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).

Other UFA's and RFA's Of Note

All week we have taken a look at the Caps that are unrestricted free agents. There are a few more of note, but it is likely that they will be resigned or will be dumped. We can take a quick look at all the minor notes for the Capitals that can change this team in the coming summer months.

RFA: Karl Alzner - The Capitals would be stupid not to sign the rookie defenseman to an extension. At this point it would be about finding the right number to keep him in a Capitals uniform. Since he is a restrictive free agent, the Caps do have the right to match any offer made to him by any other team. In 82 games played, Alzner racked up two goals and ten assists. But it is his defensive positioning that is impeccable and often he can read the play and defuse an offensive attack. He was a +12 on the season.

RFA: Andrew Gordon - Averaging just over a point a game in Hershey, Gordon brings some reliability in scoring for the Bears on the farm team. But in 9 games with the big club he only had a goal and an assist. His size is a big negative on his game, but he makes up for it by being an opportunistic goal scorer.

UFA: Dany Sabourin - Brought in as a possible back up at the big club level, he spent all his time down at Hershey and then just disappeared off the map as the Caps would rather call up Braden Holtby.  Sabourin did not play a single regular season game for the Capitals and it is likely he will go to the open market come July.

UFA: Micheal Nylander - Free at last, free at last. This marks the last year the Caps will play the forward since acquiring him in free agency in 2007. When the Caps made a change in coaching, Nylander was the odd man out and he spent most of the last couple of years playing for minor league teams and in Europe as well. He played last season with the Rochester Americans and only played 7 games and had 4 goals and 2 assists.

Pluses And Minuses

The Washington Capitals are set to start the 2010 - 2011 season with pretty much the same team as they started with. The Caps face some positives and negatives this year.

Three Pluses

+ One of the minor moves McPhee did in the off season was to procure some muscle. After playing an entire year with out an enforcer, the Caps were subject to some extra curricular activity with their star players. They traded prospect Stephen Della Rovere for big guy DJ King. King will add some muscle when teams look to start to intimidate the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin and some of the other talent players.

+ Nick Backstrom's long contract was also a plus for the Caps going into this season. He signed a 10 year, $67 million dollar contract to stay in red, white and blue for a long time. With Backstrom and Ovechkin locked up long term, the team can grow around them.

+ The last plus will be the Caps offense. With Semin, Ovechkin and Backstrom all back for another year, the Capitals will not have to worry about it's offense. The two time MVP Ovechkin will have something of a chip on his shoulder after spending a summer hearing about how the Caps choked in the first round. Now that the team is his (team captain for the entire year), it will be less about personal accomplishments and a drive to make this year count.

Three Minuses

- Goaltending is unproven. This is not to say that Michal Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov can't come in and do a great job. But neither one have carried the load of an 82 game schedule and carried that into the playoffs. Jose Theodore was an outstanding back stop for the Caps late in the season. That safety net of Theodore is now gone for the youngsters and it is a swim or drown situation that both young goaltenders will have to face. McPhee pulled in some back up in Dany Sabourin, but the load of the season will be in the hands of Neuvy and Varly. Don't count on Sabourin to rescue the season if the kids can not cut it.

- Maintaining focus will be key for the Capitals' defensemen. You can look at their record and see only 15 regulation losses last season. It is a pretty number to throw out there, but the blue liners didn't exactly stop the other team from scoring a few night in and night out. Mostly, the Caps wins were a result in a better (and aggressive) offense. The Caps D has to beef up and play better especially in close games and playoff games. So far, the defense has psyched themselves out in both situations. This trend has to end of the Caps hope to face stingy defensive-minded teams.

- The final minus is distractions. The Capitals are playing in this year's Winter Classic against a big rival the Pittsburgh Penguins. HBO has decided to do a "Hard Knocks" style show with both teams leading up to the January 1st game at Heinz Field. The team's ability to focus will be a tough one with cameras all around and the exposure some players will be subjected to. It is hard enough to play 82 games and win the Stanley Cup with out the whole world watching you, even off ice. It remains to be seen if the Capitals can stay focused through out the hype.

The intangible for the Capitals this year is a better division. The Caps could still take the Southeast Division, but it will be no cake walk from the year previous. Teams expected to get much better are the Atlanta Thrashers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. It could work in the Caps' favor, playing tougher teams will help them be a more rounded team by season's end. But if the Caps are not careful, this division could pose problems for them.