Playing the Spoiler Teams

Washington Capitals Hockey

On nights like tonight, it doesn't matter that you have the league's best goal scorer on your team, or that you have the third highest goal scoring team in the league. When a goaltender has a night like Kari Lehtonen had, the puck must look like a beachball coming at him. Lehtonen stopped 49 of 50 shots, and only let one get by him at the end of the game. The Thrasher have won a club record six games in a row, and are on a roll as the year wind's down. It's ironic that playing a team such as the Thrashers who have no chance of making the playoffs are a more difficult team to beat at this time of the year than many of the league's better teams.
It seems to work this way with all team sports. I've heard different reasons; no pressure on the team and they're playing loose, the players on those teams are playing hard, trying to make a good impression on the G.M. heading into the offseason, the team has finally come together and are playing at a higher level than at the beginning of the season, and so on. That's why they call these teams 'spoilers', because they've spoiled the playoff chances of many teams. The Caps will be playing more than a few games against these spoiler teams such as the Thrashers, the Lighting, and the Islanders. Fortunately, the Caps have placed themselves in a position where they can't be knocked out of a playoff position by one of these spoiler teams. I'll keep reminding myself of this after a game like tonight's.