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We fully admit the only thing casual sports fans know about the Washington Capitals is that they have superstar Alex Ovechkin.
But if the Caps are going to achieve anything this postseason, it’s going to have just as much to do with his supporting cast as it does The Great 8. Take, for example, Game 3.
The Capitals took to the road and steamrolled the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 in front of a sellout crowd at the Bell Centre Monday night not because of a superhuman performance by Ovechkin. They cruised to an easy victory on the backs of such unheralded players as Boyd Gordon, Eric Fehr, Jason Chimera and Matt Bradley.
Call it the Blue Collar Hockey Tour.
And if you’re a Montreal fan, you better hope and pray that their show was a one-night only engagement.
That’s because Ovechkin might be one of the select few hockey players with name recognition, but anyone who follows the Capitals know that this team cannot win unless more than the captain is contributing.
This isn’t basketball, where Kobe Bryant or LeBron James can wave four of his teammates aside to post up an opponent. Ovechkin can have an off night. Opponents – especially if they have home-ice advantage – can use matchups to their advantage to shut down one player.
But when the Caps have steady secondary scoring from guys not named Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin or Mike Green, there’s not a team in the league who is going to hold them down. All eyes were on the Washington goaltending situation when Game 3 started, but Gordon took the pressure off his goalie and his coach by scoring a shorthanded goal barely a minute into the second period.
A little over seven minutes later, the Capitals were up 3-0, thanks to goals by Brooks Laich (assisted by Green and Fehr) and Fehr (assisted by Laich and Morrison). Just like that, Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak was sent packing and suddenly, the Capitals goaltending situation wasn’t the only subplot of the series anymore.
During his abbreviated evening, Halak stopped just 10 of 13 shots (.769 save percentage), so he was replaced in net for the Canadiens by Carey Price – the fourth netminder to see action in this series.
Price was better than Halak, and likely earned himself the start for Game 4, but it was the young man on the other end of the ice who rose to the challenge.
Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov made coach Bruce Boudreau look like a genius for the second-consecutive postseason. He looked much more like the athletic youngster Caps fans rallied behind during the first two months of the season rather than the sometimes erratic version of the 21-year-old we’ve seen more of in recent play.
Varlamov is now 3-0 lifetime with a 1.63 goals against average and a sparkling .940 save percentage at Montreal. In related news, Varlamov will no doubt continue to backstop the Capitals postseason run for as long as he keeps up his stellar play.
And just like that, order is restored and the Capitals have reclaimed their home-ice advantage. Lets take a closer look at the blue-collar workers who helped Varlamov earn his second-straight win.
Admit it, when the Washington Capitals were down 4-1 midway through Game 2 against the Montreal Canadiens, you thought they were done. Honestly, you might have even thought all hope was lost.
Capitals goalie Jose Theodore giving up two goals on the only two shots he faced was the worst possible start for the goalie and the Caps.
Couple that with the offense’s apparent decision to settle for long-range shots with little presence around Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak and no one would blame you for thinking the worst – for the second time in as many seasons the Caps were about to give away home-ice advantage and go down two games to none against a lesser opponent in the opening round of the playoffs.
No one will blame you. No one will think less of you (unless, of course, you’re one of the “fans” who threw trash onto the ice during the game. You gentlemen, can burn in hell, or worse, become Penguins fans.)
After all, there wasn’t much reason for you to think things would get better … unless, of course, you’ve seen the Capitals play this season.
While Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau and Caps fans with a weak heart might prefer the team to cut down on the degree of difficulty, they’re actually pretty damned good when they find themselves in such a precarious situation.
For those who aren’t aware, the Capitals actually had the best winning percentage in the NHL of teams trailing after two periods (.364). More than any other team in hockey, the Caps find a way to win games without playing a full 60 minutes.
When forward Eric Fehr scored on a 30-foot blast halfway through the first period, Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin said he noticed something. It had nothing to do with how the goal was set up by a great outlet pass by forward Tomas Fleischmann or where Fehr beat Halak (blocker side). No, the Capitals captain picked up on something after the goal was scored that stood out to him.
“I watched the replay when Fehr scored the goal and his arm was like shaking when he drank water,” Ovechkin said of Halak after the game. “So, he’s nervous. He knows all the pressure is on him and that’s a good sign for us.”
You ever hear what happens when a shark senses blood in the water? Yeah, that’s a fitting comparison.
Unfortunately, things had to get worse before they could get better for the Capitals.
Canadiens forward Andrei Kostitsyn picked up his second and third goals of the game and as we said at the top, the Caps were down 4-1.
Here’s why the game changed – the Capitals, led by their top line of Ovechkin, center Nicklas Backstrom and wing Mike Knuble – decided to focus on finishing their checks and crashing the net.
The Washington Redskins concluded their first minicamp of the Mike Shanahan era Sunday. And while nothing earth-shattering occurred during the three-day event, it gave the new regime the perfect opportunity to take a good, hard look at what they have (and what they need) on the roster.
Much was focused on the players who weren’t there – specifically, quarterback Jason Campbell, defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth and linebacker Rocky McIntosh – but Shanahan admitted that his only concern right now is focusing on those players who were at Redskins Park.
Those players who were in attendance, but could not practice fully included: defensive end/linebacker Andre Carter, defensive lineman Maake Kemoeatu, linebacker Jeremy Jarmon, wide out Santana Moss, offensive lineman Chad Rinehart,offensive lineman Clint Oldenburg and wide out Devin Thomas.
We caught up with Carter after the third and final day of minicamp to talk about his progress while rehabilitating his torn bicep injury he suffered against the New York Giants last season and the importance of being at camp, even if you can’t participate 100 percent.
Oh, and we also gave the big man a hard time about a certain infamous play from last season as well. Thankfully, the big man didn’t squash us for messing with him.
Tonight officially kicks off the Washington Capitals quest for immortality … or at least the right to sit at the grown-ups table.
Since 1974, the Caps have been a likeable bunch. But they’ve also been fairly harmless. If that perception is to change, it’s going to have to start tonight as the Capitals host the storied Montreal Canadiens in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
From a historical perspective, these two teams shouldn’t even be included in the same discussion. The Canadiens, with more than 100 years of hockey tradition and 24 Stanley Cup championships to their name, are the industry standard. Conversely, the Caps claim to fame is being swept in 1998 by Detroit in the finals. So yeah … these two teams are from different planets.
And yet, none of that matters anymore. Once the puck drops and Game 1 is underway, both teams are on level footing. The fact that the Capitals scored more goals than any team in hockey over the last 13 years? Irrelevant. The fact that Montreal allowed more goals than they scored this year? A nonfactor.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life … or at least your postseason life. The Caps have continued to steadily improve over the last few seasons and if that streak is to continue, they’re going to have to make it through, at a minimum, to the Eastern Conference Finals. Honestly though, with the way this season has played out, most folks around town won’t be happy unless this team is one of the last two standing.
That’s because the Game 7 loss to Pittsburgh a year ago has clearly left a feeling of unfinished business with both the team and Caps fans. Everyone knows what the Capitals are capable of, but ask the San Jose Sharks what “being capable of” gets you in the playoffs. Talent alone doesn’t cut it.
With that in mind, here are the five keys to a prolonged postseason run for the Capitals:
1. Spotlight on the secondary.
The Capitals scored an average of 3.82 goals per game, easily tops in the NHL, and forward Alex Ovechkin finished with at least 50 goals in a season for the fourth time in five seasons. But goals are much harder to come by in the postseason. Teams play tighter and coaches are less likely to take chances, so one mistake can truly spell disaster.
For the Capitals to survive in the playoffs, goals need to be scored by players not named Ovechkin.
Handsome forward Brooks Laich paced the Capitals with three goals and two assists for five points against Montreal this season. Defenseman Mike Green and forward Tomas Fleishmann each had a goal and four assists versus the Canadiens. Forward Eric Fehr had four goals in four games against the Habs. This is a good thing.
Hockey, unlike basketball, is a team sport. Staying on the ice for more than a minute is considered a long shift, so there’s only so much time Ovechkin can be in the game. The season finale – a 4-3 shootout loss to Boston – showed what happens when the team stops playing Caps hockey and starts forcing pucks to the captain.
Ovechkin had a chance to claim the goal and point scoring titles with a strong final outing. Obviously his teammates knew this and wanted to do everything in their power to help him get there. Unfortunately, the Caps looked disjointed, lacked their typical offensive flow and Ovechkin missed out on both fronts.
In the playoffs, personal achievements are meaningless. There’s only one thing that matters. The Capitals know this, but they also better know that getting there is going to take more than Ovechkin – even if he’s widely considered the best player in the game today.
Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau has yet to name his starting goalie heading into the playoffs.
While D.C. awaits a formal announcement, let us spoil the surprise – unless something shocking happens in the next few days, goalie Jose Theodore will be in net for the Capitals in their opening-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.
All season long, Theodore has been the Caps most steady and reliable option in net. Heading into the final year of his contract, Caps fans thought that Theodore would be relegated to back-up by either Semyon Varlamov or Michal Neuvirth, but that hasn’t been the case.
Theodore beat out the highly-touted duo by a large margin, going 30-7-7 this season, with a 2.81 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. While Neuvirth and Varlamov have both been prone to the occasional bad outings and/or soft goals, Theodore has been rock-solid seemingly all season long.
By now you’ve heard that Theodore has gone an insane 20-0-3 over his last 24 starts. Well, please allow us to journey back to just before this improbable streak began in an attempt to put everything in perspective for you.
Neuvirth started in net for the Caps’ 7-4 loss to Tampa Bay, Jan. 12. He was far from spectacular on this day, and pulled from the game after allowing four goals in just 15 shots (which averages out to 12 goals against average and a meager .733 save percentage).
Theodore was thrust into action and put up solid numbers considering just how well everything was clicking for the Lightning that day (Tampa Bay was firing on all cylanders that day, going four for seven on the powerplay). Theodore allowed three goals on 21 shots through two periods in mop-up duty, but was tagged with the loss.
We bring this up, not to dwell on the negative, but to point out that this was the only regulation defeat Theodore suffered in 2010. The 33-year-old has a sparkling 21-1-3 record with a 2.42 goals against average and a .920 save percentage since New Year’s Day.
If the record doesn’t win you over because you’re convinced any goalie would win on a high-powered offensive-juggernaut like the Caps, then let us make one more case for Theodore: since that loss to the Lightning, he’s been nearly unbeatable when the game is on the line. Theodore has given up just nine goals on 229 shots in the third period since Jan. 13.
We’re not sure what the official hockey-critic definition of clutch is, but a statistic like that would seem to clearly indicate that Theodore falls into that category. Anyone who can’t see that should probably watch less hockey and spend more time watching Jimmy Fallon or Jay Leno.
When you think about it, it had to be the Montreal Canadiens.
As this year’s Washington Capitals attempt to go where no other team in franchise history has gone before, it’s fitting that they have to start that journey against the most-storied team the NHL has to offer.
The Caps are looking to hoist the Cup for the first time, so why not go through the grand daddy of them all – a tradition-laden Montreal franchise that has sipped from Lord Stanley’s Cup 24 times?
The Canadiens were founded in 1909 and have been a part of more than 140 playoff series, but this will be the first time they square off against the Capitals in the postseason. Old school versus new school. A Montreal team that has done, seen and won it all battling a Capitals squad attempting to rewrite a franchise history littered with playoff disappointment.
And if nothing else, this is the team that gave Washington Rod Langway and Craig Laughlin … in the same trade. A Hall of Famer and the guy who made it socially acceptable to put a biscuit in a basket. The least the Caps can do to say thank you is invite the Habs to town for a first-ever postseason bout.
About those Canadiens, here’s what you need to know about Montreal heading into this first-round matchup:
- Montreal has been ravaged by injuries, with 259 games lost due to injury this season.
- The Habs scored 217 goals for and allowed 223 goals against. Ottawa is the only other team to qualify for the playoffs that allowed more goals than they’ve scored this season.
- Center Tomas Plekanec led the team with 25 goals and 45 assists for 70 points. With those numbers, Plekanec would have finished fifth on the Caps in points.
- Montreal had three 20 goal scorers. Washington had seven (and Mike Green finished with one short, with 19 goals for the year).
- Defenseman Andrei Markov led Montreal with a plus 11, which would have put him tied with defenseman John Carlson for 13th best on the Caps.
- Their season highlight was a six-game winning streak. They also had a five-game losing streak and a six-game winless streak this year.
- The Canadiens, you might remember, were the team to finally put an end to the Caps’ franchise-record 14-game winning streak.
- Montreal is limping into the playoffs, going just 3-4-3 in their final 10 games of the regular season.
Now, a quick refresher for those joining the bandwagon a little late:
The decision by the Washington Redskins to acquire quarterback Donovan McNabb from the Philadelphia Eagles has been met with mixed emotions by ‘Skins fans.
Some fans are thrilled with the move to bring in an elite player such as McNabb, who has won two thirds of the games he’s played in over an 11-season career. Other fans have a hard time suddenly cheering for a player that comes to town from a hated rival. And another faction with the fanbase has nothing against McNabb, they just wish the Redskins would value draft picks and stop trading them away for aging veterans.
Regardless of what category you fall in, the one thing all ‘Skins fans should be happy about is the way this trade has been received within the locker room. Before many of the players had even had the chance to meet their newest teammate, they liked the move enough to attend McNabb’s introductory press conference.
Current players such as Chris Cooley, DeAngelo Hall, Carlos Rogers, Justin Tryon, Mike Sellers and even Clinton Portis freed up their schedule to show their support for McNabb.
If that’s not enough, Hall of Famer Art Monk also made a rare appearance at Redskins Park to take in the moment. The usually reserved Monk liked the move enough that he even agreed to do a few select interviews with local media. After the press conference, we caught up with one of the greatest players in Redskins history to get his perspective on the trade and more importantly, to get his thoughts on the marriage of McNabb and the Redskins.
How strange was it to see Donovan McNabb, a player who this town has been trained to despise for more than a decade now, holding up his new burgundy and gold jersey?
“Well, I think we’re all kind of used to this type of change,” Monk said. “As players you know you can be one place one minute and another place the next. Even though we may have been enemies and opponents over the years, we’ve always respected him as a player. Now to have him be part of us, we know what his capabilities are, so we’re excited to have him.”
We’re old school, so we miss the days when a player spent his entire career on one team. In fact, to this day we pretend you only ever played for the Redskins …
(Laughs.)
You’re a Hall of Fame receiver who obviously knows a little bit about the game of football. What does McNabb bring to the Redskins?
“He’s a proven quarterback,” said Monk. “He’s a class guy. He’s not a cocky guy and he’s not about himself. He’s about team and really helping his team to succeed and do well. He brings a level of leadership and those qualities that we’ve lacked in recent years. He really is the total package. Even though he’s 33-years-old, he still has some good years left. We really are excited to have him here.”
Obviously his resume is impressive with six Pro Bowls, playing in five NFC title games and everything else. You know this team pretty well, so let us ask – when was the last time the Redskins had a top-10 talent at quarterback on the level of McNabb?
