Game 2 Recap/Series Outlook

The Flyers simply outplayed the Caps as a team on Sunday. The Caps did not falter from a lack of effort but had way too many individual efforts and not nearly enough team efforts. It can be a fine line but they were mostly out of sync on Sunday.

The Flyers have done a great job of putting people in front of the net and bumping/interfering with Cristobal Huet in both games. They have been penalized for some of this activity but I believe the Caps must respond to this strategy at both ends of the ice. The defense needs to do a better job of clearing the net and, if need be, literally clobbering someone even if it leads to a penalty. Additionally, the Caps need to get more traffic in front of Martin Biron. They need to bump him and potentially knock him over a few times even if it leads to a penalty. They need to especially do this on the power play. In fact, I will suggest that they need to consider putting Donald Brashear on one of the units to wreak havoc in front.

The Caps will also need better puck support in all phases of the game. The individual efforts will not get the job done alone in the playoffs. The Caps will need to at least match the intensity level of the Flyers on Sunday to continue to compete in this series. Tonight’s game may prove to be the deciding factor in this series. Huet will need to play better in net and the Caps will need to play a more consistent, intense game throughout the series for the Caps to have a chance to move on to the second round.

Cardiac Kids Strike Again

The Cardiac Kids did it again. Even if you are a minimal fan, how could anyone not love watching this team play? Down 4-2 after two periods (in the playoffs to boot), the Cardiac Kids scored three goals in the third period to come away with a 5-4 win in their first playoff game. Erasing a two goal deficit is never easy and to accomplish this in the playoffs is quite a feat. The Caps never quit and simply seemingly willed themselves to victory. I also loved seeing the Verizon Center rocking even though I witnessed it via television.

There is no denying that there is something special if not magic about this team right now. Sometimes I wonder if the nucleus of the team is simply too young to know any better. No panic button exists with this team. Mike Green's goal early in the third ignited the team and the building and you knew then that the train was a rolling. The Caps simply steamrolled the Flyers in the third. Not surprisingly, the goal by Mike Green was made possible by an unbelievable touch pass from Sergei Federov who is really the only player with substantial playoff experience in the lineup (Olaf Kolzig surely has plenty). Four of the five goals for the Caps came from players playing in their first playoff game. Does it surprise anyone that Alex Ovechkin got the game winner? That was an unbelievable play.

Let's also remember that the Caps have a "minor league" coach behind the bench. I like that the fact the Bruce Boudreau never deviated from his game plan. However, I thought he went away to quickly from the fourth line early in the game. I would have answered the Flyers third goal with the fourth line. They basically scored the first two goals and seemed to provide some energy and a nice change of pace. They played with controlled emotion and generated some scoring chances.

The goaltending was not superb tonight. I'm sure Cristobal Huet would like to have a couple of those goals back. The Flyers did a good job of crowding the net and making it difficult for Huet to see the puck. The Caps defensemen will need to do a better job in clearing the front.

One game will not win the series and I'm sure the Flyers will respond accordingly on Sunday. Let's see how the youth handles the second game of the playoffs. Huet should be better in goal, but the Caps will need to bear down and find a way to beat a more determined team on Sunday. Stay tuned to this series. It is being broadcast on a national basis on Versus. Sit back and enjoy.

Playoff Predictions

I wanted to put a quick post up to go on the record with my predictions for each playoff series. I wanted to have more time to discuss each series but I thought I should get something up quickly so here we go. I see the following teams advancing to the second round - Washington, Montreal, Pittsburgh and New York in the East and Detroit, San Jose, Dallas and Colorado in the West.

Do You Believe in Miracles?

With a 3-1 win over Florida last night, the Caps ended the second chapter of their fairy tale season. I can not help comparing this accomplishment to the improbable USA defeat of Russia in the 1980 Olympics and Al Michael's famous line of "Do you believe in miracles?". This team was left for dead in late November but started a long, stressful, pressure-packed climb with the hiring of Bruce Boudreau and a new, yet simple, aggressive approach to the game. It took several months and the last game of the regular season for the Caps to rise to the top of the Southeast Division and clinch the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The last two months have been unbelievable. Will Hollywood want to make this story into a movie? Frankly, I do not think you could make better entertainment than what this team provided in the stretch run. It's good to see a packed house at Verizon Center and that the television ratings have soared to record levels.

Chapter three of this story book season will began production on Thursday in a series against Ottawa or Philadelphia depending on the outcome of the Pittsburgh/Philadelphia game today. Jeff Schultz was hurt in yesterday's game against Florida and will put even more pressure on a young and inexperienced group of defensemen heading into the playoffs. There has been no "official" word on his injury. We will have to wait and see what moves the Caps make early next week.

For now, let's sit back and enjoy the euphoria for a few more days. Thank you for the unbelievable ride the last few months. Getting to the big dance is a wonderful accomplishment and will hopefully pay huge dividends for this young team in the seasons to come. A preview of the playoffs and each match up will be posted before the playoffs begin next week.

Destiny's Team?

The Panthers did hang on last night to beat the Hurricanes 4-3 putting the playoff fate of the Caps in their own hands. The Panthers never quit last night and literally survived an continuous onslaught from Carolina. Tomas Vokoun left after stopping 17 of 18 shots in the first period with back spasms. Craig Anderson stepped in and played a wonderful game for the next forty minutes. Anderson has played very well for Florida this year and if my memory is right had a nice stretch where he had two shutouts and held the opposing teams to a long scoreless streak. I would expect to see Anderson between the pipes tonight.

The Caps hold their own destiny in their hands tonight. They simply have to earn a point to lock down the third seed in the playoffs and the home ice advantage for at least the first round. If the Caps lose in regulation, they can start making tees times for tomorrow. It's that simple.

The Caps have the advantage of being at home to get the match ups they want and playing a team that should be dog tired after last night's game and travel. The Caps will need to come out strong and never let up. All of their games against the Panthers this year have been close contests and I expect tonight will be no different. The Panthers played extremely hard last night and should have some life left in their legs after their victory. Anderson did look exhausted at the end of the game. Perhaps he will not be as sharp early on.

It is hard to believe the Caps are in this position heading into tonight. They were the worst team (record wise) in the NHL at Thanksgiving and now stand on the verge of winning the Southeast Division title and the third seed in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Gabby Gabby, Hey!

Playoff Chase Part Trois

As I sit here and right, the three games with playoff implications for the Caps are all in progress. Philadelphia leads the Devils 1-0, Florida leads the Hurricanes 2-1 and Boston and Ottawa are scoreless. As of now the Caps sit in the eighth and final playoff spot after their 4-1 win over Tampa Bay last night.

The Caps best chance to make the playoffs going into tonight in my opinion hung in the balance of the Boston and Ottawa match up. Ottawa throttled the Maple Leafs last night to finally right what seemed to be a sinking ship. If I understand all the tiebreakers correctly, if the game ends in regulation and the Caps win tomorrow night, the Caps are in the playoffs. I'm conflicted a bit about who to root for but have settled on rooting for Ottawa.

I would like nothing more than to see Philadelphia be the odd team out of the playoffs but both of the teams left on their schedule, New Jersey and Pittsburgh, have nothing left to play for. While I doubt that either team with lie down, it is clear that the Flyers will be the more desperate team.

It would be nice to see the Panthers hang on (they now lead 3-2) and beat the Hurricanes tonight. If they do win, the Caps will get to face a team playing on back to back nights and potentially only need a single point to be in the playoffs.

Playoff Chase Part Deux

The Caps came up huge last night with a 4-1 win over Carolina to pull even in the standings with the Hurricanes. The Caps continued to help themselves and have the luxury of sitting back tonight and to watch three other games that probably will have some say in their playoff fate. The only negative from last night's game was the "upper body" injury to Shaone Morrisonn in the first period. I have not seen any specific update on his status but based on what I saw last night I would surmise that he has a separated shoulder.

As I sit here writing this, Eric Staal just scored for Carolina on the opening shift of the game against Tampa Bay. This is obviously one of the three games tonight of concern for the Caps as Carolina owns the tiebreaker. If both team win out, Carolina with get the nod over the Caps. Let's hope Tampa can weather the storm, settle in and somehow keep Carolina from getting two points tonight.

One of the other games is the match up between Boston and New Jersey. New Jersey has scored first on a goal from former Cap Dainius Zubrus. Let's hope the Devils will put the Bruins away in regulation tonight as the Caps remain one point behind the Bruins.

The third game to keep an eye on tonight is the Philadelphia/Pittsburgh game. As much as I hate it, I will be cheering for Penguins tonight. Perhaps Sergei Gonchar, another former Cap, can provide some much needed help.

This stretch run has almost been as much fun as the playoffs. I'm enjoying the ride and hope to enjoy another ride next week with the Caps. As I'm finishing this post, Tampa Bay just scored on the power play to tie the game in Carolina. Go Bolts!