Powerless

The Washington Capitals have such a talented offensive core. It shouldn't be this hard to score a power play goal. The Caps have been gift wrapped a couple of early penalties in both game one and two in their playoff series with the Philadelphia Flyers. The failed to score on either.

On the powerplay the Caps were just 1 for 3 in game one, and a dismal 0-6 in game two. The Flyers have one of the better penalty kills and their aggressive style seems to be giving them fits. But the Caps also have sort of shot themselves in the foot.

Watching game 2 again, the Caps look in slow motion with the man advantage. Their passes are not quick enough. The play has to develop much faster with an aggressive kill. The Caps can catch their players off guard with better passing. Let the Flyers beat themselves by over committing to the first outlet. Getting passes to the open man and the goaltender out of position, it should be a slam dunk.

They also need to start hitting the net. Most of the shots both on the power play and in general has hit more glass than a crash test dummy in a VW van. The Caps need to get those shots on Biron and allow the man in front a chance at a rebound. Some of their best chances came on bouncing pucks off of the Flyers' netminder. The Caps seem to trying to be too finite with their shots. Just get on net. It's obvious they are shooting high on Biron, but keeping the puck in the slot in front of him will yield more offensive chances than a puck wringing around the boards off a missed shot.

The power play is an excellent opportunity for the Caps to gain ground and it has to be a machine. If you can't get it done with a man advantage at this point of the season, then you might as well pack it in and hit the links early. With the Caps now on the road for two games, it's even more important.

Elsewhere in the League:

Ranger pest Sean Avery won't win any good manner awards anytime soon. The pesky forward stood in front of Marty Brodeur and waved his stick and hands in front of the all-star goaltender with his back to the play. It cause somewhat an uproar around the league including a rule clarification half way through the first Round of the playoffs. It prompted this response from the league:

"An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."

While it's not illegal (at the time), Avery didn't really help his team much with the antics. When he did turn around and became a part of the play he scored a short time later. Credit Avery for at least having the gonads to do that and get under the skin of Brodeur. The guy you love to hate!