The Washington Capitals had hoped Pat Peake would center a high-performance line of youth this season. But yesterday, general manager David Poile said Peake had not progressed and assigned the second-year forward to the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League.
"He just hasn't been getting the results we want or he wants," said Poile. "We've projected Pat to do good things for us offensively, and it's not happening. It's our judgment that if he goes to Portland and has some success there, he'll help us more on the next call-up."
In 15 of Washington's first 16 games, Peake played but was unable to regain the touch he had in the pre-lockout preseason, when he, Steve Konowalchuk and Keith Jones teamed to lead the offense.
In five preseason games, Peake had a goal and five assists. Jones had three goals, five assists and Konowalchuk had five goals and two assists in six games.
But the line lasted only four games once the season started, and Peake had three assists all season.
"The season has been frustrating and disappointing," said Peake. "It's very disappointing to be sent down, but you can't pout or whine about it."
As Peake has struggled, so have the Capitals. Their production is so meager that during Sunday's Chicago Blackhawks-Dallas Stars game on ESPN, one of the commentators said: "You've got to wonder if the Capitals forwards are capable of scoring."
Yesterday, with the Capitals scoring at an NHL low of once in every 11.85 shots, Poile agreed.
"Yes, you do," he said. "The performance is in the pudding. I've brought most of them here, so I believe they can score. But they have to do it -- and time is growing shorter."
The good news is that Washington seems to have solidified three lines. Peter Bondra and Dimitri Khristich have found their way back to a line with center Michal Pivonka and are playing well; Dave Poulin, Dale Hunter and Kelly Miller have come together to be the team's most productive unit over the past three games with four goals; and Jones (two goals, two assists) and Konowalchuk (one goal, four assists) are with Joe Juneau (one goal, nine assists).
"What we want is for Joe to get back to his old form of being a dangerous offensive weapon," said Poile, when asked if Juneau was on the trading block. "But it is hard to evaluate right now. The goal scorers aren't scoring. But we expect Joe to be more than a playmaker. He has to score more than one goal."
CAPITALS TONIGHT
Opponent: Philadelphia Flyers
Site: The Spectrum, Philadelphia
Time: 7:30
Radio: WMAL (630 AM)
Outlook: The Capitals search for their first road victory of the season in Philadelphia, where the Flyers are 4-4. Philadelphia is likely to have Ron Hextall in goal, after his 7-0 shutout of Montreal on Saturday. The Capitals will have either Rick Tabaracci or Olie Kolzig in goal, having returned Byron Dafoe to Phoenix of the IHL. The Flyers have the player of the week, John Leclair, who had four goals and three assists in two games last week. The Capitals are 1-1-3 in their past five games, with three straight ties. They are 0-6-4 on the road. Washington will be without Sylvain Cote (cut, swollen eye). Philadelphia lists Brent Fedyk (pulled right hamstring) as day-to-day.