The Washington Capitals hit the Philadelphia Flyers so hard
and so often last night that it left us without access to the Web or to any of
our applications to do a post-game write-up.
But when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, and the refreshing
product (or so we hope) is a package of five takeaways and five throwaways from
Game 1.
Takeaways…
-- The scoring lines had an interesting breakdown of shot
attempts. The top line of Alex Ovechkin,
Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie had just three shot attempts at even strength
(two for Ovechkin, one for Backstrom), but on the power play they combined for
14 shots attempts (nine by Ovechkin, three for Oshie, and two by
Backstrom). If the Caps keep getting
looks like that on the man-advantage, the Flyers are going to have problems.
-- The second line, on the other hand, piled up the attempts
at fives. Evgeny Kuznetsov (7), Justin
Williams (3), and Andre Burakovsky (2) combined for 12 shot attempts. They did not get much power play action (five
combined shot attempts), but if the second line can get their share of shot
attempts against the bottom two pairs of Flyer defensemen, it could spell more
trouble for the orange and black.
-- Two similar situations ended very differently and it
might have been the difference in this game.
There was a point in the game when Mike Richards was flattened by a
Brayden Schenn. Tom Wilson stepped in to express his displeasure. Richards
jumped up and pushed Wilson away, avoiding what might have been a Flyer power
play. Later, when Wilson boarded Andy MacDonald
with the Caps nursing a one-goal lead, there was no Flyer who stepped in to
keep Simmons from getting in Wilson’s face.
Instead of a Flyer power play, the Caps got off with coincidental minors
to Simmons (roughing) and Wilson (boarding), in addition to their respective
fighting majors. Three minutes later,
the Caps scored an insurance goal.
That’s one of those “leadership” intangibles that does not show up in
the numbers, except perhaps in the final score.
-- Marcus Johansson is expected to contribute offense, even
as a third liner in this series. But he
showed he can contribute in a variety of ways, even when his own offense isn’t
quite there. Despite the fact that he
had just one shot attempt in the game, it was his stripping Jakub Voracek of
the puck just on the Flyers’ side of the red line that started the play that
provided the insurance goal. And do not
discount that subtle little move on his part at the end of the play, when he
drew the puck back, pulling defenseman
Brandon Manning just a little more out of the middle of the ice, creating a
better lane for Jay Beagle to fill in, take Johansson’s pass, and snap the puck
past goalie Steve Mason. Johansson had
the primary assist on both goals.
-- Shayne Gostisbehere is a gifted offensive player for a
rookie defenseman. But a rookie he is,
and he was caught in something of a
no-man’s land after stepping out of the penalty box just as Marcus Johansson
was stripping Jakub Voracek of the puck at center ice. He had a decision to make in real time. Head to the bench for a player to jump on, or
break it off and fill in the middle, into which Jay Beagle was skating. He continued to the bench, leaving a lot of
open ice in the middle for Beagle to take advantage of, and that is precisely
what Beagle did. It was just one moment,
but it might be something to watch for – Gostibehere’s decision making in the
defensive side of the red line.
Throwaways…
-- This is the fifth
time that the Caps and Flyers have faced one another in the postseason. In the previous four, the Caps won Game 1
three times. They lost two of those
series (1989, 2008). They won last
night. Don’t read anything into it.
-- Game 1 was the
sixth straight home playoff game without a goal for Alex Ovechkin. He has one goal in his last ten postseason
games at Verizon Center. Mount St.
Helens was quiet, too...until it wasn’t.
-- Tom Wilson was
either incredibly stupid for his boarding Andy MacDonald in the third period or
incredibly brilliant for goading Wayne Simmonds into a roughing-fighting set of
penalties that snuffed out what might have been a power play. Split the difference. He was incredibly lucky. And that is not the sort of luck you want to
count on.
-- John Carlson’s
game-winning power play goal has been described in some quarters as being the
product of a lucky bounce or two, His
shot hit both Chris VandeVelde and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on its way past
goalie Steve Mason. Yeah, well, how many
times has that “luck” been on the other side of the Caps in the postseason, starting
with this goal that ever so lightly got enough of Rod Langway’s stick to elude
goalie Bob Mason deep into a seventh game…
Ever since then, it seems that when the hockey gods ladle
out luck in the soup line, the Caps are in the rest room.
-- Caps fans seem
quite confident after Game 1. Put that
nonsense away. If time should teach
anything to Caps fans, it is that every game is its own story. What happens in today’s game might have
absolutely no bearing on the next one, or the one after that. Yes, the Flyers losing Sean Couturier for the
series is quite a blow that could ripple through this series. But don’t count on it. Every game is its own story.
Photo: Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images