Caps Playoff Game Night – Game 3 at Montreal

The Canadiens took home-ice advantage away from the Caps. Now, it’s Washington’s turn to steal it back with the next two games at Centre Bell in Montreal. Expect a raucous atmosphere, as always, in that arena. Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has decided on Semyon Varlamov as his starter for tonight. He was the first one off the ice this morning. Jose Theodore was pulled just two shots into the Game 2 on Saturday night. Varlamov was decent in relief, stopping 19 of 22 shots. But he can be better.

Boudreau said repeatedly after a light practice on Sunday that he would use both goalies again in this series – even if Varlamov got the nod on Monday. That certainly won’t be true if the 21-year-old Russian is dominant tonight. But if he’s not then Boudreau won’t hesitate to go back to Theodore, the 33-year-old Quebec native.

There are other issues, of course. Does Eric Belanger move to second-line center? According to multiple reports, that answer is…sort of. Belanger is with Tomas Fleischmann and Alex Semin. Meanwhile, Brooks Laich is with Eric Fehr and Brendan Morrison. It’s been a long time since a healthy Laich didn’t play on the second line with Semin. That means forward Boyd Gordon is still out. The fourth line will likely be Jason Chimera, David Steckel and Matt Bradley. The other scratches are again Tyler Sloan, John Erskine, Quintin Laing and Scott Walker.

Even with Gordon – one of the league’s best at faceoffs – out on Saturday the Caps have dominated that critical part of the game. Washington has won 60.6% of its faceoffs. The Canadiens can’t win this series if that percentage holds. They aren’t a good enough team 5-on-5 and the Caps’ penalty kill – obviously not one of the league’s best – will gain a huge boost. Washington has won 77 of 127 faceoffs. But its three best – Gordon, Steckel and Belanger – are 46-for-63 (73%). Gordon is obviously out again tonight. But those three will take the majority of the truly critical – i.e. late game or shorthanded – draws in this series. That’s a huge advantage for the Caps if it continues.