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The Washington Capitals came out slow on Friday night in rookie defenseman John Carlson’s NHL debut and goalie Michal Neuvirth’s first start of the season and as a result they were defeated 3-2 by the Montreal Canadiens at the Verizon Center to drop the Caps to 13-5-4 overall. Montreal goalie Carey Price (32 saves), forward Tomas Plekenac, and the posts were the heroes for the Habs on Friday as they thwarted a furious Washington rally after the Caps finally started to show up over the last 30 minutes of the contest.

Here are my thoughts and analysis on this one:

Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom were not very good in this game early when the Caps should have come out strong and taken this one over. Both the Great #8 and #19 were victims of overpassing on occassions or trying too many one on one moves. I really would like to see Backstrom (0 shots) shoot the puck more and Ovechkin needs to realize that he is going to face a wall of defenders when he comes down the left wing and figure out a way to give up the puck before hitting massive traffic. Some simple give and go type of plays could open things up for these two guys and get the defense more off balance. The moves Ovechkin makes are becoming predictable to defend.

Neuvirth (19 saves) was very good in the first period, like most Caps goalies have been this season, stopping all 14 shots he faced. However, the second goal he should have had, but his team in front of him were running around like chickens with their heads cut off in their own zone and severely out of position too, so that did not help the young goalie. On the third goal, he could have stopped it but that was an all pro power play shot by a pure goal scorer in Mike Cammalleri.

Carlson (17:24 of ice time) was decent in his first game and did not look out of place. Had his shot not hit the post in the second period the Caps could have had a 2-0 lead and the game could have changed but Price was fortunate on that one. There was one sequence where #74 was beaten in the offensive zone and I liked the way he rushed back hard towards the Caps net to make up for his mistake instead of taking a penalty. Carlson started the game with Tom Poti but #3 sustained an injury and only played 9:59 of ice time. It also sounds like #3 will be out for Saturday night’s Hockey Night in Canada tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Mathieu Perreault (1 assist) continues to impress and he set up the first goal by Eric Fehr (nice top shelf tally). #85 is a spark plug who just brings energy. Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau rewarded him with the highest amount of ice time he has received (13:33) at the NHL level. Another Hershey call up, Jay Beagle, had a decent game but was unable to finish off a couple of good chances.

Despite the slow start, sometimes when you lose you just have to tip your hat to your opponent. On this night, Price was the story and he looked like the player that was taken 5th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and not the player who has struggled to find consistency in the early part of his career. Plekenac, who is becoming a big time Caps killer, played an outstanding game too with a goal and an assist in 20:36 of ice time. Washington brings out the best in #14 because when I watch him play against other teams I just don’t see the same solid and consistent level of effort he seems to show against the Caps.

Here are some statistics and then quotes courtesy of the Caps outstanding Media Relations staff:

• Mike Green recorded two assists tonight to extend his point streak to five games (one goal, eight assists) and was named third star. The two points give Green 22 in 21 games, tied for the NHL lead among defensemen with Tomas Kaberle of Toronto, who Washington plays on Saturday night. Green had a nine-game point streak from Oct. 12 to Nov. 4 this season.
• Fehr now has five points (three goals, two assists) in his last eight games.
• Perreault now has six points (two goals, four assists) in his eight games since being recalled from Hershey.
• Washington has scored first in 17 of 22 games this year. The Capitals have outscored their opponents 26-11 in the first period and have scored at least one goal in the first period of 18 of their 22 games.
• Neuvirth was 2-1-0 with a 3.00 goals-against average in five games for the Capitals last season.
• Tomas Fleischmann’s nine-game scoring streak was snapped tonight. The streak is tied for the fourth-longest in the NHL this season; only Ovechkin and Backstrom have had longer streaks for the Capitals since the 2004-05 work stoppage.
• Brendan Morrison recorded his seventh goal of the season and now has seven points in his last seven games (three goals, four assists).
• The Caps lost their first game when they fire at least 30 shots on net; they are now 8-1-4 in that scenario.
• Carlson became, at 19, the youngest Capitals player since Alexander Semin in 2003-04. Carlson is the ninth defenseman to suit up for the Capitals as a teenager.
• The Capitals failed to score a power-play goal for the first time in seven games.
• This was Washington’s first loss in the first of two games on consecutive days (3-1-0).
• Washington fell to 0-4-1 when being held to two goals (13-1-3 when scoring at least three).
• The loss snapped Washington’s three-game winning streak at home and its stretch of nine straight games earning at least a point at Verizon Center (6-0-3).

Capitals Head Coach Bruce Boudreau

On the play of Montreal …

“They played a really smart game. It’s easy to rip on your players when you lose to a team that’s below you in the standings, but I thought Montreal played a strong game. The biggest thing was: I didn’t think we were ready at the start of the game. We were flat … we went out there and thought it was going to be an easy win, and there is no easy wins in the National Hockey League. When we got the sense of urgency like we had in the last two periods … sometimes it is too late when the other goaltender is on top of his game.”

 On the play of defenseman John Carlson …

“I thought he did a good job. I thought he played with a lot of poise. In his first game he hit a post. I thought his shots from the point were accurate. He’s going to be a good player in this league for a long time.”

 On goaltender Michael Neuvirth …

“He kept us in the first period. The second goal they got, I think you could call it a fluke. We made 14 mistakes before it got to the net, but that wasn’t his fault. He did what I think a starting pitcher is supposed to do and that is keep you in the game. But we did not take advantage of it.”

Caps Center Brendan Morrison:

On the game…

“We had a slow start tonight, not a lot of urgency early in the game. We turned it on at the end but it was too little, too late. We ran out of time. We didn’t help ourselves with our poor start.

On scoring chances…

“We had some good chances in spurts. It wasn’t consistent enough throughout the game. They scored two quick goals on us in the second there. We were running around a bit in our zone, which is disappointing. I thought we battled hard in the third. They got that power-play goal and that’s when we started playing. It was too late.”

Caps Defenseman John Carlson

On playing with Tom Poti and Jeff Schultz…

“[They are] two great guys, talking wise. They really helped me out on the bench. Coach was there helping me out too. They made the game a lot easier for me.”

On playing in front of his family…

“It’s unbelievable. To have my parents here and my brother who flew in from Boston. He goes to school in Boston so it was a big night. The only thing that could’ve made it better was if we won.”

Caps Winger Eric Fehr

On the game…

“We were trying some fancy plays through the middle the first couple of periods and they didn’t work. Then at the end we went back to the game plan. We just ran out of time.”

On changes after Tom Poti’s injury…

“We had different lines. Sloaner [Tyler Sloan] went back to play defense so guys were interchanging everywhere. That’s our job – to just go out there with whoever we’re playing with.”

More on the game…

“We had parts of the game where we were really great out there. But we had parts where we were really scrambling in our zone having trouble getting the pucks out. It definitely wasn’t a full-game effort and hopefully we can change that for tomorrow.”

Caps Goalie Michael Neuvirth

On the game…

“It was a tough game. It’s a tough loss. I got to go from there. It’s a good experience for me. I am happy to get every chance in the NHL. It was a tough loss.”

On adjusting to the NHL…

“It’s a big difference between those two leagues. I’m still getting use to the NHL. I made a couple of good saves, so I got my confidence.”

Montreal Winger Michael Cammalleri

On the play of the Canadiens…

“[We had] an overall sense of urgency and desperation from our group to win a game. Much didn’t have to be said. It was a feeling of this is a really good team and it’s time for us to get a win.”

On the penalty killing…

“Your best penalty killer is the guy between the pipes and Carey’s (Price) been that way. He’s come up with the saves. Solid effort from our PK (penalty kill). It’s getting more consistent as far as our special teams and the things we’re trying to accomplish.”

Montreal Center Tomas Plekanec

On his play in the game…

“I played a lot in the end. Maybe ten minutes. Other guys stepped up too and got a chance to get back in the game. All the guys did a great defensive effort.”

On the assist from Andrei Kostitsyn on his goal…

“It was great. He dominated the shift and made everything happen. Then a one touch pass and I shot a one timer.”

Habs Goalie Carey Price

On the win…

“It’s big. We really needed to get the points. It’s a battle right now. Everyone needs to get points right now. When it comes to the end of the year, these are the types of points were going to need to get.”

On Eric Fehr’s goal…

“He just picked a corner. He got the puck in a good spot. He finishes well and he did it. Just a pretty good shot.”

Canadiens Coach Jacques Martin

On the play of the Canadiens…

“Our goaltending and special teams were strong. We got a power-play goal that wound up winning the game for us, making the difference and our penalty killing did a superb job. I thought we kept the game in control until they scored that second goal. The last three and half minutes were kind of hectic.”