Caps tied the series against the Canadiens 1-1 after a heroic effort from Nicklas Backstrom and his hat trick. As I mentioned as one of my concerns, the Caps fall into these lapses where they suck and in Game 2 they found themselves down 4-1 late in the second period. However, the Caps also have the ability to turn it on and when they do, they are pretty much unstoppable. Ovie got on the board early in the third period to cut the lead to 4-3. It was a good hard fought goal and it helped shake the monkey off of Ovie's back as he was able to get that first goal of the playoffs. Midway through the third, Ovie had a great assist to Backstrom for his second goal of the game that tied it at 4 and you had a feeling there that the Caps would pull this out. However, a short time later the Habs got a goal to make it 5-4 and while deflating, I still felt good about the way the Caps were playing.
As the minutes dwindled, you could feel the Caps sensing panic and this was a concern of mine too. That they would press in this series being the heavily favored team and they just looked out of sync. With about a minute and a half left, Ovie was slashed and as Varly skated to the bench for the extra attacker, young John Carlson took the puck and skated into the Montreal zone and released a wicked wrister that found the net tying the game at 5. Carlson had a very good game with that goal and a good slap shot earlier in the game that Halak saved but Ovie was able to pound the rebound between Halak's legs.
OT ensued and it didn't last long with Backstrom taking a good head man pass and firing a wrister top shelf passed Halak only 31 seconds into OT. Great shot, great game for Backstrom. Sudden death OT is nerve wracking because of the finality of it. It's outstanding when your team wins but completely dejecting when your team loses. Fortunately, the Caps were able to pull out the win and tie the series as we head to Montreal today for Game 3.
I can only hope that the Caps will pick up where they left off and really take it to the Habs. We need to have a game where we dominate. We should dominate. We are the better team and we need to show it. A couple of keys to the game:
1. Caps have got to continue to shoot up high on Halak. This is where he seems to have difficulty.
2. Caps cannot get discouraged by the number of shots blocked by the Habs. They need to either find better lanes to shoot and take better quality shots and/or keep pounding the shots that are blocked and not get discouraged.
3. Defense needs to tighten up. Green and Schultz in particular. We are an offensive minded team and Green is an offensive defenseman but you need to have good defense in the playoffs. That is what killed us the last couple years and we need to learn from our mistakes. Defense has got to tighten up.
4. Who will be the goalie? Theo was pulled in Game 2 after letting in 2 goals on the first 2 shots - although the second one was definitely not his fault and really a product of the poor defense mentioned above. Still, it was a good call by Boudreau to send in Varly just to shake up the team. Theo was money the latter part of the season and he is a veteran and is deserving of the nod. Varly has tremendous flexibility and obviously is young and has much more potential. My personal belief is that Theo should get the call. He was outstanding the latter part of the season and has earned this spot. Also, it is harder to tell Theo he is being benched, send in Varly, and then have to replace Varly if he plays poorly then the reverse because I can only imagine Theo would be ticked off that the coaches don't believe in him even after his stellar play late in the year AND he has done nothing to deserve a benching. I would give the start to Theo but have him on a short leash again and make sure Varly is standing by ready to get in the game.
In the end, hopefully the Caps light it up tonight and everyone is able to get into the action.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
4 comments:
Looks like they are going with Varly tonight. I don't really have an issue with that. I'd like to see Theo play again, but for some reason he does not play well against Montreal.
I think it is related to his time there and the fact that (I believe) he is from Montreal.
I expect a strong performance tonight and think it will end up a 4-2, 5-2 win for the Caps.
Is there anyway that they can defend Andrei Kostitsyn? Maybe the Caps are confused because his brother is also on the team. His brother didn't score three goals last game!
I think Jose becomes Josey in the play-offs! They can score on Varly, but not usually the real softies. Varly just needs to be told that the job is his and he will regain his confidence.
In time, Backstrom may be even better than Ovie! I'm a big fan of his.
Yep. Looks like it will be Varly. I am good with him too although as mentioned, it seems like it will be tougher to go back to Theo but I'm not the coach and I trust Boudreau so we'll see how that decision plays out.
Theo hasn't really done anything to warrant the benching but I like Varly and feel confident with him back there. It's just interesting that a guy that finished the season 20-0-3 does not get a little more leeway with the coaching staff.
Backstrom will not become better than Ovie. Backstrom is a very good player but he is not a superstar. Backstrom is more of a passer and a good team player. Ovie can really appreciate a player like Backstrom on his team as he is a great complement but Backstrom cannot lead a team the way Ovie can.
Backstrom is only 22! He has a lot of intangibles that may prove extremely valuable when he hits his prime.
I know you won't agree with this, but to this point, Sydney has proved that he is better than Ovie because he creates opportunities for his teammates and wins the big games. I hope Ovie will continue to progress and that they don't split up Backstrom and Ovie in the next few years.
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