Well, history was made last night, the Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup in a victory 49 years in coming. They did so thanks to a goal in overtime off the stick of a young talented hockey player from the blue collar/rust belt town of Buffalo, NY who, thankfully for his family's sake and well being, doesn't have to try and make a living doing something hard, like counting out the right amount of money required to pay for cab fare. In any case, I figured it out, Marian Hossa is NOT a jinx - it's me, the quickest way to have your hockey team lose a playoff series is for "moi" to be rooting for them.
In other big, important NHL news, it was great to see the Chicago Blackhawks in the form of one Adam Burish be so sportmanlike and magnanimous in their victory. You know, showing such respect for their opponents and all - heaping praise on them and their skill, etc. I am of course talking about - this. I am disappointed, I mean I know Pronger may be the most hated guy in the NHL by his fellow players, but I thought Burish was/is classier than he acted here. I mean it's not like he's some sort of overpaid blue-liner tying up over $7M of salary cap and clearly not even being one of the top two defensemen on his own team since he generally isn't trusted by his own coach to be on the ice in tight situations when it really matters. Or a defenseman who clearly plays up the "whinny" "B" angle/card running around saying I got hurt by a cheap shot by Ovie and then going out and laying questionable hits all over the ice himself. Oh wait a minute, I'm talking about the same guy, forget whichever of these two statements you disagree with. Of course if you disagree with both of them, immediately apply for the General Managers job of the New York Rangers as the Blackhawks have a couple of stupid contracts, I mean great players, they'd like to talk to you about before the start of next season. It's also not like he's the most overpaid goaltender in the league who negotiated a sweet deal after the best 20 or so games of his career and then hasn't done squat for his team since he got the deal. No, I thought Burish was one of the guys I liked on the Blackhawks, I still do, but I am finding myself a little more reserved in my feelings about him after that smart PR move. Of course I am glad to see more and more guys around the league start to say what they really think rather than giving us TV viewers the same, bland, canned, perfect meaningless non-insights to NHL hockey that routinely come from guys like Sidney Crosby.
On the other hand, Hockey is still being played in the AHL and the Hershey Bears have come back and regained home ice advantage - wooo whoooo - okay I'm still not into the fact the Caps got eliminated so early this post season. Sue me.
Anyway, we can now all guiltlessly begin thinking and talking about next season, even though it's not September yet. Oh and congratulations to the Blackhawks on a solid series and a solid set of playoffs. I also want to go on record, if Christobel Huet does "the right thing" and donates his Stanley Cup ring to charity so they can auction it off for a good cause, I'll get off his case. I think he should don't you - after all he did play all of 20 minutes in this years playoffs - talk about deserving of glory and accolades ...
On that note - Thank you Jose Theodore, I hope you land somewhere that appreciates you next season.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Showing posts with label 2010 Playoffs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010 Playoffs. Show all posts
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Chicago Follows Up Philly's Game 4 Message With One of Thier Own - Game 5: Blackhawks 7 - Flyers 4
Chicago follows up Philadelphia's game 4 message with one of their own. Game 5 in Chicago ended with a score of Blackhawks 7 - Flyers 4 and the 'Hawks one game away from their first Stanley Cup since 1961. The result is that today all around the MSM (main stream media) and the majority of the "blogsphere" many "pundits" are intimating they think last night signals the end of the road for the Flyers. To be sure, last night the Blackhawks' adjustments and line-shuffles were totally effective - yes, I said totally not just tremendously but totally. The juggling resulted in three important things for Chicago:
1) first line forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews were both able to find some room to maneuver and were factors in the game, big factors in the game.
2) Chicago's own force of nature, Dustin Byfuglien was able to notch two goals, two assists, AND neutralize Philly's force of nature Chris Pronger when they were on the ice together.
3) All the changes and adjustments that Chicago made were effective and Philly's force of nature Chris Pronger was not able to make his own adjustments to counteract them. The end result, is Pronger had one of, if not, THE worst games of his career. In Pronger's 28:37 TOI and 37 shifts last night - he went +/- -5 and the only Chicago goal he wasn't on the ice for ... he was in the penalty box.
Chicago did all that and still had everything else that was previously working for them, work. Their 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines all were solid and effective. In point of fact the seconds star of the game was Kris Versteeg who finished the night at +3 with a goal and 2 assists. Even the world's most overpaid 3/4 blueliner, Brian Campbell, managed to finish the night at +2 and didn't have even one instance last night where he was made to look totally foolish - though he did have his usual number of close calls on that account. So to be clear, last night Chicago definitely bounced back from their Game 4 loss and put the onus squarely on Philly to respond in kind or head to the showers for the final time after next game. That said even though Brian Boucher finished the game in net for the final two periods, it's still unclear to me who will start game 6 in net for Peter Laviolette's team. It's also clear that no matter what happens in game 6, short of an injury Antti Niemi will start and finish it in net for Chicago - speaking of overpaid players whose cap hit the Blackhawks will again have to deal with/swallow for next season.
Of course, this isn't a situation the Flyers haven't been in before recently - win or go home. My only question this morning is given that it's clear the Flyers now need to make the adjustments and turn things around - given they've done it before this post-season, and given everyone always talks about "bounce-back games" for Goaltenders, why are so many people seemingly so sure this is the end of the road for the Flyers? I said before - I agree the onus is on the Flyers, clearly to respond, and I've been pretty clearly implying I agree they have an uphill battle, but I wouldn't count anybody out quite yet. After all it ain't over till the "fat lady sings" and in Wachovia Center when a fat lady is singing this time of year - it's usually a tape of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" to inspire the City of Brotherly Love's "Broad Street Bullies." I personally don't know or think I know anything at this point. I'm just saying - anything can happen and I think Wednesday Night's Game 6 in Philadelphia will be a great game and a bit of a rough and tumble affair. I'd be surprised to see if Laviolette doesn't make some adjustments and Pronger doesn't have a bit of a bounce back of his own; whether they will be enough to overcome the energy and enthusiasm the talent-laden Blackhawks will have in their steps knowing they can clinch the Cup with a victory remains to be seen.
Just sayin' that's all.
1) first line forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews were both able to find some room to maneuver and were factors in the game, big factors in the game.
2) Chicago's own force of nature, Dustin Byfuglien was able to notch two goals, two assists, AND neutralize Philly's force of nature Chris Pronger when they were on the ice together.
3) All the changes and adjustments that Chicago made were effective and Philly's force of nature Chris Pronger was not able to make his own adjustments to counteract them. The end result, is Pronger had one of, if not, THE worst games of his career. In Pronger's 28:37 TOI and 37 shifts last night - he went +/- -5 and the only Chicago goal he wasn't on the ice for ... he was in the penalty box.
Chicago did all that and still had everything else that was previously working for them, work. Their 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines all were solid and effective. In point of fact the seconds star of the game was Kris Versteeg who finished the night at +3 with a goal and 2 assists. Even the world's most overpaid 3/4 blueliner, Brian Campbell, managed to finish the night at +2 and didn't have even one instance last night where he was made to look totally foolish - though he did have his usual number of close calls on that account. So to be clear, last night Chicago definitely bounced back from their Game 4 loss and put the onus squarely on Philly to respond in kind or head to the showers for the final time after next game. That said even though Brian Boucher finished the game in net for the final two periods, it's still unclear to me who will start game 6 in net for Peter Laviolette's team. It's also clear that no matter what happens in game 6, short of an injury Antti Niemi will start and finish it in net for Chicago - speaking of overpaid players whose cap hit the Blackhawks will again have to deal with/swallow for next season.
Of course, this isn't a situation the Flyers haven't been in before recently - win or go home. My only question this morning is given that it's clear the Flyers now need to make the adjustments and turn things around - given they've done it before this post-season, and given everyone always talks about "bounce-back games" for Goaltenders, why are so many people seemingly so sure this is the end of the road for the Flyers? I said before - I agree the onus is on the Flyers, clearly to respond, and I've been pretty clearly implying I agree they have an uphill battle, but I wouldn't count anybody out quite yet. After all it ain't over till the "fat lady sings" and in Wachovia Center when a fat lady is singing this time of year - it's usually a tape of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" to inspire the City of Brotherly Love's "Broad Street Bullies." I personally don't know or think I know anything at this point. I'm just saying - anything can happen and I think Wednesday Night's Game 6 in Philadelphia will be a great game and a bit of a rough and tumble affair. I'd be surprised to see if Laviolette doesn't make some adjustments and Pronger doesn't have a bit of a bounce back of his own; whether they will be enough to overcome the energy and enthusiasm the talent-laden Blackhawks will have in their steps knowing they can clinch the Cup with a victory remains to be seen.
Just sayin' that's all.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
If You're Not Interested Now, You're Probably Not A Hockey Fan....
Well, four games of the Stanley Cup Finals are in the books and we now have a tied series and basically a best of three series for the championship. All four games to date have been really good ones from my perspective, the best/closest was perhaps game three, if you're a Blackhawks fan your favorite game was probably Game 2 and without much doubt I'd say if your a Flyers fan, last night's game four was probably your favorite. Interestingly, only last nights ended with the margin of victory being more than one goal - does that mean anything? Hard to tell, but I bet Chicago comes out playing with a tremendous surge for the start of game 5 at United Center.
Last night, it seemed the Flyers may have made a statement. After all, they never trailed in the game and at one point they were up by three goals. The final margin of victory was two goals after an empty net goal gave the Flyers some breathing room at the tail end of the Third period after they had weathered a Chicago desperate surge. Clearly though both the Flyers and the Blackhawks have "figured out" the opposing goaltenders. That said the Blackhawks first line continues to be well controlled by the Flyers team defense and ferocious backcheck and forecheck. When those efforts start to give them any breathing room, Defensman Chris Pronger seems to always be there and ready to step-up and hold the Blackhawks' usual "firestarters" Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in check. As a result, Chicago's second line has been forced to step up and shoulder the bulk of the necessary goal-scoring responsibilities. It's a task that the second line has generally responded to. On the other side of the center ice circle, the Flyers have a lot of guys stepping up though perhaps none more so than Ville Leino and Pronger, though the list clearly has others on it as well.
One thing that has surprised me has been the aggressiveness and attempted physical play of the Blackhawks. It hasn't really worked for them in my view and they've taken a tremendous amount of penalties as a result. Penalties that have given the Flyers the ability to step it up on their powerplay unit and cash in ~40% of the time, they are on the man advantage. I would like to point out that after last night's game, I feel Brian Campbell is one of, if not the, biggest hypocrite and "wieney" in the NHL today. After he got injured when he flew into the boards after the hit by Ovechkin earlier this season, I swear I recall numerous sideways statements that basically said he thought Ovie was dirty or at least that particular hit was dirty because we all learn at an early age not to hit someone on their numbers. However take a good look at the hit Campbell threw on Lieno last night in the first period. Yes he used his shoulder and yes Lieno didn't fly into the boards. However, if Lieno was had turned away like a wimp as Campbell did on the Ovechkin hit, it's basically the same hit that Ovie threw and perhaps Lieno would have indeed been hurt more by the hit. Now I'll be the first to say the Campbell hit on Lieno was legal, my point was/is - why would/should anyone in the league have sympathy or consideration for Campbell. He made zero effort to pull up and avoid possibly hurting Lieno on that hit, nor on numerous others last night. There were several hits where Chicago Blackhawks clearly jumped into the hit with their skates leaving the ice - yet no charging or boarding call was made on them - I'm confused, are the rules different in the playoffs? I think not and in this area I think they should be enforced uniformly to the manner they are called and enforced during the regular season. As should obstruction/interference, yet from what I see that's not being done. Of course the most amazing/interesting thing to me is from what I see - it's not "The Broad Street Bullies" who are trying to take the liberties - it's the Blackhawks generally and particularly their most overpaid, defenseman. Sweet. [Reminder: I did say in this series I am rooting for the Flyers.]
Next game tomorrow in Chicago - Game 5, this is probably the most important game of this series, but of course anything can happen.
Last night, it seemed the Flyers may have made a statement. After all, they never trailed in the game and at one point they were up by three goals. The final margin of victory was two goals after an empty net goal gave the Flyers some breathing room at the tail end of the Third period after they had weathered a Chicago desperate surge. Clearly though both the Flyers and the Blackhawks have "figured out" the opposing goaltenders. That said the Blackhawks first line continues to be well controlled by the Flyers team defense and ferocious backcheck and forecheck. When those efforts start to give them any breathing room, Defensman Chris Pronger seems to always be there and ready to step-up and hold the Blackhawks' usual "firestarters" Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in check. As a result, Chicago's second line has been forced to step up and shoulder the bulk of the necessary goal-scoring responsibilities. It's a task that the second line has generally responded to. On the other side of the center ice circle, the Flyers have a lot of guys stepping up though perhaps none more so than Ville Leino and Pronger, though the list clearly has others on it as well.
One thing that has surprised me has been the aggressiveness and attempted physical play of the Blackhawks. It hasn't really worked for them in my view and they've taken a tremendous amount of penalties as a result. Penalties that have given the Flyers the ability to step it up on their powerplay unit and cash in ~40% of the time, they are on the man advantage. I would like to point out that after last night's game, I feel Brian Campbell is one of, if not the, biggest hypocrite and "wieney" in the NHL today. After he got injured when he flew into the boards after the hit by Ovechkin earlier this season, I swear I recall numerous sideways statements that basically said he thought Ovie was dirty or at least that particular hit was dirty because we all learn at an early age not to hit someone on their numbers. However take a good look at the hit Campbell threw on Lieno last night in the first period. Yes he used his shoulder and yes Lieno didn't fly into the boards. However, if Lieno was had turned away like a wimp as Campbell did on the Ovechkin hit, it's basically the same hit that Ovie threw and perhaps Lieno would have indeed been hurt more by the hit. Now I'll be the first to say the Campbell hit on Lieno was legal, my point was/is - why would/should anyone in the league have sympathy or consideration for Campbell. He made zero effort to pull up and avoid possibly hurting Lieno on that hit, nor on numerous others last night. There were several hits where Chicago Blackhawks clearly jumped into the hit with their skates leaving the ice - yet no charging or boarding call was made on them - I'm confused, are the rules different in the playoffs? I think not and in this area I think they should be enforced uniformly to the manner they are called and enforced during the regular season. As should obstruction/interference, yet from what I see that's not being done. Of course the most amazing/interesting thing to me is from what I see - it's not "The Broad Street Bullies" who are trying to take the liberties - it's the Blackhawks generally and particularly their most overpaid, defenseman. Sweet. [Reminder: I did say in this series I am rooting for the Flyers.]
Next game tomorrow in Chicago - Game 5, this is probably the most important game of this series, but of course anything can happen.
Monday, May 31, 2010
So I'm Sitting Here Musing On Tonight's Game 2...
So I'm sitting here musing about Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Chicago tonight - I really need to be working, yes it's a holiday but we had some things come up at work and I've got a deadline in two weeks and a lot of things to do before then. After all I want to get those tasks done so I can attend the annual PM-FPS Golf Tournament at Fort Belvoir and get my butt summarily kicked by that course once again on June 11th...
In any case I'm once again musing about hockey - it is a holiday weekend after all - and I'm thinking that tonight one of two things will happen. Either the Flyers come out, score first, play a very tight game and come away with a hard fought 2-1 or 3-2 win. Tying the series at one game a piece as they head to Philly for game 3 of what will likely be a 7 game series anybody can win.
Or ...
Chicago comes out flying, and this time solves both Flyers goaltenders Leighton and Boucher - they really didn't solve Boucher last game - and come away with at least a three goal victory (at least 2 + an empty netter). If that happens the teams head to Philly with Chicago in control of the series 2-0 for game 3 of what will likely be a 5 game series that Chicago wins.
Of the two choices I have no idea which will occur. As I've been saying I will make no concrete predictions about this series. It's the Stanley Cup finals - anything can happen. After all "History Will Be Made" and at this point you really have to play all the required games on the ice. I do think though that Philly's lesson learned from game one is that even though Niemi is beatable, they want to play Chicago tighter than they played them in game one.
What do you think?
In any case I'm once again musing about hockey - it is a holiday weekend after all - and I'm thinking that tonight one of two things will happen. Either the Flyers come out, score first, play a very tight game and come away with a hard fought 2-1 or 3-2 win. Tying the series at one game a piece as they head to Philly for game 3 of what will likely be a 7 game series anybody can win.
Or ...
Chicago comes out flying, and this time solves both Flyers goaltenders Leighton and Boucher - they really didn't solve Boucher last game - and come away with at least a three goal victory (at least 2 + an empty netter). If that happens the teams head to Philly with Chicago in control of the series 2-0 for game 3 of what will likely be a 5 game series that Chicago wins.
Of the two choices I have no idea which will occur. As I've been saying I will make no concrete predictions about this series. It's the Stanley Cup finals - anything can happen. After all "History Will Be Made" and at this point you really have to play all the required games on the ice. I do think though that Philly's lesson learned from game one is that even though Niemi is beatable, they want to play Chicago tighter than they played them in game one.
What do you think?
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Game 1 In The Books - Blackhawks 6 - Flyers 5
Here's my random thoughts about last night's Stanley Cup Finals Game 1...
Midway through the first period I thought - if things keep up this way, the final score will be 7-6 and I have no idea who will win. Seriously, no kidding that's why I thought. Things did basically keep up that way and I wasn't far off the mark.
It only shows how little confidence the Blackhawks have in Christobel Huet that Antti Niemi was still in the Chicago net to get the victory. It also once again just resoundingly screams what a waste of $5.5M of Salary Cap Space, Hut's contract is for Chicago. As a Capitals fan I'd like to once again say thank you for the self-discipline of the Caps Management and Ownership and for Jose Theodore, these past two seasons.
Aren't the playoffs, especially when your big players need to show up and deliver big? Flyers: Richards-Carter-Gagne combined for no goals, no assists and a +/- of (-7). Not to be outdone for the Blackhawks: Kane-Toews-Byfuglien combined for zero goals, zero points and +/- of (-9). I'd say this points to a couple of things: a) both the Flyers and the Blackhawks have good coaching staffs and used the time between series to watch a fair amount of video and come up with ways to modulate the impact of the other teams' "big guns" and b) the guys assigned to keep the other teams "big guns" neutralized executed well. That said my feeling is this level of non-production will not continue through the rest of the series and one important factor for who ever wins the series will be that they will make counteracting adjustments faster than the loosing team can react to. Given last night's game it's probably going to be much more about being a "coach's series" than being about a "goaltender's series/duel" - just a hunch on my part.
Don't get me wrong, right now I'd rather be the Blackhawks and up 1-0 in the series, but there's a lot of good things the Flyers have to build on, and I can't believe that Chicago was sitting in their locker room after the game thinking it was going to be easy for them to win their first Cup since 1961. Can't see the Blackhawks sweeping this series right now.
It will be interesting to see who Peter Laviolette starts in goal for game two. Brian Boucher was clearly the best goaltender who played last night, but Leighton wasn't really the problem for the Flyers and it was really his first bad game since he took over for Boucher in the playoffs. No doubt Niemi will be in goal for Chicago and the Hawks will be hoping he has what has become his usual stellar coming back from a bad outing game in game 2. To some degree what happens there with Niemi in game two will drive the amount of swagger the Hawks have when they travel to Philly for game 3 and 4.
32:21 of Ice Time is probably too much for Philly to play Chris Pronger against the Blackhawks, but I'm not sure what choice they have. I guess if they could get it so Lukas Krajicek skated 10-12 minutes in the game and/or Ryan Parent skated 5-10 minutes in a game vice 7:03 and 00:41, they might be able to dial Pronger's ice time back to something on the order of 27 minutes. Seriously, if the game had gone to Overtime it's very conceivable Pronger could have been asked to play 40 minutes and that likely just won't work against the Blackhawks who are so deep. This is something that will likely be a key thing to watch the rest of this series.
I won't make any prediction on who will win but after last night's game it's hard for me to feel the Series won't be at least six (6) games long.
No Flyer penalties last night --- really? Well Laviolette had to be happy, even if the 22,000+ referees in United Center were slightly incredulous at times.
Second star of the game Marian Hossa --- really? Hossa played a good game but in a game where 11 goals are scored the fact that the second star of the game is a guy who didn't score a goal but had two (2) assists in 18:14 TOI just shows how distributed the Chicago offense was last night. Personally, nothing against Hoss, but I would have given the second star to Dave Boland for his unassisted short hand goal, but I always feel a "shortie" provides a team with a bunch of good karma and momentum and tend to overvalue their impact on a game.
Next game tomorrow in Chicago.
Midway through the first period I thought - if things keep up this way, the final score will be 7-6 and I have no idea who will win. Seriously, no kidding that's why I thought. Things did basically keep up that way and I wasn't far off the mark.
It only shows how little confidence the Blackhawks have in Christobel Huet that Antti Niemi was still in the Chicago net to get the victory. It also once again just resoundingly screams what a waste of $5.5M of Salary Cap Space, Hut's contract is for Chicago. As a Capitals fan I'd like to once again say thank you for the self-discipline of the Caps Management and Ownership and for Jose Theodore, these past two seasons.
Aren't the playoffs, especially when your big players need to show up and deliver big? Flyers: Richards-Carter-Gagne combined for no goals, no assists and a +/- of (-7). Not to be outdone for the Blackhawks: Kane-Toews-Byfuglien combined for zero goals, zero points and +/- of (-9). I'd say this points to a couple of things: a) both the Flyers and the Blackhawks have good coaching staffs and used the time between series to watch a fair amount of video and come up with ways to modulate the impact of the other teams' "big guns" and b) the guys assigned to keep the other teams "big guns" neutralized executed well. That said my feeling is this level of non-production will not continue through the rest of the series and one important factor for who ever wins the series will be that they will make counteracting adjustments faster than the loosing team can react to. Given last night's game it's probably going to be much more about being a "coach's series" than being about a "goaltender's series/duel" - just a hunch on my part.
Don't get me wrong, right now I'd rather be the Blackhawks and up 1-0 in the series, but there's a lot of good things the Flyers have to build on, and I can't believe that Chicago was sitting in their locker room after the game thinking it was going to be easy for them to win their first Cup since 1961. Can't see the Blackhawks sweeping this series right now.
It will be interesting to see who Peter Laviolette starts in goal for game two. Brian Boucher was clearly the best goaltender who played last night, but Leighton wasn't really the problem for the Flyers and it was really his first bad game since he took over for Boucher in the playoffs. No doubt Niemi will be in goal for Chicago and the Hawks will be hoping he has what has become his usual stellar coming back from a bad outing game in game 2. To some degree what happens there with Niemi in game two will drive the amount of swagger the Hawks have when they travel to Philly for game 3 and 4.
32:21 of Ice Time is probably too much for Philly to play Chris Pronger against the Blackhawks, but I'm not sure what choice they have. I guess if they could get it so Lukas Krajicek skated 10-12 minutes in the game and/or Ryan Parent skated 5-10 minutes in a game vice 7:03 and 00:41, they might be able to dial Pronger's ice time back to something on the order of 27 minutes. Seriously, if the game had gone to Overtime it's very conceivable Pronger could have been asked to play 40 minutes and that likely just won't work against the Blackhawks who are so deep. This is something that will likely be a key thing to watch the rest of this series.
I won't make any prediction on who will win but after last night's game it's hard for me to feel the Series won't be at least six (6) games long.
No Flyer penalties last night --- really? Well Laviolette had to be happy, even if the 22,000+ referees in United Center were slightly incredulous at times.
Second star of the game Marian Hossa --- really? Hossa played a good game but in a game where 11 goals are scored the fact that the second star of the game is a guy who didn't score a goal but had two (2) assists in 18:14 TOI just shows how distributed the Chicago offense was last night. Personally, nothing against Hoss, but I would have given the second star to Dave Boland for his unassisted short hand goal, but I always feel a "shortie" provides a team with a bunch of good karma and momentum and tend to overvalue their impact on a game.
Next game tomorrow in Chicago.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
So It's Set - Piladelphia @ Chicago, Stanley Cup Game 1, Saturday May 29th in Chicago
Well it's set, the Stanley Cup Finals that is. This should be a great series. Lots of action, lotos of drama. As a former Flyers fan, and current Capitals/Eastern Conference fan, I'm rooting for the Flyers, but lets be honest, Chicago has looked awesome, especially the last 4 games.
More later but last night's game 5 Flyers vs. Canadiens was a good one. ...
More later but last night's game 5 Flyers vs. Canadiens was a good one. ...
Monday, May 24, 2010
Blackhawks Sweep Sharks, Flyers Return To Philly Leading Series 3-1 and Russia Looses to Czech Republic
The headline tell is all doesn't it?
The NHL Western Conference team in the Stanley Cup Finals is Chicago after they took game four today in Chicago. The Blackhawks deserved to win, they seemed to want it more, they clearly out shot the Sharks in the second and third period and scored 4 unanswered goals, including the final empty neter to come back from a 2-0 deficit and take the series in a sweep.
The Flyers made all the necessary adjustments on Saturday to take the 3-1 game series lead with them when they return to Wachovia Center in Philly and try to close out the series against Montreal in five games. Michael Leighton got his third shutout of the series and the Flyers powered to a 3-0 victory in the second game at of the series at Bell Center.
In Germany, the Czech Republic beat Russia 3-1, Heartbreak there for sure....
Well that's it for now, Tomorrow night's Flyers - Canadiens game should be a fun one.
The NHL Western Conference team in the Stanley Cup Finals is Chicago after they took game four today in Chicago. The Blackhawks deserved to win, they seemed to want it more, they clearly out shot the Sharks in the second and third period and scored 4 unanswered goals, including the final empty neter to come back from a 2-0 deficit and take the series in a sweep.
The Flyers made all the necessary adjustments on Saturday to take the 3-1 game series lead with them when they return to Wachovia Center in Philly and try to close out the series against Montreal in five games. Michael Leighton got his third shutout of the series and the Flyers powered to a 3-0 victory in the second game at of the series at Bell Center.
In Germany, the Czech Republic beat Russia 3-1, Heartbreak there for sure....
Well that's it for now, Tomorrow night's Flyers - Canadiens game should be a fun one.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
NHL Playoffs - Conference Finals, Buckle Up and Get Ready for Game 4 in Both Series
Well the NHL Playoffs have continued without: the Capitals, without the Penguins, and believe it or not without the Red Wings. Despite the lack of continued participation by these three powerhouses and/or in the case of Detroit, usual suspects, the ice hockey games being played have been interesting and exciting to say the least.
In the East, today's game 4 in Montreal will result in one of two things: a) the Habs Win, the series is tied 2-2 and we're probably in for a seven game continued barn burner, or b) the Flyers win go up 3-1 and probably find a way to the Stanley Cup Finals before the series is over in 5 or 6 games. Either way, the Eastern Conference participant in the Stanley Cup finals this year will be an improbable 7th or 8th seed team. They will also be a team with a balanced offense, who got to the finals by playing like a team and staying with their team's system, executing it as good as they have all season long. In other words, no easy "pickings" for their ultimate Western Conference Opponent.
In the West, Sunday's Game 4 in Chicago will result in one of 2 things: a) an improbable 4 game sweep of San Jose by the Blackhawks or b) San Jose winning, staving off elimination and from their perspective beginning the long crawl/comeback from being down 3 games - 0 and trying to be the second team this year that makes history that way. Either way whichever team from the West that makes the finals will be confident. So far this series, Chicago has been pretty impressive to say the least, though during last night's win they did allow San Jose 46 Shots On Goal. In Sunday's game, I expect we'll see a San Jose team playing with as much or more energy and drive as we saw in game 3. I also think Chicago is playing with fire when they let San Jose's second line (Pavelski-Stetoguchi-Clowe) fire a combined 12 shots on goal. As much as the NHL.COM press says these guys are cold, that's still playing with fire and once they break through for that first combined goal, chances are they could just as easily loosen their grips on their sticks just a little and return to the productivity levels they all had in the first two rounds of this year's playoffs. For Chicago, what is there to say, picking one or two guys to single out as being guys playing well is really difficult. For all the right reasons, by and large the entire Blackhawks team is playing very well and showing no signs of letting up the pressure their collective boot has on San Jose's throat right now. Antti Niemi's performance this series has been excellent. In game 3 he stopped 44 of 46 (SV% 0.9565), in game 2 he stopped 25 of 27 (SV% 0.9259) and in game 1, a goaltender's duel, he stopped 44 of 45 (SV% 0.9778). Overall through the series to date his GAA is 1.67 and his SV% is 0.9576. I'm sure Chicago is glad they have a great goaltender who is playing at the top of his game and will be around next year earning $5,5M to back him up again. Then again maybe not given the implied tone when I wrote "who is playing at the top of his game." Sorry, you had to guess, that if there was some way for me to get in a "jab" at my favorite former Capitals' goaltender, I would. After all, "I gotta be me."
Well it looks like it's going to be a gray, and possibly rainy day around here in Bristow, so I will indeed likely watch the Flyers - Canadiens game today or at least the majority of it live.
Apparently the "BIG" Capitals related news is that Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich always play to win, even when they are on opposing sides of the ice - I'm shocked, how about you?
Is it September, yet?
In the East, today's game 4 in Montreal will result in one of two things: a) the Habs Win, the series is tied 2-2 and we're probably in for a seven game continued barn burner, or b) the Flyers win go up 3-1 and probably find a way to the Stanley Cup Finals before the series is over in 5 or 6 games. Either way, the Eastern Conference participant in the Stanley Cup finals this year will be an improbable 7th or 8th seed team. They will also be a team with a balanced offense, who got to the finals by playing like a team and staying with their team's system, executing it as good as they have all season long. In other words, no easy "pickings" for their ultimate Western Conference Opponent.
In the West, Sunday's Game 4 in Chicago will result in one of 2 things: a) an improbable 4 game sweep of San Jose by the Blackhawks or b) San Jose winning, staving off elimination and from their perspective beginning the long crawl/comeback from being down 3 games - 0 and trying to be the second team this year that makes history that way. Either way whichever team from the West that makes the finals will be confident. So far this series, Chicago has been pretty impressive to say the least, though during last night's win they did allow San Jose 46 Shots On Goal. In Sunday's game, I expect we'll see a San Jose team playing with as much or more energy and drive as we saw in game 3. I also think Chicago is playing with fire when they let San Jose's second line (Pavelski-Stetoguchi-Clowe) fire a combined 12 shots on goal. As much as the NHL.COM press says these guys are cold, that's still playing with fire and once they break through for that first combined goal, chances are they could just as easily loosen their grips on their sticks just a little and return to the productivity levels they all had in the first two rounds of this year's playoffs. For Chicago, what is there to say, picking one or two guys to single out as being guys playing well is really difficult. For all the right reasons, by and large the entire Blackhawks team is playing very well and showing no signs of letting up the pressure their collective boot has on San Jose's throat right now. Antti Niemi's performance this series has been excellent. In game 3 he stopped 44 of 46 (SV% 0.9565), in game 2 he stopped 25 of 27 (SV% 0.9259) and in game 1, a goaltender's duel, he stopped 44 of 45 (SV% 0.9778). Overall through the series to date his GAA is 1.67 and his SV% is 0.9576. I'm sure Chicago is glad they have a great goaltender who is playing at the top of his game and will be around next year earning $5,5M to back him up again. Then again maybe not given the implied tone when I wrote "who is playing at the top of his game." Sorry, you had to guess, that if there was some way for me to get in a "jab" at my favorite former Capitals' goaltender, I would. After all, "I gotta be me."
Well it looks like it's going to be a gray, and possibly rainy day around here in Bristow, so I will indeed likely watch the Flyers - Canadiens game today or at least the majority of it live.
Apparently the "BIG" Capitals related news is that Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich always play to win, even when they are on opposing sides of the ice - I'm shocked, how about you?
Is it September, yet?
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Quick Hits From Last Night's Hockey Musings
So last night as I watched the majority of the Flyers - Canadiens game relatively closely and then channel surfed with the Sharks - Blackhawks game as my "base channel" - I had several "quick musings" about the current state of both Conference finals. I'll share them briefly while chomping on my sandwich before getting back to work on this cloudy Monday.
1) Wow, now the Canadiens know how frustrated the Caps and the Penguins were when Jaroslav Halak was stonewalling them. Sure the Flyers team defense has been tough but Michael Leighton has been virtually impenetrable since being brought in when Brian Boucher got injured and six periods of shutout hockey is a great way to start a best of seven series.
2) Who are these guys wearing the Canadien uniforms this series - they can't be the same guys who played and beat the Capitals and the Penguins. The guy in goal certainly isn't the same guy who played the last three games in net during the Capitals - Canadiens series.
3) The Flyers not retaliating is really bizarre to watch, but oh so much a testament to how good they can be. This is the Flyers team everyone expected to play in Wachovia Center at the start of this past regular season.
4) Last night's Flyers shut out of the Canadiens means the Flyers have scored a total of 13 unanswered goals and have played eight (8) straight periods of playoff hockey without allowing their opponents to score a goal. That's history being made, right there. All I can say is wow ... just ... wow.
5) I see the Flyers winning this series in five (5) games. I see Montreal saving some face with at least one (1) win in Montreal but after what the Flyers did to the Bruins, I can't see the Flyers letting up one iota until the series is over.
6) I said it was going to be t0ugh for San Jose to beat the Blackhawks unless their first line started producing and their second line kept on producing. Apparently Joel Quenneville agrees with me and is matching up linesto make sure that "Little Joe" Pavelski and the Sharks' second line reverts to being less productive than they have been through the Sharks' first two playoff series. Really I can't see the Sharks coming back from this deficit while still dressing 11 forwards and 7 defensemen for each game.
7) With every game that Antti Niemi plays well and gets better, the bigger albatross the Christobel Huet contract looks around Stan Bowman's neck. Hopefully for Florida Panther Fans that means that Dale Tallon has learned from his past mistakes. Thank goodness for we Capitals fans that GMGM and Ted Leonsis stood firm in their contract negotiations with Huet and his agent with regard to term of contract and he ended up in Chicago.
8) With each game I watch that the Blackhawks play I find myself wondering - what in the world did Brian Campbell ever do to make anyone feel he'd be worth over 7 million of cap space for the next six years? It's no wonder that Chicago is playing with such urgencey, with the Campbell and Marian Hossa contracts there really no way the core of this team can be held firmly together past next season. I've got nothing against Brain Campbell or Marian Hossa but I don't see Campbell being worth more than Chris Pronger at age 35 and I certainly don't see Hossa being worth 5+M of salary cap space in 2016 at age 37, can you honestly feel that in any system that Marian Hossa will have a 25% greater impact to a team than Sergei Federov did at age 38?
9) All that said it's going to be really, really hard for the Sharks to come back and make it to the Stanley Cup finals now. The series heads to Chicago with the Blackhawks up two games to zip. I couldn't see this series being done in less than six games before it started and now I can't see it going past six games, in fact if I were a betting man I'd take Chicago in five games and I wouldn't be shocked to see them sweep their ways into the finals.
I know it's late in the playoffs and saying that you are going to see good hockey is a pretty safe statement but so far these two remaining series have been pretty good hockey to watch, eh?
1) Wow, now the Canadiens know how frustrated the Caps and the Penguins were when Jaroslav Halak was stonewalling them. Sure the Flyers team defense has been tough but Michael Leighton has been virtually impenetrable since being brought in when Brian Boucher got injured and six periods of shutout hockey is a great way to start a best of seven series.
2) Who are these guys wearing the Canadien uniforms this series - they can't be the same guys who played and beat the Capitals and the Penguins. The guy in goal certainly isn't the same guy who played the last three games in net during the Capitals - Canadiens series.
3) The Flyers not retaliating is really bizarre to watch, but oh so much a testament to how good they can be. This is the Flyers team everyone expected to play in Wachovia Center at the start of this past regular season.
4) Last night's Flyers shut out of the Canadiens means the Flyers have scored a total of 13 unanswered goals and have played eight (8) straight periods of playoff hockey without allowing their opponents to score a goal. That's history being made, right there. All I can say is wow ... just ... wow.
5) I see the Flyers winning this series in five (5) games. I see Montreal saving some face with at least one (1) win in Montreal but after what the Flyers did to the Bruins, I can't see the Flyers letting up one iota until the series is over.
6) I said it was going to be t0ugh for San Jose to beat the Blackhawks unless their first line started producing and their second line kept on producing. Apparently Joel Quenneville agrees with me and is matching up linesto make sure that "Little Joe" Pavelski and the Sharks' second line reverts to being less productive than they have been through the Sharks' first two playoff series. Really I can't see the Sharks coming back from this deficit while still dressing 11 forwards and 7 defensemen for each game.
7) With every game that Antti Niemi plays well and gets better, the bigger albatross the Christobel Huet contract looks around Stan Bowman's neck. Hopefully for Florida Panther Fans that means that Dale Tallon has learned from his past mistakes. Thank goodness for we Capitals fans that GMGM and Ted Leonsis stood firm in their contract negotiations with Huet and his agent with regard to term of contract and he ended up in Chicago.
8) With each game I watch that the Blackhawks play I find myself wondering - what in the world did Brian Campbell ever do to make anyone feel he'd be worth over 7 million of cap space for the next six years? It's no wonder that Chicago is playing with such urgencey, with the Campbell and Marian Hossa contracts there really no way the core of this team can be held firmly together past next season. I've got nothing against Brain Campbell or Marian Hossa but I don't see Campbell being worth more than Chris Pronger at age 35 and I certainly don't see Hossa being worth 5+M of salary cap space in 2016 at age 37, can you honestly feel that in any system that Marian Hossa will have a 25% greater impact to a team than Sergei Federov did at age 38?
9) All that said it's going to be really, really hard for the Sharks to come back and make it to the Stanley Cup finals now. The series heads to Chicago with the Blackhawks up two games to zip. I couldn't see this series being done in less than six games before it started and now I can't see it going past six games, in fact if I were a betting man I'd take Chicago in five games and I wouldn't be shocked to see them sweep their ways into the finals.
I know it's late in the playoffs and saying that you are going to see good hockey is a pretty safe statement but so far these two remaining series have been pretty good hockey to watch, eh?
Sunday, May 16, 2010
First Conference Final Games Result In Chicago and Philadelphia Being Up 1-0
Wow, the Conference Finals have started, and to me the first games in each series were both somewhat surprising.
I wouldn't have figured the Western Conference finals to start off with a goaltender's duel but it did. Antti Niemi won the battle against Evgeni Nabakov and the San Jose Sharks. Niemi stopped 44 of the Shark's 45 shots on goal, while Nabakov only managed to stop 38 of the Blackhawk's 40 shots on goal. End result Blackhawks 2 - Sharks 1. Game 2 is in San Jose on Tuesday evening.
I also really wouldn't have figured that if the Eastern Conference finals started off with a shutout, the guy getting it would be Michael Leighton. Perhaps even more surprising to me was the one sided nature of the Flyers victory this evening. Tonight, the Flyers chased Jaroslav Halak out of the net before the end of the second period and they held Mike Cammalleri to just one (1) shot on goal. I guess I shouldn't have been all that surprised about Leighton's ability to get the shutout, the Flyers and Leighton have held opponets to a GAA of just 1.00 since Brian Boucher went down. The Canadiens helped the Flyers get off to a good start by taking a plethora of uncharacteristic undisciplined penalties. The Flyers capitalized on the Canadiens lack of discipline notching 2 power play goals on 6 opportunities while holding the Canadiens potent power play off the board in their 4 man advantage chances. End result Flyers 6 - Canadiens 0. Game 2 is in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening and I'm sure the Canadiens will make some changes/adjustments after that game.
Big news supposedly coming out at KCI tomorrow morning. Scuttlebutt is it's all about the Nicklas Backstrom contract extension. We'll see.
I just have one other thing --- is it September yet?
I wouldn't have figured the Western Conference finals to start off with a goaltender's duel but it did. Antti Niemi won the battle against Evgeni Nabakov and the San Jose Sharks. Niemi stopped 44 of the Shark's 45 shots on goal, while Nabakov only managed to stop 38 of the Blackhawk's 40 shots on goal. End result Blackhawks 2 - Sharks 1. Game 2 is in San Jose on Tuesday evening.
I also really wouldn't have figured that if the Eastern Conference finals started off with a shutout, the guy getting it would be Michael Leighton. Perhaps even more surprising to me was the one sided nature of the Flyers victory this evening. Tonight, the Flyers chased Jaroslav Halak out of the net before the end of the second period and they held Mike Cammalleri to just one (1) shot on goal. I guess I shouldn't have been all that surprised about Leighton's ability to get the shutout, the Flyers and Leighton have held opponets to a GAA of just 1.00 since Brian Boucher went down. The Canadiens helped the Flyers get off to a good start by taking a plethora of uncharacteristic undisciplined penalties. The Flyers capitalized on the Canadiens lack of discipline notching 2 power play goals on 6 opportunities while holding the Canadiens potent power play off the board in their 4 man advantage chances. End result Flyers 6 - Canadiens 0. Game 2 is in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening and I'm sure the Canadiens will make some changes/adjustments after that game.
Big news supposedly coming out at KCI tomorrow morning. Scuttlebutt is it's all about the Nicklas Backstrom contract extension. We'll see.
I just have one other thing --- is it September yet?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Looking At The Blackhawks - Sharks Matchup
Looking ahead to the start of the conference finals tomorrow I decided to look at the Blackhawks - Sharks match up.
First comparison - players head to head:
First Line:
Sharks: Marleau - Thorton - Heatley
Blackhawks: Byfuglien - Toews - Kane
One on one comparisons and musings:
Patrick Marleau vs. Dustin Buyfuglien
Marleau - regular season numbers: 82GP, 44 goals, 39 assists, +21, 22PIM, 12PPG, 4SHG, 6GWG, s%16.1.
playoff numbers: 10GP, 3 goals, 4 assists, -1, 8PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, s%7.1.
Byfuglien - regular season numbers: 82GP, 17goals, 17 assists, -7, 94PIM, 6PPG, 0SHG, 3GWG, s%8.1.
playoff numbers: 12GP, 4 goals, 2 assists, -3, 12PIM, 2PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, s%16.0.
Marleau gets the nod: No doubt that Byfuglien has raised his game for the playoffs but he's still -3 and has less potential to positively impact games on his own than Marleau. Further Marleau has averaged 4.2 SOG/game while "Big Buff" has averaged just 2.08 SOG/game so I think you have to give this match up to the Sharks.
Joe Thorton vs. Jonathan Toews
Thorton - regular season numbers: 79GP, 20 goals, 69 assists, +17, 54PIM, 4PPG, 1SHG, 2GWG, S%14.2.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 3 goals, 8 assists, -6, 16PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%12.0.
Toews - regular season numbers: 76GP, 25 goals, 43 assists, +22, 47PIM, 9PPG, 1SHG, 3GWG, S%12.4.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 6 goals, 14 assists, +4, 2PIM, 4PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%17.1
Toews has the edge. In the regular season they looked comparable, but here in the post season the Blackhawks Captain has raised his already excellent game while Thorton has played adequately and as expected, he really hasn't raised his game considerably, yet.
Dany Heatley vs. Patrick Kane
Heatley: regular season numbers - 82GP, 39 goals, 43 assists, +14, 54PIM, 18PPG, 1SHG, 9GWG, S% 13.9.
playoff numbers - 10GP, 2 goals, 9 assists, -3, 10PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%6.5.
Kane: regular season numbers - 82GP, 30 goals, 58 assists, +16, 20PIM, 9PPG, 0SHG, 6GWG, S%11.5.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 7 goals, 8 assists, +1, 4PIM, 1PPG, 1SHG, 0GWG S%20.6.
Kane gets the edge. Kane had a great regular season and has done nothing but raise his game here in the playoffs. Heatley is and has been solid but in truth in order to win this series, the entire Sharks first line likely needs to raise their game.
Overall edge goes to Chicago. So far in the playoffs the San Jose first line has been +/- negative while the entire Blackhawks first line has raised their game and the only one in +/- negative territory is Big Buff at -3. Further both Toews and Kane are at 0.5+ goals/game while Byfuglien is at 0.33 goals/game. The San Jose first line is led by Marleau at 0.3 goals per game ans a combined 0.258 goals/game for all three players.
Second Line:
Sharks: Clowe - Pavelski - Setoguchi
Blackhawks: Kopecky - Sharp - Hossa
Ryane Clowe vs. Tomas Kopecky
Clowe: regular season numbers - 82GP, 19 goals, 38 assists, +/-0, 131PIM, 2PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%10.1
playoff numbers - 11GP, 2 goals, 8 assists, +5, 12PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%6.3.
Kopecky: regular season numbers - 74GP, 10 goals, 11 assists, +/-0, 28PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%10.5.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 3 goals, 1 assist, +2, 4PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%17.6.
Slight edge to Clowe. Clowe gets the slight edge mainly because of his impact on the ice with 8 assists and +5, as well as his 32 SOG so far in the playoffs versus Kopecky's numbers and 17SOG.
Joe Pavelski vs. Patrick Sharp
Pavelski: regular season numbers - 67GP, 25 goals, 27 assists, +1, 26PIM, 3PPG, 1SHG, 5GWG, S%11.0.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 9 goals, 6 assists, +7, 6PIM, 5PPG, 0SHG, 3GWG, S%17.3%
Sharp: regular season numbers - 82GP, 25 goals, 41 assists, +24, 28PIM, 4PPG, 2SHG, 4GWG, S%9.1.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 5 goals, 9 assists, +2, 10PIM, 2PPG, 1SHG, 1GWG, S%11.4%.
Tight call - give the edge to Pavelski, Joe Pavelski has raised his game and his 9 post season goals including 3 game winners vs. Patrick Sharp's 5 post season goals of which 1 is a game winner gives him the edge at the start of this series.
Devin Setoguchi vs. Marian Hossa
Setoguchi: regular season numbers - 70GP, 20 goals, 16 assists, +/-0, 19PIM, 8PPG, 0SHG, 4GWG, S%12.1.
playoff numbers: 11GP, 5 goals, 3 assists, +5, 4PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%11.4
Hossa: regular season numbers - 54GP, 24 goals, 27 assists, +24, 18PIM, 2PPG, 5SHG, 2GWG, S%12.1.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 2 goals, 8 assists, +5, 19PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%5.6.
Slight edge to Setoguchi. It's hard to go against Hossa, after all as his 5 regular season SHG attest, he is one of the best talents in the game today. However the post season numbers clearly say the current edge and guy having more positive impact to his team so far this post season is Setoguchi, so you have to give him the edge right now.
Overall edge for the 2nd line goes to San Jose. Basically this is the opposite story as the one on the first line. Chicago's second line needs to step it up, though clearly for San Jose to win, their second line needs to continue to play the elevated game they have displayed so far this post season as well.
Third Line:
Sharks: Coutoure- Malhotra-Mitchell
Blackhawks: Ladd - Bolland - Versteeg
Logan Couture vs. Andrew Ladd
Coutoure: regular season numbers - 25GP, 5 goals, 4 assists, +4, 6PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%11.9.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 3 goals, 0 assists, +2, 2PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%23.1.
Ladd: regular season numbers - 82GP, 17 goals, 21 assists, +2, 67PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%11.5
playoff numbers - 12GP, 1 goal, 1 assist, -2, 8PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%6.3.
Edge goes to 21 year old Logan Couture. Coutore has managed to play solid hockey both in his 25 regular season games as well as during his 8 post season games, while Ladd hasn't been much of a factor at all post season though his regular season numbers and effort shows he has the ability to deliver the goods as a solid third liner and could be a factor if he steps things up though Coutoure's 8 goals in 34 games puts him just about on a 20 goal regular season and seems to indicate he's in San Jose to stay.
Manny Malhotra vs. Dave Bolland
Malhotra: regular season numbers - 71GP, 14 goals, 19 assists, +17, 41PIM, 2PPG, 0SHG, 4GWG, S%12.6.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 1 goal, 0 assists, +/-0, 0PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%3.3.
Bolland: regular season numbers - 39GP, 6 goals, 10 assists, +5, 28PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%11.5.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 3 goals, 4 assists, -1, 18PIM, 1PPG, 1SHG, 1GWG, S%18.8.
Slight edge goes to Bolland. Manny Malhotra is one of the 7 forwards the coach Todd McLellan gives a fair amount of ice time, and his ability in the faceoff circle as well as his solid two way play is the reason why. However so far in the post season Dave Bolland has made a much greater positive impact and contribution to his team's results.
Torrey Mitchell vs. Kris Versteeg
Mitchell: regular season numbers - 56GP, 2 goals, 9 assists, +6, 27PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%3.4.
playoff numbers - 11GP, o goals, 4 assists, -4, 2PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%0.
Versteeg: regular season numbers - 79GP, 20 goals, 24 assists, +8, 35PIM, 4PPG, 3SHG, 4GWG, S%10.9.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 3 goals, 3 assists, -2, 6PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%9.4.
Versteeg by a wide margin. Kris Versteeg is far and away a greater impact player than Torrey Mitchell and so far this post season his 2 game winning goals is one more than all three Shark third liners combined and his average TOI is significantly greater than either Mitchell's or Coutoure's.
Overall edge for the third line goes to Chicago by a visible margin. If this series comes down to "the grinders", especially the third liners, unless Manny Malhotra steps up his game in a big way and Torrey Mitchell has at least two or three career best games, San Jose will be in for a tough challenge. If it comes down to that, such a challenge that their blue line corps and goaltender will find difficult to rise to.
Fourth Line:
Sharks: McGinn -Nichol - Helminen
Backhawks: Eager - Madden - Burrish
Jamie McGinn vs. Ben Eager
McGinn: Regular Season Numbers - 59GP, 10 goals, 3 assists, -3, 38PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%13.2
playoff numbers - 11GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, +1, 8PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%0.
Eager: Regular Season Numbers - 60GP, 7 goals, 9 assists, +9, 120PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%10.3.
playoff numbers - 8GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, -1, 8PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%0.
It's basically a draw, neither McGinn or Eager have made that big an impact in the post season and as far as potential goes, Eager's edge in +/- is counterweighted by his 120 PIM, other than that their numbers are pretty similar. Eager's got more experience but his performance in 27 NHL post season contests has so far been uninspired. Basically on a college grading scale you'd give these guys both an incomplete.
Scott Nichol vs. John Madden.
Nichol: regular season numbers - 79GP, 4 goals, 15 assists, +/-0, 72PIM, 0PPG, 1SHG, 0GWG, S%4.3.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 1 goal, 1 assist, +/-0, 17PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%5.6.
Madden: regular season numbers - 79GP, 10 goals, 13 assists, -2, 12PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%7.9.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 1 goal, 0 assists, -3, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%6.7.
Another draw and this one is even closer than McGinn vs. Eager.
Dwight Helminen vs. Adam Burish
Helminen: regular season numbers - 4GP, 1 goal, 0 assist, -1, 0PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%100.
playoff numbers - 7GP, 1 goal, 0 assist, +/-0, 4PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%20.0.
Burish: regular season numbers - 13GP, 1 goal, 3 assists, +2, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%11.1.
playoff numbers - 8GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, -2, 0PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%0.
Edge here to Helminen. While Helminen hasn't made much of his 7 playoff games in San Jose, Burish has been invisible in his 8 playoff games this season so far.
All the above said, if the series relies on the fourth liners to make a difference it's hard to give too much of an edge to San Jose. I say this because of the paltry amount of TOI that San Jose's fourth has gotten of late. So right now I call the fourth line overall a toss-up.
Defense:
San Jose: Rob Blake, Dan Boyle, Kent Huskins, Niclas Wallin, Douglas Murray, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Jason Demers.
Chicago: Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell, Nicklas Hjalmarsson, Jordan Hendry, Brent Sopel.
Throughout the playoffs so far San Jose has allowed an average of 2.54 goals against per game on an average of 28.1 shots against per game while Chicago has allowed an average of 2.75 goals against on an average of 28.1 shots against per game. Also, you have to take into account that Chicago played Vancouver after opening up the playoffs against Nashville, while San Jose opened against Colorado before playing the second round against Detroit. While San Jose's total average goals against is 2.54, they allowed and average GAA of 3.4 against Detroit while Chicago held Vancouver's potent offense to an average GAA of 1.833.
The edge for the defense corps goes to Chicago by a visible margin at this moment.
Goaltending:
Evgeni Nabakov vs. Antti Niemi
Nabakov: regular season numbers - 71GP, 44W, 16L, 10 OTL SV%0.922, GAA 2.43
playoff numbers - 11GP 8W, 3L, SV% 0.907, GAA 2.43.
Niemi: regular season numbers - 39GP, 26W, 7L, 4OTL, SV%0.912, GAA 2.25
playoff numbers - 12GP, 8W, 4L, SV% 0.909, GAA 2.57.
Another toss-up though if you had to pick right now I wouldn't bet against the veteran Nabakov.
What's all this mean? To means this series is going at least 6 if not 7 games and it's likely too close to call. The reason they play these games on the ice will be to see if the San Jose 1st line will return to above regular season form and Evgeni Nabokov will continue to outplay the opposing goaltender while the 2nd line continues to play as it has for the first two series and the defense continues to play solid hockey; or will Chicago's Antti Niemi and their second line raise their game while the rest of the Blackhawks play as they have so far throughout the playoffs. The answers to those questions will likely decide the series. If all that happens, then it might come down to depth and in that case you have to like Chicago's edge on the third line unless they falter. So once again - no predictions, anything could happen in this one, but it does seem likely it will be a fun series to watch.
I'll take a look at the Canadiens - Flyers match-up but probably not until they've already played their first game. So I'll give you the BLUF - Bottom Line Up Front - once again anything can happen. Neither the #8 seed Canadiens and the #7 seed Flyers were suppossed to be here. Now they both enter the Eastern Conference Finals playing solid team hockey with a lot of confidence. I'll give a minor edge to the Canadiens, for no other reason than Jaroslav Halak's solid play. However, the Flyers comeback win in game 7 of the Bruins Series where they scored four (4) unanswered goals was just tremendously impressive so again it's a really a toss-up with some amazing storylines starting with French-Canadian Simon Gagne playing with a broken foot, to Hal Gill vs. Chris Pronger though I don't know how often they will be on the ice at the same time.
Hey one last thing for us Capitals fans - Is it September yet?
First comparison - players head to head:
First Line:
Sharks: Marleau - Thorton - Heatley
Blackhawks: Byfuglien - Toews - Kane
One on one comparisons and musings:
Patrick Marleau vs. Dustin Buyfuglien
Marleau - regular season numbers: 82GP, 44 goals, 39 assists, +21, 22PIM, 12PPG, 4SHG, 6GWG, s%16.1.
playoff numbers: 10GP, 3 goals, 4 assists, -1, 8PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, s%7.1.
Byfuglien - regular season numbers: 82GP, 17goals, 17 assists, -7, 94PIM, 6PPG, 0SHG, 3GWG, s%8.1.
playoff numbers: 12GP, 4 goals, 2 assists, -3, 12PIM, 2PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, s%16.0.
Marleau gets the nod: No doubt that Byfuglien has raised his game for the playoffs but he's still -3 and has less potential to positively impact games on his own than Marleau. Further Marleau has averaged 4.2 SOG/game while "Big Buff" has averaged just 2.08 SOG/game so I think you have to give this match up to the Sharks.
Joe Thorton vs. Jonathan Toews
Thorton - regular season numbers: 79GP, 20 goals, 69 assists, +17, 54PIM, 4PPG, 1SHG, 2GWG, S%14.2.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 3 goals, 8 assists, -6, 16PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%12.0.
Toews - regular season numbers: 76GP, 25 goals, 43 assists, +22, 47PIM, 9PPG, 1SHG, 3GWG, S%12.4.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 6 goals, 14 assists, +4, 2PIM, 4PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%17.1
Toews has the edge. In the regular season they looked comparable, but here in the post season the Blackhawks Captain has raised his already excellent game while Thorton has played adequately and as expected, he really hasn't raised his game considerably, yet.
Dany Heatley vs. Patrick Kane
Heatley: regular season numbers - 82GP, 39 goals, 43 assists, +14, 54PIM, 18PPG, 1SHG, 9GWG, S% 13.9.
playoff numbers - 10GP, 2 goals, 9 assists, -3, 10PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%6.5.
Kane: regular season numbers - 82GP, 30 goals, 58 assists, +16, 20PIM, 9PPG, 0SHG, 6GWG, S%11.5.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 7 goals, 8 assists, +1, 4PIM, 1PPG, 1SHG, 0GWG S%20.6.
Kane gets the edge. Kane had a great regular season and has done nothing but raise his game here in the playoffs. Heatley is and has been solid but in truth in order to win this series, the entire Sharks first line likely needs to raise their game.
Overall edge goes to Chicago. So far in the playoffs the San Jose first line has been +/- negative while the entire Blackhawks first line has raised their game and the only one in +/- negative territory is Big Buff at -3. Further both Toews and Kane are at 0.5+ goals/game while Byfuglien is at 0.33 goals/game. The San Jose first line is led by Marleau at 0.3 goals per game ans a combined 0.258 goals/game for all three players.
Second Line:
Sharks: Clowe - Pavelski - Setoguchi
Blackhawks: Kopecky - Sharp - Hossa
Ryane Clowe vs. Tomas Kopecky
Clowe: regular season numbers - 82GP, 19 goals, 38 assists, +/-0, 131PIM, 2PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%10.1
playoff numbers - 11GP, 2 goals, 8 assists, +5, 12PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%6.3.
Kopecky: regular season numbers - 74GP, 10 goals, 11 assists, +/-0, 28PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%10.5.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 3 goals, 1 assist, +2, 4PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%17.6.
Slight edge to Clowe. Clowe gets the slight edge mainly because of his impact on the ice with 8 assists and +5, as well as his 32 SOG so far in the playoffs versus Kopecky's numbers and 17SOG.
Joe Pavelski vs. Patrick Sharp
Pavelski: regular season numbers - 67GP, 25 goals, 27 assists, +1, 26PIM, 3PPG, 1SHG, 5GWG, S%11.0.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 9 goals, 6 assists, +7, 6PIM, 5PPG, 0SHG, 3GWG, S%17.3%
Sharp: regular season numbers - 82GP, 25 goals, 41 assists, +24, 28PIM, 4PPG, 2SHG, 4GWG, S%9.1.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 5 goals, 9 assists, +2, 10PIM, 2PPG, 1SHG, 1GWG, S%11.4%.
Tight call - give the edge to Pavelski, Joe Pavelski has raised his game and his 9 post season goals including 3 game winners vs. Patrick Sharp's 5 post season goals of which 1 is a game winner gives him the edge at the start of this series.
Devin Setoguchi vs. Marian Hossa
Setoguchi: regular season numbers - 70GP, 20 goals, 16 assists, +/-0, 19PIM, 8PPG, 0SHG, 4GWG, S%12.1.
playoff numbers: 11GP, 5 goals, 3 assists, +5, 4PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%11.4
Hossa: regular season numbers - 54GP, 24 goals, 27 assists, +24, 18PIM, 2PPG, 5SHG, 2GWG, S%12.1.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 2 goals, 8 assists, +5, 19PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%5.6.
Slight edge to Setoguchi. It's hard to go against Hossa, after all as his 5 regular season SHG attest, he is one of the best talents in the game today. However the post season numbers clearly say the current edge and guy having more positive impact to his team so far this post season is Setoguchi, so you have to give him the edge right now.
Overall edge for the 2nd line goes to San Jose. Basically this is the opposite story as the one on the first line. Chicago's second line needs to step it up, though clearly for San Jose to win, their second line needs to continue to play the elevated game they have displayed so far this post season as well.
Third Line:
Sharks: Coutoure- Malhotra-Mitchell
Blackhawks: Ladd - Bolland - Versteeg
Logan Couture vs. Andrew Ladd
Coutoure: regular season numbers - 25GP, 5 goals, 4 assists, +4, 6PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%11.9.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 3 goals, 0 assists, +2, 2PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%23.1.
Ladd: regular season numbers - 82GP, 17 goals, 21 assists, +2, 67PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 1GWG, S%11.5
playoff numbers - 12GP, 1 goal, 1 assist, -2, 8PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%6.3.
Edge goes to 21 year old Logan Couture. Coutore has managed to play solid hockey both in his 25 regular season games as well as during his 8 post season games, while Ladd hasn't been much of a factor at all post season though his regular season numbers and effort shows he has the ability to deliver the goods as a solid third liner and could be a factor if he steps things up though Coutoure's 8 goals in 34 games puts him just about on a 20 goal regular season and seems to indicate he's in San Jose to stay.
Manny Malhotra vs. Dave Bolland
Malhotra: regular season numbers - 71GP, 14 goals, 19 assists, +17, 41PIM, 2PPG, 0SHG, 4GWG, S%12.6.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 1 goal, 0 assists, +/-0, 0PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%3.3.
Bolland: regular season numbers - 39GP, 6 goals, 10 assists, +5, 28PIM, 1PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%11.5.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 3 goals, 4 assists, -1, 18PIM, 1PPG, 1SHG, 1GWG, S%18.8.
Slight edge goes to Bolland. Manny Malhotra is one of the 7 forwards the coach Todd McLellan gives a fair amount of ice time, and his ability in the faceoff circle as well as his solid two way play is the reason why. However so far in the post season Dave Bolland has made a much greater positive impact and contribution to his team's results.
Torrey Mitchell vs. Kris Versteeg
Mitchell: regular season numbers - 56GP, 2 goals, 9 assists, +6, 27PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%3.4.
playoff numbers - 11GP, o goals, 4 assists, -4, 2PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%0.
Versteeg: regular season numbers - 79GP, 20 goals, 24 assists, +8, 35PIM, 4PPG, 3SHG, 4GWG, S%10.9.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 3 goals, 3 assists, -2, 6PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%9.4.
Versteeg by a wide margin. Kris Versteeg is far and away a greater impact player than Torrey Mitchell and so far this post season his 2 game winning goals is one more than all three Shark third liners combined and his average TOI is significantly greater than either Mitchell's or Coutoure's.
Overall edge for the third line goes to Chicago by a visible margin. If this series comes down to "the grinders", especially the third liners, unless Manny Malhotra steps up his game in a big way and Torrey Mitchell has at least two or three career best games, San Jose will be in for a tough challenge. If it comes down to that, such a challenge that their blue line corps and goaltender will find difficult to rise to.
Fourth Line:
Sharks: McGinn -Nichol - Helminen
Backhawks: Eager - Madden - Burrish
Jamie McGinn vs. Ben Eager
McGinn: Regular Season Numbers - 59GP, 10 goals, 3 assists, -3, 38PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%13.2
playoff numbers - 11GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, +1, 8PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%0.
Eager: Regular Season Numbers - 60GP, 7 goals, 9 assists, +9, 120PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 2GWG, S%10.3.
playoff numbers - 8GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, -1, 8PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%0.
It's basically a draw, neither McGinn or Eager have made that big an impact in the post season and as far as potential goes, Eager's edge in +/- is counterweighted by his 120 PIM, other than that their numbers are pretty similar. Eager's got more experience but his performance in 27 NHL post season contests has so far been uninspired. Basically on a college grading scale you'd give these guys both an incomplete.
Scott Nichol vs. John Madden.
Nichol: regular season numbers - 79GP, 4 goals, 15 assists, +/-0, 72PIM, 0PPG, 1SHG, 0GWG, S%4.3.
playoff numbers - 11GP, 1 goal, 1 assist, +/-0, 17PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%5.6.
Madden: regular season numbers - 79GP, 10 goals, 13 assists, -2, 12PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%7.9.
playoff numbers - 12GP, 1 goal, 0 assists, -3, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%6.7.
Another draw and this one is even closer than McGinn vs. Eager.
Dwight Helminen vs. Adam Burish
Helminen: regular season numbers - 4GP, 1 goal, 0 assist, -1, 0PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%100.
playoff numbers - 7GP, 1 goal, 0 assist, +/-0, 4PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%20.0.
Burish: regular season numbers - 13GP, 1 goal, 3 assists, +2, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%11.1.
playoff numbers - 8GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, -2, 0PIM, 0PPG, 0SHG, 0GWG, S%0.
Edge here to Helminen. While Helminen hasn't made much of his 7 playoff games in San Jose, Burish has been invisible in his 8 playoff games this season so far.
All the above said, if the series relies on the fourth liners to make a difference it's hard to give too much of an edge to San Jose. I say this because of the paltry amount of TOI that San Jose's fourth has gotten of late. So right now I call the fourth line overall a toss-up.
Defense:
San Jose: Rob Blake, Dan Boyle, Kent Huskins, Niclas Wallin, Douglas Murray, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Jason Demers.
Chicago: Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell, Nicklas Hjalmarsson, Jordan Hendry, Brent Sopel.
Throughout the playoffs so far San Jose has allowed an average of 2.54 goals against per game on an average of 28.1 shots against per game while Chicago has allowed an average of 2.75 goals against on an average of 28.1 shots against per game. Also, you have to take into account that Chicago played Vancouver after opening up the playoffs against Nashville, while San Jose opened against Colorado before playing the second round against Detroit. While San Jose's total average goals against is 2.54, they allowed and average GAA of 3.4 against Detroit while Chicago held Vancouver's potent offense to an average GAA of 1.833.
The edge for the defense corps goes to Chicago by a visible margin at this moment.
Goaltending:
Evgeni Nabakov vs. Antti Niemi
Nabakov: regular season numbers - 71GP, 44W, 16L, 10 OTL SV%0.922, GAA 2.43
playoff numbers - 11GP 8W, 3L, SV% 0.907, GAA 2.43.
Niemi: regular season numbers - 39GP, 26W, 7L, 4OTL, SV%0.912, GAA 2.25
playoff numbers - 12GP, 8W, 4L, SV% 0.909, GAA 2.57.
Another toss-up though if you had to pick right now I wouldn't bet against the veteran Nabakov.
What's all this mean? To means this series is going at least 6 if not 7 games and it's likely too close to call. The reason they play these games on the ice will be to see if the San Jose 1st line will return to above regular season form and Evgeni Nabokov will continue to outplay the opposing goaltender while the 2nd line continues to play as it has for the first two series and the defense continues to play solid hockey; or will Chicago's Antti Niemi and their second line raise their game while the rest of the Blackhawks play as they have so far throughout the playoffs. The answers to those questions will likely decide the series. If all that happens, then it might come down to depth and in that case you have to like Chicago's edge on the third line unless they falter. So once again - no predictions, anything could happen in this one, but it does seem likely it will be a fun series to watch.
I'll take a look at the Canadiens - Flyers match-up but probably not until they've already played their first game. So I'll give you the BLUF - Bottom Line Up Front - once again anything can happen. Neither the #8 seed Canadiens and the #7 seed Flyers were suppossed to be here. Now they both enter the Eastern Conference Finals playing solid team hockey with a lot of confidence. I'll give a minor edge to the Canadiens, for no other reason than Jaroslav Halak's solid play. However, the Flyers comeback win in game 7 of the Bruins Series where they scored four (4) unanswered goals was just tremendously impressive so again it's a really a toss-up with some amazing storylines starting with French-Canadian Simon Gagne playing with a broken foot, to Hal Gill vs. Chris Pronger though I don't know how often they will be on the ice at the same time.
Hey one last thing for us Capitals fans - Is it September yet?
Friday, May 14, 2010
Well The NHL Conference Finals Are Set...
Well the NHL Conference finals are set ... in the West it's (1) San Jose vs. (2) Chicago and in the East it's (7) Philadelphia vs. (8) Montreal. Tonight in Boston, the Philadelphia Flyers became the first team in thirty-five (35) years to come back from being down 3-0 in a best of seven series and win. The Flyers also had to come back from being down 3-0 to win with 4 unanswered goals and beat the Bruins tonight. That's pretty amazing, at least to me.
So now on Sunday, the Blackhawks travel to San Jose to take on the Sharks and the Canadiens travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. One thing I'm pretty sure about right now, is the Flyers didn't plan on having home ice advantage for any of their playoff series this year. It's just been that sort of strange year in the the Eastern Conference playoffs. Funny thing is the way the Flyers and the Canadiens are playing right now, whoever wins their series is likely to give the eventual Western Conference champion a run for their money.
All that aside, I just have one question right now ...
Is it September yet?
So now on Sunday, the Blackhawks travel to San Jose to take on the Sharks and the Canadiens travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. One thing I'm pretty sure about right now, is the Flyers didn't plan on having home ice advantage for any of their playoff series this year. It's just been that sort of strange year in the the Eastern Conference playoffs. Funny thing is the way the Flyers and the Canadiens are playing right now, whoever wins their series is likely to give the eventual Western Conference champion a run for their money.
All that aside, I just have one question right now ...
Is it September yet?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
More Playoff Musings and A Few Caps Musings As Well....
Well about last night....
1) Canadiens 4 - Penguins 3. If you're a Caps fan, you are probably heartened by the fact that Montreal played great last night and have again forced one of the best teams in hockey this season to a game 7. I know I was hapopy about it, a) it was a fun game to watch, and b) well, it's petty, but the Penguins lost. Seriously, the Canadiens won last night's game, the Penguins didn't loose and they did it the way they beat the Caps in the first round of the playoffs this year. The three stars of the game tell the story: 1) Mik Cammalleri - 2 goals, 5 SOG, +2, oh and it seemed every one of his 27 shifts on the ice he gave himself a chance to make an impact; 2) Jaoslav Spacek - you read that one right, 1 goal, 2 SOG, +1, oh and 3 blocked shots; 3) Jaroslav Halak - SV% 0.919 including as has become usual when the Habs win, some really clutch ones. Mark's honorable mention - Josh Gorges with 6 blocked shots and Hal Gill who seemed to draw the most time against the Penguins when both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby were on the ice together. A clearly driven and determined Crosby was held to 1 goal and 1 assist (+1) while Malkin was pointless and -1 on the night. Assuming this series continues the way it has for the first 6 games, the only prediction I'm willing to make for Wednesday's game 7 is it's going to be a really good game to watch.
2) Flyers 4 - Boston 0. Yes you read that right. Boston had a chance to end the series in 5 games at home in TD Garden last night. If you're a Bruins fan, you are probably shaking your head today, hell, if you're a Flyers fan you are probably doing so as well. At the conclusion of last night's game, the Flyers once again had a different goaltender in net than started the series and the game. Once again this season, a Flyers goaltender was injured and taken out of the game in a hockey injury that will no doubt be shown countless times on NHL Network, and at least twice on ESPN's SportsCenter. Early in the second period, with the Flyers clinging to a 1-0 lead, Bruins Center Marc Savard looking to create some momentum for his team, charged hard to the net and generated a quality scoring chance which Flyer Goalie Brian Boucher stopped but then ended up bending completely backward, pinning his own left leg beneath his body. In typical playoff fashion, Bruin Winger Miro Satan was battling just in front of the net with Flyer Defenseman Ryan Parent to be there for any rebound (there was none) and they toppled into Boucher. I didn't watch the game but I've watched the replay several times and well ... OUCH! Clean play, tough, tough break for the Flyers, according to the recap on NHL.Com Boucher will undergo an MRI today and probably be out a couple of weeks. Speaking of Flyers' goaltenders who are or have been out a couple of weeks, in another weird storyline to the 2010 playoffs, Flyer goaltender Michael Leighton was on the Flyer bench last night as backup after returning from being out a couple weeks with a high ankle sprain. Leighton came in for the injured Boucher and stopped all 14 shots on goal he faced, giving the Boucher/Leighton pair a combined shutout of the Bruins. Meanwhile in front of Boucher/Leighton, the Flyers played a very solid game and put up four goals to the Bruins ... none ... to make the series 3-2 Bruins and heading back to Philly for game 6 on Wednesday evening. So another pretty exciting hockey game with interesting story lines to follow.
All things considered, nah I won't say it till or even think it any more until Thursday morning...
Some's Cap's musings. Last week Homer McFan Boy posed five questions, he believes the Caps must answer this off season/coming season. Here's my answers and thoughts to those five questions.
1) Does Alex Ovechkin need to change? After the Canadiens series, Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges was quoted as saying Ovechkin has become predictable: "When he's coming in off wing, he'll try to step to the middle and shoot through you, you can bait him into that." Well to a guy who sits in Section 103 for so many home games, that's really not news. Other than agreeing with Homer that Hal Gill's comments in the same interview prove, Gill isn't the fastest guy on his feet in an interview, there's not much to say about the predictability of that move. It is indeed patented Ovechkin and he does use it a lot. Surely in a seven game series Gill, Jorges, Markov, and Spacek all came to know it was coming. The difference to m e this past series is for games 1 through 6, Ovie wasn't as physical as he has been in the past. Further, unlike during the regular season, the rest of the Canadiens also were glued to there men like white on rice - give the Canadiens team defense their due. Through all 13 of the playoff games the Canadiens been in so far this season, except for maybe game 1 against the Penguins, the Canadiens team defense has been in my estimation, truly exceptional. What did that mean, well, if as they often did, Gorges and/or Gill had played and maintained solid position on Ovechkin, since he didn't usually have an open guy to pass to, he was left with nothing else that made sense, given his fast paced north-south game, but to try to use the defender as a screen. The other thing that Gorges in particular, did well it seems to me is he forced Ovechkin to do that move 5-7 feet further out from the net than he usually does during the regular season. Given the way Halak has been playing a seeing the puck, the combination was "relatively"effective. I say "relatively" in quotes because even with all that great read on Ovechkin he did manage to score 10 points (5 goals and 5 assists) in a seven game series, though in the interest of full disclosure, we do have to admit, he was held to just 1 goal and 1 assist in the final three games of the series. So does Ovechkin need to change, sure a little, but the truth is when Bruce Boudreau and company watch those tapes other adjustments will need to be made by the other four players who are going to be on the ice with Ovie in the future as well. I say this because the Caps coaching staff won't be the only ones watching how Jacques Martin and the Canadiens approached playing the Capitals. Oh and after last night, ditto on how they approached and played the Penguins, regardless of who wins that game 7.
2) Are Semin and/or Green part of the problem or the solution? This is such a dumb question, further I couldn't disagree more with Homer's conclusion. I have to ask, why do people think Alexander Semin is "a head case"? What has he done to cause this reaction. I watch him, he is supremely talented. Each year he gets better and better. Each year he matures and makes fewer foolish mistakes, takes fewer foolish penalties and becomes a more complete hockey player. His stick handling and puck management skills are clearly some of the best in the world today. From my perspective, when I see Semin make a mistake most of the time now, the thought that goes through my mind is: "That would have worked if the guy you were trying to get the puck to was yourself, Ovechkin, or Backstrom, Alexander but it was ...." To be fair often those plays do work out if the name is also either Fehr, Green or Laich as well, anybody else and if Semin doesn't think the play through and gear down his creativity the other Capital he's trying to get the puck to is a step behind. The issue to me isn't and hasn't been that Semin is a head case, it's that the Capitals haven't had the right pivot man for the second line. I thought that Brendan Morrison might be it, and frankly if the Caps could resign him and he could stay healthy all year he might be the right pivot in the middle of a second line between Laich and Semin. Anotherpossibility in my mind is to make Laich the pivot of the second line and move Semin to left wing with Fehr on the right side. So to me clearly Semin is part of the answer/solution. pushing off/dealing the 13th highest scoring player in the league for a defender who doesn't fit at all with the system the Capitals are playing and will likely continue to play just doesn't make sense. Further, I don't think Semin has a problem or issue going to the net when it makes sense to do so and if he's on a line with Fehr and Laich two guys who do that routinely, there will be someone there to pick up his loose change and increase the 44 assists he had this past season.
Mike Green will be 25 in October this year. He is already an All Star, and Norris finalist who is compared to and categorized with the best guys at his position. So yeah, I think he's part of the solution/answer going forward for sure. By the way Homer, interesting points you make in your defense of Green and Boudreau, did you happen to notice when you were examining and criticizing Alexander Semin that he's only 26? Seriously, this question will be asked and debated relative to both these guys by we DC Metro sports fanatics since as Homer points out, the Redskins have picked up Donavan McNabb and we can't focus on Jason Campbell, and since Semin and Green are both highly paid athletes, fans will feel it's only right and fair to be overly critical of them. However, I contend neither Green or Semin would have a hard time at getting another NHL team to give them similar contracts that pay them like salaries to what the Caps are currently giving them tomorrow. Further they know the Caps system and their teammates and they are both getting better and maturing every year as hockey players.
3) Who will play Center? That will be Bruce Boudreau's decision but as I alluded to above here's who I'd use/play as Centers: first line: Nicklas Backstrom (who will get a big raise this off season and is the best available RFA at this and possibly any position this off season); second line - I'd either resign Brendan Morrison and I don't think the Caps will do that or move Brooks Laich over to Center the Second Line; third line: either David Steckel or resign Eric Belanger; fourth line: either David Steckel or Boyd Gordon. What about Fleischmann - he's either a wing or someone I consider trading this off season. I don't think the "experiment" with him as a pivot worked in critical times, he was caught out of position too often at those critical junctures.
4) Who is in net opening night next season? This is probably Homer's best question and discussion item in his post. I basically agree and have the same thoughts and questions as Homer does on this point. I'll go further, I would have started Jose Theodore in game 7 against the Habs after Varly's game 6 showing. In game 6 and 7 Varly had a SV% of less than 0.900 so that's why I feel Homer's points and questions are right on. Further, while there is no doubt the right decision was made as to pulling Theodore in game 2 after his 2 goals on 2 SOG, if he had been given the start in game 7 we'd know the answer to this question. Now, perhaps he didn't look good in practice between games or something else but I'm left wondering what he might have done in game 7. Clearly Varly played well enough in game 5 for the Caps to win, if Halak hadn't been super-human on that night, but game 6, not so much. In the end, though unless Theodore is ready to take a pay cut, I don't see the Capitals resigning him, though they could for 1 year; I also don't see him taking a one year deal. That said if you were and NHL GM and going to make a hard run at an RFA or UFA goaltender this off-season, you'd have to look at Jaroslav Halak as well as Carey Price, Michael Leighton, Dan Ellis and possibly Chris Mason, Vesa Toskla and Evegeni Nabakov, if you are willing to spend some real money for the position in addition to Theodore. So who knows given the numerous UFA and RFA goaltenders available maybe Theo will be willing to take a pay cut and come back to the Caps. He's certainly proven to be a great teammate and when he's on, he's still one of the best around. All that said, my guess at the answer to the question is Semyon Varlamov.
5) After such heartbreak, will Caps fans turn their backs on the team? Like Homer, I agree - dumb question, since it's phrased "Will Caps fans..." However, the lack of any further meaningful coverage of the rest of the NHL playoffs in the local MSM since the Caps were eliminated also makes it really fair to point out that this is a reason why the discussion of "Is DC a hockey town?" pretty silly too. Of course with rare exceptions there really aren't any true "hockey towns" in the United States by that measure except for perhaps Detroit. What not New York you ask. Well when you have multiple Daily Newspapers for the print media and a population of 12,000,000+ it's hared not to have a reasonable fan base however I respectfuly submit a comparison to the total MSM coverage of the Rangers, Devils and Islanders combined doesn't equal either any of the following individual teams: Yankees, Giants, Mets, or Jets. As such, while both the Devils and the Rangers have solid fan bases, it's hard to call NYC a hockey town. As for Pittsburgh - ditto the Steelers vs. Pens but they are closer. As for Philly, while the Flyers have a rabid fan base, I grew up in Philly, playing hockey and was there for the Broad Street Bullies era - lots of folks in Philly love the Flyers but they are a distant third in the citizens of the City of Brotherly Love's hearts to the Eagles and the Phillies, and likely always will be. All that said, I expect the series of sellouts to continue at Verizon Center for the foreseeable future and DC now, once again, has a solid fan base for the Capitals.
Is it September yet?
1) Canadiens 4 - Penguins 3. If you're a Caps fan, you are probably heartened by the fact that Montreal played great last night and have again forced one of the best teams in hockey this season to a game 7. I know I was hapopy about it, a) it was a fun game to watch, and b) well, it's petty, but the Penguins lost. Seriously, the Canadiens won last night's game, the Penguins didn't loose and they did it the way they beat the Caps in the first round of the playoffs this year. The three stars of the game tell the story: 1) Mik Cammalleri - 2 goals, 5 SOG, +2, oh and it seemed every one of his 27 shifts on the ice he gave himself a chance to make an impact; 2) Jaoslav Spacek - you read that one right, 1 goal, 2 SOG, +1, oh and 3 blocked shots; 3) Jaroslav Halak - SV% 0.919 including as has become usual when the Habs win, some really clutch ones. Mark's honorable mention - Josh Gorges with 6 blocked shots and Hal Gill who seemed to draw the most time against the Penguins when both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby were on the ice together. A clearly driven and determined Crosby was held to 1 goal and 1 assist (+1) while Malkin was pointless and -1 on the night. Assuming this series continues the way it has for the first 6 games, the only prediction I'm willing to make for Wednesday's game 7 is it's going to be a really good game to watch.
2) Flyers 4 - Boston 0. Yes you read that right. Boston had a chance to end the series in 5 games at home in TD Garden last night. If you're a Bruins fan, you are probably shaking your head today, hell, if you're a Flyers fan you are probably doing so as well. At the conclusion of last night's game, the Flyers once again had a different goaltender in net than started the series and the game. Once again this season, a Flyers goaltender was injured and taken out of the game in a hockey injury that will no doubt be shown countless times on NHL Network, and at least twice on ESPN's SportsCenter. Early in the second period, with the Flyers clinging to a 1-0 lead, Bruins Center Marc Savard looking to create some momentum for his team, charged hard to the net and generated a quality scoring chance which Flyer Goalie Brian Boucher stopped but then ended up bending completely backward, pinning his own left leg beneath his body. In typical playoff fashion, Bruin Winger Miro Satan was battling just in front of the net with Flyer Defenseman Ryan Parent to be there for any rebound (there was none) and they toppled into Boucher. I didn't watch the game but I've watched the replay several times and well ... OUCH! Clean play, tough, tough break for the Flyers, according to the recap on NHL.Com Boucher will undergo an MRI today and probably be out a couple of weeks. Speaking of Flyers' goaltenders who are or have been out a couple of weeks, in another weird storyline to the 2010 playoffs, Flyer goaltender Michael Leighton was on the Flyer bench last night as backup after returning from being out a couple weeks with a high ankle sprain. Leighton came in for the injured Boucher and stopped all 14 shots on goal he faced, giving the Boucher/Leighton pair a combined shutout of the Bruins. Meanwhile in front of Boucher/Leighton, the Flyers played a very solid game and put up four goals to the Bruins ... none ... to make the series 3-2 Bruins and heading back to Philly for game 6 on Wednesday evening. So another pretty exciting hockey game with interesting story lines to follow.
All things considered, nah I won't say it till or even think it any more until Thursday morning...
Some's Cap's musings. Last week Homer McFan Boy posed five questions, he believes the Caps must answer this off season/coming season. Here's my answers and thoughts to those five questions.
1) Does Alex Ovechkin need to change? After the Canadiens series, Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges was quoted as saying Ovechkin has become predictable: "When he's coming in off wing, he'll try to step to the middle and shoot through you, you can bait him into that." Well to a guy who sits in Section 103 for so many home games, that's really not news. Other than agreeing with Homer that Hal Gill's comments in the same interview prove, Gill isn't the fastest guy on his feet in an interview, there's not much to say about the predictability of that move. It is indeed patented Ovechkin and he does use it a lot. Surely in a seven game series Gill, Jorges, Markov, and Spacek all came to know it was coming. The difference to m e this past series is for games 1 through 6, Ovie wasn't as physical as he has been in the past. Further, unlike during the regular season, the rest of the Canadiens also were glued to there men like white on rice - give the Canadiens team defense their due. Through all 13 of the playoff games the Canadiens been in so far this season, except for maybe game 1 against the Penguins, the Canadiens team defense has been in my estimation, truly exceptional. What did that mean, well, if as they often did, Gorges and/or Gill had played and maintained solid position on Ovechkin, since he didn't usually have an open guy to pass to, he was left with nothing else that made sense, given his fast paced north-south game, but to try to use the defender as a screen. The other thing that Gorges in particular, did well it seems to me is he forced Ovechkin to do that move 5-7 feet further out from the net than he usually does during the regular season. Given the way Halak has been playing a seeing the puck, the combination was "relatively"effective. I say "relatively" in quotes because even with all that great read on Ovechkin he did manage to score 10 points (5 goals and 5 assists) in a seven game series, though in the interest of full disclosure, we do have to admit, he was held to just 1 goal and 1 assist in the final three games of the series. So does Ovechkin need to change, sure a little, but the truth is when Bruce Boudreau and company watch those tapes other adjustments will need to be made by the other four players who are going to be on the ice with Ovie in the future as well. I say this because the Caps coaching staff won't be the only ones watching how Jacques Martin and the Canadiens approached playing the Capitals. Oh and after last night, ditto on how they approached and played the Penguins, regardless of who wins that game 7.
2) Are Semin and/or Green part of the problem or the solution? This is such a dumb question, further I couldn't disagree more with Homer's conclusion. I have to ask, why do people think Alexander Semin is "a head case"? What has he done to cause this reaction. I watch him, he is supremely talented. Each year he gets better and better. Each year he matures and makes fewer foolish mistakes, takes fewer foolish penalties and becomes a more complete hockey player. His stick handling and puck management skills are clearly some of the best in the world today. From my perspective, when I see Semin make a mistake most of the time now, the thought that goes through my mind is: "That would have worked if the guy you were trying to get the puck to was yourself, Ovechkin, or Backstrom, Alexander but it was ...." To be fair often those plays do work out if the name is also either Fehr, Green or Laich as well, anybody else and if Semin doesn't think the play through and gear down his creativity the other Capital he's trying to get the puck to is a step behind. The issue to me isn't and hasn't been that Semin is a head case, it's that the Capitals haven't had the right pivot man for the second line. I thought that Brendan Morrison might be it, and frankly if the Caps could resign him and he could stay healthy all year he might be the right pivot in the middle of a second line between Laich and Semin. Anotherpossibility in my mind is to make Laich the pivot of the second line and move Semin to left wing with Fehr on the right side. So to me clearly Semin is part of the answer/solution. pushing off/dealing the 13th highest scoring player in the league for a defender who doesn't fit at all with the system the Capitals are playing and will likely continue to play just doesn't make sense. Further, I don't think Semin has a problem or issue going to the net when it makes sense to do so and if he's on a line with Fehr and Laich two guys who do that routinely, there will be someone there to pick up his loose change and increase the 44 assists he had this past season.
Mike Green will be 25 in October this year. He is already an All Star, and Norris finalist who is compared to and categorized with the best guys at his position. So yeah, I think he's part of the solution/answer going forward for sure. By the way Homer, interesting points you make in your defense of Green and Boudreau, did you happen to notice when you were examining and criticizing Alexander Semin that he's only 26? Seriously, this question will be asked and debated relative to both these guys by we DC Metro sports fanatics since as Homer points out, the Redskins have picked up Donavan McNabb and we can't focus on Jason Campbell, and since Semin and Green are both highly paid athletes, fans will feel it's only right and fair to be overly critical of them. However, I contend neither Green or Semin would have a hard time at getting another NHL team to give them similar contracts that pay them like salaries to what the Caps are currently giving them tomorrow. Further they know the Caps system and their teammates and they are both getting better and maturing every year as hockey players.
3) Who will play Center? That will be Bruce Boudreau's decision but as I alluded to above here's who I'd use/play as Centers: first line: Nicklas Backstrom (who will get a big raise this off season and is the best available RFA at this and possibly any position this off season); second line - I'd either resign Brendan Morrison and I don't think the Caps will do that or move Brooks Laich over to Center the Second Line; third line: either David Steckel or resign Eric Belanger; fourth line: either David Steckel or Boyd Gordon. What about Fleischmann - he's either a wing or someone I consider trading this off season. I don't think the "experiment" with him as a pivot worked in critical times, he was caught out of position too often at those critical junctures.
4) Who is in net opening night next season? This is probably Homer's best question and discussion item in his post. I basically agree and have the same thoughts and questions as Homer does on this point. I'll go further, I would have started Jose Theodore in game 7 against the Habs after Varly's game 6 showing. In game 6 and 7 Varly had a SV% of less than 0.900 so that's why I feel Homer's points and questions are right on. Further, while there is no doubt the right decision was made as to pulling Theodore in game 2 after his 2 goals on 2 SOG, if he had been given the start in game 7 we'd know the answer to this question. Now, perhaps he didn't look good in practice between games or something else but I'm left wondering what he might have done in game 7. Clearly Varly played well enough in game 5 for the Caps to win, if Halak hadn't been super-human on that night, but game 6, not so much. In the end, though unless Theodore is ready to take a pay cut, I don't see the Capitals resigning him, though they could for 1 year; I also don't see him taking a one year deal. That said if you were and NHL GM and going to make a hard run at an RFA or UFA goaltender this off-season, you'd have to look at Jaroslav Halak as well as Carey Price, Michael Leighton, Dan Ellis and possibly Chris Mason, Vesa Toskla and Evegeni Nabakov, if you are willing to spend some real money for the position in addition to Theodore. So who knows given the numerous UFA and RFA goaltenders available maybe Theo will be willing to take a pay cut and come back to the Caps. He's certainly proven to be a great teammate and when he's on, he's still one of the best around. All that said, my guess at the answer to the question is Semyon Varlamov.
5) After such heartbreak, will Caps fans turn their backs on the team? Like Homer, I agree - dumb question, since it's phrased "Will Caps fans..." However, the lack of any further meaningful coverage of the rest of the NHL playoffs in the local MSM since the Caps were eliminated also makes it really fair to point out that this is a reason why the discussion of "Is DC a hockey town?" pretty silly too. Of course with rare exceptions there really aren't any true "hockey towns" in the United States by that measure except for perhaps Detroit. What not New York you ask. Well when you have multiple Daily Newspapers for the print media and a population of 12,000,000+ it's hared not to have a reasonable fan base however I respectfuly submit a comparison to the total MSM coverage of the Rangers, Devils and Islanders combined doesn't equal either any of the following individual teams: Yankees, Giants, Mets, or Jets. As such, while both the Devils and the Rangers have solid fan bases, it's hard to call NYC a hockey town. As for Pittsburgh - ditto the Steelers vs. Pens but they are closer. As for Philly, while the Flyers have a rabid fan base, I grew up in Philly, playing hockey and was there for the Broad Street Bullies era - lots of folks in Philly love the Flyers but they are a distant third in the citizens of the City of Brotherly Love's hearts to the Eagles and the Phillies, and likely always will be. All that said, I expect the series of sellouts to continue at Verizon Center for the foreseeable future and DC now, once again, has a solid fan base for the Capitals.
Is it September yet?
Monday, May 10, 2010
It's Been a Week and a Half, So...About Those NHL Playoffs
So about those NHL playoffs, with the Washington Capitals , "my team," out of the playoffs, I confess I haven't been as diligent as I might otherwise have been at watching hockey over the past "few days." Like many others, I had to get over my disappointment, then I had to catch up on things other than hockey since watching the Caps can no longer be my catch-all excuse for procrastinating. Then I ... well then I started watching and following some of the remaining games. To be fair I find the match-ups for this round of the playoffs pretty inter4sting. There are numerous interesting story lines from how the Flyers persist being competitive even though they are plagued with injuries, to "Will Halak and Montreal be able to put together another four games in the next seven against the Pens like he did against the Caps?" to "Will this year be San Jose's year?" to "Just how good are the Blackhawks anyway?"... like I said lots of interesting stories to follow.
All that said let's review and catch-up on our musings. Here's where things stand, from my perspective this Monday Morning on May 10th.....
San Jose vs. Detroit - It's over for Detroit and like I said, we are left to wonder ... "Is this San Jose's year?" Certainly, except for Game 4, San Jose made a statement and controlled the series. Now the Sharks have to wait and see if Chicago can finish off Vancouver, or if BobbyLou and the Canucks can pull off a comeback like the Habs did against the Caps.
Vancouver vs. Chicago - This is one, that in my opinion could go either way. For the Blackhawks to win, in my opinion, they need Niemmi to have a very solid game in one of the next two, preferably now in game six, since if it goes seven games, as we Caps fans know well, anything can happen. I wouldn't bet against either team in this series, just too much talent on the ice for both teams. I think it'll probably go seven games and on that score, the Sharks have to be happy since it gives them even more to watch and study about both prospective next opponents.
Boston - Philadelphia - Watching this one is a real heart breaker for us Caps fans, eh? Boston leads 3-1 and once again you have to believe that Boston will finish this one out before the end of game 6. As long as Boston keeps scoring 3 or more goals per game (which they have in all 4 games so far) you have to believe the Bruins will win. The boys from beantown almost came back and won it on Saturday. Will the Flyers hang on again on Wednesday evening in Boston or will the Eastern Conference match ups be all settled at the end of the Penguins - Canadiens game 7?
Speaking of which Pittsburgh vs. Montreal - The 8th seeded Habs are once again proving tough for a supposedly much better team to beat 4 out of 7 times. Like the Caps - Canadiens series, the Penguins - Canadiens series is proving to be some excellent ice hockey to watch. The Penguins lead the series 3-2 with Game 6 tonight in Montreal. If the Habs win, that will force a game 7 in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Each team has already proved they can win on the opponents home ice and other than the game 1 6-3 Penguins victory, against a Canadiens team that had no rest after their game 7 win over the Capitals, the games have been close and hard fought. Expect the same the tonight, and if necessary in game 7. Right now I'm betting this goes 7 games. As a Caps fan, I'm also rooting for the Canadiens. LETS GO HABS!!!
In the West, I think I'm already on record, but I'm rooting for San Jose..... I'm also rooting for SEPTEMBER!!! How about y'all?
All that said let's review and catch-up on our musings. Here's where things stand, from my perspective this Monday Morning on May 10th.....
San Jose vs. Detroit - It's over for Detroit and like I said, we are left to wonder ... "Is this San Jose's year?" Certainly, except for Game 4, San Jose made a statement and controlled the series. Now the Sharks have to wait and see if Chicago can finish off Vancouver, or if BobbyLou and the Canucks can pull off a comeback like the Habs did against the Caps.
Vancouver vs. Chicago - This is one, that in my opinion could go either way. For the Blackhawks to win, in my opinion, they need Niemmi to have a very solid game in one of the next two, preferably now in game six, since if it goes seven games, as we Caps fans know well, anything can happen. I wouldn't bet against either team in this series, just too much talent on the ice for both teams. I think it'll probably go seven games and on that score, the Sharks have to be happy since it gives them even more to watch and study about both prospective next opponents.
Boston - Philadelphia - Watching this one is a real heart breaker for us Caps fans, eh? Boston leads 3-1 and once again you have to believe that Boston will finish this one out before the end of game 6. As long as Boston keeps scoring 3 or more goals per game (which they have in all 4 games so far) you have to believe the Bruins will win. The boys from beantown almost came back and won it on Saturday. Will the Flyers hang on again on Wednesday evening in Boston or will the Eastern Conference match ups be all settled at the end of the Penguins - Canadiens game 7?
Speaking of which Pittsburgh vs. Montreal - The 8th seeded Habs are once again proving tough for a supposedly much better team to beat 4 out of 7 times. Like the Caps - Canadiens series, the Penguins - Canadiens series is proving to be some excellent ice hockey to watch. The Penguins lead the series 3-2 with Game 6 tonight in Montreal. If the Habs win, that will force a game 7 in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Each team has already proved they can win on the opponents home ice and other than the game 1 6-3 Penguins victory, against a Canadiens team that had no rest after their game 7 win over the Capitals, the games have been close and hard fought. Expect the same the tonight, and if necessary in game 7. Right now I'm betting this goes 7 games. As a Caps fan, I'm also rooting for the Canadiens. LETS GO HABS!!!
In the West, I think I'm already on record, but I'm rooting for San Jose..... I'm also rooting for SEPTEMBER!!! How about y'all?
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Caps Season Over; Habs Move On To Take On Pittsburgh In Round 2
I'd be lying if I said I too wasn't disappointed in the way the Capitals season ended. I am. I, like most Caps fans had higher expectations this year. However, I am also a "glass is half full" guy by nature and I cannot understand when fans get truly depressed after a loss. After all watching hockey or any sport is entertainment to me. Following a team and being a fan of them is an avocation. When I switched from being a life-long Flyers fan to being a Caps fan after the so called "lockout" and became a Capitals season ticket holder in 2006 the Capitals were not the local sensation they are today. They were in the early stages of re-building the franchise, something they did and did well as evidenced by the last three seasons results and the fact that now and going forward, any season that doesn't end with the Caps at least getting to the Stanley Cup finals will be considered disappointing to us all - players, management, and fan base.
That's really how it ought to be, isn't it? Life as a DC Hockey fan now, is not like it was in 2008 when we were just glad to make the playoffs. After all the team we get to watch all season long is an excellent and strong team. In 2009 we were all happy the team made it to the second round of the playoffs before being knocked off by the eventual Cup winner. This year, 2010, was supposed to be "our" year in every one's mind. The team played with purpose throughout the season. They made a set of trade deadline moves that showed they would have the depth needed to make a deep run in the playoffs. They finished the regular season with the best record in the NHL. The list of "goods" and "rights" goes on and on.
So what happened? Well they ran into the Montreal Canadiens that's what. The Canadiens finished the season sliding but with a talented team and a 2-1-1 regular season record and they matched up well against the Capitals. I felt many folks on both teams raised their game as you need your team to do in the playoffs. However a couple of things happened that are obvious in the many accounts, recaps, etc. you'll read that derailed the chances of Capitals this post season:
#1 has to be where did the league's best power play go? The Canadiens' penalty kill unit was very effective. Effective enough that the lack of productivity from the Capitals power play probably cost the Caps a goal a game on average. Given that 4 of the 7 games were one goal games and 3 of the 4 Canadien wins were by one goal, this is something that has to be considered as or more significant to the Caps fortunes as the absolutely super-human play of Canadien goaltender Jaroslav Halak in the 4 Canadien Wins.
#2 has to be the stellar play of Canadien goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The Canadiens won games 1, 5, 6, and 7 with Halak in the net. In game 1, Halak stopped 45 of 47 shots and had a SV% of 0.9574. In game 5, Halak stopped 37 of 38 shots on goal and had a SV% of 0.9737. For game 6, Halak turned in an other-worldly performance stopping 53 of 54 shots on goal for a SV% of 0.9815. Last night in game 7, he continued to come up big and power his team to victory stopping 41 of 42 shots on goal for a SV% of 0.9762. Overall in the four victories Halak had a SV% of 0.9779. Through the full series Halak appeared in 6 games, has allowed 14 Goals Against on 231 shots on goal, a 2.46 GAA and had a SV% of 0.939. My point - Halak was good, but during the Canadien victories, he was better than great.
#3 has to be the way the Canadiens' team defense was able to limit the scoring chances, though not necessarily the shots on goal by the Capitals. In combination with the great play they got from Jaroslav Halak, the Canadiens defense was generally able to keep the Caps from having more than one forward in or around the net at any point in time during the 4 games they won. This made it hard for the Caps to break through the wall that Halak was putting up to them during those games.
#4 the match-ups and how the Caps did or didn't respond. This morning there are numerous calls through the blogsphere for various players, coaches and management's heads. All of which in my opinion are totally reactionary and unjustified. There are all sorts of statements about how the Caps fell to a vastly inferior Montreal team and I'm not convinced that's at all right. Montreal underachieved throughout the regular season and they've matched up well against the Capitals all season. As we all saw there are many talented players on the Canadiens and whatever they did or didn't do in the regular season, they ALL raised the level of their play throughout the playoffs. There are calls that Coach Boudreau's system is wrong, R.J. Umberger was right, etc. To me that wasn't and is not the problem. The Caps have "grit" players on their roster and like the finesse players some did and some did not raise their games sufficiently to win. That's a sad but true statement. I have my opinions on the match-ups. While I think I'm pretty much on record clearly that I think the Capitals should have played a more physical game across the board in all seven games, especially in the first two periods. I just feel the Caps did not use their size advantage enough throughout the series and part of that was because of the lineup and line match ups. Sure part of it is "the Caps system", part of it is "the new NHL", though the officiating in this regard continues to be inconsistently applied, etc. All that said, I'm not sure any of that would have mattered, particularly in games 5, 6, and 7 because of items #1 and #2 above.
I had the interesting experience of sitting in front of Carolina Hurricanes Right Wing Erik Cole last night who was at the game with his wife sitting next to Joe Corvo's wife. (BTW Erik, sorry again about spilling the water on you during the "wave" your bride was attempting to start.) Cole made several interesting comments but the most telling and noteworthy was a head shaking thought about how "Now every icing will be an adventure ... put your goaltender back in the net ... (head shaking) ... this is the best power play in the league." Cole was basically talking to himself but I was thinking similar thoughts during the game's final minutes when the Caps had the power play and couldn't/didn't tie it up to force overtime.
What this all means I haven't figured out. Where do the Caps go from here? Thankfully others get paid to figure that out, I'm pretty sure we all want me to focus on my day job and leave that to George McPhee and Bruce Boudreau. I have faith in them, they will figure it out. As others have pointed out, Bruce Boudreau has a 0.701 winning percentage in the regular season, he's a true student of the game. I contend, it's a game that is evolving and changing, it's no longer a game about "piss and vinegar" even in the playoffs. Bottom line is like others, sure I'm very disappointed, sure some changes need to be made, I'm an optimist and believe this team is close, very close. Minor adjustments and changes need to be made. Sure I'm a blogger and I'll think about and put those musings up here but look around the Eastern Conference. all top three seeds are now cleaning out their lockers. The Sabres and the Devils both are supposedly "defensive" minded/focused teams with big name goalies, etc. Their season, like the Capitals is over. Are their fans calling for everyone's heads? I'm really asking I didn't bother to go look through the blogshpere about that.
Right now though I know I'm rooting for Montreal in their next series. I'm also thankful to the Capitals players, the coaching staff, and the management for another season of great hockey. It didn't end like we all wanted. We have next year to make adjustments and make sure it ends better. In the meantime, we do have some good things to look back on and build upon. I just wanted to end by saying thank you for 89 games of excitement and entertainment.
That's really how it ought to be, isn't it? Life as a DC Hockey fan now, is not like it was in 2008 when we were just glad to make the playoffs. After all the team we get to watch all season long is an excellent and strong team. In 2009 we were all happy the team made it to the second round of the playoffs before being knocked off by the eventual Cup winner. This year, 2010, was supposed to be "our" year in every one's mind. The team played with purpose throughout the season. They made a set of trade deadline moves that showed they would have the depth needed to make a deep run in the playoffs. They finished the regular season with the best record in the NHL. The list of "goods" and "rights" goes on and on.
So what happened? Well they ran into the Montreal Canadiens that's what. The Canadiens finished the season sliding but with a talented team and a 2-1-1 regular season record and they matched up well against the Capitals. I felt many folks on both teams raised their game as you need your team to do in the playoffs. However a couple of things happened that are obvious in the many accounts, recaps, etc. you'll read that derailed the chances of Capitals this post season:
#1 has to be where did the league's best power play go? The Canadiens' penalty kill unit was very effective. Effective enough that the lack of productivity from the Capitals power play probably cost the Caps a goal a game on average. Given that 4 of the 7 games were one goal games and 3 of the 4 Canadien wins were by one goal, this is something that has to be considered as or more significant to the Caps fortunes as the absolutely super-human play of Canadien goaltender Jaroslav Halak in the 4 Canadien Wins.
#2 has to be the stellar play of Canadien goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The Canadiens won games 1, 5, 6, and 7 with Halak in the net. In game 1, Halak stopped 45 of 47 shots and had a SV% of 0.9574. In game 5, Halak stopped 37 of 38 shots on goal and had a SV% of 0.9737. For game 6, Halak turned in an other-worldly performance stopping 53 of 54 shots on goal for a SV% of 0.9815. Last night in game 7, he continued to come up big and power his team to victory stopping 41 of 42 shots on goal for a SV% of 0.9762. Overall in the four victories Halak had a SV% of 0.9779. Through the full series Halak appeared in 6 games, has allowed 14 Goals Against on 231 shots on goal, a 2.46 GAA and had a SV% of 0.939. My point - Halak was good, but during the Canadien victories, he was better than great.
#3 has to be the way the Canadiens' team defense was able to limit the scoring chances, though not necessarily the shots on goal by the Capitals. In combination with the great play they got from Jaroslav Halak, the Canadiens defense was generally able to keep the Caps from having more than one forward in or around the net at any point in time during the 4 games they won. This made it hard for the Caps to break through the wall that Halak was putting up to them during those games.
#4 the match-ups and how the Caps did or didn't respond. This morning there are numerous calls through the blogsphere for various players, coaches and management's heads. All of which in my opinion are totally reactionary and unjustified. There are all sorts of statements about how the Caps fell to a vastly inferior Montreal team and I'm not convinced that's at all right. Montreal underachieved throughout the regular season and they've matched up well against the Capitals all season. As we all saw there are many talented players on the Canadiens and whatever they did or didn't do in the regular season, they ALL raised the level of their play throughout the playoffs. There are calls that Coach Boudreau's system is wrong, R.J. Umberger was right, etc. To me that wasn't and is not the problem. The Caps have "grit" players on their roster and like the finesse players some did and some did not raise their games sufficiently to win. That's a sad but true statement. I have my opinions on the match-ups. While I think I'm pretty much on record clearly that I think the Capitals should have played a more physical game across the board in all seven games, especially in the first two periods. I just feel the Caps did not use their size advantage enough throughout the series and part of that was because of the lineup and line match ups. Sure part of it is "the Caps system", part of it is "the new NHL", though the officiating in this regard continues to be inconsistently applied, etc. All that said, I'm not sure any of that would have mattered, particularly in games 5, 6, and 7 because of items #1 and #2 above.
I had the interesting experience of sitting in front of Carolina Hurricanes Right Wing Erik Cole last night who was at the game with his wife sitting next to Joe Corvo's wife. (BTW Erik, sorry again about spilling the water on you during the "wave" your bride was attempting to start.) Cole made several interesting comments but the most telling and noteworthy was a head shaking thought about how "Now every icing will be an adventure ... put your goaltender back in the net ... (head shaking) ... this is the best power play in the league." Cole was basically talking to himself but I was thinking similar thoughts during the game's final minutes when the Caps had the power play and couldn't/didn't tie it up to force overtime.
What this all means I haven't figured out. Where do the Caps go from here? Thankfully others get paid to figure that out, I'm pretty sure we all want me to focus on my day job and leave that to George McPhee and Bruce Boudreau. I have faith in them, they will figure it out. As others have pointed out, Bruce Boudreau has a 0.701 winning percentage in the regular season, he's a true student of the game. I contend, it's a game that is evolving and changing, it's no longer a game about "piss and vinegar" even in the playoffs. Bottom line is like others, sure I'm very disappointed, sure some changes need to be made, I'm an optimist and believe this team is close, very close. Minor adjustments and changes need to be made. Sure I'm a blogger and I'll think about and put those musings up here but look around the Eastern Conference. all top three seeds are now cleaning out their lockers. The Sabres and the Devils both are supposedly "defensive" minded/focused teams with big name goalies, etc. Their season, like the Capitals is over. Are their fans calling for everyone's heads? I'm really asking I didn't bother to go look through the blogshpere about that.
Right now though I know I'm rooting for Montreal in their next series. I'm also thankful to the Capitals players, the coaching staff, and the management for another season of great hockey. It didn't end like we all wanted. We have next year to make adjustments and make sure it ends better. In the meantime, we do have some good things to look back on and build upon. I just wanted to end by saying thank you for 89 games of excitement and entertainment.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
What A Difference A Week Makes.... Tonight - Caps/Canadiens Game 7 @ Verizon Center
Well last week this time I was getting off a plane in Fort Lauderdale and preparing for a week of sun, fishing and camaraderie with 4 of my college buds in the Bahamas. At that point in time the Caps led the Canadiens 3-1 and the series looked well in hand. Wow what a difference a week makes. I'm now home, at work, tanned, happy with the large amount of fish we've caught, and the Capitals, or should I say - the Cardiac Caps, are warming up for a do opr die, winner take all Game 7 with those same Canadiens. I'm not entirely surprised, the Canandiens match up very well with the Capitals and Candien goaltender Jaroslav Halak has apparently been on fire since I left for warmer climates. I'm not sure myself, as I only watched a little of game 5 via satellite TV in the Bahamas and because of the weather while travelling back to DC from Fort Lauderdale on Monday, I only caught the third period of game 6. To be sure from what I saw of game 6 Halak is playing, very, very, very well. Tonight's game should be totally exciting, and great ice hockey. I believe the Capitals will win. Why - well because I'm a Caps fan and you gotta believe.
Will Jaroslav Halak Steal The Series From The Capitals Tonight?
Will Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak be able to turn in a super-human effort again tonight and steal this series for Montreal? Isn't that really the question on every DC hockey fan's mind today? After all when you look at the game 5 summary and detailed statistics it's really only because of Halak's efforts there that Montreal was able to take the series past Game 5. In game five the Caps as a whole did everything they should have needed to do to end the series. Seymeon Varlamov delivered a SV% of 0.9286 and the Caps peppered Halak with 38 shots on goal. The Czech goaltender in Montreal's net rose to that test though stopping 37 of those 38 shots and finishing the evening with a 0.9737 SV%. Or in simpler terms - stealing the game and keeping his team alive. Then on Monday evening in Montreal, Halak was even better stopping 53 of 54 shots on goal for an other-worldly SV% of 0.9815. What can you say, especially when several of the saves in both games were point blank shots.
What Can/Should the Caps Do to Turn The Tide Tonight?
Well that is tough since the Caps have, as has been noted elsewhere, been playing pretty well and we're talking minor adjustments. Keeping in mind I only really saw about thirty minutes of Monday night's game so my recommendations could be off mark but here they are.
1) Recognize that Halak didn't win Monday's game on his own. He had some help from Veteran Canadien players including: Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta, as well as Jaroslav Spacek, Hal Gill, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Andrei Markov. I continue to believe the Caps need to use their relative size advantage on the Canadiens, particularly during the first two periods to wean the Canadiens down and keep them off balance whenever they look to exit their zone. Cammalleri, Gionta and Gomez are all under 6' and under 205# - whenever they are exiting the zone with the puck the Caps need to put a body on them and finish their check solidly. I'm not talking about playing dirty or even foolishly, I'm saying there are two things you can do to a guy now when he is exiting the zone and at least 51% of the time during the first two periods the Caps out to hit the puck carrier. Of the two choices I know that in today's NHL that's actually the higher risk option, but tonight they need to do that and when it doesn't work out the Caps goalie needs to stop the first shots when the defender/fore/back-checker misses. There will be a lot of adrenaline flying around the ice at Verizon Center tonight, and the Caps need to play with an edge but not over the edge. Further even though that goes both ways, if the Caps hit and slow down those three forwards as well and defensemen Andrei Markov and Marc-Andrei Bergereon, by the middle of the second period, the Caps first and second lines should start to see a little breathing space as they drive the net.
2) Solid team defense. For the full sixty minutes, no matter the score, the forwards, particularly the wings, need to backcheck, backcheck, nd backcheck - first and foremost. All too often over the past few games the Caps outlet pass and typical breakout play has become too, too predictable. They need to mix some things up in this regard, particularly against any sort of 1-2-2 or 2-2-1 trap.
3) Traffic, Traffic, Traffic - greasy goals and all. However also keep the ever growing confident Halak back further in his crease. You both have a right to the space in front of the net just beyond the crease. Play like a group of possessed men fighting for that small but extremely valuable piece of real estate.
4) Want it MORE. The Caps need to want it a lot more than Montreal and they need to play like that from the first puck drop till the last buzzer. Right now Montreal believes they can win this series, the Caps need to say loudly and proudly - not in out house and play like men possessed.
5) The line-up The coaching staff needs to look at things and put the absolute best available lineup out there and to me that's:
8-19-22
28-9-21
39-18-16
10-15-25
52 - 77
26-74
27-55
In the last minute of the first and second periods here's the unit I think should be on the ice at even strength: 8-19-28; 52-22 or 21 - that's right I want the Caps to score by driving hard for the net in each of the last minutes of the the first two periods.
Special teams power play - go back to the unit that got them here with a twist as much as possible: 28-19- 22 or 21; 8-52.
Special teams Penalty Kill (where we'll miss Tom Poti most of all tonight): first unit: 15-21, 77-55; second unit: 39-28, 26-74.
I doubt I've even come close to the line-up Coach Boudreau will go with but my point is we need to mix some things up more than folks are talking over at KCI yesterday. The team configuration shelling Jaroslav Halak has to look somewhat different than it did on Monday in order to create the different situations that might expose some "chinks" in his armour.
Before we go any further I want to put a shout out out there to make sure Tom Poti has a swift and complete recovery from his surgery - ouch!
I'm looking for big games by all the Caps but especially by all the Young Guns all of whom except Nicklas Backstrom who I felt were "diss'ed" today by Thomas Boswell in his column in the WaPo..Typicl DC Mainstream media coverage --- poor, ill-informed, subjective....
I'll be Rockin' the Red in Section 103 tonight. Hope to see you at the game.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!
Will Jaroslav Halak Steal The Series From The Capitals Tonight?
Will Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak be able to turn in a super-human effort again tonight and steal this series for Montreal? Isn't that really the question on every DC hockey fan's mind today? After all when you look at the game 5 summary and detailed statistics it's really only because of Halak's efforts there that Montreal was able to take the series past Game 5. In game five the Caps as a whole did everything they should have needed to do to end the series. Seymeon Varlamov delivered a SV% of 0.9286 and the Caps peppered Halak with 38 shots on goal. The Czech goaltender in Montreal's net rose to that test though stopping 37 of those 38 shots and finishing the evening with a 0.9737 SV%. Or in simpler terms - stealing the game and keeping his team alive. Then on Monday evening in Montreal, Halak was even better stopping 53 of 54 shots on goal for an other-worldly SV% of 0.9815. What can you say, especially when several of the saves in both games were point blank shots.
What Can/Should the Caps Do to Turn The Tide Tonight?
Well that is tough since the Caps have, as has been noted elsewhere, been playing pretty well and we're talking minor adjustments. Keeping in mind I only really saw about thirty minutes of Monday night's game so my recommendations could be off mark but here they are.
1) Recognize that Halak didn't win Monday's game on his own. He had some help from Veteran Canadien players including: Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta, as well as Jaroslav Spacek, Hal Gill, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Andrei Markov. I continue to believe the Caps need to use their relative size advantage on the Canadiens, particularly during the first two periods to wean the Canadiens down and keep them off balance whenever they look to exit their zone. Cammalleri, Gionta and Gomez are all under 6' and under 205# - whenever they are exiting the zone with the puck the Caps need to put a body on them and finish their check solidly. I'm not talking about playing dirty or even foolishly, I'm saying there are two things you can do to a guy now when he is exiting the zone and at least 51% of the time during the first two periods the Caps out to hit the puck carrier. Of the two choices I know that in today's NHL that's actually the higher risk option, but tonight they need to do that and when it doesn't work out the Caps goalie needs to stop the first shots when the defender/fore/back-checker misses. There will be a lot of adrenaline flying around the ice at Verizon Center tonight, and the Caps need to play with an edge but not over the edge. Further even though that goes both ways, if the Caps hit and slow down those three forwards as well and defensemen Andrei Markov and Marc-Andrei Bergereon, by the middle of the second period, the Caps first and second lines should start to see a little breathing space as they drive the net.
2) Solid team defense. For the full sixty minutes, no matter the score, the forwards, particularly the wings, need to backcheck, backcheck, nd backcheck - first and foremost. All too often over the past few games the Caps outlet pass and typical breakout play has become too, too predictable. They need to mix some things up in this regard, particularly against any sort of 1-2-2 or 2-2-1 trap.
3) Traffic, Traffic, Traffic - greasy goals and all. However also keep the ever growing confident Halak back further in his crease. You both have a right to the space in front of the net just beyond the crease. Play like a group of possessed men fighting for that small but extremely valuable piece of real estate.
4) Want it MORE. The Caps need to want it a lot more than Montreal and they need to play like that from the first puck drop till the last buzzer. Right now Montreal believes they can win this series, the Caps need to say loudly and proudly - not in out house and play like men possessed.
5) The line-up The coaching staff needs to look at things and put the absolute best available lineup out there and to me that's:
8-19-22
28-9-21
39-18-16
10-15-25
52 - 77
26-74
27-55
In the last minute of the first and second periods here's the unit I think should be on the ice at even strength: 8-19-28; 52-22 or 21 - that's right I want the Caps to score by driving hard for the net in each of the last minutes of the the first two periods.
Special teams power play - go back to the unit that got them here with a twist as much as possible: 28-19- 22 or 21; 8-52.
Special teams Penalty Kill (where we'll miss Tom Poti most of all tonight): first unit: 15-21, 77-55; second unit: 39-28, 26-74.
I doubt I've even come close to the line-up Coach Boudreau will go with but my point is we need to mix some things up more than folks are talking over at KCI yesterday. The team configuration shelling Jaroslav Halak has to look somewhat different than it did on Monday in order to create the different situations that might expose some "chinks" in his armour.
Before we go any further I want to put a shout out out there to make sure Tom Poti has a swift and complete recovery from his surgery - ouch!
I'm looking for big games by all the Caps but especially by all the Young Guns all of whom except Nicklas Backstrom who I felt were "diss'ed" today by Thomas Boswell in his column in the WaPo..Typicl DC Mainstream media coverage --- poor, ill-informed, subjective....
I'll be Rockin' the Red in Section 103 tonight. Hope to see you at the game.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
General Hockey Musings On Day 7 of the 2010 NHL Playoffs
Well as we get ready to start day 7 of the NHL Playoffs the eight (8) Conference Quarter Final Series, the match-ups currently look like this:
In the Western Conference:
#1) San Jose vs. #8) Colorado; Colorado leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Denver;
#2) Chicago vs. #7) Nashville; Series tied 1-1 - game 3 tonight in Nashville;
#3) Vancouver vs. #6) Los Angeles; LA leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in LA;
#4) Phoenix vs. #5) Detroit; Phoenix leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Phoenix.
In the Eastern Conference:
#1) Washington vs. #8) Montreal; Washington leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in Montreal;
#2) New Jersey vs. #7) Philadelphia; Philadelphia leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Philly;
#3) Buffalo vs. #6 Boston; Boston leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in Boston;
#4) Pittsburgh vs. #5) Ottawa; Pittsburgh leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Ottawa.
There is still a lot to be played but some pretty interesting developments.
After LA & Vancouver played the first two games of the series into overtime, but last night the Kings chased Roberto "The Captain" Luongo from the net in game three. Vancouver pulled Luongo at the 13:21 mark of the second period after Brad Richardson potted the Kings 4th goal of the night on the 16th shot on goal. Of all the teams to be having a goal tending "controversy" in the playoffs, Vancouver was clearly one of the three least likely to be in such a position. However, on Thursday morning the Canucks could find themselves down 3-1 unless they make the necessary adjustments.
In the San Jose - Colorado series things have been a bit different, in game 3, the top seeded Sharks seemed to out play the Avalanche through regulation, but were unable to get one by Craig Anderson. At the end of regulation in game three, the score was tied 0-0, then the Avs got the win on a pretty bizarre play. Just 51 seconds into overtime, San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle basically tried to backhand the puck behind the Shark's own net and instead the puck ended up in the goal behind San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabakov. This series has been close and during the two games the Avs have won, the number one star has been their goaltender. Now the pressure is again on San Jose to even the series.
The #4 Penguins lead the #5 Senators 2 games to 1 but of more note is how they went into Ottawa for game three and controlled the tempo and tenor of game 3 pretty much from start to finish. Clearly the Senators need to make some adjustments and try to get back "in front" of things in game 4 tonight. The Sens also need their stars to play more like they did in game 1 and then need to more effectively stop the Penguins big guns. If the Senators can do so, they have a chance to even the series up before it returns to Steeltown. If they fail on either count, the teams are just as likely to go back to Pittsburgh with the Penguins leading by two games.
The story in tonight's Detroit - Phoenix game is "how will the Coyotes react to and handle the absence of their Captain Shane Doan, who continues to be idled with the upper body he sustained in game 3. Given the way they've handled pretty much everything else so far this season, and how they handled the last half of game 3 with Doan in the dressing room. I'm thinking the media will talk about this and make more of it, then we'll see the Coyotes change things on the ice. That aside, it may well not matter, to some degree, things in Detroit tonight are just as, if not more likely to be "all about the Red Wings" and "Ilya" as in Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. The experienced, and driven Red Wings will likely come out flying and working hard, as usual, but even more so in an effort to ensure the series leaves Detroit knotted 2 games a piece. However so far the Coyotes have stuck to their guns and played the first three games in the same manner and using the same approach as what got them through the regular season in fine fashion. It's hard not to be rooting for the Desert Dogs given the year they and their fans have been through, but this series just seems like one that could easily go all seven games.
In the Boston-Buffalo series, these two defensive minded teams have met and battled three times so far. Each game was pretty tightly played, as expected, though in the one game where the teams scored 3 or more goals, game 2, surprisingly Boston was the team to notch 5 goals in their 5-3 game 2 victory in Buffalo. The other two games have been 2-1 goaltender duels with Ryan Miller and Tukka Rask each winning one of those two battles. In any case, the #2 seed Sabres now find the spotlight and pressure on them to even up the series on the road in Boston tomorrow evening.
So far in the Devils - Flyers series, the Flyers have been able to "solve" Marty Brodeur slightly more often then the Devils have gotten pucks by Brian Boucher, and it's a good thing because as you can see from this roster, the Flyers have pretty much run out of goaltenders. The 33 year old Boucher is in the 9th NHL season of an otherwise unremarkable career after being drafted by the Flyers in 1995 and bouncing around the league as part of 5 different organizations. However, if he continues to hold down the fort for Philadelphia and they continue to deliver results through this round and another couple, he'll at least become the answer to numerous sports trivia questions in future years.
Game 3 of the Chicago-Nashville series will be played tonight down in "Smashville." After Nashville opened the series in the Windy City with a 4-1 win, Chicago goalie Antti Niemi rebounded and delivered a 2-0 shutout of the Predators in game 2. The goaltending in this series has been the highlight, but a bigger story will be will the Predators continue to be able to keep Chicago's high powered offense in a bottle. Even though the series is tied 1 game a piece, the Barry Trotz' Predators have held the Blackhawks to just three (3) goals in the two games. The results in that arena will likely to be the focus and discussion tomorrow after seeing how "the rubber" match goes tonight. After his game 2 victory, Niemi is now the goaltender with the best numbers in the playoffs; the Predators will need to put more pressure on him and solve him a couple of times tonight if they are to win the first 2010 playoff game to be held in Nashville tonight.
In the Montreal - Washington series, for us Caps fans while all is basically "right" with the world after the Caps took a 2 game to 1 lead with their 5-1 victory in Montreal last evening, there is still a lot of hockey to be played. Semyon Varlamov was very good last night and now has a 0.918 SV% overall this post-season. The leading goal and point scorer in the series is Nicklas Backstrom with 4 goals and 7 points. Linemate and pal Alexander Ovechkin has 2 goals and 3 assists. After last night's game where virtually everyone got involved, the Caps just need a few bounces to go Alexander Semin's way and get him off the "schneid" to have everything "clicking" again. Of course the Canadiens will be working hard to try and throw the Caps off their game and back to the way things were during game 1 and the first period of game 2. I don't think that will be too easy for the Habs to do, but it is the playoffs and as we've seen so far, anything can happen. Not surprisingly, according to the Washington Post's Taril El-Bashir reported from Montreal on his blog this morning that the focus of the Caps practice was the powerplay. The Caps are 0-14 this post season with the man advantage. Hopefully, that will do the trick and get the unit back to it's regular season leading ways.
I'll be out of town and out of contact fishing in the Bahamas until next Tuesday, it will be interesting to see where things stand with all 8 of these series when I return.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
In the Western Conference:
#1) San Jose vs. #8) Colorado; Colorado leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Denver;
#2) Chicago vs. #7) Nashville; Series tied 1-1 - game 3 tonight in Nashville;
#3) Vancouver vs. #6) Los Angeles; LA leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in LA;
#4) Phoenix vs. #5) Detroit; Phoenix leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Phoenix.
In the Eastern Conference:
#1) Washington vs. #8) Montreal; Washington leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in Montreal;
#2) New Jersey vs. #7) Philadelphia; Philadelphia leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Philly;
#3) Buffalo vs. #6 Boston; Boston leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in Boston;
#4) Pittsburgh vs. #5) Ottawa; Pittsburgh leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Ottawa.
There is still a lot to be played but some pretty interesting developments.
After LA & Vancouver played the first two games of the series into overtime, but last night the Kings chased Roberto "The Captain" Luongo from the net in game three. Vancouver pulled Luongo at the 13:21 mark of the second period after Brad Richardson potted the Kings 4th goal of the night on the 16th shot on goal. Of all the teams to be having a goal tending "controversy" in the playoffs, Vancouver was clearly one of the three least likely to be in such a position. However, on Thursday morning the Canucks could find themselves down 3-1 unless they make the necessary adjustments.
In the San Jose - Colorado series things have been a bit different, in game 3, the top seeded Sharks seemed to out play the Avalanche through regulation, but were unable to get one by Craig Anderson. At the end of regulation in game three, the score was tied 0-0, then the Avs got the win on a pretty bizarre play. Just 51 seconds into overtime, San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle basically tried to backhand the puck behind the Shark's own net and instead the puck ended up in the goal behind San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabakov. This series has been close and during the two games the Avs have won, the number one star has been their goaltender. Now the pressure is again on San Jose to even the series.
The #4 Penguins lead the #5 Senators 2 games to 1 but of more note is how they went into Ottawa for game three and controlled the tempo and tenor of game 3 pretty much from start to finish. Clearly the Senators need to make some adjustments and try to get back "in front" of things in game 4 tonight. The Sens also need their stars to play more like they did in game 1 and then need to more effectively stop the Penguins big guns. If the Senators can do so, they have a chance to even the series up before it returns to Steeltown. If they fail on either count, the teams are just as likely to go back to Pittsburgh with the Penguins leading by two games.
The story in tonight's Detroit - Phoenix game is "how will the Coyotes react to and handle the absence of their Captain Shane Doan, who continues to be idled with the upper body he sustained in game 3. Given the way they've handled pretty much everything else so far this season, and how they handled the last half of game 3 with Doan in the dressing room. I'm thinking the media will talk about this and make more of it, then we'll see the Coyotes change things on the ice. That aside, it may well not matter, to some degree, things in Detroit tonight are just as, if not more likely to be "all about the Red Wings" and "Ilya" as in Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. The experienced, and driven Red Wings will likely come out flying and working hard, as usual, but even more so in an effort to ensure the series leaves Detroit knotted 2 games a piece. However so far the Coyotes have stuck to their guns and played the first three games in the same manner and using the same approach as what got them through the regular season in fine fashion. It's hard not to be rooting for the Desert Dogs given the year they and their fans have been through, but this series just seems like one that could easily go all seven games.
In the Boston-Buffalo series, these two defensive minded teams have met and battled three times so far. Each game was pretty tightly played, as expected, though in the one game where the teams scored 3 or more goals, game 2, surprisingly Boston was the team to notch 5 goals in their 5-3 game 2 victory in Buffalo. The other two games have been 2-1 goaltender duels with Ryan Miller and Tukka Rask each winning one of those two battles. In any case, the #2 seed Sabres now find the spotlight and pressure on them to even up the series on the road in Boston tomorrow evening.
So far in the Devils - Flyers series, the Flyers have been able to "solve" Marty Brodeur slightly more often then the Devils have gotten pucks by Brian Boucher, and it's a good thing because as you can see from this roster, the Flyers have pretty much run out of goaltenders. The 33 year old Boucher is in the 9th NHL season of an otherwise unremarkable career after being drafted by the Flyers in 1995 and bouncing around the league as part of 5 different organizations. However, if he continues to hold down the fort for Philadelphia and they continue to deliver results through this round and another couple, he'll at least become the answer to numerous sports trivia questions in future years.
Game 3 of the Chicago-Nashville series will be played tonight down in "Smashville." After Nashville opened the series in the Windy City with a 4-1 win, Chicago goalie Antti Niemi rebounded and delivered a 2-0 shutout of the Predators in game 2. The goaltending in this series has been the highlight, but a bigger story will be will the Predators continue to be able to keep Chicago's high powered offense in a bottle. Even though the series is tied 1 game a piece, the Barry Trotz' Predators have held the Blackhawks to just three (3) goals in the two games. The results in that arena will likely to be the focus and discussion tomorrow after seeing how "the rubber" match goes tonight. After his game 2 victory, Niemi is now the goaltender with the best numbers in the playoffs; the Predators will need to put more pressure on him and solve him a couple of times tonight if they are to win the first 2010 playoff game to be held in Nashville tonight.
In the Montreal - Washington series, for us Caps fans while all is basically "right" with the world after the Caps took a 2 game to 1 lead with their 5-1 victory in Montreal last evening, there is still a lot of hockey to be played. Semyon Varlamov was very good last night and now has a 0.918 SV% overall this post-season. The leading goal and point scorer in the series is Nicklas Backstrom with 4 goals and 7 points. Linemate and pal Alexander Ovechkin has 2 goals and 3 assists. After last night's game where virtually everyone got involved, the Caps just need a few bounces to go Alexander Semin's way and get him off the "schneid" to have everything "clicking" again. Of course the Canadiens will be working hard to try and throw the Caps off their game and back to the way things were during game 1 and the first period of game 2. I don't think that will be too easy for the Habs to do, but it is the playoffs and as we've seen so far, anything can happen. Not surprisingly, according to the Washington Post's Taril El-Bashir reported from Montreal on his blog this morning that the focus of the Caps practice was the powerplay. The Caps are 0-14 this post season with the man advantage. Hopefully, that will do the trick and get the unit back to it's regular season leading ways.
I'll be out of town and out of contact fishing in the Bahamas until next Tuesday, it will be interesting to see where things stand with all 8 of these series when I return.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
General Playoff Hockey Musings on Day 5 of the 2010 Playoffs
Wow, as we start day 5 of the 2010 NHL Playoffs, ALL seven series that have completed two games are tied 1 - 1 AND in the eighth match up the #7 seeded Nashville Predators lead the #2 seed Chicago Blackhawks. If that doesn't tell you just how different playoff hockey games are from regular season games then the only thing that will probably do it will be going to one yourself and seeing it live. I had the pleasure of attending the Caps vs. Canadiens games on Thursday and last night. Both were awesome games, of course being a Caps fan last night's was a lot more fun then Thursday night's. But before going through my musings about the two Caps games here's a few other musings I've been having about the 4 days of playoff games I've been watching on NHL Center Ice.
If two years ago you were looking at the Defensemen in the Caps System and assessing them would you have picked Sami Lepisto to have already played 34:44 TOI and an overall +/- of just -1 while playing against the Detroit Red Wings? Me neither, but if you've caught any of the Coyotes - Red Wings games, you will have seen why the 25 year old Finn was at one point a highly rated prospect in the Capitals system. That said, during his several call ups to the Caps before being traded to Phoenix in June, 2009, Lepisto never showed the full breadth of his capabilities. This season he played 66 games for Phoenix, finished the season at +14, with 11 points and 64 hits and is a solid member of their line-up. He was also a member of the 2010 Finnish Olympic Team that earned a Bronze Medal. All in all I'd say this former Capital (he did after all play a total of 14 games over the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons as a Cap_ is having a pretty good year. Here's hoping Sami continues to shine during today's game that will be on NBC at 3PM.
Speaking of the Phoenix - Detroit series, it's tied 1 game a piece, though I was surprised by the 7-4 score Detroit won by on Friday night. However, if you take away the final empty net goal and the two power play tallies that Detroit scored vs. Phoenix's failure to score on any of their four man advantages and it's a 4-4 tie. Of course that's not really the story. The story lines were two-fold: 1) Ilya Bryzgalov let in 6 goals and had a SV% of 0.841 while the Coyotes gave the Red Wings 39 shots on net; and 2) for the first 43:50 of the game the two teams played to an even 4-4 tie with the Coyotes staying with the Red Wings but failed to ever get ahead by more than one goal or "put the Red Wings away" despite Jimmy Howard only delivering a SV% of 0.8709. For the Coyotes to win the series they'll need to stay more disciplined and limit the Red Wings to fewer shots on goal and of course they'll need Ilya Bryzgalov to look more like Ilya Bryzgalov - basically they just need to make some minor adjustments and play a game a lot like they did in their 3-2 win over the Red Wings on Wednesday. Of course, the Red Wings have a few guys with a lot of Playoff experience looking to continue with the momentum they finished out Friday night's game with (3 straight unanswered goals.)
The last playoff series to get underway was the Chicago - Nashville on Friday evening in Chicago. Nashville won that contest 4 - 1, the Predators' final two goals were empty netters so in some way the game was a 2-1 loss by Chicago. The biggest difference between the two teams on Friday was goaltending. Both goalies played well, for Chicago Anti Niemi was 22 of 24 for a SV% of 0.9167; for Nashville, Rinne was 25 of 26 for a SV% of 0.9612. Both Nashville goals were scored by J.P. Dumont. Nashville's defense corps did a great job of making it very hard for Chicago to get any sort of flow going and made them work very hard to get scoring chances. As we've seen in the other 7 series, stating the very obvious, the next game is very important.
In the Boston/Buffalo series, the surprise to me was yesterday's 5-3 win by the Bruins, more specifically it was Boston's three (3) unanswered third period goals. The final stanza of Friday's game started with Buffalo up by a score of 3-2 and the Sabres failed to close things out and be the only team to be up 2-0 in a series. Ryan Miller delivered an only human 0.8667 SV% while at the other end Tuukka Rask delivered a 0.8966 SV% for Boston. The Bruins also out shot the Sabres 31-29 for the game. The second game was a far different story from the first on Thursday Evening when Miller turned back 38 of 39 (a 0.9744 SV%) to Rask's 0.9375 SV% and both teams had over 30 shots on goal. The bigger issue going forward might be the fact that Buffalo speedster Tomas Vanek left game two in the second period and did not return, if Vanek is unable to play in game 3, the Sabres will need to make some adjustments to mount a more aggressive offense. In game two, the Bruins seemed to generate more offense by having a more active blue line corps who joined the offense and mounted a four man attack quite regularly. What happens in game 3 should be interesting and telling when it comes to the next set of adjustments out of the minds of Lindy Ruff and Claude Julien.
Out in San Jose, the legion of Fin Fans are breathing a sigh of relief as the Avalanche - Sharks series moves to Denver tied 1-1 after the Avs opened it with a 2-1 win in the Shark Tank on Wednesday evening. The Western conference #1 seeded Sharks rebounded with a 6-5 win in overtime on Friday evening. In game 1 the story was the stellar play by Colorado netminder Craig Anderson. In game two the story was San Jose's ability to score a tying 5th goal while Evgeni Nabokov was on the bench for the extra skater with just 00:32 remaining in regulation to push the game into OT. In OT San Jose's Devin Stetoguchi scored the game winner at the 5:22 mark of the extra stanza to even the series at one game a piece as the teams headed to Denver for tonight's third game of the series. Another great series between two determined teams each challenging the other with the outcome long from being concluded.
If two years ago you were looking at the Defensemen in the Caps System and assessing them would you have picked Sami Lepisto to have already played 34:44 TOI and an overall +/- of just -1 while playing against the Detroit Red Wings? Me neither, but if you've caught any of the Coyotes - Red Wings games, you will have seen why the 25 year old Finn was at one point a highly rated prospect in the Capitals system. That said, during his several call ups to the Caps before being traded to Phoenix in June, 2009, Lepisto never showed the full breadth of his capabilities. This season he played 66 games for Phoenix, finished the season at +14, with 11 points and 64 hits and is a solid member of their line-up. He was also a member of the 2010 Finnish Olympic Team that earned a Bronze Medal. All in all I'd say this former Capital (he did after all play a total of 14 games over the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons as a Cap_ is having a pretty good year. Here's hoping Sami continues to shine during today's game that will be on NBC at 3PM.
Speaking of the Phoenix - Detroit series, it's tied 1 game a piece, though I was surprised by the 7-4 score Detroit won by on Friday night. However, if you take away the final empty net goal and the two power play tallies that Detroit scored vs. Phoenix's failure to score on any of their four man advantages and it's a 4-4 tie. Of course that's not really the story. The story lines were two-fold: 1) Ilya Bryzgalov let in 6 goals and had a SV% of 0.841 while the Coyotes gave the Red Wings 39 shots on net; and 2) for the first 43:50 of the game the two teams played to an even 4-4 tie with the Coyotes staying with the Red Wings but failed to ever get ahead by more than one goal or "put the Red Wings away" despite Jimmy Howard only delivering a SV% of 0.8709. For the Coyotes to win the series they'll need to stay more disciplined and limit the Red Wings to fewer shots on goal and of course they'll need Ilya Bryzgalov to look more like Ilya Bryzgalov - basically they just need to make some minor adjustments and play a game a lot like they did in their 3-2 win over the Red Wings on Wednesday. Of course, the Red Wings have a few guys with a lot of Playoff experience looking to continue with the momentum they finished out Friday night's game with (3 straight unanswered goals.)
The last playoff series to get underway was the Chicago - Nashville on Friday evening in Chicago. Nashville won that contest 4 - 1, the Predators' final two goals were empty netters so in some way the game was a 2-1 loss by Chicago. The biggest difference between the two teams on Friday was goaltending. Both goalies played well, for Chicago Anti Niemi was 22 of 24 for a SV% of 0.9167; for Nashville, Rinne was 25 of 26 for a SV% of 0.9612. Both Nashville goals were scored by J.P. Dumont. Nashville's defense corps did a great job of making it very hard for Chicago to get any sort of flow going and made them work very hard to get scoring chances. As we've seen in the other 7 series, stating the very obvious, the next game is very important.
In the Boston/Buffalo series, the surprise to me was yesterday's 5-3 win by the Bruins, more specifically it was Boston's three (3) unanswered third period goals. The final stanza of Friday's game started with Buffalo up by a score of 3-2 and the Sabres failed to close things out and be the only team to be up 2-0 in a series. Ryan Miller delivered an only human 0.8667 SV% while at the other end Tuukka Rask delivered a 0.8966 SV% for Boston. The Bruins also out shot the Sabres 31-29 for the game. The second game was a far different story from the first on Thursday Evening when Miller turned back 38 of 39 (a 0.9744 SV%) to Rask's 0.9375 SV% and both teams had over 30 shots on goal. The bigger issue going forward might be the fact that Buffalo speedster Tomas Vanek left game two in the second period and did not return, if Vanek is unable to play in game 3, the Sabres will need to make some adjustments to mount a more aggressive offense. In game two, the Bruins seemed to generate more offense by having a more active blue line corps who joined the offense and mounted a four man attack quite regularly. What happens in game 3 should be interesting and telling when it comes to the next set of adjustments out of the minds of Lindy Ruff and Claude Julien.
Out in San Jose, the legion of Fin Fans are breathing a sigh of relief as the Avalanche - Sharks series moves to Denver tied 1-1 after the Avs opened it with a 2-1 win in the Shark Tank on Wednesday evening. The Western conference #1 seeded Sharks rebounded with a 6-5 win in overtime on Friday evening. In game 1 the story was the stellar play by Colorado netminder Craig Anderson. In game two the story was San Jose's ability to score a tying 5th goal while Evgeni Nabokov was on the bench for the extra skater with just 00:32 remaining in regulation to push the game into OT. In OT San Jose's Devin Stetoguchi scored the game winner at the 5:22 mark of the extra stanza to even the series at one game a piece as the teams headed to Denver for tonight's third game of the series. Another great series between two determined teams each challenging the other with the outcome long from being concluded.
In the New Jersey Turnpike series the Flyers and the Devils travelled South to Exit 3 from Exit 13 with their series tied 1 game a piece after the Devils evened it up with a 5-3 win on Friday evening at "The Rock." The number one star of game two of this series was none other than former Capital Dainius Zubrus, who scored the game winner with a goal he wasn't sure, nor did he care if it was his or Zach Parise's. In the end the 2nd seeded Devils were just more than happy to get the victory and head to Philly for this evening's game on an even par with the seventh seeded Flyers, as during game two they took an unusual nine (9) minor penalties and spent 11:03 skating short-handed which provided the Flyers two power play scores. Despite the elven minutes of short-handed play, the Devils still managed to out shoot the Flyers 33-29 for the game. Game 2 was a very different game than game 1 where the Flyers basically outplay the Devils in every facet of the game to open the series with a 2-1 victory on the road. What adjustments each team makes both in terms of game plan and execution will be interesting to see this evening.
In the Pittsburgh - Ottawa series, the Senators also opened up with a 5-4 victory on the road at the Igloo on Wednesday evening. During the opening game, the Senators blue line corps managed to contain both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin pretty well while a lot of key Senators players including Spezza, Alfredsson, Neil and Fisher had good outing up front. In game two on Friday evening, the Penguins made several adjustments and they seemed to result in the Pens, especially Crosby, Malkin, Bill Guerin and Kris Letang having more time and space when the Penguins managed to come away with a 2-1 victory, despite a very solid 0.935 SV% by Senators net minder Brian Elliott. The series now moves to Ottawa this evening where the Sens Army will be enthusiastically cheering for their team to once again best the flightless birds from Steeltown.
Out West the closest series so far has been the #3 Vancouver Canucks vs. the #6 seed Los Angeles Kings. Both games so far have gone to Overtime and the series now moves to LA tied 1-1 with each game ending an identical 3-2 (OT) score sheet but a different team on top. Game 3 is tomorrow evening out in LA but it's been an interesting series so far and based on the start it promises to continue to be so.
The other series that's knotted at 1 game a piece and where both games have gone into overtime is of course the Eastern Conference #1 seeded Capital vs. the #8 seeded Canadiens.
Game 1 on Thursday was a 3-2 OT win by the Canadiens on the road in Washington. Game 1 was a goaltenders duel won by Canadiens netminder Jaroslav Halak with a 0.957 SV% as compared to Capitals goalie Jose Theodore who finished with a SV% of 0.921. game one was a hard fought affair, the Capitals outplayed and dominated the Canadiens for the first thirty minutes but Halak kept his team in it. Also during game one the Canadiens defense managed to keep Capitals stars in check, limiting Alexander Ovechkin to an unusual zero shots on goal. It was a hard game for Caps fans to feel good about, since it's unusual for the Caps to have a game with 47 shots on goal and get a better than 0.915SV% performance from their goalie and lose. In the end that's what happened though when at the 13:19 mark of OT, Canadiens Center Tomas Plekanec managed to get a fluttering puck past Theodore for the game winner to put Montreal up in the series 1-0.
Last night at Verizon Center, the Caps and the Habs again faced off for game two. The Caps were clearly outplaying the Canadiens however Caps goalie Jose Theodore was unable to stop the first two shots he faced and the Capitals were down by a score of 2-0 by the 7:58 mark of the first period. I was willing to give Theodore the benefit of the doubt on the Canadiens first goal - a wrister by Brian Gionta off a nice setup pass from Scott Gomez at the 1:00 mark that I felt Tom Poti gave too much space to the speedy tyke and former Jersey Devil. However, even though on the second goal, I once again would have likes to see either Jeff Schultz or Mike Green close the gap and challenge Andrei Kostitisyn on, Theodore had a clear bead on it all the way and he just misplayed it enabling Kostitsyn to put his wrister straight through his five hole. As regular readers know I am a huge fan of Theo: i) as a great person, ii) as the guy who wanted to come here when we got played and "dissed" by currently under-achieving Chicago netminder Christobel Huet, and iii) as a guy who when he's on is as good as any netminder in the NHL. However, last night, it clearly wasn't going to be his night and I sadly agreed with the change to Varlamov after Montreal scored their second goal.
So at that point last night, with 52 minutes left to play, the Capitals had "spotted" the Canadiens two goals and it was time for them to start to scratch and claw their way back into the game or risk finishing the evening heading to Montreal two games down. Given the way the Caps generally match-up with the Canadiens, like most of the other 18,000+ fans at Verizon Center, I was rooting for my team, but not overly optimistic. But it didn't take long for the Cardiac Caps to get me enthusiastically screaming my lungs out for the Caps. At the 10:21 mark Canadien Killer - Eric Fehr - scored a solid "hockey/playoff" goal setup by Tomas Fleischman. That enabled the Caps to go into the dressing room for the intermission trailing by just one goal.
The second period was not a kind one to the Capitals. They took two penalties, gave up two more goals to Andrei Kostitsyn who finished the game with 4 points, a hat trick and an assist, and looked like they were going to head into the dressing room for intermission trailing by three goals until at the 18:23 mark when Nicklas Backstrom fired a slap shot from the top of the left circle past Halak up high while both Ovechkin and Mike Knuble were in front of the net screening the Canadien goaltender, that meant through two periods it was Capitals 2 - Montreal 4. The only things Caps fans could say to each other at that point was a) the Caps had tightened up their defense and Semyon Varlamov had looked solid making the Canadiens have to work hard to score, and b) the Caps needed to make some adjustments, though it was unclear what would work and if there was still enough time to come back against a Canadiens team that was playing very well.
Throughout this season, the Capitals have become known as a "Third Period" team. Thankfully for the Caps and we Caps fan, last night, that reputation proved deserved. the Caps came out for the third period on the man advantage thanks to Mike Cammellari slashing and breaking John Carlson's stick basically in front of the referee at the 19:39 mark of the second stanza. The Caps didn't score on that power play but shortly there after, Aleander Ovechkin got what was probably his ugliest, grittiest goal of the season, and one of the more important, when at the 2:56 mark he was able to jam the puck through Halak's pads while holding off defenseman Roman Hamrlick and blue liner Jaroslav Spacek was occupied elsewhere with Nick Bacstrom to pull the Capitals within 1 goal. Then a little over seven (7) minutes later (the 9:47 mark), Ovechkin made what I felt was actually an even better play when he drove down the ice in deep and put the puck right on Backstrom's stick who was able to put his second goal of the evening cleanly past Halak to knot the game at 4-4. At this point, it was clear the 18,000+ sellout crowd of Capitals fans, all of us, we believed, the Capitals believed and we were just waiting for the next tally to confirm what "we knew." Alas, the next tally came from Canadien "trash-talking" center Tomas Plekanec on an excellent play set-up by Mike Cammalleri and Andrei Kostitsyn and finished off by Plekanec to put Montreal up 5-4. Unlike earlier in the game though, for whatever reason, we Caps faithful in the stands still believed, and from the way they were playing, the Caps team on the ice did too. Then at the 18:39 mark, at even strength, while the first line was on the ice with Mike Green and rookie John Carlson on the blueline, the Caps took control and setup in the Canadiens zone. Carlson, the Team USA hero of the World Juniors, rose to the occassion, putting a nice slapshot on net through a screen once again set by a first line scrambling in close and ready for any rebound Halak might give up. However, no rebound was forthcoming as the shot resulted in Carlson's first playoff goal and knotting the game at 5-5, sending it to overtime.
Okay, I want to be up front, in the playoffs I have a love/hate relationship with Overtime. I love the excitment and suspense. I hate that anything can happen and when it odes it's usually not in the favor of the team I'm rooting for. However, if there has to be overtime for the Capitals to win, none could be scripted that much better than having Nicklas Backstrom end the game quickly with the third goal of his first playoff hat trick just 0:31 seconds into the extra stanza. Congrats Nick Backstrom! Congrats Capitals!
Hopefully now with the season even up, the Capitals will figure out how to tighten things up and come away with a less frenetic, more disciplined win in game three. It's clear in this series, like all the others, there's still a lot more hockey to be played in this first round of the 2010 playoffs.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
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