Rock the Red? It was more like a white flag.
The Capitals blew their chance for a 2-0 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers Sunday. After stealing game one, a second win would have effectively sent Washington into the second round.
Instead, the Flyers out-hustled the Caps in the 2-0 victory before a packed VerizonCenter that doubled as a St. Elizabeth’s outpatient center. Philadelphia played smarter with more zip on their skates. The Flyers sent the series to Philadelphia tomorrow tied while looking the dominant team.
The Caps were always a little off whether it was a pass to the back of the stick or shots that went just wide. They grabbed few second chances, looked worse on power plays than full strength and rarely finessed shots while firing point blank into Flyers goalie Martin Biron’s chest.
“They made us look pretty bad in a lot of ways today,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “Maybe we can learn a lesson. Hopefully, not too expensive a lesson.”
The Caps are new to the playoffs with 12 players in their first postseason along with their new coach. After a nervous 5-4 victory on Friday, they settled down. Indeed, maybe too much so. They didn’t play with the same desperation of the past month when winning their last seven games to clinch the Southeast Division championship.
What a rookie mistake. There’s no letting up in the playoffs.
“[Philadelphia] worked harder than us,” goalie Cristobal Huet said. “We have to match that next game. They were just more desperate.”
The Caps have their first chance since reaching the 1998 finals to turn Washington into a hockey town, but they’re not doing it by getting shut out at home.
Verizon Center was a madhouse of 18,277 that was never silenced despite the Caps getting blanked. A win wouldhave overshadowed the Wizards readying for their playoff run. It would have silenced Redskins draft talk for another week and sidetracked debate over the Nationals’ poor start.
Instead, the Caps now seem drained of their late-season adrenalin. They have to start anew against a Flyers team that appears to have figured out how to counter Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green.
“We have one day to realize what’s going on and what to change,” Ovechkin said. “We didn’t play hard and we didn’t play our style. It’s OK — it happens sometimes.”
It better not happen regularly or the Caps return on Saturday will be their final game following two contests in Philadelphia. If it takes desperation to get Washington’s best effort, they’ll have it by week’s end.
