The Washington Capitals and Easter. Two things that have never co-existed easily. There was the 1987 “Easter Epic,” the 3-2 Game 7, four-overtime loss to the New York Islanders that ended in the wee hours of Easter morning. There was 2003, a 4-3 triple-overtime loss in a series clinching Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning that at least ended with the sun still in the sky to light the way home for disappointed fans.
Last night, the Caps and Easter met once more, and this time
the catalyst for overtime disappointment was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who took
a 4-3 double-overtime win. OK, the game
ended officially at 11:36 on Saturday night, not Easter morning, but the Easter
baskets had already been laid out. And
speaking of which, perhaps we can pry Cheerless away from his chocolate bunnies
long enough to join Fearless and me to talk about this game. Cheerless?
CHEERLESS?!?!?
Cheerless… mmph, whut?
I’m drowning my sorrows in milk chocolate. OK, OK.
In the first game, the top line was absent. Managed just a power play assist from T.J.
Oshie. Second line got a couple of goals
from Justin Williams (one on a power play) and an assist from Evgeny
Kuznetsov. Last night, the top line came
alive with goals from Alex Ovechkin (power play) and Nicklas Backstrom, with an
assist from Oshie on Ovechkin’s goal.
Meanwhile, the third line of Lars Eller, Andre Burakovsky, and Brett
Connolly… one assist in two games (Burakovsky).
This was what was missing last spring against Pittsburgh, who had that HBK
line or MSG or POS line or whatever they called it that was the
difference. This year, the Caps were
supposed to have put together a third, threatening line. And for a lot of the regular season, it
was. Two games…bupkis.
Fearless… You would
like to think that if the Caps get to three, fans would celebrate in glee. The Caps were 46-2-1 in the regular season
when they scored three or more goals. They
were a perfect 24-0-0 on home ice when scoring three or more goals. In two games so far, all getting to “three”
has meant is overtime, which can be a crap shoot. OK, so they only got to “three” with that
overtime win in Game 1.
*****
Fearless… You win the shot attempts, at 5-on-5, 91-76, and
win the shots on goal, 40-37, you probably win more often than you lose. But four total goals allowed? At home?
Happened just four times in 41 home games all season. The rarity of the event suggests it is not
likely to happen again.
Cheerless… It’s not the four, it’s the three that got them
to four, cuz. It is not as if it was new
to the Maple Leafs, not even on that sheet of ice. Toronto scored four goals in the first 34
minutes of their January 3rd game at Verizon Center and finished
with five in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Caps.
Those five goals, in the Maple Leafs’ only visit to Verizon Center
before the playoffs, were the most goals scored by an opponent on that sheet of
ice all season. Doesn’t seem they’re all
that intimidated by the Caps and their record at home.
*****
Cheerless… That old problem sat back up and bit the boys in
the bee-hind. Too many penalties, too
many shorthanded situations to skate off.
After allowing the Maple Leafs just one swig from the jug in Game 1,
they let the Maple Leafs get their fill of five power plays in Game 2. But again, here’s the thing. The Caps were 8-0-0 in regular season games
at home in which they allowed five or more power plays, including the 6-5 win
over Toronto on January 3rd in which they allowed the Maple Leafs
six power plays. But even if the Leafs don’t
convert, it robs the Caps of getting ice time for valuable performers. Alex Ovechkin skated just 2:57 in the first
period in which the Leafs had the benefit of three power plays. They didn’t score on any of them, but taking
Ovechkin off the ice for all or part of the five minutes or so the Leafs spent
on power plays in that period helped keep the Caps from generating much early
momentum.
Feerless… The Caps’
own power play performance was impressive.
They had five power play chances of their own, and the eight they have
in two games is tied for third-most in the league. They were 2-for-5 last night, bringing their
two-game total to three goals in eight chances, their 37.5 percent conversion
rate being best in the league. Last
night the Caps got power play goals from both units and had power play points
from six different players.
*****
Feerless… Like Peerless is fond of saying, “it’s first to
four, not first to one.” A seven-game
series sounds short, but there is a lot that gets packed into a seven-game
series. One of those things is injuries. Toronto was already missing defenseman Nikita
Zaitsev with what might be a concussion.
Last night they lost another defenseman, Roman Polak, with what looked
like an ankle injury he sustained after catching a skate after being hit by
Brooks Orpik. The injury ends Polak’s
season, and with Zaitsev’s status in this series uncertain, the Leafs, already
with a young and untested in the playoffs blueline, got that much thinner. One never wishes injury on another team, but
it is what comes with a sport that features violent collisions and uncertain
footing.
Cheerless… A team can only play the team in front of it,
injuries or not, and if the Caps are facing a thinner Toronto blue line, they
have to do a better job of taking advantage of that situation. Polak went out at the 13:55 mark of the
second period. Thirty seconds after that
incident, Toronto scored, tying the game at 2-2. The Caps managed just one goal in almost 58
minutes after Polak’s injury with the Leafs down to five defensemen. Give the Maple Leafs credit for rallying to
the situation. But if the Leafs are
missing both Zaitsev and Polak for some, most, or all of the rest of this
series, the Caps have to do a better job of imposing their will on the defense the
Leafs put on the ice.
*****
Cheerless… Thirteen times in Caps history the team split
Games 1 and 2 at home. Nine times, they
lost the series. Now, franchise history
spanning more than 30 years in which these series took place doesn’t mean a lot
in the here and now, but since 2008, the Caps are 1-3 in such series, and that
matters a bit more. Players and fans
will, no doubt, have different memories.
Fans might be inclined to remember every wrong turn, every bad break,
every iffy call, and every stroke of bad luck the team suffered in putting together
that record. The players? Huh?...what series? What are you talking about?
Fearless… The Caps have four wins in those 13 series they split
Games 1 and 2 at home. Two of them came
in the first three series on their way to the Stanley Cup finals in 1998. Not all roads are smooth and
pothole-free. Keep your hands on the
wheel, and keep the car in “drive.” Just
move forward.
*****
Peerless… The Caps have never swept a best-of-seven
series. Ever. Only three times have they dispatched a team
in five games, none since 2011 when they beat the New York Rangers in that span
of games. The Caps don’t do short
series. This one offered the possibility
of such a series, but the Maple Leafs are giving every indication of not
knuckling under to the Caps’ depth and experience. They seem disinclined to just thank the
hockey gods for the experience of a postseason.
But the growing confidence of the Maple Leafs should be tempered with
the realization that they will be challenged to shore up a defense depleted by
injury. It is an opportunity for the
Caps, a challenge for the upstarts. It
is one of the subplots that might be the dominant story line heading into Game
3.
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