Panthers 1, Caps 0
It didn’t really matter what happened at BankAtlantic Center on Saturday night. The result would make no difference to the Caps, who had already secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The real interest lay 800 miles to the north at RBC Center in Raleigh. Once the Carolina Hurricanes were finished off by the Tampa Bay Lighting the Stanley Cup playoff matchup was finally set for Washington.
For the second time in three years the Caps will play the New York Rangers in the first round. That series went to seven games, a Sergei Fedorov goal late in the deciding contest breaking the unbearable tension amongst the Verizon Center crowd. That capped a 3-1 series comeback for Washington. It also gives some clue as to how difficult an opener that will be – even if New York is without second-leading scorer Ryan Callahan (broken right leg), one of the best two-way players in the sport.
Plenty more on that series to come. But let’s dispense with tonight’s game – one that’s best forgotten about as soon as you read this brief recap.
The Caps were able to rest some veterans. Jason Arnott and Marco Sturm were scratched along with defenseman Tyler Sloan and reserve forward D.J. King. But the rest of the big guns – Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Semin, Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich etc. – all played. What the Caps wanted was a relative crisp game, a strong effort from rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth and to leave Sunrise relatively intact.
Neuvirth made some fine saves through the first 50 minutes. But a Florida shot deflected off the skate of defenseman Karl Alzner and through the legs of Neuvirth with 6 minutes, 5 seconds to play. Goal was credited forward Bill Thomas. Washington’s fourth line – Matt Hendricks, Matt Bradley and Boyd Gordon – was on the ice at the time along with Alzner and John Carlson.
Bruce Boudreau even went with five forwards and no defenseman late to push for a no-risk tying goal – other than having to play an extra couple minutes in overtime. But the Caps couldn’t score even after pulling Neuvirth for the extra attacker. Neuvirth finished with 22 saves on 23 Panthers shots. Think the two teams and the referees wanted to get this one over with? Only three penalties whistled and the game ended in a tidy 2:19. It was the 10th time Washington was shut out this season.
So that’s it for the regular season. The Caps finished at 48-23-11 with 107 points – tied for the second-highest total in franchise history. After a Feb. 14 loss at Phoenix, Washington finished the season at 19-5-1 going from the No. 5 seed and 12 standings points out of first place on Feb. 26 to the conference’s top spot. Now the real fun begins.
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