Russia HAMMERED!!!

Wasn't even close. The game was a pretty big let down and did not live up to the billing at all.

Russia looked completely outmatched. A couple of things really stood out.

1. Nabakov sucked and clearly didn't have it letting in 4 goals in the first period. Then another two early in the second period. Now not all of the goals were his fault but he clearly was off his game and needed to do better.

2. Coach should have pulled Nabakov in the first and at the latest in b/t the first and second periods. Even if he didn't think Nabakov was at fault, Russia needed a jolt and that is reason enough for a goalie change. The backup ended up performing really well only letting in one goal and making some very good saves. The thing was that when it was 3-0, Russia scored to make it 3-1 and silencing the crowd but Nabakov let in another goal to end the period at 4-1. That was tough. It was too late when they made the change.

3. Russian players just looked out of sync. It is a classic case of having great players but not necessarily a good team. The Russians didn't seem to understand where they were supposed to be and it really looked like a collection of individuals. I understand too that this is in large part because these guys don't play together but still every team is faced with the same problem and they just didn't even look close to being comfortable with one another. Particularly in the third period, it just looked liked these guys had never skated together before and each one of them spoke a different language so they couldn't communicate with one another.

It's over and it's another win for Sid the Kid over Ovie who was pretty much a non factor in the game. At least Ovie gets to come back to D.C. and get back physically and mentally with his Caps teammates and hopefully he will get the last laugh by bringing home a Stanley Cup.