Game 5: Caps 3 - Flyers 2

“It’s work hard, or go home, and working hard is a lot more fun.”

-- Eric Fehr, speaking after the game on Caps radio

That’s pretty much today in a nutshell, as the Caps worked from beginning to end (with a few anxious moments in period three in-between) to stave off elimination – that, by the way, is the only time that verb is used – in a 3-2 win at Verizon Center this afternoon.

Let’s just dive into the game – sort of like a Capital taking aim at a Flyer – ok?

-- Sergei Fedorov, Cristobal Huet, and Vaclav Prospal might have been awarded the game’s three stars, but Bruce Boudreau might have nailed it on the head in the post-game press conference when he opined that Donald Brashear might have been the best player on the ice in this game. It says a lot about the kind of game it was…in 6:52 of playing time, Brashear had seven hits and was pursuing Flyers all over the ice. He even had a couple of scoring chances for good measure.

-- And, speaking of the kind of game it was…82 hits were recorded, the Caps credited with 44 of them. Only Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Poti failed to register at least one among the skaters. Matt Bradley, Matt Cooke, David Steckel, and Brashear had 20 of the Caps’ number.

-- In other sports, when the big part of your game isn’t there, you have to make up for it by doing the other things…in baseball, if you’re not hitting, you have to play good defense; in basketball, shooters gone cold have to pass and play defense. Alex Ovechkin is in a goal scoring drought, but he was not lacking for effort in the other aspects of the game…three hits, a blocked shot, and a lot of time pestering Flyers in their zone as they were trying to break out with the puck. Watching Ovechkin, it would be tempting to say he’s holding the stick a little too tight, but such is not the case. He is this close to breaking out with a multi-goal game. In this one he got the puck in better scoring areas for one-timers and wrist shots, but just couldn’t find the back of the net behind goalie Martin Biron. We did like his flipping Jim Dowd into the Flyer bench.

-- Just an observation…does Alexander Semin look more comfortable out there with Nicklas Backstrom as his center, instead of Sergei Fedorov? When the latter was centering the second line, it seemed Semin was skating almost in reverence to who it was on his right, tying his game in knots. Now that he and the rookie are paired, both look rather comfortable with one another (although we’re starting to think Backstrom could be comfortable centering Jason Alexander as much as Semin or Ovechkin).

-- The Flyers had one shot – one – in 25:37 of game time spanning the first and second periods. It was as complete an exhibition of team-defense as the Caps have displayed this year.

-- You might not know it, but the Caps welcomed an NHL player today – Eric Fehr. The youngster launched seven shots at the Flyer net (ok, only one made it to the net), but in ten minutes and change of ice time, he also had a couple of hits, played diligently in forechecking in the Flyers’ end, and wasn’t backing down from anyone. We don’t think Fehr will be sitting any more in this series.

-- 33-17…that’s not a good number, not the first one, anyway. That is the turnover result for the Caps and Flyers (giveaways yielded plus takeaways by the opponent).

-- The Caps seemed to have better awareness of where Daniel Briere was when he was on the ice. Look, Briere is a small guy playing in the NHL…he hasn’t gotten to this level without figuring out how to avoid the bigger trees in the forest. You’re thinking some Cap should plant him? It’s a nice thought, but put it out of your mind. Being aware of where he is and denying him chances is what the Caps need to do, and did a better job of today.

-- The Caps had 26 shots (only six in the third period, to the Flyers’ 21)…Ovechkin, Semin, Fedorov, and Backstrom had 19 of them.

-- Mike Knuble is out for the remainder of the series, suffering a significant hamstring injury when his skate hit a rut while he was killing off a penalty in the second period.

-- “The squeaky wheel gets the grease, there…their coach has been complaining since the start of the series about that stuff.”

...Flyers’ coach John Stevens, commenting on the goaltender interference call on Scottie Upshall in the third period. There seemed to be a lot of “squeakin’” going on by Flyer players on the ice, though.

-- The shot chart was stunning…the shot pattern for the Caps indicated many more shots in scoring areas than was the case for the Flyers…

-- Steve Eminger had another solid game…three hits, two blocked shots. He was on the ice for the Hatcher goal, but that was more of a coverage problem at the top of the zone. And, Eminger is something of a good luck charm…the Caps are now, what, 16-6-1 when he’s in the lineup?

Another quote from Stevens, speaking about what to expect on Monday…

“We’re gonna dictate from the drop of the puck”

It’ll be loud, it’ll be hostile, it’ll be ferocious…

…but we’ll see you, Tuesday night.

From Which Dreams Are Made

Capitals Rise from the Ashes, Defeat Flyers in Electrifying Seventh Game


Washington (peerlesspress), April 23. The Washington Capitals completed a remarkable comeback from a three games to one deficit in their first round playoff match with the Philadelphia Flyers, beating the Flyers 5-4 in the third overtime period last night in Washington.

The Capitals became the 21st team in NHL history to rebound from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series. This is the second time they have accomplished the feat, the other also at the expense of the Flyers in 1988.

The game winning goal was scored on a penalty shot in the third overtime, awarded when defenseman Derian Hatcher was whistled for closing his hand on the puck in the goaltender’s crease. Alex Ovechkin, whose hat trick in Game 6 in Philadelphia set the stage for a thrilling conclusion to this series, was picked by Capitals’ coach Bruce Boudreau to take the potential game-winning shot.

The deafening roar of a capacity crowd on its feet spurring Ovechkin on, the MVP-favorite skated in on Flyer goaltender Martin Biron, and using an old trick of kicking his leg up in the air before shooting, he snapped a forehand over Biron’s glove, knocking the water bottle off of the netting and the Capitals into the second round of the playoffs. The Capitals will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round.

Ovechkin’s heroics capped a furious comeback by the Capitals that eerily resembled the comeback they fashioned when the defeated the Flyers by the same score in Game 7 of their first round series in 1988. The Flyers raced to a 3-0 first period lead on goals by Daniel Briere, R.J. Umberger, and Jeff Carter, turning the Verizon Center crowd quiet. However, the Capitals found life when Steve Eminger found the back of the net early in the second period on a drive from the left point.

Just over a minute later, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom worked a give-and-go play to pull the Caps within a goal, Semin converting the return pass from Backstrom on a backhand deke past Biron.

The Caps tied the game with less than a minute remaining in the second period on a power play. Sergei Fedorov, working from the half wall, worked the puck to Backstrom at the Flyer goal line. Backstrom wasted no time in feeding the puck to Ovechkin at the left wing circle hash marks, from where Ovechkin one-timed the puck past Biron’s blocker.

The Flyers regained the lead at the 10:46 mark of the third period on a goal-mouth scramble. Mike Knuble recreated his game-four winning goal by batting home a loose puck over Capitals’ goaltender Cristobal Huet’s left pad.

The Capitals tied the game for the final time with less than three minutes in regulation as Ovechkin raced down the left wing, drawing two Flyers to him as he entered the offensive zone. His way blocked, Ovechkin pulled up and found Viktor Kozlov coming late into the zone. Kozlov stepped around defenseman Braydon Coburn and fired a wrist shot through Biron that had the Capitals leaping off their bench and the Verizon Center fans in a frenzy.

The overtime periods were not without their moments. Daniel Briere had a breakaway late in the first overtime, but whiffed on a shot attempt. Mike Richards had an open net in the second overtime after a drive was kicked aside by Huet, but he misfired when he shot the puck off the heel of his stick, breaking his stick in the process.

In the third overtime, the Capitals mounted a serious threat when the Flyers were unable to clear the puck from the defensive zone. Mike Green twice intercepted clearing attempts to keep the offensive pressure on. Shaone Morrisonn then knocked down a clearing attempt, feeding the puck along the boards to Sergei Fedorov. Fedorov took a step in the direction of the Flyers’ net, then snapped a pass across to Ovechkin in the left wing circle. Ovechkin’s shot hit Biron in the mask and popped into the air. When the puck fell into the crease, a mad scramble ensued, and Derian Hatcher found himself within arm’s reach of the puck and Fedorov about to pounce. Hatcher reached out and pulled the puck under his body, upon which referee Mike Hasenfratz pointed to center ice, signaling a penalty shot.

After a few moments of suspense, Ovechkin skated slowly to center ice, alone in his thoughts as the crowd noise shook the building. Ovechkin at first could not hear the referee blowing his whistle to give Ovechkin the signal to take the shot, and the referee had to skate over to Ovechkin to send him on his way. With a short hop, Ovechkin got underway, skating slowly in on Biron, who had come almost to the hash marks to defend the rush. Ovechkin had the puck on his forehand and offered a leg kick to try to distract Biron. The goalie did not flinch, but then Ovechkin closed his stick to suggest he was going to his backhand. Biron edged ever so slightly to his right to defend the move, and it was all the opening Ovechkin needed. He snapped the puck over Biron’s glove with a forehand to send the water bottle flying, and the comeback was complete.

The Capitals poured off the bench to greet Ovechkin, and Biron skated dejectedly to his bench, having been the losing goaltender in each of the last three games of this series.

The Capitals, given up for dead after a heartbreaking double overtime loss to the Flyers in game four of this series, put themselves in a position to take this series with a 5-3 win in game five, in Washington, and then a wild 7-5 win in Philadelphia in which Ovechkin registered his first six-point game in the NHL (hat trick, three assists).

Notes…Ovechkin – held to a single goal in the first four games of the series – scored six goals, including the penalty shot game and series winner, in the last three games of the series. Martin Biron, who allowed only 11 goals on 111 shots in the first four games of the series, allowed 16 goals on 105 shots in games five, six, and seven. Steve Eminger scored a goal for the fourth consecutive game. This is the Capitals’ first playoff series victory since defeating the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference final in 1998.

photo: Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 5, Caps vs. Flyers

You're going to see and hear a lot today about "desperation" and the Caps fighting for their playoff lives, when in fact, the whole idea is this...

...it's a game you've been playing and dreaming about since you were kids. Just go out and have fun, boys...



Caps 5 - Flyers 3

This isn't the first time...

The past few days, you couldn't swing a dead cat without a review of the play of Alex Ovechkin that suggested (without using the word) that he's been a flop in his maiden playoff appearance.

To refresh one's memory, Ovechkin is 1-4-5, -3, in four games thus far (we'll leave out that he's also been credited with 26 hits in four games, which might be more hits than the Nats have so far this season).

But let's go back to another player, in another time. He, too, struggled in his maiden NHL playoff appearance...

...three games, two goals, one assist, no wins (although two games in the three-game sweep were settled in overtime).

The player?...Wayne Gretzky

The opponent?...The Philadelphia Flyers

Game 4: Flyers 4 - Caps 3 (2OT)

What is wrong with this picture?...

It captures the Capitals’ performance in a nutshell. The right people, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Why is Alex Ovechkin in this shot and not a defenseman?

Why is Mike Knuble all alone?

The Capitals were pushed to the brink of elimination last night by the Philadelphia Flyers, who took a 3-1 lead in games after a 4-3 double-overtime win over the Caps in Philadelphia.

It might not have been a heroic effort on the part of the Caps, but it was close. After taking a punch in the nose 42 seconds into the game, courtesy of Jeff Carter, the Caps came right back with a goal by Nicklas Backstrom – his first of the series – making Bruce Boudreau look like a genius for switching him with Sergei Fedorov between the top two forward lines.

In fact, the game was unfolding pretty much the way a Caps fan might have hoped. The Backstrom goal converted the first power play the Caps had in this game (and was scored on an assist from the well-attended Ovechkin). They took a lead on a goal (another power play) from Alexander Semin – a player who had to lift his game in light of what the Flyers were doing to neutralize Ovechkin. Even when the Flyers scored late in the first to tie a wild first period, the Caps responded with a goal from the most unlikely of sources – Steve Eminger.

But the team with the seventh-best record in the NHL when leading after two periods this year could not hold that 3-2 lead. The team that was 21st in the league when trailing after two periods – four wins in 32 games – found a way to tie the game…on a power play…after a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty, the second such infraction of the game. And the goal was scored by, who else, Daniel Briere, who up to that point seemed to be trying to do his level best to give the Caps the game on a platter, having taken three minor penalties of the incredibly silly variety before the game was 13 minutes old.

Almost 44 minutes later, there was Knuble at the doorstep, whacking in a loose puck. It might have been a hammer driving a stake into the Capitals’ hopes of winning this series.

The Capitals did a lot of things right, and got them from a lot of different places…

- Alex Ovechkin had 10 hits

- Tom Poti had five blocked shots

- Boyd Gordon won 12 of 18 draws

- Nicklas Backstrom had six shots – tying his high for the year and coming on the heels of only one shot in each of the first three games -- to go with his goal and an assist.

- Milan Jurcina had four blocked shots

- Huet had his best game of the series, stopping 42 of 46 shots

But the Caps were less than the sum of their parts tonight, because there were things they didn’t do, too…

- Ovechkin was held to one shot on goal, none in the last 51:16 of the game.

- The normally reliable David Steckel lost nine of 12 draws.

- Viktor Kozlov was quiet…again (no points, although he did have five shots…he is 0-0-0, -5 for the series)

- Sergei Fedorov was 0-0-0, -2 and is 0-0-0, -4 in three games since recording his lone point in the series (an assist) in Game 1.

- Shaone Morrisonn and Mike Green were a combined -5 – Morrisonn was on the ice for each of the Flyers’ four goals (lingering effects from his “upper body” injury sustained a couple of weeks ago?).

What is especially frustrating about this series is that in no game – not even game three – have the Caps been thoroughly dominated by the Flyers. The Flyers have been better – not by much, but just enough and consistently so. There is that hump in each game that the Caps just haven’t been able to clear. Last night it might have been converting on the second half of the 5-on-3 advantage they had in the first that could have put them up 3-1 in the first period and put the Flyers on their heels. What the Caps are learning – the hard way, to be sure – is that you don’t get a lot of chances at playoff time. You’d better convert the ones you get…

…just ask Mike Knuble.

There are three names from the Caps’ past to keep in mind now…Kevin Hatcher, Bengt Gustafsson, and Dale Hunter.

They were the scorers of the game winning goals the last time the Caps faced a 1-3 deficit to the Flyers in a playoff series. Who will be this year’s Hatcher, Gustafsson, and Hunter?

Which team...

...has only one center who is smaller than 6'1, 201?....has no center bigger than 200 pounds?

...has one right wing smaller than 205 pounds...has one right wing bigger than 205 pounds?

...has no left wings under 200 pounds...has one left wing (who will actually play) bigger than 200 pounds?

...has no defenseman under 200 pounds...has at least two defensemen smaller than 200 pounds?

...the Caps...the Flyers, respectively.

We're just sayin'...

Your "stat-to-watch" in Game 4

oh-for-seven...

That is the Capitals' power play success in the first period over the first three games...one chance in Game 1, four chances in Game 2, two chances in Game 3.

No goals.

More to the point, the Caps are oh-for-six in the first period in the two games they lost and ended up outscored by a total of 5-1 in those two first periods.

For all the talk about the Flyers' physicality and making themselves a nuisance, the games have just as likely turned on the Capitals' inability to take advantage of early opportunities to put the Flyers behind the eight-ball.

Fail on the power play, give the team a lift, let them score, find yourself playing catch-up. That's been the script of the last two games. What the Capitals need is to bury those early chances...and we're betting they'll get some again, tonight.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 4, Caps vs. Flyers

Martin Drydeniron

Guy LaBriere

Larry Robinsononen

16 games…one goal, five assists, -4…no wins in three series

40 games…13-24-37, -1

No games…no wins…no saves…nothing.

The playoff career results of three Flyers before this year. One is being remade into the image of Larry Robinson on the blue line, the other Guy Lafleur on the front line, and finally, one in the image of Ken Dryden.

One hasn’t been on the ice for a goal against, another is tied for second in points-per-game in the playoffs, and the last has a shutout among his two wins (despite rather pedestrian save percentage numbers).

We’re being made to believe the Caps are playing the 1978 Montreal Canadiens.

They’re playing a team that won fewer games (42 to 43).

They’re playing a team that gave up more goals (233 to 231).

They’re playing a team that had a 10-game winless streak less than two months ago.

Crash Davis, in the movie, “Bull Durham,” remarked that you had to be “cocky and arrogant, even when you're getting beat. That's the secret. You gotta play this game with fear and arrogance.”

Being down two games to one should be enough to instill, at this point, a hint of fear…of failure. But the Caps also need to exhibit some of the arrogance they exhibited in coming back from 15th place to grab a playoff spot, of the sort that had them winning 11 of 12 games in the stretch, when most pundits were writing them off.

Flyers want to play chippy?...screw ‘em. You know how to play winning hard-nosed hockey?!...

YOU PLAY LIKE A GODDAMN WILDMAN! NO! LIKE A GODDAMN RAMPAGING BEAST! YOU GO OUT THERE! YOU TEAR THEIR F*CKING HEADS OFF, AND YOU SH*T DOWN THEIR NECKS!*

It’s one thing to respect an opponent…it is another to show deference to that opponent (def: respectful submission to, or yielding to the will of another). The Caps have exhibited too much of the latter in this series. These are not the 1978 Canadiens…that’s Martin Biron, not Ken Dryden…Kimmo Timonen, not Larry Robinson…Daniel Briere, not Guy LaFleur.

Caps 3 - Flyers 2

* We're paraphrasing a line uttered by Robert Loggia -- or perhaps growled is the more accurate verb -- in the immortal film, "Necessary Roughness."

Caps-Flyers...it's not a goalie series

Not based on save percentages, anyway...

...but, with all due respect to the way Cristobal Huet played down the stretch, did someone know something up in Montreal?

Hey...need a locker room quote?

Then thank Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, Phil Sheridan for this one...

"Ovechkin often seems to be wandering around, waiting for something to happen. Briere is constantly making things happen."

Game 3: Flyers 6 - Caps 3

It isn’t so much that the Caps lost to the Philadelphia Flyers last night, 6-3. It is how they did it. They were outshot, outhit, outworked, and out-attituded (ok, it’s not a word), as well as outscored. The Flyers imposed their will early and never allowed the Caps much of a respite, despite the Caps providing some anxious moments for the home team in the third period.

Games are almost never all about the numbers, but the numbers are especially revealing in this one and in this series through three games. There is one number from this game that leaps off the page…

25…That is the number of Capitals’ shots the Flyers blocked. That number is more than the total number of shots on goal (19) registered by the Caps. Ten different Flyers had at least one (the Caps had 11 total blocked shots). It is an especially significant statistic given the unfortunate experience Patrick Thoresen had in blocking a shot in Game 1. The Flyers paid, and continue to pay a price for success in this series. Thoresen, it should be noted, played in this game (no, he didn’t have a blocked shot, but he did register two shots of his own -- more than Alexander Semin, Viktor Kozlov, or Nicklas Backstrom).

Then there was these numbers…

153…It took the Flyers that many seconds late in the first period to score three goals (wrapped around a goal by Eric Fehr) and accomplish the dual goals of putting the Caps on their heels and get the crowd revved up even more than they were.

4…the Flyers scored that many goals in the last two minutes of a period (two in the first, one in the second, the empty netter in the third).

19…when the thought-to-be weak link for the opponent is the goaltender – one who might be forgiven for being a bit distracted with the birth of his child the previous day – getting only 19 shots on goal isn’t going to get things done.

5-3-1…those are the shot totals for Alexander Semin in each of the three games. If Philly is going to take Ovechkin away – and they’ve done a very good job of that so far – others have to step up, Semin foremost among them.

1-3-4, -2…that’s the combined line of the second line (Semin, Sergei Fedorov, Matt Cooke/Brooks Laich) over three games – the goal belongs to Laich, scored last night. If that line doesn’t improve, this series is probably over.

12.5…the Caps’ power play conversion rate (in percent, 2-for-16). 16 chances is not bad, but the Caps have not made the Flyers pay any sort of price for their indiscretions. The Flyers will continue, and probably increase, their friskiness – especially so as it concerns running goalie Cristobal Huet – as long as the Caps go meekly through power play opportunities.

70…that’s the total number of shots the Caps have recorded in three games.

57…that’s the number of Caps’ shots the Flyers have blocked in three games.

+2…that’s the best plus/minus on the club...Eric Fehr and Donald Brashear. That’s right, Eric Fehr and Donald Brashear.

12...the number of shots for Ovechkin. Here is his shot chart through three games. He’s being pushed to areas from which he is not nearly as likely to score.


0-0-0, -3, five shots…that would be Viktor Kozlov through three games.

0-1-1, -1, two shots…that would be Nicklas Backstrom through three games…one assist, -4, and seven shots in three games from two-thirds of the top line. And these guys are presumably skating in clearer ice with so much attention being paid to Ovechkin. Actually, they’re not, but that is evidence of the effort being put forth by the Flyers, which the Caps have not matched. Despise them, we do, but we have to respect the ethic they have displayed in three games. They have not so much outplayed the Caps as outworked them. And at this time of year, “will” is as important as “skill.”

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 3, Caps vs. Flyers

Today's theme...visualization and reinforcement. For two games we have seen a little too much of this in Martin Biron's neighborhood...

...when what we want to see is some of this...

...which leads to this...

...and this...

...and this...

...and this...

...and, of course, this...

...which will make Marty feel like this...

...and Caps Nation feel like this...

Caps 4 - Flyers 3

Flyers 2 - Caps 0...we're tied, 1-1

OK, so 16-0 was a stretch.

The Caps lost, 2-0, yesterday to the Philadelphia Flyers to even the series at a game apiece. The series moves to Philadelphia for games 3 and 4 Tuesday and Thursday.

It still seems that there are games when the Caps look like they’re trying to cut corners, and this looked like one of them. For all intents and purposes, the game was decided in the first period, specifically when the Caps failed to put bodies in front of Flyer goaltender Martin Biron on four power plays that yielded five shots and no goals.

The Caps, meanwhile, played too loose on defense, allowing R.J. Umberger to split the seam at the Capitals blue line and take a long pass from Braydon Coburn so that he could break in alone and beat Cristobal Huet. Then, Mike Green was taken off the puck and off his feet as he was moving up ice, creating a two-on-one the other way for Mike Knuble and Jeff Carter on Shaone Morrisonn. Huet made the initial save on the Knuble shot, but Carter followed up for the goal that would end the scoring.

The Caps did not play well, but neither did they play so poorly. Huet, who gave up two goals on the Flyers first eight shots, stopped the last 33. Alex Ovechkin, who was dormant for long stretches of Game 1, had five shots, attempted six others, and had five hits. The second line – Matt Cooke in particular – played in a bit of bad luck as Biron saved his best work for that line in turning away chances.

If there was a big difference between this game and game 1, it was possession. The Caps tilted the rink steeply toward the Flyer end in game 1. In this game, especially as it wore on, the reverse was true. Part of that was losing the battles in the circles. The Caps were 58 percent on draws in game 1, 44 percent yesterday. Sergei Fedorov was the player most victimized in the reversal, going 55 percent in game 1, 32 percent yesterday.

Another part of it was lack of follow up. The Caps enjoyed a nice flurry in the first period right after the Flyer’s first goal in the first period with Boyd Gordon and Brooks Laich taking turns on Biron, which ended in a penalty to the Flyers. And then, immediately thereafter, a flurry from Alexander Semin, Ovechkin, and Nicklas Backstrom. However, that was more or less it, as the Caps got pushed to the outside...

One thing that occurs to us looking at the numbers is this…of the 24 shots, 16 came from the top two lines of forwards. That left eight shots for 12 other skaters. No other forward had more than one (and none of those in the second period as the Caps were trying to close the two-goal gap). The defensemen had a total of four. They were taken out of the game in the offensive end of the ice. The Flyers aren't getting to an Alex Ovechkin, but they are making guys like Mike Green and Tomas Fleischmann pay a price. Although Biron played well, he was given too much time off between facing the top scoring lines. Even if the third and fourth lines, and defensemen don’t score – they’re not expected to put up big point numbers – they are going to have to make Biron work a little harder, to tenderize him just a bit for the big guys to do their work.

Series take on a personality, eventually, but so far that has not happened. What does seem to be coming into focus, though, is that this series is going to turn on how well Washington plays, specifically on how much energy and pressure they can put on Biron. When Washington played well – the first ten minutes of the first two periods and the third period of Friday – they dominated the Flyers. When their energy is off, or they are not paying a price in front, or cutting corners (lack of a forecheck, for example), they are letting the Flyers back into the game.

This is best to four, not best to one (you’ll get sick of seeing that in these spaces, if you’re not already), and the series is 1-1. Wholesale changes are not needed, but unleashing the fury – as the saying goes – for 60 minutes is. If there are to be any changes between now and Tuesday, we’re wondering if Tomas Fleischmann sits in favor of Eric Fehr (Fleischmann looks overmatched physically in this series). And an attitude adjustment in their own zone is in order as Huet is spending too much time picking Flyers off his sweater. If the Caps (not to mention the officials) allow the Flyers to jostle Huet with impunity, it will be difficult to get to four.

The eight-game winning streak is over. Now, they have to stop the bleeding, and at this time of year, losing consecutive games would constitute the sort of bleeding to be avoided. They might have to bleed in more conventional ways to do so. Much will be (and is being) made about the Flyers’ orneriness in this series. The Caps have actually outhit the Flyers, 72-61, in the two games. But here is another way to think of that…are the Caps taking a hit to make a play? They were not doing that on the power play yesterday (and for a fair portion of even-strength play), preferring the artistic to the functional. The Caps won both games in Philly this year; it should not be an intimidating experience, much as the fans and players will try to make it one.

Loud?...take it from a man who should know...

"Tonight was the loudest it's ever been for me. It's like 60 minutes non-stop. I had a broken stick, and I couldn't hear it break because it was so loud." -- Sergei Fedorov





photos: Nick Wass/AP, Greg Fiume/Getty Images

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Flyers, Game 2

Yes, we know...it's early. But we're going to be on the road today, and we thought we get things rolling for tomorrow with an early prognosto...

The odd thing about a 5-4 game...both teams had moments they could hang their respective hats on. Both teams could say, "if we play like that..."

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Which team can impose its will on the other. For stretches last night each team did just that. The Caps had the first half of the first and second periods, the Flyers the second half of those periods.

The Caps owned the third, and in that there is a lesson. What the Caps did in the third period was correct errors of execution they were guilty of in the first two periods -- not moving their feet in the offensive zone, lack of a forecheck -- that got them in deep trouble.

The Flyers have a different problem. Is Martin Biron the goalie to win this series for them? There is already a headline in Philadelphia asking precisely this question. Here is the argument offered by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Phil Sheridan...

"There is a difference between being a good NHL goaltender and being the kind of goaltender who can carry a team through a playoff run. To borrow a phrase from The Godfather, you need a goalie to be a 'wartime consigliere.'

Last night, Biron was Tom Hagen. Good, but not a wartime consigliere."

Biron was good at times last night. He was never great (neither was Cristobal Huet, but he had less help in getting looks at the puck). If this comes down to a goaltending series, it is an open question whether the Flyers aren't going to come up a bit short.

The Caps can -- and did -- correct (if for one game) the things that were putting them in a hole. The Flyers might not find that so easy to do.

Caps 4 - Flyers 2.

Best wishes and get well soon to Flyer forward Patrick Thoresen, who gave new meaning to "taking one for the team" last night, when he blocked a Mike Green drive by taking the puck to the groin. This is a hard enough way to make a living without having to risk permanent injury. Whatever jersey a player wears, one has to respect the desire to make a play that would lead a player to give himself up in that fashion. Get well soon, Patrick.

CAPS WIN! CAPS WIN!! CAPS WIN!!! -- Caps 5 - Flyers 4

"Ovechkin can score six goals [in Game 1] if he wants to. As long as we win 7-6 or 8-6, I'll be fine with it. . . . It's about the Flyers. It's about winning and moving on."

-- Daniel Briere

Hey, Spearchucker…one will do. And that would be the game-winner. And he had the primary assist on the game-tying goal. So, Danny, you have two goals, to Ovechkin’s one, but look who has the one-game lead.

The Caps’ 5-4 win over the Flyers tonight gives this series the look of a long one ahead, but getting the first game under one’s belt is never a bad thing. And in this first one, there were enough “firsts” to go around.

First…this is the first time – ever – that the Caps have come back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to win a playoff game.

Some other firsts…

Matt Bradley had his first career playoff points – a pair of assists – after going his first ten games (all with San Jose) without one.

Mike Green’s first playoff game and playoff goal (and second playoff goal…one that looked somewhat “Orr-rific”)

Alex Ovechkin’s first playoff game, playoff assist and playoff goal

David Steckel’s first playoff goal

John Erskine’s first playoff game and playoff point…Ditto Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin

This one has to leave a persistent buzz in the Flyers' heads. They played as perfect a game as they could expect to play against Ovechkin, holding him without a shot on goal for almost 53 minutes. To his credit, Ovechkin didn’t show frustration and didn’t force things that weren’t there. He was looking for the open man when the Flyers had him boxed in, which was often – there was a lot of open ice for other Caps, and this could haunt the Flyers down the road.

And, they caught Cristobal Huet on a night when he was mortal (and wasn’t getting a lot of help in front of him), scoring four goals on 22 shots. And still they lost.

This was a game of lost opportunities for both teams. The Caps, and one would think, came out full of adrenaline. For the first eight minutes they dominated the action, tilting the ice toward the Flyers end. The Caps also got the added kick in a goal from perhaps the most unlikely of sources – Donald Brashear. The Caps lost their legs, however, after the Vaclav Prospal goal that tied the game. The Flyers dominated the rest of the first period.

The second looked a lot like the first…the Caps had jump, and they scored a goal (David Steckel). Then, the Caps had a power play, thanks to a slashing penalty on Daniel Briere. But the Caps could not convert, and Briere gathered in a puck after he stepped out of the penalty box. Briere skated in on a semi-break-away and before Tom Poti could recover in his pursuit, he snapped the puck past Huet to tie the game. At that point, the Caps stopped skating altogether, and the Flyers made them pay. The Flyers got the go-ahead goal 33 seconds later (Vaclav Prospal), and then another 3:03 later (Briere’s second).

It wasn’t looking good. At 4-2, Flyers, it looked as if the Caps were going to be playing to keep things close than to overtake the Flyers. But then there was something odd that we hope folks watching on Comcast or in the arena picked up on. David Steckel was interviewed at the second intermission and was the epitome of calm. Without a trace of panic in his voice, he noted simply that the Caps got away from their forecheck (true enough), and that they’d have to pick that up in the third period.

Did they ever. They played pretty much in the Flyer end for almost the entire third period, holding the Flyers to three shots. Meanwhile, Mike Green scored 110 seconds into the final period, pinching in on the weak side and beating a sprawling Martin Biron. Green scored again a little less than five minutes later…his first shot was blocked by Patrick Thoresen, who was left curled on the ice, unable to get back into the play. The puck came back to Green at the top of the zone, upon which he walked in a rifled the puck from the top of the right wing circle past Biron to tie the game.

The original report had Thoresen hit in the arm with the drive from Green. However, later reports had Thoresen injured in the groin, perhaps needing surgery.

The game tied, it was left to the player with an actor’s sense of timing and dramatic effect. Lasse Kukkonen was pushed behind the Flyer net by the Caps pressure (making Steckel seem very wise in retrospect). He collected himself and tried to pass the puck up the right side to Jaroslav Modry. The puck was tipped away by Ovechkin, but picked up once more by Kukkonen. Not giving up on the play, Ovechkin lifted Kukkonen’s stick, grabbed the puck, and skated across Biron’s field of vision waiting for him to commit. When he did, Ovechkin roofed the puck and sent the sea of red into a frenzy, Kukkonen off in the corner splintering his stick in the ice. The Caps then held the Flyers without a shot in the last 4:32, and Game 1 was theirs.

It was a physical game, to say the least. The teams combined for 76 hits (40 of them inflicted by Washington). Every Flyer but R.J. Umberger was credited with at least one, while five Caps were clean on that portion of the scoresheet. Oddly enough, Donald Brashear was not credited with a hit…but he was certainly policing the area.

For all the hype, it was a remarkably clean game – the teams split six minor penalties…although Spearchucker took two minors of his own for the Flyers with, what else, stick fouls (one slashing, one high sticking).

At this level, a team has to find a way to win when it is not having its best game, and the Caps certainly weren’t having their best game. But there isn’t any quit or any panic in this group. One gets the feeling that someone – a Brashear with a goal, a Bradley separating Flyers from their fillings, a Green making like Bobby Orr flying (sort of) across the crease after scoring a goal – is going to step up. And in the end, there was Ovechkin getting the winner off of a persistent forechecking effort.

It’s first to four, not first to one, so there is a lot of work ahead. But this one was nice, and if there is one thing a win like this – a first-of-its-kind, come-from-behind win – should demonstrate to the Caps, it is this…

We can do this.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Flyers, Game One

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s GAME ONE, folks. The day we’ve been waiting for and, frankly, didn’t expect to see during those sad days of November, when the Caps started the month 1-8-1 and their coach was getting fired.

Tonight, the Caps host the Flyers in the conference quarterfinal opener, and in the words of some, “this will be one of the bloodiest series.” The Flyers are expected to bring their “A” game as it pertains to chippy, nasty, push-the-rules-off-the-table hockey. So, we decided we’d call in some of the legendary heavyweights to get their take…

…no, not hockey heavyweights. Real heavyweights…George Foreman, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. Gentlemen, welcome. George, first to you. What do you make of all this talk about the Flyers making this a fight-filled affair?

“Generally when there's a lot of smoke... there's just a whole lot more smoke.”

Do you think the players will police themselves, or can we expect the striped shirts to play a big role?

“The referee is going to be the most important person in the ring tonight besides the fighters…uh, players.”

What advice would you have for the Caps as they skate out tonight?

“Put your name on something – like that jersey – it better be the best... you only get one shot.”

Muhammad Ali…you are generally thought of as the most complete fighter in the history of the sport, one who could intimidate by reputation alone. If you’re one of the Caps, what sort of impression do you want to leave with your opponent?

“If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize.”

And if any of the Flyers decide to take any liberties?

“You gotta say, ‘I'll beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.’”

Champ, about Alex Ovechkin…this is his first playoff appearance. Is there anything you remember from your first pro fight that might apply to Ovechkin as he makes his debut, anything he might be thinking?

"I'm the best. I just haven't played yet."

That’s quite a claim…

"It's not bragging if you can back it up."

Mike…at the top of your career, you were the most feared man on the planet. What sort of attitude did you bring to the ring, that the Caps might bring to the ice tonight?

“I want to break his will. I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him.”

The Flyers are starting a goalie – Martin Biron – who has never played in an NHL playoff game. He says that, "I feel like I was able to achieve something I had set out to do when I came here to Philly, to be able to play the majority of the games in the season and get to the playoffs and make the difference in some games."

“Everybody's got plans...until they get hit.”

But isn’t there a bit of fear – fear of the unknown of how you’ll respond to a situation like the playoffs against a rugged team?

“Fear is your best friend or your worst enemy. It's like fire. If you can control it, it can cook for you; it can heat your house. If you can't control it, it will burn everything around you and destroy you. If you can control your fear, it makes you more alert, like a deer coming across the lawn…or Daniel Briere.”

Mike, Caps fans have been laying into Briere in the run up to this series, that he’s…well, a bit soft. Any thoughts?

“I don't understand why people would want to get rid of pigeons. They don't bother no one.”

I see your point…

“You’d better.”

Caps 4 – Flyers 3

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Your Caps - Flyers Prognostication!

Well, here we are…The Peerless Prognosticator, the seer of seers...prognosticator of prognosticators...not like that rat with an agent in Punxsutawney…is here to provide to you, the discerning hockey fan, the first, last, and only prognostication you will ever need…or likely want…on the matter of the Washington Capitals’ first round playoff matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers.

First, let’s go to the tale o’ the tape for the season (click on the links for The Peerless’ wrap-ups)…

Nov. 2: Flyers 3 at Capitals 2
Nov. 23: Capitals 4 at Flyers 3 (OT)
Jan. 13: Flyers 6 at Capitals 4
Feb. 6: Capitals 4 at Flyers 3

The Capitals began their upward climb to the playoffs with that 4-3 overtime victory over the Flyers on November 23^rd in coach Bruce Boudreau’s first turn behind an NHL bench. The rest, as they say, is history…a 37-17-7 finish, Southeast Division title, and the consensus feel-good story of the NHL season. But this series was more or less a one-goal game series (the two goal margin of January 3^rd coming on an empty netter). This first-round series is likely to be as close. Here is how the four-game season series played out for the Caps:

Goals for/against: 14/15
Power play goals for/against: 2/5
Even-strength goals for/against: 12/9
Power play: 2/11 (18.2%)
Penalty killing: 17/22 (77.3%)
Record, one-goal games: 2-1-0
Record, 3+ goal games: none

Both teams are coming in hot…the Caps were 11-1-0 to finish the regular season, the Flyers were 7-1-1 to wrap things up. But while it is tempting to look at the recent past, it helps to look at how the teams got here. For that, we look at their ten-game splits:

For the Caps, what is noticeable is not the 11-1-0 run to close the season. We’ve seen that chronicled in a lot of places, and yes, we know…without it, we’re not writing this. But look at the third and fourth sets of ten games. From 6-13-1 in the first two sets to 10-6-4 in the third and fourth sets. This says two things to me…adaptability and quick-learning. You could say that Bruce Boudreau’s philosophy of hockey is a good fit to the talent he has, and that would be true. But the turnaround was rather abrupt – from 13 points in the first 20 games to 24 in the next 20. Having to learn a new system, unlearn some old habits, and apply both lessons to game conditions in real time does not impress us as the easiest of things to do.

There is also the power play. Except for the sixth 10-game split, the Caps’ power play performed better in each instance in the last 62 games (i.e., under Boudreau) than in the first 20. That’s worth noting in a series that is supposed to feature carnage and mayhem.

And speaking of that, is all this verbiage about this being a bloody series just a little bit of over-the-top media hype? Look , these are old Patrick Division rivals, but the Patrick was renamed (thanks, Bettman) after the 1992-1993 season. The two clubs haven’t called the same division home since the 1997-1998 season. Then there are the echoes of the “Broad Street Bullies,” that the Flyers are going to make the Capitals pay a physical price. Well…yeah. That’s the playoffs. Think the Caps will be shrinking violets? Think Matt Cooke, Matt Bradley, Donald Brashear, or John Erskine are going to shrug, skate off, and whimper, “ooh…too tough for me?”

Hee-yeah…right.

As for the Flyers and their ten-game splits…

Philly is not afraid of making this a special teams series, although there is something interesting to note. In three of the splits (including the last dozen), the Flyers were shorthanded more than 50 times. They were 17-11-4. Taking penalties seems not to have much, if any, deleterious effect on their winning. While there might be a feeling that “letting them play” might give the Flyers an advantage, Philadelphia seems to thrive on closely called games. In three of the splits, the Flyers and their opponents split more than 100 power plays. In them, the Flyers outscored their opponents 42-30 on the power play (although, the Flyers enjoyed a 163-148 advantage in chances). Philly might want to make this series one of attrition – special teams slugging it out.

As for the top scorers for each team and the season series, first Washington:

Alex Ovechkin: 3-2-5, +2, 1 GWG
Nicklas Backstrom: 1-5-6, +4
Mike Green: 2-3-5, +7
Viktor Kozlov: 1-2-3, +1
Alexander Semin: 1-0-1, +1 (two games)

Ovechkin is, as one should expect, the big ticket item here. He’s enjoyed a lot of success against the Flyers – 12-9-21, +4 in 12 career games. What is a bit odd is his shot statistic. Ovechkin had “only” 19 in four games against the Flyers (4.8/game, versus 5.5/game against the rest of the NHL). He still managed the three goals.

Backstrom got things rolling in the Boudreau era with an overtime goal in the coach’s first game behind the Caps’ bench. But the important stat here is the assists. Against only one other team does Backstrom have higher than the 1.25 assists/game he has against the Flyers (Pittsburgh).

Green arguably saved his best efforts for the Flyers. The 1.25 points/game he has is exceeded only by his efforts against Montreal and Ottawa. And, his plus-minus is better against the Flyers than against any other team against which he played this year. Oddly enough, his average ice time is the lowest against any opponent he faced at least twice. If that’s the case in this series, it is probably a reflection of their being a lot of Flyer power plays, since he does not get a lot of ice time while the Caps are shorthanded.

Here is your odd Viktor Kozlov stat…against no team he’s faced at least twice does his average ice time exceed 20 minutes. This seems to us a bit odd for a top-line forward. His performance against the Flyers this year is not especially noteworthy, but he might be a secret weapon of sorts coming into this series. He finished the year 1-7-8, +8 in his last seven games.

Semin played only two games against the Flyers this year. If this is going to be a physical series, one would guess that it is Semin – more so than even Ovechkin – that the Flyers might target. Semin was -18 for the year and doesn’t bring quite the same level of grit as does his Russian teammate. That’s not to say that Semin will shrink away from the Flyers (he was certainly willing to throw his body around in the Caps’ final regular season games), but he represents something of a more inviting target. He bears watching, though. Over the past two seasons he is 4-2-6, +2 in six games against the Flyers.

If there is someone who needs to fill in the blanks, that is likely (no pun intended) to be Brooks Laich. Over his last 22 games, Laich was 12-8-20, seven of those goals coming on the power play. If the Flyers are going to take themselves off the ice with, uh…spirited play, they have to be made to pay, and Laich has to be a part of that.

In goal, Cristobal Huet is 3-0-1 in five career appearances against the Flyers, 2.54, .901. He won in his only appearance against Philadelphia this year, a 5-2 Montreal win on November 1^st in which he gave up two goals on 19 shots. Huet had his only taste of NHL playoff action two years ago, and he was 2-4, 2.33, .929 (two of the losses coming in overtime) in a first round loss to Carolina.

For the Flyers, the leading scorers had these lines against the Caps:

Mike Richards: 3-2-5, +2, 1 GWG
Daniel Briere: 2-1-3, -3
Mike Knuble: 3-1-4, +2
Jeff Carter: 1-3-4, -1
R.J. Umberger: 2-3-5, +3, 1 GWG

Contract wars…Mike Richards signed a $69 million, 12-year deal in December. After his signing, the Flyers went 26-19-9. Richards went 14-27, 41, +4, in those 54 games. Alex Ovechkin signed a $124 million, 13-year deal in January, after which the Caps went 25-11-3. Ovechkin went 33-27-60, +22 in those 39 games.

From December 30^th through March 1^st, Daniel Briere failed to register a single “plus game” (6-11-17, -17, in 29 games). The Flyers went 15-11-3. Since then, he is 9-7-16, +2, in 14 games. The Flyers went 7-3-4 in those games.

Only against Pittsburgh has Mike Knuble scored more goals than he has against the Caps this year. He played eight games against Pittsburgh to get five goals, four against the Caps to get three.

Jeff Carter had 29 goals this year, but only three in his last 13 games.

R. J. Umberger has two goals in four games against the Caps this year, 11 in 70 games against the rest of the league.

These five players accounted for 11 of the 15 goals scored by the Flyers in this series and were 4-5-9 on the power play. But there are two other factors. One is Vaclav Prospal. He has not played in any games against the Caps for the Flyers, but he did play in six games against the Caps while with Tampa Bay. He was 2-6-8, -1 in those six games. He brings a certain familiarity with the Caps to this series.

The other is Joffrey Lupul. Lupul played only two games against the Caps this year, registering a pair of assists. He had 20 goals in 56 games for the year, but in 17 games since returning from a concussion and spinal cord contusion, he is 4-7-11. Which Lupul shows up – the 16-19-35 in 39 games player before the injury, or the 4-7-11 in 17 games after player – could go a long way to determining who wins this series.

All together, the Flyers bring balance – seven players have at least 20 goals, including the late addition, Prospal, and Lupul. The Caps, by comparison, bring three 20-goal scorers to the show (Ovechkin, Semin, Laich).

In goal, Martin Biron makes his first career playoff appearance. He hasn’t appeared in a playoff game since he played for the Rochester Americans in the AHL in 1999 (his Americans lost in the Calder Cup final to Providence). This is new territory for him. Against the Caps, Biron was 1-1-1, 3.98, .872, this season.

This is a series of teams with similar results – one standings point separating them – but with different styles. Washington is perhaps more explosive, the Flyers more balanced. Philadelphia is the superior special teams group, the Caps a better 5-on-5 team. The Flyers come in with a reputation for hard-nosed play, the Caps with one of being a “skill” team. The Caps come in with the hot goalie, the Flyers come in with…a hot goalie.

Injuries could play a role in this series...the Caps come into the series with long-standing injuries to Michael Nylander, Brian Pothier, and Chris Clark. Of this group, only Clark has a chance of making an appearance in this series. And, there is the matter of Shaone Morrisonn and Jeff Schultz, who were injured in the regular season's final week. Both could start in Game 1, but Schultz will be a game-time decision. David Steckel could return from a broken finger.

For the Flyers, they are missing Simon Gagne (concussion), who will not play in this series. They also have assorted injuries to Jason Smith, Derian Hatcher, Daniel Briere, and Sami Kapanen, although with the exception of Hatcher, all should be available. Randy Jones and Steve Downie have the flu.

Why Washington will win...

The Caps are hot. There is an adage in sports that you bet the streak, meaning if a team is on a run, expect them to continue. That can be said as much for goalie Cristobal Huet, too. He's given up only 21 goals in 13 games since arriving in Washington. There is also the "big stage" factor. Alex Ovechkin certainly seems to like playing on one, and this is as big as it gets in hockey -- the Stanley Cup playoffs. And if Philly decides to try to play their role as villain with gusto, well...scoring four goals in a game where he got a broken nose and a split lip suggests Ovechkin can do well in a street fight, too. But as much as that, the Caps have gotten timely contributions from others -- Brooks Laich (12 goals in his last 20 games), Alexander Semin (21 goals in 41 games in calendar 2008), and Mike Green (leading goal scorer among NHL defensemen) are the notable examples.

Why Philadelphia will win...

Balance...If this becomes a war of attrition, the Flyers have more scoring depth than do the Caps. Special teams...if it becomes a special teams trade-off, the Flyers would appear to have the upper hand in that situation.

The season results really don’t provide much else in the way of hints at how this series could go. For Washington, there are key players that are new to the mix – Sergei Fedorov, Matt Cooke, and Cristobal Huet. All three have contributed to a leap in performance and results over the last six weeks. And neither team should feel pressure. Considering that last year they had a combined standings points total (126) that wasn't too far ahead of what Detroit piled up this year (115), these are two teams playing with house money.

If someone with our keen awareness and appreciation for numbers looked at those of these two teams, but did not have the rooting interest we have, they might say…

Caps in six.

We’ll call it a sweep.

Ah, to be at Kettler, now that the cherry blossoms are in bloom

We took in the Caps' practice at Kettler this morning, and if the boys were nervous, they sure didn't show it. We were struck by a few things...

Cameras...as in plural. We say at least a couple of video cameras chronicling the proceedings. Although we don't know which outlets were represented, their presence attest to the time of year and increased attention this club is getting.

Crowd...for a workday/weekday session, it was rather well-attended. And, there were the casual fans and newcomers. We heard one woman exclaim, "isn't this neat?!" And, there was the gentleman patiently pointing out Alex Ovechkin to his companions, noting that he started his playoff beard early.

Alexander Semin...has the soul of a sniper. Wherever a puck was laying around, he was shooting it at the net. It could be a puck lying innocently in the crease, he was poking at it. The young man isn't satisfied unless a puck is nestled in the twine, it seems.

Olaf Kolzig...grabbing Ovechkin by the collar of his jersey and shaking him back and forth. All in good fun...or maybe they were discussing the post-practice lunch arrangements. Sushi!...Pizza!...Sushi!!...Pizza!!

Brent Johnson getting some work in, then participating in the shooting accuracy drill at the end of the session (no, he did not use his goalie stick). How was he? He's a goalie, how good do you expect him to be?

Skating...there was a lot of it. Not much talking from the coaches. A few seconds of instruction, and off they went. It was a pretty concentrated 60 minutes or so.

Steve Eminger and coach Jay Leach "fighting" for a puck in the corner. I sure hope Eminger was going easy on the coach...

It just had the look of a bunch of kids having a real good time in the midst of the time of their lives.

Beginning and end...

A beginning and an end…came for two teams in 18 days spanning the period of December 29^th through January 15^th.

On December 28^th, one team was 25-8-4 and in the midst of a three-game winning streak. The other was 14-19-5 after losing an overtime game to its arch-rival.

On December 29^th the teams met. It should have been a one-sided game, and in a way it was. One player had four goals. Five players had multi-point games. One team had 12 players on the plus side of the ledger and only one on the minus side…

…it wasn’t the team with the 25 wins. That team gave up eight goals in the game – more than they’d given up in the three game winning streak they entered this game with, combined.

Meanwhile, the team with the 14 wins – now 15 – became the first team to defeat the team with 25 wins twice in this season.

On New Year’s Day, the teams met again. The team with the 25 wins scored first…then they scored again. Maybe those two wins by the team with 15 wins were a fluke, a couple of lucky punches. Surely, order was being restored.

Then, the team with the 15 wins scored…then they scored again…and again…and again. In barely 15 minutes of game time, the team with the 15 wins scored four goals. It was like watching Rocky Balboa coming back, bloodied and battered, with shot after shot to Apollo Creed’s ribs and jaw. When it was over, the team with the 15 wins – now 16 – had a 6-3 win, and became the first team to defeat the team with 25 wins three times this season.

Two weeks passed…the team with 25 wins won four of their next five, the team with 16 wins split four decisions. They met for one last time, the team with the 29 wins looking to avoid the embarrassment of a sweep at the hands of an inferior opponent. The team with the 18 wins was looking to climb just another game closer to .500.

The teams sparred against one another through the first period without either finding the back of the net. The team with the 18 wins scored early in the second. The other team came back to score and score again to take a lead. Then…a terrible giveaway, a deke, and another deke later, and the game was tied. A power play drive and a poked puck later, and it was the team with the 18 wins who came out on top, sweeping the four games played between the two for this season.

After that, the team with the 18 wins – now 19 – went on to finish the year 24-10-3. The other team, the one with the 29 wins, finished up 14-19-4.

The two teams finished with the same record – 43-31-8. But which one was better, Washington – the team that swept the series…or Ottawa – the one whose season fell apart after suffering those four losses?

What happened to Ottawa?...Washington happened to Ottawa. The Senators never recovered from those 18 days. And Washington never looked back.