Now that is what I call playoff hockey!!! Unbelievable! It was a night when the games biggest stars shined and a night when a 21 year old rookie is showing that he is a star in the making. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby each scored hat tricks for their respective teams but it was the Caps that came out on top pulling out the 4-3 victory. Ovechkin again showed why he is the world's best player by not only scoring in multiple ways at critical moments of the game but once again being physical and laying out Penguins with his jarring hits. After Crosby scored the opening goal, Ovechkin tied it with his first goal. In the third period, on the power play, Backstrom faked the slap shot and passed to Ovie who sent a blistering slap shot past Fleury to take the lead 3-2. Less than three minutes later, Ovie skated with the puck in a 1 v 1 situation and used the defender as a screen and sent a wicked wrist shot top shelf to seal the victory for the Caps. The goal resulted in the pumped up crowd to throw their hats honoring the Great 8 for his hat trick. Typical Crosby cried to the ref about how long the hats were on the ice and the celebration. Despite his talent, Crosby is the biggest cry baby in the league and everyone knows it.
The big story of the night was the hat tricks by both Ovie and Crosby but you can't help but be amazed at the play of Simeon Varlamov. This guy has been playing out of his mind. There is no question that we would not be anywhere close to where we are if Theo was in the net. We all know that you need great goaltending in the playoffs and I said that in every game the goalie is going to have to make about 3 tremendous saves in order to win the game. Last night, Varly did it again making some ridiculous saves. This guy is playing with confidence and toughness that you would expect from a seasoned veteran. What's funny is that no one wants to talk about him. Boudreau doesn't talk to Varly and just lets him do his thing. After the game, Ovie was interviewed by Versus and he was asked about the stellar play from Simeon and he said that he wasn't going to talk about him.
Bottom line, this is exciting hockey with back and forth action, tremendous individual play, great scoring chances, superb goaltending, all tied up in a great rivalry. It doesn't get a whole lot better than this.
The Caps take a 2-0 advantage in the series and now head to Pittsburgh. It's nice to be up 2 to none; however, we did what we were supposed to do and protected our home ice. Now we have to play in Pittsburgh where the crowd will certainly be pumped and hostile and the Penguins will be playing with desperation. We also know from our Ranger series that teams are very capable of coming back from big deficits in a series.
Interesting side notes are that Malkin hasn't shown up yet so I expect him to get back on track. I said before the series that with Ovie the bigger the stage, the more he enjoys and he is performing. I also thought that guys like Malkin and Crosby would struggle given the attention of the series and the spotlight that would be put on them. Crosby has performed but Malkin is no where to be seen. Malkin is a shy guy and I think he is intimidated by Ovie. On the Caps side, I am still disappointed with the play of Mike Green. He just looks like he is uncomfortable out there for whatever reason. He needs to relax and play his game. The tough part is that it has been going on for most of the playoffs but hopefully he will snap out of it. I also expect Semin to get into the goal scoring mix.
Again, the series shifts to Pittsburgh tomorrow night. I expect another high flying, action packed game. The series is living up to the hype and I expect tomorrow will be no exception.
Until tomorrow...UNLEASH THE FURY!!!!
1 comment:
It was F'ing awesome last night. Ovechkin's third period goals were fantastic. Man, when he blasted his second goal in it must have felt great leaving his stick. He had that thing nailed. You could see it develop and when he got such great wood on it there was no way to stop it.
His third goal was great use of Gonchar as a screen.
But, man, again Varly made some huge saves. That one where he stopped Crosby at the side of the net and then got his glove on the blast by Gonchar (I think) was just classic goaltending.
I love the Caps and really, really look forward to watching them play.
This series is a great one for the NHL - Ovechkin vs. Crosby and great end to end action. It seems to me the Caps are just better and it is showing up on the scoreboard. Hopefully they take one in Pitt and then win it in 5 at home.
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