It’s Game 7… but you already knew that. It will be the only NHL game played this evening, so you can bet that all of the eyes of the hockey world in North America – and a lot of other places – will be trained on what is unfolding in Verizon Center this evening.
"When (Joffrey) Lupul scored I sat on the bench and it honestly felt like someone had just ripped my heart out. We had been on such a run for two or three months leading up to that. We had won our last seven in a row to get into the playoffs. We had battled back from down 3-1 (to the Flyers) and all of a sudden it just felt like we died. It was the worst feeling and I don't wish it upon anybody. Your season crashes and it's all over, and that's why you fight so hard to avoid it."
There are 20 Capitals and a legion of fans who are, in fact, wishing it on someone – anyone who wears black and Vegas gold. Two of those Caps fans are right here…
Cheerless? Fearless? What are the keys here?
"Shots, for one. The Penguins enjoy an 11.2 advantage in shots per game in this series (37.7 to 26.5). The advantage is a little narrower in Verizon Center – 8 shots a game in the three games there (38-30). The Caps getting 30-plus shots could be telling, because Marc-Andre Fleury has been very ordinary in this series. Semyon Varlamov has the higher GAA (3.33 to 2.17) but Fleury’s save percentage has been much worse -- .874 to .907."
Cheerless, you have a response?
"If the Caps haven’t outshot the Penguins in any game in this series, what makes y’all think they’re gonna do it now? But here’s the thing… I did some arithmetic on this…"
Here we go…
“Yeah, I passed arithmetic in grade school…”
“It took you four tries…”
“Well, whatever…if the Caps can keep the shot differential under ten in the Penguins favor, Fleury’s save percentage works against him. For example, at their current save percentages, if Varlamov faces 40 shots and Fleury faces 30, each team would end up with four goals.”
Hockey games don’t generally play out that way, cuz…
“Yeah, well, let’s put it another way… if the Penguins are lighting the Caps up for 40-45 shots, ya gotta wonder if the kid, who has already faced 226 shots in six games, has enough in the tank to pull this one out.”
“That’s why this one is probably going to be decided at the other end of the ice. If the Caps can get a few more of those 54 chances they had in Game 6 on net (they had only 24 shots on goal, along with 19 attempts blocked and 11 misses) in Game 7, then the cracks in Fleury’s game might look a little wider.”
Good point, Fearless. But what about the skaters? Crosby and Ovechkin have largely cancelled one another out in this one…
“Yes, cousin, they have, but there is something of an ominous number you didn’t include there. Crosby has 29 shots on goal, while Ovechkin has 38. But 21 of Ovechkin’s shots came in Games 1 and 2. He’s had 17 in the last four. That’s a lot for your normal NHL player (over 82 games, it would have been the fourth highest total in the league this year). But it is a reflection of the job the Penguins – and Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi in particular – have done in limiting Ovechkin’s chances.”
So, if the Caps can get more favorable matchups – spring Ovechkin loose against other defensemen – it could play in the Caps’ favor?
“You’d think so…”
Is Evgeni Malkin the “X” factor in this one?
“Shoot, cuz… the only thing I know about ‘X’ is that it’s how I sign my name. But that Malkin fella is 2-6-8, -2 so far in the series. But he’s only 1-2-3, +2 in the three Penguin wins. If yer lookin’ for an ‘X’ factor, maybe you oughtta be lookin’ at that Fedotenko guy. He has a goal in each of the three wins the Penguins have in this series.”
“And David Steckel has one in each of the Capitals’ wins in this series.”
So, like we’ve been saying, it’s the support guys who might be the ones telling the tale, despite all the hype on the big guys.
“Hockey’s a team game, cuz…”
Right you are, Cheerless. OK, guys, let’s get to the bottom line here. Who wins?
“The Caps have been resilient in the face of elimination, they’ve had a successful season at home. And then there’s the karma of that Hershey win last night to eliminate the Baby Pens… ...so you know who we like.”
Cheerless?
“I still don’t know who this Karma lady is, but I like the Caps… why? Cuz if they win, you’ll keep invitin’ me here and giving me free beers.”
Well, there it is, but if the fans need some inspiration to get them going tonight, The General gets the final word one more time…
As we kill two birds (get it?... birds… penguins) with one puck, we first look back on last night’s game and take note of Grabel’s Law…
2 is not equal to 3 - not even for very large values of 2
So, no matter how big last night’s 5-3 Pittsburgh Penguin win over the Washington Capitals will be described, the fact remains that the series is tied, 2-2. Each team has tended to business in its own rink, and if that trend continues, it will be the Capitals who advance to the next round.
But last night’s defeat did raise some concerns for the Caps…
Was it a “bad game?” If you have to ask for whom, you weren’t watching. OK, given as many as there were for the Caps, maybe you can be forgiven for asking…
Simeon Varlamov… five goals on 28 shots. And there were those in there – Gonchar’s drive for the Penguins’ first goal (even if Milan Jurcina provided a screen), the Fedotenko goal off the tip of his glove… probably the killer goal (since it put the Caps behind the eight ball with the first two goal deficit they’ve had in this series), and even the Talbot goal to ice things looked like a case of losing focus just long enough to let the puck sneak through on the short side.
Alexander Semin…an assist on the Nicklas Backstrom goal to start things off, then he wasn’t heard from again (even with eight shot attempts). And, a minus-3.
Mike Green…who gets an assist (for getting the puck to the cage so Chris Clark could bang it in), but he doesn’t have a goal in this series, was minus-2 last night (minus-3 in his last two games)
Alex Ovechkin…who pretty much shut down after his knee-on-knee hit on Sergei Gonchar that put the Penguin defenseman out for the night. He had one shot on goal after the incident, none after the first period. Perhaps more telling, he had only two hits recorded for the night. As for “supplemental discipline,” if a cross check to the throat merits a $2,500 fine and no games, then Ovechkin might find himself lighter in the wallet, but he won’t be missing tonight’s contest.
Brooks Laich…if not a “bad” game than a largely absent one. Good things happen when he’s plastered across the score sheet, but his line is oddly white. No points, even, no shots on goal (one attempt), one hit, one takeaway, one blocked shot, one facoff (a win).
For the fourth time in four tries in this series, the team scoring first lost. Not that we advocate the Caps giving up the first goal, but the point is that teams – both of them – have the capacity to erase leads in this series and do it quickly.
Despite the grand save on Fedorov, it’s not as if Mar-Andre Fleury had a game for the ages in this one, either. Three goals on 22 shots makes three of four games in this series and five of his last six in which he’s been below .900 in save percentage. The trouble for the Caps – and it dates back to the end of the Ranger series – is a lack of shots. Only once in the last seven games have the Caps topped 30 shots on the opposing team.
One guy who deserved better than to be held off the scoresheet and take a minus-2 was Sergei Fedorov, against whom the post had another good game for the Penguins. If his drive hits the post and goes in with just over five minutes gone in the first and the score still tied at 1-1, well…on such things games turn. Then there was the save made on a shot ticketed for the top corner over Marc-Andre Fleury’s glove that Fleury somehow gloved down. It was Fleury’s save of the series.
Which brings us to…tonight.
Games 5 have not been kind to the Caps in their history. The Caps have an all-time record in Games 5 of 8-17. In those eight wins, they have gone on to win the series in which they played six times, including this year’s win over the Rangers in Game 5 of the first round. In the 17 losses they have in Games 5, they have gone on to lose the series in which they played 14 times. It gets worse… the Caps have played the Penguins seven times in Games 5 in a series. They’re record… 0-7. Four of the last five of those losses were by one-goal, the last two of them in Washington (both by 2-1 scores). Guess that makes tonight’s game critical.
And as if the mind games haven’t reached stratospheric levels, there was this after last night’s game…
"Everyone likes to play hard, and play physical. But there's a line you can't cross, and a lot of guys in our room felt like the last couple games [Alex Ovechkin] was taking shots where he was trying to hurt guys."
That quote comes from Brooks Orpik, who once broke a player’s neck in a game by hitting him from behind into the boards. We don’t believe either Orpik or Ovechkin intended to injure either Erik Cole (in 2006) or Sergei Gonchar (last night). But the irony fairly drips in that comment.
The best thing that can be said for the Caps is that there isn’t any time to think about last night’s game – no off day to sit around and ponder this or that. It’s off to the rink to set things right, that being the home team winning. What might work against the Caps here is carryover, and we’re thinking about Ovechkin in this respect. Clearly, his collision with Gonchar last night affected the rest of his game. He was tentative for the remainder of the evening. If that carries over into tonight’s game, let’s face it, the Caps will almost certainly come up short here. That’s not to put all the burden on Ovechkin (we’d still like to hear from Alexander Semin and Mike Green, and maybe a little Brooks Laich, too), but he can’t have a repeat of last night, even if he doesn’t show up on the scoreboard. He has to be fully engaged to get the rest of the team energized.
As for Varlamov, he’s shown an ability to shake off bad goals, often coming up with spectacular saves in their aftermath. Now, we’re going to see if he can shake off a bad game. Five goals allowed matches his season/career high (in an overtime loss to Buffalo). The thing is, after he allowed those five goals back on April 3rd, he went ten consecutive games without allowing more than three, and he had a pair of shutouts thrown in to boot.
Some other things to think about…
- This is the first time in the eight times these teams have met in the post-season that the home team has won each of the first four games.
- The Caps are undefeated since the lockout in Games 5, beating the Flyers last year (3-2) and the Rangers this year (4-0). Please note…both games were played at Verizon Center.
- The Caps are 9-6-1 in games following those in which they allowed five or more goals this year (Varlamov is 1-0-0).
Look, neither of these teams has looked unbeatable in any game of this series. Two evenly matched, not to mention similar teams can do that to one another. There have been bad goals, there have been great saves. The superstars have come out to play, and they’ve had their struggles. What we still think it’s going to come down to is not necessarily the play in goal Simeon Varlamov (unless Cinderella’s coach has turned back into a pumpkin after all) or Marc-Andre Fleury (unless the Caps can find a way to get a dozen or so more shots on him). It won’t be Sidney Crosby (unless he’s kidnapped) or Alex Ovechkin (unless he’s suspended). It’s going to be guys like Ruslan Fedotenko and maxime Talbot (both of whom scored for Pittsburgh last night) and Brooks Laich and Tomas Fleischmann (who did not – Fleischmann has the only goal by this pair in the series, a game-winner).
It’s time for guys to take the next step up. We’re guessing they will… Caps 4 – Penguins 2
So…You’re outshot, 42-23, including being outshot 34-15 in the last two periods and overtime. You’re outhit, 44-31. You had to skate off ten more minutes in power play time, 14-4. You are skated, outchanced, out…well, just about everything.
And all in a hostile rink.
And still, in the end, it took a deflection off a stick for your opponent to skate off with a win, escaping sure doom had they fallen behind 3-0.
That was the story last night as the Pittsubrgh Penguins rode home on a slapshot from Kris Letang that deflected off the shaft of the stick of Washington Capitals defenseman Shaone Morrisonn and off a post behind goalie Semyon Varlamov in a 3-2 Penguin victory.
Let’s face it, the Caps didn’t play a very sound game. Too timid, too indecisive, too passive… it was as if their car had only one gear all night – reverse. If not for the play of Varlamov, who stopped 39 of 42 shots in what might have been his best performance of the playoffs, the Caps would have been out of this early. That they weren’t is illuminating. If they showed up, maybe it would have been the Penguins who would have been out of it – the game and likely the series – early, especially after the freakish goal scored by Alex Ovechkin 1:23 into the game, a product of Marc-Andre Fleury misplaing a puck behind his own net, losing his stick, then getting back in front of his net too late to stop an Ovechkin drive.
But the combination of Penguin persistence and Capital absence was enough for the Penguins to escape with this being a series once more.
Some numbers…
1 – Chris Clark’s had a quiet night on the scoresheet in 6:35 of ice time. One shot was all that marked his line. No other shot attempts, no hits, no takeaways, no giveaways, no blocked shots. Oddly, perhaps, he was on the ice for the Letang winner. Rough night.
7 – Milan Jurcina was pretty much a guided missile all night. He had eight hits on seven different players, lighting up Evgeni Malkin twice, including one slobberknocker.
2 – Delay of game penalties. If you’re going to go a man down, you’d like to exact a pound of flesh in doing so. But these kinds of penalties are like leadoff walks in baseball – a cheap disadvantage that usually comes back to bite a team in the backside. That it didn’t on this night (although it contributed to all the energy that had to be expended killing 14 minutes earned in penalties), the Caps should consider themselves fortunate.
8 – If we were to have told you in the pre-game that a Penguin would have eight hits, how many of you would have raised your hand if you thought that Penguin would be Brooks Orpik. Way wrong answer… it was Ruslan Fedotenko, who had only 14 (in eight games) going into last night’s action.
0 – the number of hits Hal Gill had.
0 – We can’t expect the Laich/Steckel/Bradley line to score every game. That really isn’t their primary job. And we did get and Ovechkin goal (again) and a Nicklas Backstrom sighting. But neither Alexander Semin, nor Mike Green have a goal in the three games of this series (Green has only two shots on goal). They have five assists between them, but these are guys who averaged more than a point a game in the regular season, and both scored goals at better than a 35-per-82 game pace. They will have to be heard from sometime in this series for the Caps to advance.
1 – David Steckel won 13 of 21 draws. Sidney Crosby lost 18 of 31. But Crosby beat Steckel on the one that mattered, the one that led to the game-winning goal.
38 – the average number of shots per game faced by Varlamov. Caps fans would breathe a lot easier if that number was shaved by ten (the Rangers averaged only 24 in the first round series).
7 – We know that Ovechkin is going to get his. We’re pleasantly surprised by the production of the Steckel line. We know Semin and Green need to increase their production. But seven is the number of consecutive games, and counting, that Brooks Laich has gone without a goal. It is his longest streak since going 13 games without a goal from January 1st through February 1st.
4 – You just get a feeling that a fourth line of Clark, Boyd Gordon, and Michael Nylander should be more productive, or at least energetic, than it appeared to be last night. One shot on goal, no hits, no takeaways. Gordon did, however, win seven of nine draws and logged 6:25 of penalty killing time during which the Penguins did not score.
The theme this morning is equal parts the Penguins dominating play and that this is a competitive series once more. Both are true to a point. Neither team has had a game yet in which all cylinders were firing, but this was the first one in which the Caps effort level didn’t really match the Penguins. Part of that might have been desperation on the part of the home team (only twice has a team come back from a 3-0 hole in NHL history, and the Penguins were the victim of the most recent occurrence, against the Islanders in 1975). But part of it, too, might have been the Caps playing more passively than they should have, allowing the Penguins too much freedom and chasing themselves into a series of bad penalties.
It argues for a better result for the Caps in Game 4, if they show up. Whether they exert their will on the Penguins will go a long way toward that end. Last night, we saw what happens when they don’t… but still, it took a deflection and a post in overtime for the Penguins to finally pull out the win.
Gotta be better in Game 4, because Pittsburgh was in Game 3…
"Can you imagine if he gave (Varlamov) an injury, what are we going to do? If it's not going to be called it's going to be a terrible decision and I'm going to be (mad) about it."
That’s “Var-LA-mov”…”V,” as in “Victory”…as in “Vandalism”… as in “Very sweet stick save.”
OK, so Crosby got a goal. He does that. Ovechkin got one, too. But if you had “Semyon Varlamov” before the game as the guy who would save the Caps’ bacon in Game 1, then buy a lottery ticket. The rookie goalie, who was supposed to face an offense that was to the New York Rangers what an F-16 fighter is to a paper airplane, faced that offense and faced them down, for one game at least.
But the whole game comes down to what happened at 17:59 of the second period and the score tied, 2-2. Sidney Crosby skated through the neutral zone with Chris Kunitz -- Mike Green and Tom Poti back for the Caps. At the Caps’ line, Crosby left the puck for Kunitz cutting behind him. Kunitz curled in as Crosby darted for the net. Kunitz laid a pass right onto Crosby’s tape for what looked like a tap-in for what would have been the tying goal. But Semyon Varlamov planted his left skate, pushed off and dove at the shot Crosby took, getting the paddle of his stick on the puck just as it reached the goal line. The puck never crossed, though, as Varlamov swept it out so that Mike Green could move it out of danger.
If the Penguins scored there, the outcome – given the record of teams holding a lead at the second intermission so far in the playoffs – is probably very different. It was hardly Varlamov’s only ten-bell save, though. In stopping 34 of 36 shots on the afternoon, there was the puck that hit a skate on a Penguin power play and ended up right on the blade of Mark Eaton’s stick. Varlamov came out and took away any space Eaton had to shoot at, swallowing the shot in his midsection with 11:26 left in the second. There was the two-on-one for Pittsburgh – Ruslan Fedotenko and Petr Sykora – on which Varlamov darted across to foil Sykora’s attempt of a pass from Fedotenko with 3:55 left in the second. There was Evgeni Malkin winding his way through the neutral zone and down the right wing boards, finding Fedotenko cutting to the net for a back door play, but Varlamov was there one more time to dart across the crease and foil Fedotenko as the clock was ticking toward four minutes to play in the third.
There wasn’t any doubt, Varlamov was the game’s first star.
Other stuff…
- Even the “save of the playoffs, as it was described on the NBC broadcast, is not always just the goalie. Look at the replay. Even though Tom Poti was beaten to the net by Sidney Crosby, Poti got enough of Crosby with his stick to perhaps throw off Crosby’s shot. If Poti is not there, Crosby might have just buried that shot.
- It’s only one game, but it was not an auspicious start for Evgeni Malkin. He had an assist (on the Mark Eaton goal that, as Pierre McGuire put it, “had a lot of odor on it” for the way Varlamov whiffed on the attempted glove save) but was otherwise unheard from. Three shot attempts (two on goal), and not much fire in his game. He even lost both draws he took against Alex Ovechkin.
- Alright…that shot resulting in the Eaton goal might have been tipped by Boyd Gordon before it eluded Varlamov's glove.
- OK, it worked…but if that slap pass from Alexander Semin to Alex Ovechkin for the 5-on-3 power play goal didn’t work, folks would be saying a lot of the same things this evening that they were saying last spring when Ovechkin passed up a shot to try to feed Sergei Fedorov late in Game 7 against the Flyers.
- The Caps, who were abused in the faceoff circle to the tune of 28-14 in the first two periods, were 14 of 18 in the third period, including winning the last four draws taken in the last 2:06 of the game.
- What is it with Matt Bradley and that corner down by Section 103? He skates down there, throws a puck at Henrik Lundqvist…it goes in. This afternoon, he takes a feed from Brooks Laich, glides into the same corner, throws the puck in front, and David Steckel bangs it home. It’ll be renamed, “The Bradley Corner,” if this keeps up.
- 22 giveaways…not good. They had ten in the first period and six in the first six-plus minutes.
- We thought Nicklas Backstrom would be a key in terms of his playmaking. He started the play on the Ovechkin power play, and it was his pass to Tomas Fleischmann for the game-winner. And there are folks who probably weren’t even aware that he was out there.
- Even though the Caps were hammered on faceoffs in the first two periods and lost that battle for the game, 32-28, they were 11 of 18 in the defensive zone. David Steckel – this afternoon’s winner of the hard hat – won six of eight, mostly at the expense of Sidney Crosby, against whom he was five for six.
- John Erskine…eight hits, a third of the Caps’ total.
- But it was Erskine who was caught at the red line, unable to keep Bill Guerin from feeding Crosby speeding toward the Caps’ end for what would become the game’s first goal.
- The Penguins had five power plays…they had six power play shots. Five of them came from defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang. Tom Poti and Mike Green had as many shots on the Penguin power play (one apiece) as did Evgeni Malkin (one). If the Penguins keep that up, they’ll find it difficult to get a power play goal in this series.
- Marc-Andre Fleury stops a lot of pucks…he also gives up a lot of rebounds. If the Caps could convert a third of what were presented to them this afternoon, this game would have been over at the second intermission.
- The education of a defenseman… last year, Mike Green averaged 0:20 in shorthanded ice time a game. This year, in the regular season, he averaged 2:28. He’s averaging 2:30 in the playoffs. Today, he had 4:22.
Once again, we serve to remind that it’s “first to four,” not “first to one.” And this makes seven of eight times in Caps-Pens history that the Caps have won Game 1. There will be bumps along the way, but the Caps got the games they needed out of the players who needed to have them – a goal by Ovechkin, a pair of assists by Backstrom, more energetic play from Mike Green, and a great performance from Varlamov.
Now, they have to be better, because Pittsburgh will be. This one, though…. Great job, boys.
With the clock ticking down to midnight on the Caps’ season, Sergei Fedorov snapped a shot over the left shoulder of New York Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist and into the net, propelling the Capitals to a 2-1 win in the deciding Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. The digits 2 and 1 figured heavily in this oddly entertaining game…
21 – the number of years since a team – any pro sports team – has won a Game 7 in Washington (yes, including Landover, MD).
21 – the age of the winning goaltender, Semyon Varlamov, who turned that number just yesterday.
2 – the second shot of the game, by Nik Antropov, on a breakaway that Varlamov stuffed. If that shot goes in – 42 seconds into the game – the result might have been very different.
2 – the number of shots the Caps registered in the first period, when they were almost run out of their own building.
1 – the number of shots on goal registered by the Rangers in the third period, when the Caps almost ran them out of the building.
1 – minor penalty taken by the Caps (Mike Green)
2 – minor penalties taken by the Rangers (Nik Antropov, Dan Girardi)
Some other stuff…
- We noted above that the clock was ticking down to midnight on the Caps’ season when Fedorov scored the game winner. Why? In the last three instances in which the Caps were eliminated from the playoffs, it happened in overtime: 2008 to Philadelphia, 2003 to Tampa Bay, and 2001 to Pittsburgh. We weren’t terribly enthusiastic about this one heading to extra time.
- This game completed the symmetry started in Game 4 – a 2-1 win by the Rangers that featured an odd, multi-deflection goal to get the Rangers on the board. This time, it was Nicklas Backstrom leaving the puck for Alexander Semin, who tried to curl the puck around defenseman Dan Girardi, but the Ranger maintained good position. Semin managed to get a shot off, but it appear to deflect off the stick of Ryan Callahan, which served to deaden the puck as it popped into the air. It floated past Girardi and goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who looked to have difficulty picking up the biscuit as it floated in the air.
- John Tortorella said of his team in the post-game, “we checked our ass off.” Did they ever. Credit is due the Rangers, who could have just packed it in after the dominating performances the Caps laid on them in games five and six. But to a man, they hounded the Caps in their end of the ice, especially in the second period, when the frustration at their inability to get the puck past their own blue line threatened to turn the crowd against them. It was one of the most dominating checking performances under the Verizon Center roof this season.
- Before the game, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said of Chris Clark, “"There's a difference between being fresh and being rusty -- if [Clark] plays. Anybody who is put into a Game 7, they're not feeling any rust. They're feeling energy. They're feeling excitement like the rest of us." Well, Clark’s hands were rusty. He had a couple of glorious chances to pot a goal, including one where he had a virtually empty net staring at him, and he couldn’t get the hands to work quite quickly enough.
- If the absence of Blair Betts for the Rangers was to be felt most keenly on the power play, then that was a non factor. The Caps had two power plays and a total of 3:28 in ice time. In a sense, it was old-tyme hockey – the refs weren’t calling much of anything.
- That Fedorov game-winner?...”high glove.” In fairness to Lundqvist, though, he had to be aware of who it was barreling toward the net while Fedorov was settling into the right wing faceoff circle to take the game-winner… Alex Ovechkin.
- Ranger fans kept waiting for it, but Scott Gomez never really showed up in this series. Tonight… no points, one shot on goal, and he lost nine of 15 draws.
- On the other hand, say what you want, but when Sean Avery is not a flaming a**hole, he is a helluva hockey player. He was just about the only Ranger who consistently and assertively took the puck to the net. He had no support for his efforts. An assist, six shot attempts, four hits, and he even won both the draws he took, pretty much by just bull rushing Boyd Gordon and David Steckel, neither of whom is a slouch in the circle.
- John Erskine might not give Caps fans a warm and comfy feeling on the blue line on some nights, but it is hard to argue with the guy’s compete level.
- Caps fans might never say it out loud, but we’ll bet they were thinking it in the first two periods – the Caps were playing scared. Guys were getting rid of the puck as soon as it hit their sticks, and they spent 40 minutes chasing the Rangers all around the Caps’ zone to no good end.
- In the post-game radio show, Brooks Laich said that Chris Clark said something to the effect of, “win 20 minutes, win a series.” That was the last 20 minutes in a nutshell. The Caps outshot the Rangers, 13-1. They out-hit the Rangers, 13-6. They won nine of 17 draws. They had seven blocked shots to four for the Rangers.
- Henrik Lunqvist had a two-headed game. One could look at his saving 22 of 24 shots and conclude that he found his game after a couple of relatively poor ones. On the other hand, the Caps did not pound him on the glove side the way they did in games five and six. It’s worth repeating that the Fedorov game-winner was over his glove hand. As things turned out, 13 of the Caps’ 19 goals were scored to that side.
- The Rangers had the look of a team that had expended so much effort in the first 40 minutes that their tanks ran dry in the third. They had no shots on goal in the last 10:31 and could not get out of their own end in the last 90 seconds in an effort to pull Lundqvist for an extra attacker.
- Seven goals in six games. If you’re looking for a frame of reference for that performance by young Mr. Varlamov in goal, the 1998 playoff run is an interesting comparison. In the four series that spring, Olaf Kolzig’s best was in allowing seven goals in five games against Ottawa, in an era when goals were much harder to come by. A 1.17, .952 set of numbers is quite an inaugural for Varlamov. Consider that in that spring 11 years ago, Kolzig’s numbers were 1.95, .941.
- Of 18 skaters for the Caps, 16 registered hits (Alexander Semin and Tom Poti held off that column of the score sheet).
- Now, here’s an odd one. Number of hits registered by Paul Mara in the series for the Rangers… four. The number for the Caps’ Tomas Fleischmann… four.
- Alex Ovechkin missed 21 shots in the series. No Ranger had that many shots on goal (Ryan Callahan had 19).
Well, now it’s Pittsburgh for the second round, thanks to some late game heroics by Carolina in defeating New Jersey in their Game 7. Pittsburgh presents an entirely different set of challenges – an opportunities – than did the Rangers, but that’s a conversation for another day. Tonight was a case of a lesson learned from last year, and the lesson appears to have been titled, "Resiliency."
If you’re a hitter in major league baseball, that’s a helluva slugging percentage. If you’re an NBA basketball player, it’s a passable free throw shooting percentage. If you’re an NFL quarterback, it’s a fantastic completion percentage.
If you’re an NHL goalie, and that’s your save percentage, you suck.
And yet, that is Henrik Lundqvist’s save percentage (nine goals allowed on 34 shots) in the last two games, the latter being a 5-3 win by the Caps to force a Game 7 on Tuesday night at Verizon Center. He was pulled in both contests, the first time in his career he was pulled in consecutive games.
One could say that the Caps have found that hole they’ve been looking for on Lundqvist – high glove (gee, as if there isn’t a goaltender who can’t be beaten there), but that would be simplistic. What the Caps have done is create space for shooters to get shots off before Lundqvist can get square to the shot. And, the Caps have crowded Lundqvist’s crease to manage getting opportunities from in tight.
Of the former, nothing illustrated that more than the first two Capitals goals of the game. Milan Jurcina scored the first of them when he collected a pass and without a Ranger impeding the path launched a shot past Lundqvist on the glove side. But that was merely the end of a process. It started with Brooks Laich harassing Nikolai Zherdev along the far wall, enough that Zherdev coughed up the puck, whereupon Matt Bradley took control of it, sidestepping Zherdev and nudging the biscuit down the wall to David Steckel. With his back to the play, Steckel flicked the puck to Laich, who had circled back into the play. Laich slid it across to Jurcina, and before defenseman Paul Mara could recover to get into the shooting lane, Jurcina let fly for the goal. It started with pressure in the Ranger zone and kept the defense from establishing their shot blocking stance that has been so important to the Rangers in nullifying the Caps offense for much of the series.
The second goal – off the stick of Mike Green – involved the sort of random chance that occurs on power plays. Tom Poti backpedalled with the puck from the left wing point to the top of the Ranger zone, then fed Alexander Semin in the left win g faceoff circle. Semin hitched, then fired, the puck deflecting out to Green on the other side of the play. No Ranger was in a position to challenge Green, and without that sort of challenge, Green launched a shot that beat Lundqvist…on the glove side.
After that, it was the Capitals’ transition game that was on display. First, Marc Staal was pinned along the left wing boards with nowhere to go and no puck in his possession. It left Dan Girardi alone to defend a 3-on-1 breaking the other way, Tom Poti leading David Steckel and Boyd Gordon the other way. Poti fed Gordon in the middle, who pushed the puck off to Steckel, who threaded a pass to Poti at the near post, and it was all over before Lundqvist could step back across to keep the puck out of the net.
The second instance was much more basic. Tom Poti collected the puck in the far corner of the defensive zone and pushed it ahead to Viktor Kozlov at the Capitals’ line. Kozlov skated out of the zone, pushing Marc Staal off as he sped (or at least as much as Kozlov “speeds”) toward the Ranger end. At the Ranger line, Kozlov pulled the puck inside, and Staal got his feet scrambled, allowing Kozlov to cut for the net. Just before crashing into Lundqvist, Kozlov lifted the puck over the sprawled goalie, and the rout was on.
All that was left was a pretty deflection by Alex Ovechkin of a Tom Poti drive, and some window dressing stat padding for the Rangers. And all of a sudden, from a 3-1 hole, the Caps have a chance – a chance, mind you – to win a game 7 for only the second time in franchise history after being down 3-1.
Other stuff…
- Nikolai Zherdev was, to be charitable, awful. Between his shying away from a Brooks Laich hit that led directly to the Jurcina goal to missing an open net on a backhand when the score was still only 3-1 nine minutes into the second period, Zherdev had a difficult time. For the series he has no points and is a minus-3.
- Scott Gomez had a nice deflection off a Wade Redden shot from the point for a Ranger goal and assisted on a goal by Ryan Callahan, but he continued his own difficulties, finishing the afternoon having been on the ice for two goals – going minus-2 – and losing 11 of 19 draws.
- Much was made at the start of this series about Marc Staal and Dan Girardi getting the assignment of defending the Caps’ big guns. That defensive pair was on the ice for goals three, four, and five for the Caps.
- Let’s face it though…eight power plays allowed (including two 5-on-3 situations) is a recipe for disaster against most teams, even the Rangers in a Game 7. The Caps took a whopping 11 minor penalties and spent a total of 12:29 shorthanded.
- OK, so… a Shaone Morrisonn hat trick is what… a hit, a penalty, and a chomp?
- Simeon Varlamov has been very good. He hasn’t been called upon to be great, at least not very often, and today was another case in point. In the five games in which Varlamov has played, he has faced only 130 shots. Today he faced 32, but only allowed one goal on the first 24 shots he faced, when the game was still in doubt, and only 23 shots came at even strength. The Caps have been playing pretty well in front of him. But his stop on Brandon Dubinsky on a 2-on-1 after Dubinsky screwed John Erskine into the ice at the blue line with a move was huge. The Caps scored the first goal of the game immediately after the ensuing TV time out.
- The Rangers have a total of six goals on those 130 shots, half of them coming in this game, and two of those long after the competitive portion of the afternoon had been completed.
- In the past two games Alex Ovechkin has played “only” 20:21 and 20:50 of ice time. As if he needs more energy.
- At the other end, John Erskine passed the 20 minute ice time mark for the first time in the series. It was the most ice time he’s had since getting 21:21 against Pittsburgh on January 14th and is the second highest ice time mark he’s had this year.
- The Rangers were 5-for-18 on defensive zone draws. Wrong way to stop a team that has found its offensive stroke.
- This was the first four-point game for Tom Poti since February 19, 2004, when he registered four assists as his Rangers beat the Islanders, 6-2. Surprisingly, Poti was not one of the three stars of that game (Jaromir Jagr, Matthew Barnaby, Mike Dunham).
- Picking up on a theme we noted in the pregame, Henrik Lundqvist is now 1-5, 3.99, .870 in playoff games past Game Four of a series for his career.
- We’ll be very surprised if Donald Brashear dresses for Game 7. The hit on Blair Betts was suspension-worthy. There just isn’t any way to sugar coat it or explain it away. Betts was vulnerable in open ice, did not have the puck, and got blindsided by Brashear. It was an ugly footnote to an otherwise excellent Capitals performance on the road.
- It’s worth noting that Brashear’s day ended, not on the Betts hit, but upon his taking a hooking penalty 3:53 into the second period. He served his time, skated back across to the Caps bench upon its expiration, and did not see the ice again.
Before the series started, Rangers coach John Tortorella said that “home ice only comes into effect in Game 7." Well, here we are. One game – in Washington’s arena – for the right to play in May. But this is, as we harped on early, first to four, not first to three. And that fourth one – as the Caps so painfully learned last year – is the hardest of all to win. We’re going to find out if that was a lesson learned well, because if the Caps play as well and with as much focus as they have shown in Games Five and Six, the ending should be much more to the liking of the boys and their fans than was the case last year.
With 29 seconds left in the second period, New York Ranger coach John Tortorella walked to the end of the Ranger bench, leaned over backup goaltender Steve Valiquette and said something to the effect of, “you’re in after the break.”
What prompted this?
Well, if it wasn’t Alex Ovechkin’s top highlight goal of the season, it certainly was in the top three. Ovechkin’s second goal of the series capped the Capitals’ scoring in a 4-0 win over the Rangers to send the series back to New York with the Rangers still – if precariously – holding a 3-2 lead in games. As for the goal, we won’t even describe it. Just watch, and keep hitting “replay”…
Perhaps the sweetest irony in this goal was that Derek Morris – the defenseman who was supposed to bolster the Ranger blue line (and who was the object of affection for many Caps fans at the trading deadline) ended up being embarrassed not once, but twice on this play. First, by giving up the blue line so passively to Ovechkin as he cut across the middle, and then being the stuff of those still pictures you always see of great players making great plays at the expense of some schmoe – Morris filling the role of “schmoe” here by letting Ovechkin thread the puck through his legs as he took his final turn to the Ranger net.
But if Ovechkin’s goal was the cherry on top of the sundae, the Caps and their fans got two scoops of delight from just about the most unexpected source, and in the most unexpected ways.
Matt Bradley is not on anyone’s short list for “guys who will score big goals in big games.” No offense to Bradley, who’s energy we love to see displayed on the ice. But in 21 playoff games before last night, Bradley scored exactly no goals on 15 shots. Then, with the Rangers on a power play…
Boyd Gordon beat Wade Redden to a puck on the right wing boards. Gordon pried the puck off the boards and onto the stick of Mike Green in the faceoff circle, Green feeding it right back to Gordon. Skating down the half-wall, Gordon sent the puck hard around behind the Caps’ net. Michal Roszival could not get to the far wall quickly enough to keep the puck in the zone, and he appeared to get his skate blade caught where the ice meets the board, sending him tumbling to the ice as the puck slid free of the zone. Bradley sped by in pursuit of the puck, with Chris Drury trying to cut off the angle from the middle of the ice. Drury tried to pull the puck back while curling away from Bradley, but Bradley managed to poke the puck off Drury’s stick toward the Ranger end. In making his move, Drury was now out of position to keep Bradley from skating unimpeded into the Ranger zone, with the only thing between him and goalie Henrik Lundqvist being the puck.
It was here that Lundqvist had to make one of those split-second decisions goalies generally aren’t equipped to make in a split-second fashion. Do I skate out to try to cover the puck sliding toward me, or do I stay back and defend the shot? Lundqvist was caught in a no-man’s land, taking a step out toward the puck before deciding to stay back. Bradley collected the puck, settled it on his forehand, slid it to his backhand and roofed it over Lundqvist’s right pad for the shorthanded goal and the early lead.
Bradley wasn’t done. It all started when Brooks Laich couldn’t poke a pass away from Aaron Voros skating down the right side in the neutral zone. Voros, having escaped Laich, skated into the Capitals zone with Nik Antropov on a 2-on-1. Voros fired the puck short-side, and it looked as if Caps goalie Simeon Varlamov got enough of it with his left pad to send the puck behind the net. Paul Mara kept it in for the Rangers, sending the puck back around the net, but onto the stick of Sergei Fedorov for the Caps. Fedorov sent it forward to Tom Poti, who relayed it ahead to Laich in the neutral zone. Laich flipped the puck softly toward the right wing corner on what looked like a harmless dump-in.
But there was Bradley again, corralling the puck at the far edge of the right-wing faceoff circle. His momentum took him toward the Ranger goal line, and Bradley had little recourse but to throw the puck at the net in search of a rebound. But in throwing the puck at the net, Bradley’s shot found space between Lundqvist’s pads – it popped free behind the goalie and settled softly into the far side of the net.
Add in Alexander Semin’s rocket of a wrister off of a clean face off win by faceoff warrior (well, now at least) Nicklas Backstrom, and the Caps’ arsenal was on full display in front of a wild crowd at Verizon Center.
Other stuff…
- We get the impression that when John Tortorella’s fuse is lit, he would be a real hoot to watch go off. Fans almost got the full “Tortorella,” as a fan decided seven bucks was a fair price for something to toss at the Ranger coach – a beer. By the time the resulting dust had settled, Tortorella was brandishing a stick at the fans behind the Ranger bench, interim assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld had his arms around Tortorella to hold him back from swinging that stick, security was in the stands, referees were at the bench, players were standing a jawing with the fans, and it looked like some perverse episode of “Cops: The NHL File.”
- We get that Chris Drury is playing one handed. That he’s out there at all is testimony to his grit, trying to play through what looks like a wrist injury. But it’s also testimony to just how starved the Rangers are for any offense that he’s out there. He attempted only one shot (blocked), split eight draws, was the victim on Bradley’s first goal, and finished the night minus-3. Is he a liability out there?
- What we don’t get is Scott Gomez. Even if the Rangers advance, it won’t be because of anything Gomez has done in this series. He was awful last night, right from the point – 76 seconds into the game – where he took a retaliatory slash on Alex Ovechkin until he had his last shot attempt blocked by Brian Pothier in the game’s last minute of play. He has no points since game one, and he’s generally played with a chip on his shoulder, more inclined to stick work against players than on the puck.
- Why was that first Bradley goal so unexpected? Well, putting aside that it was Bradley at all who scored it, he was 18th on the team in average shorthanded ice time in the regular season. It was almost as much a shock that he was killing that early penalty as much as the goal that came during the penalty kill.
- Derek Morris is being paid $3.9 million and change this year. He’s not earning it in this series. Being undressed twice on the same play by Alex Ovechkin aside, he hasn’t resembled anything close to the sort of shut-down defenseman such a salary and his having been acquired to be would indicate. Early in the series, a fair amount was written about how Marc Staal and Dan Girardi would get the lion’s share of the time against Ovechkin. Then, it was Redden and Roszival. Meanwhile, Morris has been on the ice for six of the 12 goals the Caps have scored in this series.
- Need support scoring? OK…Ovechkin and Semin got goals; Mike Green and Backstrom got assists. The Caps have to have that. But the Caps also got two goals and four assists from players not featured on a group poster. Matt Bradley (two goals), Tom Poti (an assist), Boyd Gordon (an assist), Brooks Laich (an assist), and Sergei Fedorov (an assist) chipped in nicely.
- It was a measure of how badly the Rangers played that they could score nothing despite the rather cavalier way the Caps handled the puck. 22 giveaways (the Rangers had but seven) against a team with a stronger offensive pulse could have ended this game a lot differently for the Caps.
- He didn’t register on the score sheet, but we did like Eric Fehr’s compete level last night. And this is the conundrum in terms of his ice time. He can play the role that, let’s just say, a Tomas Fleischmann can’t – he can be an energy guy along the boards and on the forecheck that Fleischmann can’t be. Fleischmann might get some PK time (1:07 last night), but is essentially a guy who can get, and only get, top six forward kind of ice time. Fehr can assume, to use today’s term of preference, “greasy” roles. It might help him down the road, giving him an education in the knocks and pings a power forward has to endure, but for now it appears to relegate him more to fourth line ice time.
- Did the Caps want this? They had 21 blocked shots to 11 for the Rangers, 12 takeaways to five for the Blueshirts.
- Does Simeon Varlamov know these are the playoffs? We’re not so taken up in the romance of “20 year old goalie with 15 seconds of experience shuts down NHL team in playoffs” angle to realize that some of those rebounds he’s leaving would be red meat to a guy like, say, Evgeni Malkin. But on the other hand, those are technical issues that can be corrected. You don’t teach the sort of innate aggressiveness he possesses to challenge shooters, the uncommon quickness he has, or the confidence that belies his age. Some goalies are meek in style and temperament. Others have presence. Varlamov has the latter.
The Caps live to skate another day. It is Groundhog Day, or rather “Groundhog Year.” Last year, they were on the brink, won a hard-fought game five, went to Philadelphia and vanquished the hosts in game six amid a sea of orange in one of the most difficult buildings for a visitor to win a game in the NHL.
Last night, the Caps were on the brink, won a hard-fought game five, and will now head to Madison Square Garden – another of the league’s most difficult venues for visitors – and battle a team supported by the blue-clad insane who descend upon Manhattan for the afternoon.
Goaltenders are an odd lot. It is a position that doesn’t have a parallel in any major sport.
In baseball, catchers are probably the closest to that of hockey goaltender, but they participate in – and are expected to contribute to – the offensive side of the game. Goaltenders are (Martin Brodeur notwithstanding) generally disinclined to participate in starting plays, and they are prohibited by the rules from even crossing into offensive territory.
In football, place kickers are the first thing that comes to mind for their unitasking responsibility (kick oblate spheroids between uprights) and for their occasionally off-center personalities. But kickers might step onto the field, at most, a half dozen times a game to display their talents (between kicking extra points and field goals). Goaltenders are expected to stop 30 or more shots a game and might see an opponent attempt 50 or more. And, goaltenders are often identified as the key in big games. We don’t see a lot of ink devoted to Shaun Swisham being the key to the Redskins’ fortunes on any given Sunday. “Important?” Yes…”key?” No.
In basketball, nothing comes to mind that comes close to mirroring the unique characteristics of the position of hockey goaltender. You might stretch things to include a Dennis Rodman when he played in the NBA – a unitasker of a sort with his single-minded talent for rebounding. And, he certainly fit the “off-center” personality thing. But that’s a reach, too, and there isn’t anyone else, or any position, that makes one think, “yeah, that’s like a hockey goaltender.”
The uniqueness of the position sets the hockey goaltender apart, not only from other positions on the ice, but in a sense from his own teammates. It might be the mystery of the position or the lack of a common frame of reference between skaters and goaltenders, but one gets the feeling that in a lot of NHL locker rooms, the goaltender is somehow “different.” No less of a teammate, certainly, but someone whose idiosyncracies, personality quirks, superstitions, and routines might be curiosities and characteristics to be accepted by teammates at a discrete distance.
We suspect this applies to coaches as well. It just seems in reading and listening to coaches in the NHL talk about their own goalies from time to time that they often struggle with just how to relate to their goaltender. And that goes both ways. When Glen Hanlon – a former goaltender himself – was coaching the Caps, and after he was relieved, we remember the occasional quote from former Caps goalie Olaf Kolzig suggesting that Hanlon “got it” with respect to dealing with goalies. Well, we’d expect him to.
What all this is prelude to is that Coach Bruce Boudreau has a big decision facing him before Game 2 on Saturday. He’s been mum about it, even if he’s made it. And that decision is whether to pull Jose Theodore after a disappointing performance in Game 1 in favor of rookie Simeon Varlamov in an effort to improve the performance in goal and perhaps give his team a jolt. When you think of the expectations surrounding this team, the specter of huge disappointment if the Caps should not advance beyond this round, a national television audience watching, and a home crowd getting antsy (already) about their Caps, this has the makings of being the biggest coaching decision in Boudreau’s tenure with the club.
If there is any coach in the NHL who would have to make that decision (Scotty Bowman having retired), I can’t think of one better equipped to make it than Boudreau. He’s seen it all, in every corner of North American hockey. He’s coached teams that exceeded expectations, and he’s coached teams that have perhaps fallen short. He’s been in a 0-1 hole in playoff series before, like the AHL Calder Cup final in 2006, which his Hershey Bears came back to win.
But he still has to contend with the unique nature of the position and psyche of the incumbent holding it when making that decision, because that decision affects both the incumbent (How does he take it? Can he rebound if called back to the ice?) and the replacement (Is he ready? Have we prepared him well enough? Is this the right time?). While he makes that decision for skaters as well, there is the fact that there is only one goaltender (and only one “number one” goaltender, by definition) and all the attention centered on the position.
Game 2 is the most important game the Caps will have played, to date, this year. One could argue it is the most important game they've played since losing a triple-overtime game, and playoff series, to Tampa Bay in 2003. If they lose, they stand only the slimmest of chances of advancing past the first round. And, a good portion of the good will that comes with being the upstart young kids making good could be lost – another in a history of underachieveing outcomes for the Capitals.
Which direction the Caps will take rests largely on the decision on who is in goal tomorrow. This isn’t to say that whatever decision is made, this series will turn into a goaltending duel. We still believe that Henrik Lundqvist is objectively a better goaltender than either of the choices the Caps have. Lundqvist is, in our opinion, one of the top three goaltenders in the league, so he’s going to win a lot of those comparisions.
The goaltender backstopping the Caps has to make all of the saves he should and almost all of them he shouldn’t. For the skaters, their job is not to be so irresponsible or not to lose such focus in their system that they put their goalie in the position of facing the task of making a lot of saves he shouldn’t. That’s on the players to keep this from becoming a goaltending duel.
As for the decision, we suspect Coach Boudreau is going to turn once more to Jose Theodore, a goalie who has shown no small measure of resiliency in coming back from bad performances this year, even against this opponent. We’re not going to be a Monday morning bench coach. We’ll state right now that we think it would be the correct decision.
If not for some fine play by the lower half of the forward lines, the Caps would have let a point or two slip away. The play of the third and fourth lines, though, was enough to push the Caps to a harder-than-expected 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at Verizon Center.
The stars of this game weren’t the stars, but rather the guys who don’t usually get the ink after the game – Boyd Gordon, Eric Fehr, and David Steckel all had assists tonight, but that doesn’t tell the story. Those three, with Donald Brashear and Matt Bradley, looked like the only guys who wanted to pay a price for 60 minutes. That is not to denigrate the effort of a Viktor Kozlov, who earned the first star on two goals and an assist, or Tomas Fleischmann, who notched his 11th goal. But Kozlov’s second goal was the result of Gordon driving hard to the net with the puck (Kozlov sweeping up the trash that Blue’s goalie Ben Bishop couldn’t pick up), and Fleischmann’s goal – the game-winner as it turned out – was the product of a superb pass from Fehr from along the right wing boards.
As for the stars, this was not their night, despite Alex Ovechkin’s 20th goal. Ovechkin did not have a lot of scoring chances as the Blues clogged his usual skating and shooting lanes. Alexander Semin gave every cause to think that the worst thing that happened to him this week was making that behind the back pass for an Ovechkin goal a couple of nights ago. He spent most of tonight looking to recapture the magic and ended up sending a lot of passes hither and yon, anywhere but onto a teammate’s stick. Nicklas Backstrom completed the hat trick of headscratching by being mostly invisible tonight, despite getting an assist on the first Kozlov goal.
The real star, though, might have been the young man in net playing in his second NHL game. Simeon Varlamov might not have faced quite the same flurries of shots that his counterpart Ben Bishop faced (the Caps had 13 missed shots and 16 others blocked – 15 of those 29 misfires came in the first ten minutes of the game, in addition to four actual shots), but he had to deal with more sustained pressure. He also had the save of the game with under a minute to go in the second period and the Blues trying to halve a 3-1 lead for the Caps. Keith Tkachuk carried the puck down the right side, then cut all the way through the middle of the ice above the circles in the offensive zone. With David Perron standing directly in front of Varlamov at the top of the crease, Tkachuk let fly with a snap shot that somehow Varlamov saw and gloved with his mask in Perron’s belt buckle. Varlamov would also have highlight saves on David Backes and Barrett Jackman early in the third, and would foil a breakaway by Tkachuk with just under six minutes left in regulation, but that save as the second period was dying off killed any St. Louis momentum that they might have had going into the third, had that shot found the net.
It was also a difficult night for the officials. Kelly Sutherland looked for all the world as if he was channeling “Forty Minute” Andy Van Hellemond. Players could club one another, run one another, and generally create mayhem, but the slightest tug on fabric was cause for two minutes. The game almost got out of hand entirely in the third period when Alexander Semin was tripped, then cross-checked to the ice by David Backes. When Bruce Boudreau was told that it was a dive by Semin and responded that “that’s why he’s in the dressing room,” he was whistled for an “abuse of officials” penalty.
It had the look of a game that might have been played circa 2002 when a lot of chippy nonsense goes on, left alone by the referees, then explodes in the third period. It almost did explode when Alex Ovechkin came from the other side of the ice to stand up for Semin. What he was doing in that situation is probably a credit to him as a teammate, but that just isn’t Ovechkin’s job. What is telling about the referees’ performance was that of the ten minor penalties called, all but the abuse of officials and playing of the puck in a restricted zone charged to Varlamov were obstruction penalties – there was not one penalty of aggression called in this game, and there was enough that could have been called on both sides. Sutherland ought to have the price of a ticket deducted from his paycheck for this one.
Here are some interesting (well, at least to us) numbers…
Five power plays, four total shots, three of them by Ovechkin (Tom Poti had the other one). Sort of captures the problem with this game in a nutshell…not enough guys paying a price.
Six… the number of blocked shots by Milan Jurcina.
Three… the number of blocked shots his partner, Karl Alzner, had. Combined, the two had roughly half of the Caps' total (20).
27… that was the number of faceoffs Jay McClement took for the Blues (winning 15). He took all those draws in a total of under 17 minutes of play. Does the term, “one trick pony” come to mind?
Boyd Gordon, who has put together some pretty good games lately, was splattered all over the score sheet tonight… an assist, three shots, a takeaway, a hit, a couple of blocked shots, and eight wins in 14 draws.
Varlamov was excellent in the first couple of periods with controlling the redirection of shots. He looked very purposeful in moving shots off to the corners or to open areas. He seemed to lose a little of that in the latter stages of the game. But the one thing we paid special attention to was whether or not he’d lose his focus after taking the playing the puck in a restricted zone penalty – he didn’t. So far he’s stopped 61 of 64 shots (.953) in two games. We’d say his focus is pretty good.
Mike Green missed large chunks of the second period (he did not play in the last 4:01) and the third period (he sat for the last ten minutes). It appears his shoulder was reinjured. Add that to Semin’s suffering some further abuse to his back, and suddenly that game on Saturday afternoon against the Flyers looks even more challenging.
Speaking of challenging and the game on Saturday, the Caps will be moving up in weight class and had better find a way to set this lackadaisical play aside. It’s one thing to beat the Islanders and Blues with a “B” effort. If that’s the level to which they play in Philly, it won’t be pretty for the visitors, especially since the Flyers were abused by Montreal tonight, 5-2. For now, though, it’s two more points in the bank, five wins in a row, and seven in the last eight games, which is never a bad thing.
It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire as the Caps take to the road to hockey’s Mecca – Montreal – to visit the Canadiens at Bell Centre this evening.
"Shouldn’t you be out holiday shopping, cuz?"
Well, if it isn’t the cousins, Cheerless and Fearless…what are you boys doing in town?
“We’re here to try out…we heard the Caps are pluckin’ guys outta cubicles to dress for games, right Fearless?”
“That’s right, I even have my own equipment, too…”
Very nice…you a butterfly goalie, Fearless?
“No…more like ‘dung beetle.’”
“Don’t forget me, cuz…”
Uh, Cheerless?...that rig looks a little…old.
“Not old, cuz…’old school.’”
Have either of you boys actually played hockey before?
“Does tonsil hockey with Becky Sue Heffelberger behind the Dog-n-Suds count?”
Afraid not, Cheerless. How about you, Fearless?
“Are you kidding, I shut out Wayne Bretzky, Marc Tessier, AND Rex Ovechkin…in ONE GAME!"
Fearless, they play for the Stubby’s Bar team in the rec league, and Bretzky is missing three fingers on his left hand.
“Yeah, his wife sure was mad that night…but he shouldn’t have been schtuppin Stubby’s waitresses, either.”
Yeah, yeah…whatever. Do you guys really think you’re going to dress for the Caps and sit on the bench.
"No…we just wanted to try and meet Brooks Laich…"
"Yeah, he’s our hero…he’s better’n even Chuck Norris."
Well, the boys will just have to watch on TV, just like us, when the Caps take the ice tonight. And when they do, the team against which they’ll be skating will be looking to break their sleepwalk through their last ten games (5-2-3, both regulation losses coming to Southeast teams – Washington and Tampa Bay). Their overall numbers look like this...
If you’re looking for an early indicator in this one, you’ll probably get one. In the “irresistible force/immovable object” category, the Caps are third best in the league in first period goals this year (33). On the other hand, Montreal has allowed the sixth fewest number in the first period (19).
But if you’re looking for something subtle, look to the second period…Washington has scored only 26 goals in the middle frame this year (T-21st), while Montreal has allowed only 23 (tied for fifth fewest). If the Caps can do damage in the second, it could be a signal of a successful night.
If there is a striking number coming out of the Montreal side, it is that power play number. The same club that led the entire NHL in power play efficiency last year (24.1 percent, 2.3 points better than Philadelphia) is stuck in 28th place this year. And their home version of the game is even worse. Only three teams have scored fewer than the seven goals registered by the Habs, and they are 28th in home power play efficiency at 10.1 percent. They are two for 25 through six games on their current home stand (which ends with this game tonight).
If the Habs struggle on the power play, they don’t five-on-five. Of the 23 skaters who have dressed for Montreal this year, only three (including the irregular starter Georges Laraque) are in the minus category.
It is almost fitting that the struggles of the Montreal offense should be illustrated by having a defenseman – Andrei Markov – leading the team in scoring (5-19-24). Markov does bring a six game scoring streak into this game (3-5-8). That might make up for the likely absence of second-leading scorer Saku Koivu, who is day-to-day with a foot injury.
The Caps will renew acquaintances with Robert Lang (not that there are many Caps here who actually played with Lang when he was here…Boyd Gordon, Michael Nylander, and uh…uh…that might be it). But Lang is their top goal-getter – the only Canadien in double digits (10).
The Canadiens have had a few disappointments among their youngsters. The trio of Guillaume Latendresse, Andrei Kostitsyn, and Chris Higgins combined to go 69-63-129 last year. This year, they are a combined 13-17-30, which is a pace for 38-50-88.
In goal, Carey “Pantload” Price has missed a couple of games to the flu, leaving the chores to Jaroslav Halak. Halak has been hot and cold in his two relief starts, beating Calgary, 4-1, and dropping a decision to Tampa Bay, 3-1. Overall, he’s still hot and cold…well, perhaps somewhat better: 3-3-1, 2.42, .917. Against Washington, he is 2-1-0, 2.33, .908. He lost a 3-0 decision to the Caps on November 28th.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Montreal: Alex Kovalev
Who else? After all, he’s garnered more than twice as many votes for the All Star Game as Alex Ovechkin. But it’s not exactly all-starish for him to have only five goal this year – none since November 1st. He’s on a pace for 15 goals, which would be the lowest total of his career for seasons in which he’s played at least 70 games. Against the Caps, he is 17-27-44, +4, with four power play goals and two game-winners in 57 career games.
Washington: Simeon Varlamov
This could be the night. It’s been a busy week for the young goalie. He beat Hartford at Giant Center last Saturday as the Hershey Bears won, 4-2, and took the loss in the game that broke the Bears’ 11-game winning streak – a 3-0 loss to San Antonio. Then he’s riding along on the highways and by-ways of Texas when he probably has someone tap him on the shoulder who says, “coach wants to see you.” Then he hops on a plane and rushes to a game already in progress because the starting goalie has come up lame, and his “backup” (who is playing a whole lot better) is playing hurt. All while another story is playing out that involves a former college goalie who works in the Caps offices who is taking warm-ups as the new back up. If he gets the start tonight – his first in the NHL in one of the most difficult arenas in the sport for a visitor to play in – it might be a comparative snap…Well, probably not.
This is one of those games (last night was one, too) where you might be tempted to tell the boys, “hey, just go out there and have fun – ride the wave.” It’s been quite a ride lately as the Caps have won four of five and six of their last nine. We’re in The Twilight Zone here, and we’d be remiss if the prognostication didn’t do it justice…
Kyle Wilson was the first star of the game with a pair of goals. But it was Simeon Varlamov assisting on the first of those Wilson goals -- the game-winning goal as it turned out -- to record his first point as a pro. He also stopped 30 of 32 Phantom shots to get the win in goal and push his record to 4-0-0 against Philadelphia.
Congrats to Varlamov on his first point in North America.
It doesn't get easier for the Bears. They're at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tonight and at Bridgeport tomorrow for the next two games of a five-game road swing.
It was standing room only at Kettler Capitals Iceplex today as the 2008 development camp came to a close.In addition to the usual amusements – street hockey and moon bounce for the kids, music, and the club’s equipment sale – there was the week-ending scrimmage of Capital hopefuls.
(click on the images for larger versions)
The game itself was competitive, although the fact that these are kids who have not played with one another for long made things choppy and lacking in flow from time to time.Some youngsters did stand out though…
Simeon Varlamov – wearing the white colors today – looked a good deal sharper than we remember seeing him last year.Much quicker and much better at anticipating plays.He had many more chances to fend off than did his counterpart – Michal Neuvirth.He earned the round of applause he skated off to mid-way through the second period.
Oscar Osala had a difficult time keeping his footing.Maybe it was a skate problem, but he spent a lot of time picking himself up off the KCI surface. But pick himself up he did, not quitting on plays.
Francois Bouchard had a difficult time of his own, it seemed, for two periods (looking as if he just wasn’t quite in sync), but he was in the middle of things at the end of the contest and in the extra time/shootout.His spin-o-rama shootout move was rather…interesting.
The Blue squad had the best of things early, but it was the White squad that had the advantage in the end. And the physical edge to the play picked up as the minutes were winding down.
We’re rooting for Stefan Della Rovere to make this team some time down the road.He was quite the bundle of energy and grit out there.Even in an environment where one might not see quite the level or intensity of hitting one would see in real games, he was out there plugging away making his presence felt.
It really was amazing to see a crowd as large as this in the middle of July for hockey.Not only were the stands filled, but in the balcony the crowd was several deep along the railing, and the lobby and common areas of KCI were active, as well.
To all the participants and to the Caps…congratulations on a great camp.It was quite entertaining and a signal that things continue to look promising for this organization.
