Series Shifts To Pittsburg For game 3.

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The Washington Capitals took advantage of home ice thus far in this series, winning both games at Verizon Center to take a 2-o series lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their Stanley Cup Playoff Eastern Conference semi final match up. Tonight, the series shifts up to the Igloo in steel town, amid a spate of activity from both clubs. From the Penguins side, the Penguins are now starting to complain more. This time about the Capitals tactics on face offs, setting picks and / or interfering with their players, and also about the curvature of Alex Ovechkin's stick. Concerns are being raised from multiple sources with the Penguins orgainsation.

On the Capitals side of things, the Caps are dealing with some injury issues. Apparently Eric Fehr did not skate this morning, and will not be in the line up for tonight's game. In his place will likely be NHL veteran and Caps center Michael Nylander, who has been a healthy scratch for the first two games of this series. John Erskine, who is nursing a lower body injury persumably from taking a hard shot to the leg in game one, will also likely sit out for the 2nd straghit game. Likely to be in his place will be either Karl Alzner, or Tyler Sloan, who made his first NHL playoff appearance in Monday nights game two victory, playing a great game and also picking up an assist on David Steckle's goal in the 2nd period.

The Caps beat writer, Tarik El-Bashir filed this video report covering both sides on his blog, Capitals Insider:


Thanks Tarik.

And so it continues tonight. The much hyped, epic battle of the NHL's two top superstars, Alex Ovechkin and Sydney Crosby once again takes center stage with the Capitals up by two games once again. As I am sure ALL Caps fans, both long time such as myself, and new alike, are now well aware of the Capitals playoff history Vs the Penguins. As I sated in this post, the Capitals have been up by two games on the Pens multiple times in the past, and just like the Rangers did when they were up 2-0 and 3-1 over the Caps last round, the Caps folded to lose the series. Tonight is an extremely important point in this series, and may just go a long way to show just how far the Caps have come, and just how different of a team these "new Caps" are compared to those great prennial playoff appearing, but also choking Caps teams of old. The Capitals must take some pages and some notes from the past, in order to look towards the future here. To win this game tonight would go along way in proving to themselves, and thier loyal fans, and the rest of the world that this Capitals team is not only as good as those of old, but is in fact better. It is my hope that after tonight, those old "choking dogs" ghosts that have plagued the Capitals for much of thier collective playoff career. From what I have seen thus far this playoff season, that little Journey song I was humming a while back, seems to be creaping into my thoughts more and more....


..."Don't stop, Believin"...

LET'S GO CAPS ! ! !

Apparently Crosby Has A Case Of The "Whine-FLU"

So browsing around the net today, in specifically Dan Steinberg's D.C. Sports Bog over at the Washington Post, it occurred to me that I left one item out from Monday nights game 2 at Verizon Center. After the Caps Alexander Ovechkin scored his third goal of the game to put the Capitals up 4-2, there was a delay of a few minutes as the fans went nuts, and hundreds of hats rained down onto the Verizon Center ice. During this delay, Sidney Crosby of the Penguins (pictured left, photo by Toni Sandys - Wash Post) decided to skate over to the officials to have a little chat. We all know all too well Crosby has been documented as being a bit on the whiney side, and has a reputaion as being a whiney player.Well, after the was askedby a reporter what exactly he was "discussing" with the officials during the dealay. As it turns out, he was complaing about the hats being thrown on the ice, and the ensuing delay in getting them all cleaned up. Regarding his discussion with the officials Crosby was reported as saying:

"People kept throwing hats. I was just asking if he could make an announcement to ask them to stop. I mean, the first wave came and then I think they were all pretty much picked up, and then more started coming. So for us, we just wanted to make sure we kept kind of moving and kept the game going, wanted to try to get back in it. So wasn't complaining about anything."

So once again, Crosby makes a statement that, not surprisingly, could easily be percieved as "Whining", and belive me, thats exactly how many saw it. But his reputation for such comments has been on going for a while now. There is more than likely a whole treasure trove of quotes from Crosby, which come across as fairly whiney in nature. Its no surpise that fans from other clubs, including us Caps fans have taken notice over the past couple seasons. The evidence can be found all around. Here are a few photos I took from Monday nights game of fans who have grown tired of it. Keep in mind, these photos were taken BEFORE his comments to the press that are quoted above were made.

Spotted on the Jumbo Tron during warm ups:














On the metro ride home after the game:



















The back side of the same shirt:




In case you cant tell what it is, its the back of the penguin thats on the front of this little guy's T-shirt.

Comeback Capitals Find Themselves In Famillair Place - Jump Out To 2-0 Series Lead Over Penguins

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The Washington Capitals apparently have a penchant for falling behind. The Caps fell behind 2-0, and again 3-1 in their 1st round Stanley Cup Playoff series Vs the NY Rangers. The Capitals fell behind early against Pittsburgh in game one, but would come back to go on to win that game. Last night at another sold out, red rockin Verizon Center largely devoid of Penguins supporters, the Capitals once again fell behind early on. In fact, the Capitals would fall behind twice in this game, but as in games before, and the series before, they would find a way to come back and ultimately come out on top. Once again, tonight's heroics were from familiar faces. For Washington, 3 of their 4 goals were provided by the game's #1 star, Alex Ovechkin, scoring his first ever NHL Playoff hat trick. Unsung hero David Steckel provided the other tally for Washington. Once again, Simeon Varlamov proved superior with his extraordinary athletic ability making 33 saves, some of which were once again epic in nature. His efforts would earn him the third star of the game. Sidney Crosby provided the entire offencive output for Penguins for this game. Alex Ovechkin scored his fith, sixth, and seventh goals of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, while Sidney Crosby maintained his league lead in goals with his sixth, seventh, and eighth.

Once again the Capitals appeared pensive at times, allowing Pittsburgh the slight advantage in play for stretches in the game. Simeon Varlamov also had to come up large again this game as the Penguins continued to pressure the Capitals, and get some great scoring opportunites. The Penguins would hold the edge in play, and on the scoreboard for a the first period, and for a good portion of the game. Crosby would open the scoring with his first goal of the game at 6:38 of the period with a Pittsburghs first power play goal of the series. That was the lone goal of the game and the Caps were down after the first period by the score of 1-0. They were also now short of 1 forward as well, as Eric Fehr would leave the game mid way through the perid and would not return. He is now listed as questionable for game two, along with defencemen John Erskine, who took a hard shot to the leg in game one, and was scratched from game 2.

The second period things would even out a bit more. The two teams would trade goals this period with the the Capitals opening the scoring and leveling things at 1 a piece with Ovechkin's first goal of the night at 2:18 of the period. The play would start in the Caps own end with Milan Jurcina making a head man pass from deep in the Caps zone to Sergei Fedorov at center ice on the right hand side. Fedorov would carry the puck into the Pens zone on the right side and would find both Viktor Kozlov and Alex Oveckin streaking in the zone with him. Fedorov turned and whipped the puck cross ice to Kozlove high in the slot who almost immediately passed it over to a wide open Oveckin on the left side, who unleashed his signature one timer that sailed passed Marc-Andre Fleury. Pittsburgh would come answer about 8 minutes later with Crosby's second goal of the night at 10:57. However it was the Capitals that would get the last score of the period at 15:49 when David Steckel would once again be johnny on the spot and pick up a rebound off of a shot from Tyler Sloan, and bury it in the Pittsburgh net behind Marc-Andre Fleury for the 2-2 tie. The Caps would take that score, and the momentum in their favor into the locker room for the second intermission.

The third period would see Washington continue to control the play, and at 12:49 would get an important power play opportunity with Evgeni Malkin sent off for tripping. It took the Caps just 4 seconds to make the power play count. The Caps would win the faceoff back to Mike Green at the right point who would immediately find Ovechkin cross ice high in the left circle who would one time a hard slapshot past Marc-Andre Fleury, and just like that, the Caps were ahead for the first time in the game, and for good. Less than 3 minutes later, the red clad Capitals faaithful would get whipped into a frenzy once again, as Ovechkin completed his hat trick at 15:22 of the period picking up a pass from Sergei Fedorov near center ice and going the distance by himself to whip a hard snap shot past both defencemen Sergei Gonchar and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Verizon Center erupted into an ear splitting roar, and the hats, hundreds of them rained down from the stands in celebration and exultation, and the chants of "MVP! MVP! began. So many hats rained down onto the ice that it took several minutes, and a few large rubber trash cans to clean them up. During the delay the Caitals red rockin faithful remained on thier feet cheering and were treated to something they have not been able to do for several seasons. The song Rock & Roll Part II began over the PA system much to the delight of the fans who have long yearned to have that back. The crowd quickly picked up and chanted what used to be the mantra after Caps goals, shouting in unison "HEY... YOU SUCK!" For reasons unknown the song was nixed as the Caps "goal song" several seasons ago, although it is speculated that there were some complaints that the crowed would chant "HEY... YOU SUCK!" so loudly that it could clearly be heard both in the arena and over the television. It was definately a very appropriate moment to bring back the fan favorite, as it just added to the inhospitibilty of playing at Verizon Center for the visting team. The Pittsburgh Penguins could not recover and lost what little momentum they had. Crosby however would complete his hat trick as well, when the Penguins got a late power play with 1:41 left in the game. Pittsburgh would pull thier goaltender, and would have a two man advantage for the remainder of the game. The Capitals did a good job keeping Pittsburg at bay and nearly scored a couple of times on the Pens now empty net as they were free from icing calls since they were on the penalty kill. Ultimately the Caps could not hold them off completely. Crosby would get his hat trick with just 30 seconds to play. The Pens would keep thier goaltender out of the nets, and would have the extra man for the final 30 seconds, but to no avail. The raucous Verizon Center crowd remained on its feet as Caps prevented the Pens from getting much of anything going. Each attempt by the Pens the Caps would thwart, the crowd would grow ever louder, ultimately being able to wildly celebrate a Caps victory and 2-0 series lead over our long time nemisis and hated rivals. One thing of note that happend just seconds before Crosby's last minute goal , was a vicious cross check to the neck of Capitals goaltender Simeon Varlamov, by Pittsburghs Chris Kunitz. Not only did the crosscheck probably help lead to the Pens goal, but it was a very visious and dangerous play. It is my understanding the the NHL has reviewed this play, and Kunitz had a telephone hearing with the NHL's director of hockey operations, and disciplinarian Colin Campbell. It is also my undererstanding that no suspension will be handed out to Kunitz, however he will be fined. Both Washington Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau, and Alexander Ovechkin were upset by the dangerous play, and rightfully so. Ovechkin called the play "dirty" and said,

"I think the League has to do something about it. It's a cheap shot and it's not good for hockey. It's a cheap shot and Brash got six games but why not Kunitz? It's all about being fair. It's a serious problem I think. Can you imagine if he gave (Varlamov) an injury, what are we going to do? If it's not going to be called it's going to be a terrible decision and I'm going to be (mad) about it."

Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau was more tempered in his remarks:

"It happened so quick you sometimes don't realize it. But if you look at the clip and slow it down, I mean, he's aiming right for the throat."

I am going to post the video twice. The first will be in real time, and subsequent replays somewhat slowed down. The second will be in slow motion. First, here is the real time video with some replays of the cross check:



Here is the video of the cross check in slow motion.



Although Varlamov was not hurt on the play, that easily could not have been the case. I find it very hard to believe that the NHL will only slap Kunitz with a minor fine of purportedly a few thousand dollars. The NHL is continuing to shoot itself in the foot here. This was a dangerous play that could have resulted in a serious injury, and , it was a blatantly ILLEGAL play under league rules. The NHL is really starting to make itself look bad, and has already begun to piss off some long time fans to the point of no return. What is it going to take for the NHL to finally show some kind of consistency? Shame on the NHL for this one as well.

Now, back to the game 2 wrap:

This game definintely lived up to the huge hype that has been placed on this series, with the NHL's top two superstar players, who by all appearances do not care too much for one another, facing off, as well as a plethora of high powered houshold names among hockey fans The NHL could not have dreamed for a better marketing gimick for itself, and in the first two games, but espeically in game 2, it has lived up to and surpassed anyones wildest dreams. It isnt often you get to see two top superstars in thier leagues face off head to head, let alone both put on the prolific talent show that has been on display from both Ovechkin and Crosby. There is also the rivalry, and history between these two clubs, and thier fan bases. The history has largely been in the Penguins favor, but the Caps are looking to rewrite that history in a different directing starting with this series.

Once again, the Capitals find themselves in familiar territory, being up 2 games to 0 on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Although the Penguins now find themselves in a two-game hole, long time fans and followers of the Pittsburgh-Washington rivalry might be tempted to say that the Penguins have the Capitals right where they want them. From 1991-2001, the Capitals lost five series in which they led the Penguins, including 2 series in which they held 2-0 leads, in 1992 and 1996. Granted, the players on both clubs are all different now, but for the fans, and those with both clubs since that time, cannot forget, nor ignore this fact. It might also behoove the Capitals to pay at least some attention to this history, and use it as a motivating factor to put this series away. However, were I the Penguins and thier faithful, I would also keep some things in mind...

The "new" Capitals have some similar things going for them that they also have had in the past. They have had a hot goal tender, and Simeon Varlamov is most definately living up to that billing thus far this playoff season. They have had hard working, lunch pail type guys who could grined it out with the best of them. They even have had some heart and determination in the past, but never enough to take them to the promised land. But the Penguins have seen that from Washington all before. Ahhh but there is one thing that the Penguins have NOT seen from the Capitals in t he past. The Capitals of now, have all of these things going for them as well, and then some, but they also have one thing that no Capitals team has ever had in franshise history. A Bona-fide NHL SUPERSTAR, along the calibre of Wayne Gretzky / Mario Lemieux. A "once in a lifetime", generaltion / era definaing player, in Alexander Ovechkin. This could be the one peiece of the puzzle that just might finally put the Capitals over the top.









LET'S GO CAPS ! ! !

No Flu For You, On To Game Two. Erskine Possibly Out, Alzner Possibly in?

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So I wake up this morning and start my reading and what do I find? Tarik El-Bashir, of Washington Post fame, is reporting on his blog, Capitals Insider, that two top Capitals prospects with the Caps AHL affilate, the Hershey Bears had been held out from last nights Bears playoff game vs the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate, due to an "illness". Hmmm... Flu? Worse... swine Flue? Oddly enough the two players in question are defencemen Karl Alzner (left top) and Tyler Sloan. (lower left) They just also happen to be the Bears top D paring. At the same time, we also learned that the Caps had recalled them both to the big club. It gets more interesting by the minute. Something was definitely amiss here. Why would the Caps recall two sick defencemen, and risk getting thier entire roster infected with the secret "illness" that was plaguing the two baby caps? was it worth the risk? Something was definately not right here. As we would later learn, it was all a big cover up. A ploy to throw off both the Bears and the Caps enemies. The baby Caps were never in fact "sick" with anything, and were on the ice practicing this morning at Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington. Tyler Sloan told Bashir...

"I don't know anything right now. We've just been told that it's precautionary in case anything happens. I was going to rink for meetings, then went home for some rest and a nap and got a phone call saying, 'Stay home, you're sick. And your partner caught the flu."

The more menacing thing behind all of this was, why they were called up. As it turns out, they were called up largely as a precautionary measure. However, it is also now clear that John Erskine is "questionable" for tonights game 2 of the Caps Eastern Conference Semifinal series VS the Pittsburgh Penguins. Erskin did take a hard shot to the leg and limpped back to the bench during game one on Saturday. It is being reported that Erskin has some type of leg injury, and may need to rest for a game. The Caps are already without the services of defencemen Jeff Schultz, which has them with 6 healthy defencemen currently available. Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau told Tarik...

"We've only had six healthy defensemen up here and I think we were playing with fire if someone would go down in warm-up. We've got John banged up a little bit. He's going to try it and see if he can go. But we figured we take precautionary measures and call up a couple of guys just in case. If we had to go to one, they both know our systems as well as anyone."

So at least one of the baby Caps may likely get a shot at thier first NHL playoff game tonight against the Penguins. My guess, and hope, is that it will likely be Alzner. Alzner is a highly touted, big, speedy, and agile defencemen, and is considered by many to be the Capitals top prospect at the position. Alzner was drafted by the Caps in the 2007 NHL entry draft, 5th over all, and has had a great career thus far for Hershey. He has also gotten some NHL time under his belt with the Caps as well, appearing in 30 games for them over this past season, scoring 1 goal, getting 4 assists, and taking one penalty. His plus / minus rating was -1.

So that brings us to game 2. The series, and the matchup the whole world has uber hyped up and had been hoping for, Ovechkin vs Crosby, Caps vs Pens, resumes tonight @ 7PM on the Verizon Center ice. The Washington Capitals are looking to take full advantage of thier home ice and extend thier series lead to 2-0. If that is to happen, the Capitals MUST play a better game than they did in game one, where they were outshot, and were often out skated, out hustled, and also made many bad mistakes and givaways. David Steckel was quoted as saying regarding his goal, and the game...

"I think it was a wake-up call. We were getting our [butts] handed to us, pretty much. It was a joke. I don't know if it was because it was an afternoon, [but] we didn't come ready to play."

Pittsburgh is a dangerous team for sure, and it will only be a matter of time before a team that good takes advantage of the Capitals mistakes. Hopefully the Caps have identified where they could have improved from game one, and will take that to heart tonight and get on top of this game early, to stay. If they can do that, and Simeon Varlamov can continue his goaltending heroics, with the Caps getting scoring from all available sources, they should be just fine, and should once again come out on top.

LET'S GO CAPS ! ! !

Whats Old Is New Again | Washington Capitals Vs Pittsburgh Penguins - Game 1, Round 2 | 1PM EDT Verizon Center

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When I first became a Washington Capitals fan, the Pittsburgh Penguins were hardly on my radar as a hated Rival. In fact for most of the time period up until the late 1980's, I thought of the Penguins as one of the lesser franchises in the NHL. The Penguins were consistently bad, and out of the playoffs for most of the 1980's, and were often finishing near the bottom of the pack in the league. That slowly began to change after the Penguins drafted two men who would be come bona-fide NHL superstars in the 1990's, by the names of Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr. It really was not until 1987 when I started to really feel a rivalry between Pittsburgh and Washington, and I can remember the exact game where those feelings were solidified and my disdain for the Penguins grew into hatred. It was a game at the Capital Centre back in March of 1987 when the Pens were in town playing the Caps. Things got ugly that game, and Mario Lemieux took a cheap shot after the whistle and went after the Caps Bobby Gould. Bobby Gould was no super star for sure. He was known has a hard working mucker and grinder, a blue collar, lunch pail kinda of player in the NHL, but he also did not take shit from anyone, burgeoning superstar or not. Gould was having none of it and pounded Lemieux, and knocked him out. Needless to say it got ugly from there, and it has been pretty ugly ever since, especially for Capitals fans. Here is the video of that fight back in 1987:

Bobby Gould Knocks Out Mario Lemieux:



Things very well may get ugly once again this series. There have been a few "dust ups" both on the ice between star players, and in the media between these two teams. The Rivalry is back on with the fans as well, as there is some rather nasty banter going on back and forth on both the Capitals message boards, and Penguins message boards. The most agregious I have seen to date have been from some Penguins fans. There have even been sub plots involving the Capitals handling of remaining ticket sales, and of some Capitals season ticket holders giving away ticket purchasing passwords to Pens fans for them to attempt to get tickets to games here in Washington. Even Washington's owner Ted Leonsis has attempted to make it even harder for Pens fans to get tickets by requiring a password for the "presale", and has also made it next to impossible to purchase tickets unless you have a Washington metropolitan area mailing / billing address. There are even rumblings that some season ticket holders who were outed for giving away or selling the password, are facing some action from the Capitals from not being able to purchase presale tickets to playoff games any longer, to outright season ticket revocation. If that is in fact that case, then I say good for Ted! Verizon Center has at times in the past been filled with black and gold, and the Caps and thier fans have finally had enough. Based on how few New York Rangers fans were able to make it in for round 1, I would bet there wont be much black and gold amongst the legions of red rockers at Verizon Center this series.

Well, most if not all of the faces have changed, and the teams have changed logos and / or colors a couple times since then, but the old rivalry that has heavily favored the Penguins and their faitful is once again front and center for both the Pens and the Caps, and their legions of fans. However, this time, this the rivalry that is on display in this Eastern Conference Semifinal series is also on display for the entire NHL, and in deed, the entire outside sports world in general. The NHL's wildest dreams have finally come true, and everyone will get to see the most coveted playoff battle of this generation. Alexander Ovechkin VS Sydney Crosby.

I mentioned previously that there have been some "dust ups" on the ice between these two clubs star players. The photo to the left is from one such incident at a game this past February here at Verizon Centre. Suffice it to say, if this is any indication, then I am certain this will rivalry will dramatically intensivy both on, and off the ice during this series, and probably for years afterwards. For those intersted, here is the video from the altercation in the photo to the left:

Alexander Ovechkin VS Sydney Crosby:


Both clubs have gone through good times, and bad since then, and both have been though a rebuild, and are once again each on the rise to the top. The difference this time is that the Washington Capitals have something they have not had in most series past when they have faced the Penguins in the post season. The Capitals have, a bona-fide superstar player. In fact, they have two. Alexander Semin, and now, Alexander Ovechkin. The Penguins once again have two bona-fide superstars as well, however they are not exactly the caliber that Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux were, at least not just yet. The Penguins have Sydney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin. While both are star caliber for sure, I personally would put them up there with the Pens two prior superstars, again, just yet. The only one that comes close in my mind, is the Caps Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin has taken the spotlight from the NHL's media darling in Sydney Crosby where it counts the most, with his on ice skills and heroics. Ovechkin is winning every individual award that Crosby and his fans wanted Sid the Kid to win, and is doing so with all the flair of a star the likes of which the NHL has not seen in decades, if ever.

Things have dramatically changed in the past two years for the Capitals. With the rebuild all but complete in Washington, the Capitals now find themselves in a position they have never been in... a serious contender for the Stanley Cup. Some believe they are just that, now. Some belive, that they are still a couple steps away from that. This series should go a long way to showing us all which mind set is the correct one at this juncture. A Caps win of this series, could go a long way towards propelling them deep into the post season, perhaps as deep as they went in 1998, and perhaps, just perhaps, all the way to Lord Stanley's Cup. But that my friends is a very big IF. The Penguins are a formidable opponent, and like the Caps are loaded with young talent that is just as hungry for a return trip for a second consecutive season, to the Stanley Cup finals.

There are plenty of "IFs" in this series . . . here are a couple of them to get you thinking:

If we thought Henrik Lundqvist was good in round one, then we should be very afraid of Marc-Andre Fleury. If Simeon Varlamov plays as good as he did against the Rangers, then the Pens should also be very afraid.

Could things finally be swinging in the Capitals favor after having lost 6 of 7 playoff series all time against a high powered Pittsburgh Penguins? Or, could the Penguins, who are once again high powered, and made another appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals last season be just too much for the Capitals? Could the Capitals finally be high powered enough to finally overcome thier nemisis? The last and only time the Caps beat the Pens in the playoffs was in the first round in the 1994 playoffs. The Capitals won that series 4 games to 2, and the Caps did not have home ice advantage that series. It all begins tomrrow at Verizon Center at 1PM EDT. Am I nervous about this series, you bet I am. That is partly why I am up at 5am writing this. However I also feel good. Our time, the Caps time, is coming, and hopefully it will start today at Verizon Center. I will be rocking my red, and humming a little tune by Journey that has kept me going the past couple of seasons. . . Dont stop... believin. . .


LET'S GO CAPS!!!