STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Lightning 2, Caps 0
What – Game #3
Where – St. Pete Times Forum
When – 6:30 p.m.
TV – CSN HD
Radio – WFED-1500 AM
A lot of heavy issues swirling around the Capitals, coach Bruce Boudreau and captain Alex Ovechkin the last two days. Is Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals tonight a referendum on the 25-year-old Russian’s leadership? On Boudreau’s job status? On the direction of the franchise under general manager George McPhee? On the supporting cast he’s put around Ovechkin? On owner Ted Leonsis? All of the above?
As many have said and written recently, windows in the NHL don’t stay open forever and this group – at least as currently constructed – is facing some serious change if it can’t win at least one of these games at St. Pete Times Forum tonight or Wednesday. No one knows what form that would take. But minor tweaks probably aren’t acceptable if Washington gets swept in the second round by a Southeast Division rival. Hard as it is to believe the season could be over in less than 36 hours. That’s a lot of pressure to put on any team’s shoulders. But it is the baggage the Caps carry everywhere after posting a 2-3 record in Stanley Cup playoff series dating to 2008 and no appearances in the Eastern Conference finals. Fair or not, it comes with the territory.
Having said that, we’ve seen this team respond with its back against the wall before. Remember Game 6 on the road in Philadelphia in 2008? Ovechkin scored twice to keep the season alive. Haven’t been to many buildings as electric as Wells Fargo Center was on that night. He shushed a lot of folks wearing orange. Game 6 in New York the following season and then Game 6 in Pittsburgh a few weeks later? Ovechkin had a goal against the Rangers and three assists against the Penguins. I’m never comfortable with absolutes in sports. John Elway was an absolute playoff failure – until he won back-to-back Super Bowls. Patrick Ewing will always be the guy who couldn’t get the New York Knicks over the hump – yet his best chance was sabotaged by a bad shooting night from teammate John Starks in a Game 7. Notions of will and character and leadership and clutch performances? They make us all feel like we know why a team won or why it fell short. But they are also always attributed after the fact. Get a hat trick tonight and lead a memorable comeback and Ovechkin is a hero. Hit the post twice and get robbed by Dwayne Roloson and he’s a goat. It’s the nature of sports, I guess. It just sometimes feels like we’re judging based on a coin flip.
Either way, they have to show some of that resolve tonight against the Lightning. Because lose and history says it’s 99 percent certain the season is over. Three teams in NHL have overcome that deficit and still won a best-of-seven series – granted, one of them last year when the Flyers rallied to beat the Bruins in this exact situation. It isn’t a likely outcome even with two potential games at Verizon Center.
“It is very important game for us,” Ovechkin told reporters in Tampa Bay this morning. “We don’t want to give them 3-0 with the series. We want to come back home with two win.”
From all reports in Tampa Bay, Michal Neuvirth is back in goal. Had been some thought that Boudreau could go to Semyon Varlamov. Not because Neuvirth’s played poorly at all. But it is a back-to-back scenario, these games are taxing and you’d almost certainly not turn to Varlamov down 3-0 in an elimination game. But the fact is Varlamov hasn’t played since April 6 and Neuvirth hasn’t been a problem. Doesn’t mean he posts a shutout tonight. But don’t create an issue where there isn’t one.
One thing that has been an issue is scoring goals against a difficult Tampa Bay system. That 1-3-1 formation is especially potent when the Lightning can grab a lead. The Caps are familiar with it, obviously. But beating it requires patience and the ability to maintain your composure. Washington did that late in Game 2 and earned the tying goal with Neuvirth pulled. Can they do it again in a hostile atmosphere?
“I didn’t say it was frustrating. I said it was different,” Boudreau said of the Lightning’s style. “They’re fairly unique in the way they play their neutral zone, but that’s their only difference. They’ve got superstars on their team that are playing very well, and their role players are doing their jobs, and they feel it right now. And when you feel confident, things go well for you. It’s up to us to take the confidence away, hopefully.”
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