to power H’el’s device to travel back in time and prevent Krypton’s destruction.  Wonder Woman proves to be the only one capable of literally smacking some sense into Supergirl.  The latter of which still trying to convince herself that H’el’s scheme won’t be an act of mass genocide.  However, Super Girl’s super-denial is no match for Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth.  The Maiden of Steel is unable to break its hold on her body nor on her conscience.  Superman does prove as successful when dealing with H’el, but after painfully coming to terms with the truth, Kara is unable to continue her association with H’el, regardless of how much she would like to go home.  With this alliance shattered, the heroes of Earth rallied against him, and the Oracle arriving in Earth’s orbit, the stage is set for the finale of “H’el on Earth” in Superman #17.
• Wonder Woman #17 has Wonder Woman meeting up with her old mentor, War (Ares), in the bar Hera and Zola snuck out to and journeying to the secret hiding place of Demeter where Hermes has spirited Zola and Zeus’s infant to.  On the other side of the world the First Born reveals his benefactor with the metal neck to be Cassandra and with the prophetess’s help goes to seek his weapons, hidden by his uncle Poseidon.  This issue is interesting, but I am really looking forward to the end of this plotline with the gods meddling with one another and progressing to the Amazing Amazon in contemporary settings with some of her classic stable of villains.  Brian Azzarello’s writing is good, if not drawn out, and Tony Akins’ pencils are excellent.
• Vibe #1 is another case of “here’s to lowered expectations.”  The character was an F-list character to begin with and something of a practical joke whenever he made appearances in second string DC titles.  George Perez, legendary artist and writer, absolutely hated him as a caricature of Hispanic Americans.  However, considering that main character Cisco Ramon is from Detroit, Justice League of America writer Geoff Johns couldn’t help but put him in the line up.  On the plus side, being as under appreciated as he was left Johns and series writer Andrew Kreisberg with the freedom to revamp him however they wanted.  Now having his vibratory powers linked with boom tubes from Darkseid’s invasion of Earth, he’s become something of a dimensional expert and border cop.  Right from the start his role as a superhero is linked to the JLA title and his success tied to his freedom, unbeknownst to him.  Another obscure character cameo comes in an imprisoned woman in a cell labeled ”Gypsy,” also a veteran of Justice League Detroit.  Johns and Kreisberg also set the hook at the end by hearkening back to the reference in Justice League #6 to Darkseid’s daughter, and the further shocker that she is in fact in A.R.G.U.S custody.  Bit of a spoiler, but still a good reason to get into this title.  Game well played, Johns.  I’ll buy your series for the time being . . .
  

  Daughter of Darkseid

• Sword of Sorcery #5 returns Amy to Gemworld and to her mother, Lady Graciel of House Amethyst.  With her return the pair travel to the capital of House Turquoise to visit the tomb of Amy’s father, Lord Vyrian.  When they reach their destination not only do they finally uncover the identity of his betrayer, they are also assaulted by two rogue assassins of House Onyx.  More interesting is the choice of the next Lord of House Turquoise after the events of this issue.  In the Stalker backup feature, writer Marc Andreyko attempts to make the revamp of this character work, but fails.  Sorry.  Even Andrei Bressan’s awesome art can’t rescue it.
• Batman Beyond Unlimited #13  contains both a beginning and and end.  For starters, this issue begins the second arc of Justice League Unlimited Beyond called “Flashdrive.”  The storyline stymies me a little bit as there seems to be two things going on in the plot that don’t have any connection to one another.  The main body of the story picks up on a scene from the “Batman Beyond” movie entitled “The Return of the Joker.”   In the flashback portion of the film, the Joker kidnaps Tim Drake and turns him into a child Joker with chemicals and gene therapy and Tim ends up killing him.  That is the end of what is shown in the movie, but this issue continues it on, with Batman creating a morgue for supervillains so that when they die there will be no resting place their followers and acolytes can use to gather or make into a monument.  This morgue is built on the lowest sublevel of the Batcave that only Bruce and Barbara Gordon know exists.  There is a break in and it is neither Bruce nor Barbara, raising the question of who could have known about it and how they got in considering the fail-safes put in place by Batman, the most paranoid man alive.  Cut to a female docent at the Flash Museum having speedster abilities and an attack on the re-opening Museum drawing in Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Merina, Micron, and Green Lantern Kai-Ro.  I know that eventually there will be a connection made, but right now I am totally lost.  Next comes the conclusion of “10,000 Clowns” in Batman Beyond.  This one is pretty procedural and ends in a logical sense.  Batman (Terry McGinnis) faces off against Joker King and the latter’s defeat is clearly an eventuality, but the consequences are what are relevant here.  The ending of this seems to be heavily influenced by the Christopher Nolan film “The Dark Knight”, with the question lingering as to whether Joker King won or lost, and with the assertion that he didn’t win, the further question of did anyone really win?  In the Superman Beyond feature, the Trillians have captured Superman and put on a show trial for his “crimes” against their race, which again are still pretty vague.  I don’t feel confident commenting on this storyline, so I will abstain until further on into its plotline.    Overall a really good issue that delves into the animated mythology in interesting ways that take me back to the days I watched them as a wide eyed child or adolescent.
• Womanthology: Space #5 delivers another slew of stories at varying lengths that run the gamut of relevance to the genre of Space.  One deals with an ungainly girl in elementary school who is tall, lanky, and extremely clumsy except when she runs which is when she feels the most free.  In her school’s play she is cast as the comet and all she has to do . . . is run.  The next vignette is entitled “The Wind in her Hair” about a girl living in a dirigible  who desires freedom and a tin-man looking automaton living on the polluted ground below who wants to take the tree he has cared for his entire life up above the poisoned clouds where “she” can grow and thrive.  A chance meeting between the girl and the gardener droid gives both the hope that they need to see their dreams through to fruition.   Writer Allison Pang and artist Chrissie Zullo create a story that is both romantic and ethereal with the bronze daguerreotype look of a 1920′s German Expressionist film.  The remaining pieces, while still very good are more abstract and not as readily synopsized.  This series has proven to be innovated and very compelling.  This is the fifth of six issue, so I would suggest that if you missed these and aren’t in a place to go back and catch up, wait for the collection to come out and then read them all in their entirety.  Truly a breathtaking series.

This really was the most consistantly excellent week of February. Those titles that I have praised highly just prove how poweful and dynamic the comic medium can be to the newcomer and faithful alike.  I pray that next month finds these same titles meet the mark set here and perhaps exceeding it once more.  One thing is for certain, this week was a good week to be a comic book fan.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Justice League #17:  Drawn by Ivan Reis, Colored by Rod Reis & Nathan Eyring, Inked by Joe Prado, Oclair Albert & Sean Parsons

Justice League  of America #1:  Art by David Finch, Colored by Sonia Oback & Jeromy Cox

Batwoman #17:  Art by J.H. Williams III, Colored by Dave Stewart

Green Lantern #17:  Drawn by Dan Jurgens, Colored by Alex Sinclair & Tony Avina, Inked by Phil Jimenez

Green Lantern: New Guardians #17:  Art by Aaron Kuder, Colored by Wil Quintana

Red Hood and the Outlaws #17: Art by Adrian Syaf, Robson Rocha & Ken Lashley, Colored by Blond

Vibe #1: Drawn by Pete Woods, Colored by Brad Anderson, Inked by Sean Parsons

Womanthology: Space #5 “The Wind in Her Hair” segment: Art by Chrissie Zullo

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