Eastern Conference Quarterfinal -- Game 2: Panthers 5 - Capitals 1

The Washington Capitals faced off against the Florida Panthers hoping to sweep the first two games in Florida before returning to DC for Games 3 and 4.  Washington won Game 1, 4-2.  Game 2 did not end as happily for the Caps, for whom the combination of lack of finish and iffy goaltending conspired to allow the Panthers to tie the series at a game apiece with a 5-1 win.

First Period…

Washington dominated possession in the first half of the period, but they went a man down 10:15 into the period when Nicklas Backstrom was called for hooking. The Caps killed the penalty without allowing a Panther shot on goal.

The Panthers did break through to open the scoring late in the period when an Aaron Ekblad drive hit Martin Fehervary, who was trying to block the shot, and bounced over the right shoulder of goalie Vitek Vanecek at the 16:20 mark. They would double their lead less than two minutes later when Jonathan Huberdeau worked the puck around Nicklas Backstrom in the right wing circle and found Aleksander Barkov cutting to the far post for a tap-in past Vanecek’s right pad to make it 2-0, 17:58 into the period.

The wheels were in danger of coming off when Anthon Mantha was called for pitching the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty at 18:06 of the period.  The Caps excape further damage in the 1:54 of the penalty that ran off, but they went to the locker room down, 2-0, with a brief carryover of the remainder of the penalty to start the second period.

-- Washington outshot Florida, 11-6, and out-attempted them, 19-14.

-- Conor Sheary led the Caps with three shots on goal and four shot attempts.

-- The Caps were just 7-for-19 on faceoffs.  No Capital taking more than one draw reached 50 percent; the top three centers (Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, and Lars Eller) were a combined 4-for-15.

-- The Caps had 14 of 18 skaters credited with hits in the period; Anthony Mantha and John Carlson led the team with three apiece.

Second Period…

The Caps killed off the remainder of the penalty that carried over from the first period.  That was followed up with the teams getting coincidental minors just 38 seconds into the period with Radko Gudas for Florida and Garnet Hathaway for the Caps going off for roughing minors.  Shortly thereafter, the Caps got their first power play when Anton Lundell was boxed for holding at the 2:07 mark.  The Caps converted when the worked the puck left to right around the perimeter when it ended up on Nicklas Backstrom’s stick, and Backstrom, from below the right wing circle, fired it short side past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 2-1 at the 2:44 mark.

The one-goal deficit lasted all of 27 seconds.  Florida restored their two goal lead when Mason Marchment finished a four-man passing play with a snap shot that beat Vanecek between the pads to make it 3-1, 3:11 into the period.  The goal – the Panthers’ third – came on just their seventh shot of the game and first of the second period.

Washington had a chance to get back into the game when Marchment was called for two separate penalties, roughing and slashing, at the 5:58 mark to give the Caps a four-minute man advantage.  The Caps failed to convert either end of the double minor despite getting four shots on goal, three by Alex Ovechkin.

Florida upped the lead to three when the Caps failed to get the puck out of their end, and the Panthers ended up with a 2-on-0 in deep, Lundell finishing the play by taking a pass from Sam Reinhart at the post to Vanecek’s right and getting the tap-in at the 15:24 mark.

The competitive portion of the evening apparently ended barely two minutes later when Florida added a fifth goal, Carter Verhaeghe doing the damage with a shot from distance that Vanecek seemed to have a good look at as it passed by, hit off the post, and banked in at 17:32 of the period.  The 5-1 score would hold up through two periods.

-- The Caps outshot Florida, 13-12 in the period and out-attempted them, 22-21.

-- Peter Laviolette appeared to shorten his bench in the period. The fourth line of Nic Dowd, Brett Leason, and Johan Larsson had 11, 10, and nine shifts, respectively through 40 minutes.

-- The teams combined for 71 “hits” through two periods, the Caps with 41 and the Panthers with 30.  Only Dowd and Evgeny Kuznetsov had not been credited with a hit for the Caps.

-- Lars Eller had the only takeaway credited to the Caps through two periods

Third Period…

Ilya Samsonov relieved Vanecek to start the third period.  He was sharp, although given the context there might not be much to read into that.  The Caps went down a man when Hathaway was sent off for boarding at 9:54 of the period.  Washington skated off the penalty, but the clock was more important, another two minutes run off by the Panthers.

Florida got its fourth power play of the game when Nic Dowd was penalized for slashing at the 15:44 mark.  They did not score, but the cherry on top of this (rhymes with "spit") sundae was Hathaway getting a ten-minute misconduct penalty at 17:40 of the period.  It would be the last, sad entry for the Caps in this contest, Florida tying the series at a game apiece with the 5-1 win.

Other stuff…

-- The Panthers outshot the Caps, 17-3 in the third period, winning the overall shots on goal duel, 36-27.  Florida out-attempted the Caps for the game, 68-50.

-- Alex Ovechkin led the Caps with five shots on goal and nine attempts.  Johan Larsson, Martin Fehervary, and Brett Leason all finished the game without a shot attempt.

-- Vitek Vanecek allowed five goals on 18 shots.  A .722 save percentage.  A bad time to have his second-worst game save percentage of the season (he stopped one of two shots (.500) in 6:43 in a 4-3 Caps win on February 1^st).

-- In relief, Ilya Samsonov stopped all 17 shots he faced.

-- The Caps finished the game with 60 hits credited to them, the Panthers with 39…another 99-hit game, matching the combined total for both teams from Game 1.  Every Caps skater had at least one hit credited to his record.  Garnet Hathaway led the team with nine.

-- The Caps went 33-for-70 on faceoffs; Larsson was the only Capital over 50 percent (2-for-2/100.0 percent).

-- Washington was charged with 21 giveaways; three Caps – Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, and Evgeny Kuznetsov – were charged with three apiece.

-- Nick Jensen led the Caps with 22:42 in ice time; Brett Leason had the least (8:17).

-- Washington was credited with only three takeaways – Lars Eller, John Carlson, and T.J. Oshie all with one apiece.

-- This was the first time the Caps allowed five goals in a playoff game on the road since they dropped a 5-2 decision in Carolina to the Hurricanes in Game 6 of the 2019 Eastern Conference first round series.  The Caps went on to lose that series at home in double overtime.

In the end…

The Caps “outplayed” the Panthers for 40 minutes…right up until they had to actually produce.  And then, despite Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky looking shaky at times, they couldn’t finish.  The four-minute power play was the game in a microcosm.  You could tell when they failed to convert that opportunity that this was not going to end well for the Caps.  But the attention will now turn to goaltending, as it seems to have been the case all season.  While Ilya Samsonov did stop all 18 shots he faced, it had the look of pyrite – fool’s gold – more than a 24-karat performance.  Whoever is in goal in Game 3, it will be the most important game of their short playoff career to date.  And given the Caps poor record at home this season (19-22, six of the losses in extra time), things do not look nearly as rosy as they did after Game 1.

 

"And don't forget, men -- today is the day we're gonna win" -- You tell 'em, Coach!

 

Kuznetsov...you, Alex, and Oshie are going in.  And the same backliners, Johnny, you and Fehervary, Orlov and Jensen. Now, the success of any team men is based on team-play -- the same as you've shown all year -- Sacrifice; unselfish sacrifice! These are the fellows they say are pretty good; but I think we're better! And I think if we get ourselves keyed up to a point, and when we're confident of that ... why the results will take care of themselves.

All right, now. On the puck drop -- if we win the draw, the defense will jump up and join the rush through neutral zone and push them back -- that old Capitals style. If we lose the draw -- which the rest of the teams want -- let's forecheck fast -- just as fast as you can skate. And then we go on defense. And on defense -- I want the center in and out of that line -- according to the situation. Use your old head! And I want you wingers charging through as far as you can go -- on every play. Expect the play right over you every time...

And the defensemen… I want you to go in hard -- and then check yourselves. Spread your feet – sticks in lanes -- and be ready with your hands and elbows, so you won't be sideswiped. But I want the center in there fast every play. Every play, but under control. And you men on the wings there, I want you to analyze it before you move. If they throw a forward pass, a zone pass, wait ‘til you see the puck in the open -- and then go and get it! And when we get it, boys, that's when we go on offense. And that's when we go to ‘em -- and, don't forget, we're gonna pick on one last defender that is weak.

We're going inside of ‘em, we're going outside of ‘em -- inside of ‘em! outside of ‘em! -- and when we get them on the run once, we're going to keep ‘em on the run. And we're not going to pass unless their defense comes up too close. But don't forget, men -- we're gonna get ‘em on the run, we're gonna go, go, go, go! -- and we aren't going to stop until we get that puck in the net! And don't forget, men -- today is the day we're gonna win. They can't lick us -- and that's how it goes... The first five men -- go in there and fight, fight, fight, fight, fight! What do you say, men!

Capitals vs. Panthers: The Cousins Weigh In on Game 1

Game 1 of the opening round series between the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers is in the books, and the cousins have some opinions…

Peerless:  I think all of us can agree, that was a great effort in all three zones for the Caps last night.  Who was your “player of the game?”

Fearless: When Tom Wilson went down to an injury early on, it could have been a deflating moment for the Caps, especially given that he got them off to a good start with his game-opening goal.  But Conor Sheary skated 18:39, much of the last two periods on the top line.  He did not record a point, but two shots, three hits, a takeaway, and a lot of hustle.  He was an example others could (and did) follow.  It was like the Dale Carnegie saying… “If You Have a Lemon, Make a Lemonade."  Sheary did just that, giving the Caps sweet support while a sourness left a bad taste in the mouths of…

Peerless:  Yeah, yeah…we get it.  Cheerless?   

Cheerless: We have lemonade?

Peerless: Who was the Caps’ MVP last night?

Cheerless:  Anthony Mantha…Manimal…Man-oh-man what a beast.  An assist, five shots on goal, ten hits.  He brought the attitude, just what the Caps needed to punch the Cats in the snout.

Peerless: What, if there was one, the turning point in the game?

Cheerless: I was at a Turning Point restaurant down in Jersey…had the Wilbur Skillet…don’t know why they called it “crushed bacon,” but it was a life changing experience…

Peerless: Moving on…Fearless?

Fearless: It would be tempting to say it was the Nicky sauce to Oshie for what ended up being the game-winning goal in the third period, but I’ll go back to the beginning and Tom Wilson’s power play goal to open the scoring.  It could have been a disaster for the Caps, who had a 61-second 5-on-3 on which they could not score.  But Wilson converting on the 5-on-4 portion of the play set a tone – “we’re here, and we’re not going to be steamrolled.”  And the play itself… getting a shot on goal, keeping the puck in the zone, the pass from Justin Schultz that Anthony Mantha received in his wheelhouse for a one timer…the shot low into Sergei Bobrovsky’s pad to create a rebound…Wilson being the second man back, lurking behind Marcus Johansson who was cutting to the top of the crease…Wilson wasting no time snapping the puck past Bobrovsky’s blocker before he could get reset…scoring the goal with one second left on the power play…it was a fine sequence, start to finish.  The Caps dominated from there.

Peerless: Anything to add, Cheerless?

Cheerless: We have any bacon?

Peerless: OK then… Do either of you think Alex Ovechkin…

Cheerless:  Oh, wait, wait, wait!  I got a turning point.

Peerless: Clock’s ticking big guy.

Cheerless:  That poke check Ovechkin made on Mackenzie Weevil

Peerless: “Weegar”

Cheerless: Yeah, that’s what I said…”Weeble”

Peerless: “wee-gar”  gar…Gar…GAR!!!

Cheerless: Sounds like you could use some bacon, cuz.

Peerless: Can we get on with it?

Cheerless: OK…that poke check Ovechkin made on the Florida guy…

...after he poked it loose, the Florida guy tried to hook Ovechkin before he could get the puck, but there was Evgeny Kuznetsov jumping up from the other side of the red line to pounce on it, skate in, and score.  I don’t know if Kuznetsov would even have been in the picture frame of that play last season, but he seems much more determined, and he was just cold-blooded with that shot on the blocker side (it this going to be a thing with Bobrovsky?).  Last year, the Caps would have been, “eh, whatever,” and Florida would have just gone back and got the puck back. This year…could be different.

Peerless:  So, back to Ovechkin…how do you guys think he looked?

Fearless: If he’s playing through that upper body injury, he’s doing a good job of hiding it.  I couldn’t tell he was injured.  Four shots on goal, nine attempts, and perhaps most revealing, four credited hits?  Did not look like the line on a score sheet of an injured player.

Cheerless: He was smokin’…like bacon.

Peerless: Vitek Vanecek… good? Not good?

Cheerless: That Sam Bennett goal.  Not good…he saw him all the way up the ice and seemed to have a good look when Bennett curled to the middle, but he never seemed quite ready for the shot.  That was a bit of a stinker.   But he did stop the last 20 shots he faced after the Claude Giroux goal, so, all in all…good.

Fearless: Let’s not forget, this was Vanecek’s second career playoff appearance, and his first one -- all 13 minutes of it -- did not go well, ending in an injury. This was his first playoff appearance on the road.  At the 60-minute level of observation, I think he was quite good, calmer and more disciplined in positioning than he was on many occasions in the regular season (defending a net with hockey dimensions, not soccer dimensions with him sliding all over the place).  He should get the Game 2 start.

Peerless: Finally, what are your thoughts about Game 2.

Fearless: I think Game 1 was a game for the skaters, specifically for the Caps and whether they could demonstrate they could control the pace and possession.  They did and made the Panthers look a bit discombobulated on offense in doing so.  I think Game 2 will be a “coaches” game, specifically whether Florida head coach Andrew Brunette, (a) thinks he needs to make adjustments, and (b) if he can.  After all, this is his first NHL playoff series as a head coach.

Cheerless: …

Peerless: Cheerless?

Cheerless: Sorry, I was thinking about a pile of bacon and a lemonade.

Peerless: That seems like a good place to end.