Pushed To The Brink Once Again, The Cardiac Caps Find A Way, Finally, In Overtime.

5




4


Series tied 3-3



There was no write up on the previous game yesterday, because me being at times superstitious as I am during the playoffs, wanted to change many things up yesterday. So, one of those changes also included no pre game write up. That may once again be the case for tomorrows game.

Once again, the Cardiac Capitals pushed themselves and their fans to the brink. The Capitals facing yet another elimination game in this years NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Caps also once again, found a way to extend the season, even if it is only for one more game. It was a must win once again, and once again the Capitals found themselves going into a sudden death, deciding overtime. The Caps have gone to overtime twice in this series, and lost both of those games. Not this time. It was game 3 of this series when the Capitals David Steckel had a fantastic chance to end that game and take the Caps up 3 games to nothing on the Pens in this series. Steckel found himself alone, in front of a gaping wide open Penguins net, with the puck on his stick, and some how, missed the net. Steckel vowed if he had that chance again, that it would end differently. He had that rare second chance last night, perhaps not in such grand fashion, but he did exactly what he vowed to do. In stead of letting an opportunity slip by, Steckel tipped a shot from Brooks Laich, past Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury at 6:22 of the first overtime. The Capitals bench erupted and flooded the ice, in front of the stunned Pens fans at Mellon Arena, much to the delight of Caps fans all across the country.

The Capitals did play better once gain, but still not quite good enough for comfort. The Caps were once again outshot in the game 42-25, and had just 5 shots on goal in a very disappointing first period that would see the Pens jump out to the lead first. Had it not been for Simeon Varlamov who made 17 saves in that first period, the Penguins might have buried Washington for good before the end of it. Once again, it looked to be a long and sad night for the Caps and their fans against their long time nemesis. However, the Caps had other things in mind, and true to form in elimination games, came out for the 2nd and third periods at time s controlling play, and taking the lead for themselves twice. It was the Pens who were backed into a corner at home in the third period, and it was the Pens who would force the over time period. Once again, the deciding factor in this game has to be Simeon Varlamov. Varlamov played a fantastic game, and perhaps if it were not for him, the Caps may not be looking forward to game 7 at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. tomrrow night.

While it was David Steckel who played the overtime hero and scored the winner, there were several other Capitals who stepped up and deserve credit for their contributions. Viktor Kozlov picked up his first two goals of the series, Alexander Semin had two assists, while Alex Ovechkin had 3 assists.

The Capitals now find themselves with the chance to advance to the Eastern Conference finals with a victory on home ice tomorrow night. A win in game 7 would also would give Washington only its second series victory over Pittsburgh in eight all-time meetings. Finally, maybe, something is starting to go right. In the Capitals last 7 elimination games under coach Bruce Boudreau, they are 6 wins, and one loss. Could this trend finally mean things are turning a corner for the Caps and their faithful? Could the ghosts of choking dogs past be fading away? Tomorrow night will go along way in determining if that is the case, or if those old playoff ghosts of choking dogs past, are still haunting this franchise. Get out there and ROCK THE RED and support our beloved Caps, wherever you are!

LET'S GO CAPS ! ! !

Capitals Return Home For Game 5 Tonight With Series Now Deadlocked At 2.

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Series tied 2-2


The Washington Capitals return home finding themselves once again in a MUST WIN situation. After being up 2-0 in the NHL's Eastern Conference Semifinal series vs the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Capitals have played poorly, and dropped both road games at the Igloo in Pittsburgh. Hopefully the Caps will have learned some valuable lessons from the past two games, and also once again use the home ice, and loud, red rockin Capitals faithful that pack Verizon Center, to their advantage. If the history of this series is to dictate anything, so far the home team as one all games, which puts the Capitals at a slight advantage for this game. However, it is going to take more than just a little luck this time. Defencemen Mike Green will need to come out of hiding, as will forwards Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. The Caps will also need to see Simeon Varlamov once again take control of the game, as he had done for 5 staright games until game 3 in Pittsburgh. Varlamov had his first "bad" game of the playoffs last night in steel town, surrendering 5 goals on 28 shots, and allowing two goals which were pretty soft. Our offence needs to step it up once again, and our defence needs to clamp down in our own zone in order to give Varlamov a chance to do just that.

Also of note, it appears the NHL is NOT going to fine and / or suspend Alexander Ovechkin for his unfortunate knee on knee hit with Pens defencemen Sergei Gonchar. The hit appeared to be accidental and there was no evidence of Ovechkin intentionally moving his leg to hit Gonchar's leg. Gonchar left the game and did not return, and is doubtful for tonights game 5 in D.C. I posted a video of the hit in m previous post, for you to be the judge. It can be found here in this post.

Your's truly is now heading out to Verizon Center for tonights game, and I will be back later on tonight or tomrrow morning with my post game thoughts and write up. Until then...

LET'S GO CAPS ! ! !

And The Choke Is On...

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5


Series tied 2-2

Once again, the Caps came out flying. Nicklas Backstrom scored just 36 seconds into the game to put the Caps up 1-0. From there out, it was just about all Pens. Pittsburgh scored just a few minutes later to tie, and never looked back. At the end of the 1st period, the score was 3-1 Pens. Washington, in spite of scoring a short handed goal, would not fare any better for the remaining two periods, and would ultimately fall by the final score of 5-3. Not even Simeon Varlamov could salvage this one, as even he had his first "bad" game of the playoffs. Three Capitals star players, were nonfactors in this game as well, including Alex Ovechkin, who mustered just two shots on goal this game, and a total of 7 in his last two games. The other Caps of note, who had disappearing acts this game were Alexander Semin, and Mike Green.

The Caps looked sluggish shortly after scoring the first goal, and almost never picked up. It would only get worse for the Capitals after what would become the most controversial play of the night, and possibly of this whole series. At 14:55 of the period, with Washington on it's first power play of the night Brooks Laich carried the puck in behind the Pens goal. The Pens would regain control and attempt to being the break out, with Alex Ovechkin streaking in down the left wing boards. Ovechkin went straight for the puck that Pens defencemen Sergei Goncahr had poked away. Ovechkin kept going straight for the puck and ended up colliding with Gonchar, in what some are calling a dirty knee on knee hit. Upon watching the replays, it appared that Ovechkin was going for the puck, and was intending to hit Gonchar, but not with his knee. Ovechkin did make a move towards gonchar, however from the replays it appeared he led with his shoulder. Ovechkin's leg never moved, however it did land knee on knee with Gonchars right leg. Gonchar went down in a heap, and had to be helped from the ice and did not return for the game. Ovechkin was assesed a minor penalty on the play for "tripping".

After the game, Ovechkin had this to say regarding the hit:

"I tried to hit him and he tried to move to his left, and I don't have time to realize what is going on and I hit [him with] my knee. It was accident. I'm not the kind of guy who wants to injure a player like this, especially [because] I know Gonch. I tried to hit him with my shoulder and he moved left, but his legs were in the same spot."

You decide for yourself if you think the hit was dirty. I personally think it was accidental. It appears in the video that Ovechkin is in fact attempting to head with his shoulder. Here is the video:




While the Capitals did get fewer power play chances than the Pens, it can hardly be said the Caps did not get their power play chances. The Caps had 4 power plays, to the Penguins 6. Once again, the Caps were out shot for the game 28-22, although the Caps did outshoot the Pens 5-4 in the middle period, the first time the Capitals had outshot the Pens in a period this series. The Caps are getting decent scoring from their other sources, however if the Capitals want to silence the critics, they are going to need scoring from thier superstar players, in a more consisent level. Washington Can no longer afford to rest on its collective laures as it has the past two games, the series is now on the line. The Caps must do some serious soul searching, and find the strengh, determineation, heart, desire, chemisty, and wear with all, in order not to end up like the club they just knocked out in the first round, the NY Rangers. Thus far in the playoffs, it has seemed as if the Capitals play thier best when they are up against the wallk when the pressure is on, and when they are in danger. Let's hope that holds true tomrrow night at Verizon Center, for the team that wins game five will likely be the team that advances to the Stanley Cup Semifinals. And the ghosts of choking dogs past wich were slowly starting to find thier way in, are now looming arge over the Capitals, thier loyal fans, and Washington. Its up to the Caps to learn from history, and not allow history to repeat itself, for the 6th time.

Amid Complaints, Death Threats, Fan Internet Wars... Caps Vs Pens Resumes In Pittsburgh Tonight

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Capitals lead series 2-1

The very much hyped NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, and thier respective Stars Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, thus far has lived up to all the hype, and then some. Replete with complaints from both sides, raging from accusations / allegations of cheating, to complaints about officiating, to whining from Penguins fans about the ticket sales tactics used by the Washington Capitals to limit sales as much as possible to Caps fans only, right down to a death threat against Washington's superstar winger, Alexander Ovechkin. The threat was discovered on the Penguins official message boards, and was reported to authorities in PA, as well as to both clubs, and to the NHL, all of which took the threat seriously, sparking more drama, which now includes police involvement, in this already dramatic series. The death threat, which as now been highly publicized on both the internet, and on local television news outlets in both cities, was apparently made by a 17 year old male from Chambersburg, PA. I will not post this persons name since he is a minor, but it has been posted on several news outlets websites. Police were investigating the thread, and have questioned the person, and confiscated the computer used to post the message. The threat, (pictured at left) which was posted was simply this:

"I'm killing Ovechkin. I'll go to jail. I don't care anymore."

The subsequent media frenzy has now sparked what could be dubbed an internet messagboard war between Caps and Pens fans. The Pens fans are apparently firing back by attempting to invade the Capitals Official Message Boards and look for questionable posts to report to authorities. There are multiple threads on both the Caps and Pens message boards regarding the subject. This has prompted the administrators of the Caps boards to close the boards to any new registrations until after the current playoff series is over. It has almost gotten comical at this point. Never a dull moment in this series thus far.

Now, onto the game. The Capitals will be looking to regain a 2 game lead in this best of 7 series once again tonight in Pittsburgh. The Caps who did not play very well in game 4, with the exception of goaltender Simeon Varlamov, will be looking to rebound and once again take control of this series. The Capitals, who have faced a spate of injuries, are once again making some lineup ajustments. The biggest news of the day was the Washington Capitals star forward Alexander Semin (pictured left) did not skate in this mornings practice. It is possible that he is nursing an injury, but there have been no outward signs of anything too serious. He was seen leaving Mellon Areana this morning, and appared to move just fine. Alexander Ovechkin seems to think he will be ok to play in tonights game. The Caps also made another lineup adjustmet today, returning defencemen Karl Alzner, and recalling forward Jay Beagle (pictured lower left) from thier AHL affiliate, Hershey Bears. It is unclear who Beagle will replace, but it appears there will be shakes ups throughout the Caps 4 foward lines. Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau is known for his willingness to change things up in the lineup if things do not go as planed for the Capitals. It will be interesting to see who gets in and who sits, and who is placed on what lines. The Capitals are already without the services of defencemen John Erskine, who did skate this morning but its still questionable for tonights game, and forward Eric Fehr. Erskine has not played since taking a hard shot to the leg in game one of this series. Eric Fehr has missed games 2 and 3 with an undisclosed upper body injury, and is likely to be out again tonight. It is unclear if Boudreau will use Beagle in tonights game, or if he will once again go with veteran forward Micael Nylander. Tyler Sloan has replaced Erskine in both games he has missed thus far, and presumably will be in the lineup again this evening. Here is Caps Washington Post beat writer, and author of the blog Capitals Insider, Tarik El-Basir in his video update from Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh:




If the Capitals hope to regain thier 2 game lead in this series, and afford themselves the opportunity to close things out on home ice Saturday night at Verizon Center, theyw ill need to play a much different game than they did in game three. The Caps will need to pick up thier speed, and have much more control of the puck. They will also need to keep themselved out of the pentalty box. In the last game, the Capitals recieved only two power plays to Pittsburgh's 7.
Personally I feel confident the Capitals will rebound tonight, and once again regain a commanding 2 game lead in this series. Off to prepare for watching tonights game!

LET'S GO CAPS! ! !

Capitals, In An All To Familiar Script, Fall to the Penguins

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3


Capitals lead series 2-1

No apologies here, you are being fore warned now that this write up is going to be weak. Once again, the Capitals found themselves up 2 games to 0 going into tonight's game 3 of the NHL's Stanley Cup Palyoff, Eastern Conference Semi Final series VS the Pittsburgh Penguins. Once again, the Capitals allowed the opposition to get right back into the series, and find themselves asking the same old questions that dogged the Caps of playoffs long gone by. The ringing echos of those old ghosts of "choking dogs" past, suddenly, and once again, have some creedence, and some life yet still, here. However, there are some differences between those times, and now. First and foremost, this still, in spite of the result, is a diffferent team than those of "choking dogs" past. This team has something special, something no one can put a finger on. Yes they have that "Superstar Player" they were always lacking in the past, but this time, there is just something different.

The Capitals did not play that great of a game tonight. the Penguins did. Both teams played like their lives were on the line at times, and for the Capitals, that very well may have been the case, if the past is to live up to hits own history. But it was ultimately the Penguins who played with more desperation, and got the goal when it counted most. It should also be noted the the Capitals were given only 2 power place, the the Pens 7, 1 of which was in over time. Suffice it to say, the officiating could have been more even, but that is still no excuse.

Somehow, I personally feel that it wont. When the Pittsburgh Penguins scored in overtime to send the Caps to their first defeat this series, and unlike those series past where the Caps were up by 2 only to ultimately surrender the series, a sudden calm came over me. As the Pens fans roared and cheered their team, I slowly bowed my head and thought..." this is ok... this is fine, this is right this time". I can not explain this difference in my personal reaction this time, but there is just something there. Some gut feeling that this team, this time, is just somehow different. The Caps, in spite of this defeat, somehow, will just find the way. I wish I had some answer for you as to why this feeling came over me, and why I feel this is just different this time, but I dont. I just have this gut feeling, it just is. The other thing that almost immediately came to mind tonight as the Pens were celebrating their glorious, come from behind, over time victory, was that little song I mentioned in the previous post. You know the one, the one that has the line... "Don't Stop.. Believein"...

So, with that I will let sleeping dogs lie tonight. There will be no game write up, no links, no photos, no names mentioned, no blame, no exulation. In stead, I will follow my heart, and my gut, and believe what, I somehow, STILL believe... and that is... that the Caps will find a way. Somehow, some way, the Caps will overcome this. The Caps will come back, and.. the Caps will ultimately use this experience to propel them on to win this series. Maybe I am living in a fantasy world, but I have seen this same thing unfold time and time again. However, as I said before, this time, it is different. With that, I congratulate the Pens on their win, and I bid you all good night, and as I lay my head down to sleep this all off there is still that one little line stuck deep in the recesses of my mind. Yet, somehow, I can still here it clear as day...

"Don't Stop... Believein"


LET'S GO CAPS ! ! !