Offense Shows Up

Capitals 3, Bruins 4 Boston leads series 2-1
Game Summary - Event Summary

(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Zdeno Chara had the last laugh. His shot with just under two minutes to play deflected off of Roman Hamrlik's stick and beat Braden Holtby for the game winner. It capped what many were expecting another low scoring affair. Both teams ignited their offenses and not even a raucous home crowd could push the Capitals to a home win as the Boston Bruins take game three by a score of 4-3 and a series lead as well.

The Caps were using their speed well on the forecheck early in the game, eventually leading to a Bruin penalty. Alex Semin corralled a loose puck and fired it on net and it slipped past Tim Thomas for the series first power play goal. Things got a bit chippy though as the game wore on and the Referees seem to be playing the Bruins tune when Nick Backstrom and Milan Lucic were called for matching penalties at the end of the first period. That lead to a four on four and things opened up for both teams.

Rich Peverly scored just :35 seconds into the second period to tie the game and Alex Ovechkin answered just :15 seconds later to restore the Caps lead. Ovi took a flip pass from Brooks Laich and he was able to break through the Bruins top defensive pair. As the puck was bouncing, he shot it past Thomas for his first goal of the series. Laich himself had quite a game, scoring his first of the series breaking down the right wing side with a beautiful feed from Backstrom. He out waited the aggressive Thomas and was able to beat him high after the Bruins goaltender went down.

The Caps seem to have a handle on this game for most of the first half. But they scrambled for much of the second half of the game and the Bruins took advantage. Holtby did not play poorly, a few of those shots he would have liked to have back, like Peverly's goal that hit his glove and helmet but still found it's way to the back of the net. The game winner off of Chara's shot was deflected past Holtby.

(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Special teams finally played a role in this series. But it would be the four on four variety that made the difference for the Bruins. With the open ice, the Caps seemed to scramble too much. Two of the B's goals came from four on four situations. The Capitals still have the only power play goal of the series as their penalty killing is still hot. The Bruins have yet to score a goal on their power play (knock on wood).

Part of the Bruins success comes mostly from turning this series into an emotional one. The Capitals seemed to do a good job of turning the other cheek, not letting the after whistle stuff get to them at TD Garden. But at the phone booth, in front of the red faithful, they seem to be caught up in the after whistle scrums and letting the Bruins get under their skin.

Backstrom seemed to take his physical game too far when he took a cross checking penalty late in the game that lead to the four on four game winner by Chara. Then he hit Rich Peverley high with a cross check earning him a match penalty that comes with an automatic one-game suspension pending an official review from player safety. Although it did look like the Bruins embellished the first hit, Backstrom could be out for game four for his high cross check on Peverley.

The Capitals need to get back to their bread and butter in this series, which is play a more patient game. They at times looked very sloppy on both ends of the ice and the extra curricular stuff after the whistles didn't really do them any favors. The Bruins are doing a better job of clogging up the front of the net, something the Caps did well in games one and two was to keep shots to the outside and let Holtby see them all. That didn't happen here and as a result, the Bruins take the series lead off of garbage goals and traffic shots.

Caps lose the home ice advantage giving up one game at home. But with two days off between games three and four there is time for them to regroup and get back to what they need to get done. The Capitals were 47% in the face off dot, which is not helpful. Jeff Halpern, who has been a healthy scratch, could come in and help in that regard if Backstrom is indeed out for game four.

Caps Notes:

• Alex Ovechkin moved passed his head coach Dale Hunter to move into second for Capitals career playoff goals with his tally tonight.
• Even though they lost the game, Caps' centerman Brooks Laich earned the game's first star. 
• It is Backstrom's first match penalty of his career, assessed at 20:00 of the third period.

All Tied Up

Capitals 2, Bruins 1 2OT Series tied 1-1
Game Summary - Event Summary

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Braden Holtby probably did not think his first two games in the NHL playoffs, the story line would follow him. The way the 22 year old played for the Capitals in the first two games has the series all tied up between Washington and the Boston Bruins. Just add a couple more overtime periods to the mix and a goal by Nick Backstrom early in the second overtime, and the Caps go back home tonight with the series tied at one game a piece with their 2-1 double overtime victory.

Troy Brouwer got things started for the Capitals in scoring for the series. Late in the second period, Alex Ovechkin was once again stifled along the boards, but he threw a shot at the net. After a few bounces, the Bruin defender Greg Zanon was afraid to cover the puck in the crease and Tim Thomas did not want to get his stick in the face of the sprawling Zanon. Brouwer, who was cutting hard to the net, found the loose puck and jabbed it under Thomas for the first goal of the series for the Capitals.

The goal looked like it had the legs to hold up as the game winner, but an unfortunate bounce off Jeff Schultz's leg and some hustle by Bruin forward Benoit Pouloit, the Bruins were able to tie the game with seven minutes left in the third.

While chances did come for both teams, it seemed neither side was willing to relent their defensive strategy. Credit Dale Hunter for mixing up some of the defensive make up often going to a one - four trap, to a one-two-two, and even yes a Tampa inspired one-three-one at times. But teams were working hard to keep chances minimal for the other team. And that carried over into the overtime periods.

But after a seemingly harmless shot by Backstrom that forced an early faceoff draw in the second overtime to the right of Thomas, fortunes changed for the Caps. They even lost the face off draw. Marcus Johansson showed some skilled stick work to take the puck off of a Bruins defender's stick while being tied up by another player. When he knocked the puck free, he pulled it back to an open Backstrom who buried the bouncing pass near side on Thomas.

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The one-up-manship between Thomas and Holtby stole the show. Matching at times shot for shot, both goaltenders where able to keep their respective teams in this game. With the win in overtime, Holtby now ties Tim Thomas with a .83 goals against average and leads the league in save percentage with a .973. He stopped 43 shots in this game and had a .977 save percentage.

Hunter did make a switch in lines for Game 2, putting Johansson up on the second line to play with Backstrom and Alex Semin and putting Jason Chimera back on the third line. The move did make the second line a bit more of a threat. Hunter also tried to find ways of getting Ovechkin out from under foot of Zdeno Chara, often double shifting the left winger or throwing him out with different lines to create more space for him.

When he was not concerned with hitting, Ovechkin turned his focus in Game 2 towards shots. He would get 3 shots on net and still got some physical play in with 5 hits. Jay Beagle had a few good chances to score himself, leading the team with 6 shots on Thomas.

The Caps' PK once again impressed, killing off the only two penalties they took. But the power play again struggled going 0 for 3 which included seeing Chara sit for two minutes. Although they failed to score a power play goal, the Caps did see some momentum (and shots) come their way because of it.

While the PP struggled, the Caps' overall defense was spectacular at times. When it faltered, Holtby was there with the save. Karl Alzner played his best game thus far in the post season, earning the game's second star. He was a +1, with an assist to boot. He also lead everyone on the ice, Caps and Bruins, in blocked shots with 5. He was spectacular as a shut down defenseman paired with John Carlson. The pair were able to keep the Bruins' top line to just nine shots, 0 goals, 0 assists.

The Caps also shored up the faceoff dot a little. They mostly went with three men in the faceoff dot in Backstrom, Brooks Laich and Beagle. Overall the strategy worked as the Capitals won 53% of their faceoffs. The game winning goal came off of a faceoff loss.

The Capitals are in a really good position coming back to the phone booth with a win at hand. Making it into a five game series, they are hoping to feed off of the home crowd energy on Monday night.

Caps Notes:

• Alex Ovechkin has never been held with out a point in two straight playoff games in his career. He had an assist tonight.
• Per Caps PR: The Capitals are 8-6 all-time in the playoffs in Game 2’s when trailing 1-0 in a series. Since 2006, teams that win Game 2 of a series have gone on to win 38 of those 55 series (.691 winning percentage).
• Mike Green led all Caps in ice time (33:28) and led the team in plus/minus with a +2. He had 4 shots on net, had 3 hits and 3 blocked shots.

Holtby Stands Tall, Caps Fall In OT

Capitals 0, Bruins 1 OT1 Boston leads series 1-0
Game Summary - Event Summary

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The first star for the Washington Capitals just happened to be a 22 year old rookie goaltender Braden Holtby playing in his first career Stanley Cup game. In the opening round of the seven game series between the Bruins and Caps, Holtby would force overtime with 29 saves through the first three periods of play. But a slapshot off the wing was the only shot to beat the young netminder by Bruin Chris Kelly would do the Caps in as Boston takes the 1-0 series lead.

Holtby stood tall for most of the game taking on a barrage of Bruins' shots, including a long series of penalty kills in the second period. The B's didn't make it easy on the rookie netminder getting into his grill every chance they got. Holtby even took a rough penalty punching out a charging Chris Kelly as both teams were playing 4 on 4. He was 29 for 29 through the first three periods, but the first shot by the Bruins in the overtime period was the game winner, just 1:18 into the extra frame. He would earn second star status for the game.

After playing somewhat solidly in front of him, the Caps did give too much room to a streaking Kelly who powered a slap shot glove side beating Holtby. The Capitals had 22 blocked shots compared to the Bruins' 17. Roman Hamrlik lead the team with 5 blocked shots.

AP

Alex Ovechkin may not have accumulated the shots in this game, but he did rack up on hits. He had an explosive hit on Dennis Seidenberg in the second period that sent the TD Garden faithful to their feet. But he only had a single shot on net, even though he threw his body around for 7 hits. In the playoffs more is expected of the Caps' captain. He didn't deliver much offensively and was often stifled by the Bruins defense that often closed three players down on the star player.

As much as the bodies were flying around, it would be the smallest Cap that made the biggest difference out front. Matthieu Perreault was all over the ice tonight, and even had a good chance late in the third, but couldn't corral the puck for a shot off a rebound. In fact the Caps did a terrible job jumping on rebounds on some mediocre saves by Tim Thomas.

The Capitals' PK was perfect tonight, able to kill off all four penalties they took. While the PK was chugging right along, the Caps power play is still struggling. With only two chances all game, the Caps need the PP to click soon or it will be a short post season for them. 

But it is not all doom and gloom. The Caps are only down a game in a seven game series. They were able to keep the crowd out of it for most of the game, stifled and frustrated the Bruin forwards and nearly wore them down as the game went along. It was a great road game in a long series.

The Caps will have to lean on the third and fourth lines to find success. With a deep defensive squad the Bruins have, it will be important for the role-playing guys to step up.

Caps Notes:

• This was the first playoff game in franchise history in which the Caps went to overtime tied 0-0.
• Mike Knuble, Dmitry Orlov, Cody Eakin, Jeff Halpern, and Mattias Sjogren were the healthy scratches for the Capitals.
• Weird happening at the end of the game as the Bruins celebrated the overtime goal. The Fans punched a pane of glass out and it hit David Krejci. Hopefully that is a bad omen for the B's going on in this series.

Didn't Think We'd Get Here

I am reposting one of my most popular posts from 2008. It is the rules for the playoff beard. Of course there are a slew of Cap crazies that do this for charity, but I thought why not go over the rules one more time. I think the Capitals will need all the help we can give them, even if it's superstitious.

Starting Your Playoff Beard

So Boston It Is

It has been a trying year on the Washington Capitals. A season that was steeped in a roller coaster of emotions. The highest of highs, to the lowest of lows, the Capitals have clawed their way to seventh in the Eastern Conference. Breaking 5 straight seasons as Division Champs, just two points shy of that title. Limping (quite literally for some) into a post season.

But it is a new season; the post season. And the Capitals will settle for starting things off on the road against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions Boston Bruins. Let's break down the match up and show a few key stats between the pair of teams.

Even Strength - Advantage Boston Bruins. No one in the league has scored more goals at even strength than the Bruins have. They have 191 goals for playing five on five and their goals for/against ratio at even strength is 1.34 and is good enough for third in the league in that department. As for the Caps, they are middle of the pack with 149 goals (15th in the league) and a goals for/against ration of 1.00.

Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images

Power Play - Advantage even. Believe or not, the Bruins and Capitals are 15th and 17th respectfully with the extra man advantage. The Bruins power play has hit a lull, a bright spot in the playoffs last year. They are 17.2% effective. The Capitals once mighty power play has cooled off in the last two seasons. At 16.7%, they find themselves in the same struggling boat as the Bruins to make teams pay for taking penalties. But the Capitals fail in allowing short handed goals against with 10 going in on them this season. Tied with Pittsburgh in that category, and only the Red Wings (11), Lightning (12) and Devils (13) are worse in the league allowing goals in on the power play. Boston has only allowed one short handed goal, best in the league.

Penalty Kill - Advantage Boston Bruins. The Bruins aren't the best in the league, but they are shade better than the Capitals. Ranked 11th in the league, it would be wise for the Caps to shore up their power play as the Bruins have a 83.6% kill rate. The Caps are ranked 21st in the league with a 81.6% kill rate. However, the Caps of late have been stellar in the PK department. They were only scored on twice in the last 12 games. They killed off 26 penalties during that stretch.

AP

Goaltending - Advantage Boston Bruins. Caps will be going to the playoffs with what looks like the third in line back up to their number one and a back up that is the only one other goaltender with a NHL contract that has seen zero time at the NHL level this year for the Capitals. Braden Holtby will have to hold down the fort with only seven games under his belt this season. In fact, Holtby has only been in net for 21 games at the NHL level. What is surprising is his record, which is a not-to-shabby 14-4-3, a .929 save percentage and 2.02 GAA. His back up, Danny Sabourin has more experience with 57 NHL games under his belt. However his stats aren't great at 18-25-5 and posting a career save percentage of .898 and 2.88 GAA. Boston is solid with Tim Thomas in net, although not as good as he was last season. He has 35 wins in 59 starts, a .920 saver percentage and 2.36 GAA. Marty Turco is not available for the playoffs for the B's as he was signed after the trade deadline. Instead it will be minor leaguer Anton Khudobin doing the back up honors for Thomas.


Final Thoughts

Honestly, a road start for the Capitals is not the best thing going into the playoffs. But I don't think it is a bad thing necessarily. While it is nice to start at home in the post season, the Caps have sort of taken that part of their game for granted. Their best games in the playoffs have been on the road. All of their game seven debacles and two early loses last year on the way to being swept happened in the confines of the Verizon Center.

The Caps have had success against Tim Thomas and the Bruins at TD Garden. Both wins were one goal decisions and both were in the month of March. In fact the Capitals won the season series against the B's 3-1 this year, including a win with out the help of Alex Ovechkin for one game serving a suspension at the time.

The Bruins will beat up on the Capitals as they have the clear size advantage when it comes being physical on the puck. With some big boys on the back end in Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic and his ugly mug up front, the Bruins will look to take the Capitals physically. But this is also a team that has struggled against skilled teams like the Caps and Penguins. If the Capitals can break down the Bruins size with speed, there might be a glimmer of hope for the Capitals to make it out of the first round.

But there is more to come as I will break down what the Caps need to do in the playoffs to find success, and of course my fearless predictions (which usually don't stand up past the first round, but hey it's fun to do).

"It Happens"

After being bombarded by clean air activists getting off the blue line and cut off by a group of healthcare nut jobs (both for and against), I was going to regale myself in the post game sports quotes from the Capitals debacle game against Buffalo. I was expecting some anger, maybe some embarrassment. But these are the quotes I was saddled with.

“It was one of those games where both teams came out and it wasn’t a cat and mouse game, it was wide open hockey game and we took the brunt of it.” -Dale Hunter

“I don’t think we played bad. We just made bad mistakes in our zone. [On their shorthanded goal] I should play [the puck] with my skate, not my stick, but it happens.” -Alex Ovechkin

"Then the fourth goal comes around the boards and handcuffs him [ Alex Ovechkin]. I’ve been in that position and turned it over there before too… There’s nothing you can do.” -Brooks Laich

“We were going to the net pretty hard. We had chances, but again he [Ryan Miller] was on his game." -Hunter

"Took the brunt of it?" "There's nothing you can do?" "It happens?". This doesn't sound like a team fighting for their playoff lives. It sounds like a team collective shoulder shrug. A "Oh shucks, well, we will get them next year" attitude.

Honestly, give me some of that Olaf Kolzig competitiveness who would take it out on his sticks at practice. I want this team to speak from clenched teeth after a loss like that. I want to hear stuff like "We were an embarrassment out there." "If that is our best, our best is not good enough." "That was unacceptable."

Maybe it is because we live in the era of sporting political correctness. Athletes speaking in cliché rather than expressing themselves truthfully to fans. Or blame it on a long season of ups and downs that has worn this team to the core and this is the best they can do.

Their quotes, their attitude, their excuses reeks of resignation. The Caps inconsistencies have been the death of them all season. The attitude is one of being "okay" with it is a frustrating thing to hear and read.

They have a coach now that comes out with even-keeled emotion, blaming another loss on a good goaltender having an "on" night. This from a player that once found it hard to contain emotion in both word and action off and on the ice.

Where is the passion? The competitiveness? The breaking sticks in the locker room?

Maybe behind closed doors there is screaming in the face of teammates, or breaking furniture with frustrated abandon. And those sticks don't come cheap these days. But to say to the fan faithful, "it happens" is almost a slap in the face of season ticket holders who wish nothing more than success for this team.

With talk of the sun setting on this organization in terms of winning the Cup, I guess I expected a cornered animal approach to how the Caps play when their playoff hopes are on the line. Instead I just hear excuses for marginal play.

Sure, credit the Sabres for their effort. They did a great job on the road, getting a win they needed. But with half the "talent" the Caps possess, the Sabres showed more grit and determination that we would like to think the Capitals have. We have sen it from them before. We saw them defy the odds to win the Southeast Division on the last game of the season. Which makes it all that more frustrating to sit through games like last night.

There are now just five games left for the Caps. Time is waning, but still doable. That is if that "It" stops happening.