FANTASTIC game!!! Caps come from behind and do what many thought they weren't capable of doing and win a game in OT on the road IN PITTSBURGH!!! The great news is that we force a series deciding Game #7 back in D.C. on Wednesday night. The bad news is that we still are not playing that well.
Last night was tremendous in that we won but there were long stretches where we were just getting beaten. We started the game with some aggressive play and got 3 or 4 shots early but then we just fell apart. We were outshot 18-5 in the first period alone. Thank God for Varly because without him, we wouldn't even be able to sniff a Game #7. That guy's play has been unbelievable. The other big issue is that we are still giving up WAY too many odd man rushes. You can see that the Penguins defenders often times skate with the forwards on the attack to create these rushes. Also, our defenders have to do a better job of reading the plays. They will some times go up and try and make a hit at mid ice but doing that takes them out of position and results in the odd man rushes. We have to be smarter. Another concern is still Mike Green. That guy is no where to be found. All season, in nearly every game, he had an impact and you were aware of him on the ice but in the playoffs he has virtually disappeared.
Still, I am happy for the victory. Ovie guaranteed the win and that we would be coming back for a Game #7 and he was right. The best part about it was that we scored 5 goals and he didn't have a single one. The goals came from our supporting players like Kozlov, Semin, Fleischman, and Steckel who fittingly got the OT game winner after missing the open net game winner in Game #6. That's just what we needed. Sudden death hockey is some of the best sports has to offer. Each shot we take, you hope it finds a way in and each shot the opposing team takes, you pray is stopped. You can't help but think that when they hit the cross bar in OT, how one second and one inch can be the difference between playing on or going home. It's funny too because all too often sudden death goals end up being softer shots or fluke type rebounds or deflections. You just hope that you get the right deflection. Last night, we did.
Anyway, hopefully we get more of the same goal scoring from people not named Ovie on Wednesday because it's clear the Pens are being very cautious defensively when Ovie is out there. The Penguins are making us find a way to score without Ovie and last night we did. We need to find a way again on Wednesday. Who is going to step up and be the hero? I have to say again though that I cannot say enough about Varly. That guy has been unbelievable and is the Caps MVP for this series. Nerves of steel and cat quick reflexes combined with unbelievable flexibility. This guy is a beast!
Couple of other notes about last night's game that really bothered me was that when we took the lead and there was still like 13 minutes left, we just fell into one of our lapses. I was counting down the minutes and the minutes were taking forever and it felt like an eight minute power play. We stopped being aggressive which I prefer not to do but fine. Worse was that we stopped playing good defense and it was like lets just stand around and watch Varly get pelted and see how many shots he can stop. For F sake, make a play...somebody! Given the way the Penguins were just attacking and controlling the puck, you just knew it was a matter of time before they scored. That cannot happen.
Also, the Caps have GOT to take more shots. Just take the shots. Fleury is not being tested. He is not as good as Varly. You can't score unless you take shots and the Caps are not testing this guy. The support guys are not taking the shots when they should. Yesterday, there were a few times when I felt like guys were looking to make the extra move or the extra pass and it ended up getting broken up without a shot. Just take the freaking shot! We will score on this guy!
Finally, the refs are still blowing the calls. I feel like we have kind of gotten the shaft in that department this series but for God's sake, how do you call that type of cheap ass slashing call on Laich with two minutes left in regulation in a tie game when the team you call it on is facing elimination?!!! Thank God we didn't lose it on that power play because that would have been a very bitter way for the season to end.
Anyways, there are still issues but we find ourselves in another Game #7. We seem to thrive in these elimination games but they sure are nerve racking. It will be good to be back at home and I know Ovie loves this stage. The Red will be Rocking and it's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere. It's been a great series that shouldn't come as any surprise to go the full seven games. I'm looking forward to it. We'll see who steps up and who cracks under the pressure.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
11 comments:
I agree with everything you wrote.
WHERE THE F IS MIKE GREEN?!
The Caps cannot allow themselves to be outshot 2-1. If they can keep it even in Game 7, they win. Varly is playing much, much better than Fleury - the problem is he is facing about 12 more shots per game.
The defense is totally lost and they are constantly blowing it with horrible decisions in their own zone. Jurcina's hand pass right in front of the net was bizarre and it led to a Pens' goal.
That call with 2 minutes left to give the Pens a power play was inexcuseable. Horrible call.
I cannot wait for Game 7. Maybe Green will score the gamewinner. Hopefully it will be for the Caps and not for the Pens.
Great finish to the post. I was into the whole thing and I have thought how it would be poetic justice for Green to score the series winner; however, I never really thought about him scoring on us. Pretty funny and I suppose it would cap off a very disappointing playoff run for himself.
Agree too that Jurcina's hand pass was a little screwy. In any sport, they say clear it to the side or out of bounds so what does Milan do? He blindly puts it between his legs and shuffles it right into the middle of the ice right in front of Varly. Nice move! I mean of all the alternatives...push it to the side, push it forward, push it towards the back of the net, stick it up your ass! But no, he figured it would be good to put it right in the middle of the ice.
Whatever. That's over. We won and it's on to Game #7.
Interesting note on Mike Green. Easton doesn't make the stick he uses anymore and he has broken all the ones he has so the Caps called up the HOF to retrieve the stick he used to tie the record for most consecutive goals scored in games by a defenseman. It is sitting at the Caps facilities and he should be using that one tomorrow night. Hopefully he will use it so pry his head from his ass and play.
Who would have known that it would take a 21 year old kid to help this team overcome it's late season defensive lapses? Varley's been nothing short of amazing. Without him, we wouldn't be thinking about game 7. We wouldn't even have been thinking 2nd round because he is the reason why the Rangers and Pens haven't been scoring 10 goals a night.
I was glad to see Semin finally show up. I agree with you about Green. Everytime he gets the puck, I expect something good to happen, but he's either struggling to get the puck out of the defensive zone or he's just ineffective on the offensive side. Very strange and completely unexpected. The Pens have taken him out of his game. It'll be great if he can get back in the groove for game 7.
Scoring 5 goals isn't easy in hockey...especially with as few shots as we took last night. Fleury is looking a little soft and more shots would be nice...the problem is we can't shoot when the Pens have it in our zone for 2/3 of the game. That's gotta change. The effectiveness of their forechecking is ridiculous and some of the soft penalties we're getting called for are plain nonsense. It's putting us in a tough spot that is making Varley look like the greatest goalie ever.
I hope the home crowd can help us to a 2-3 goal lead in game 7 because another nail biter is going to kill me. If I were completely objective, this would be the greatest playoff series ever. As a Caps fan, I'd rather have a blow-out.
Let's go CAPS!!!
Blowout would be nice, but just win baby!
If I were objective, I would say the Caps have no business being here. We have gotten our arses kicked left and right and every which way between that it now looks more like Deepie's mug than an arse.
The greatest series was 1988 Caps vs. Flyers when we were down 3-1 in the series and came back to win it on a Dale Hunter sudden death OT breakaway. Unbelievable ending, unbelievable game, and unbelievable series. It was the only time we have won a Game 7 in our history and was even more special having lost the previous year in Game 7 to the Islanders in the fourth OT after leading the series 3-1.
A victory tomorrow would be special but as an objective fan, we would have stolen this series because of a kid named Varly.
Game 7 against the Islanders still stings. The only good thing that came out of that game is that it apparently sucked the life out of the Islanders and aside from a few brief moments, they've sucked ever since.
I can't remember another Caps playoff series that could top this one. It'll be even sweeter if we can pull out game 7. In '98, we basically stormed through the playoffs before getting crushed in the finals. The 80s and early 90s were full of disappointing losses to the Islanders and Penguins. We may not be the best team on the ice on Wednesday night, but we have the best goalie and best player. That may be enough to get past this round and then we'll look back at how amazing these 7 games have been.
The Islanders series was terrible. Robs and I went to Game 7 and not sure how Robs remembers it but I have some very vivid memories of the game.
1. Unbelievable goaltending from Kelly Hrudey and Bob Mason. Mason had about 20 fewer shots to handle but he had by far the better saves.
2. Watching the players get more and more tired and guys just not being able to skate anymore.
3. Watching the time tick by and the game go into Easter morning and watching the stadium empty out as people didn't stay until the end.
4. Feeling of emptiness and not accepting the loss when Pat LaFontaine scored. After all of the brilliant saves, it was hard to believe his slap shot made it through.
5. The "Just Once" montage they played as we walked out and thinking how perfect the song choice was.
6. This fan in the montage that just stared blankly then turned to the camera and gave the gun blowing his head motion.
Ouch! All too painful.
I'm happy to get to the Game 7 in this series and I desperately hope we win. This is the series I want to get by. I have said at the beginning of the playoffs that we needed to get through the first round and would really love to get through the second round. At that point, I think the season has been a tremendous success. Sure, I would love to win the whole thing but said at that time, that we are still a very young team (even younger now with Varly) and I wasn't sure if we believed we could win it all. I think the team is maturing and I fully expect next season going into the season that we have to expect that we are going to win it all.
I want to get by the Penguins just because of the rivalry and the matchups but honestly we have been outhustled, outchecked, and outplayed for most of this series. If I were a Pittsburgh fan and we lost the series, it would be a whole lot more bitter because of the domination.
The players need to lace them up and the game needs to be played and it's lose and go home. There is nothing I would like more to see than a thrashing and the Caps winning 5-2. I have a feeling it will be another close one. As I said, we'll see who steps up and who falls down.
As my two year old says..."uh, uh, uh (sound of the horn leading the cheer)...LETS GO CAPS!!!"
I remember that Game 7 the way you remember it. I remember Gartner scoring the first goal and being elated. I also remember going to Hardee's for burgers at like 3:00 in the morning when we got back to Tyson's. It sucked because we lost and there was a sense of just emotional loss as we ate our food.
There was a video highlight reel that one of the stations (George Michael?) put together that was set to "In the Air Tonight". That was a cool video.
I just hope Game 7 tomorrow night goes our way. It will be the greatest win and series that the Caps have ever played in. If they lose it will be second only to the Philly series.
Hardee's was closed. The only thing open was Mister Donut. That's where we went to commiserate.
Really! It is funny how memories fade.
Yeah, I think I was really hungry and disappointed that we couldn't get any dinner type food. I remember the donuts being decent but not hitting the spot for me.
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