Call it a missed opportunity. Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau certainly did after his team put together a lackluster performance in Game 5 of its Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series with the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.
Canadiens forwards Mike Cammalleri and Travis Moen each scored a goal in the first 7 minutes, 1 second of action to stake their team to a 2-0 lead and quiet the sellout crowd. That was all Montreal needed as it tenaciously guarded that advantage en route to a 2-1 victory and extended the series to a Game 6 on Monday night in Quebec.
That is the last place the Caps wanted to go with their second-round opponent – the No. 7 seed Philadelphia Flyers – waiting and resting after they advanced on Thursday night. But Washington’s punishment for losing at home is another daunting trip to Bell Centre. They won two games there earlier this week and still lead the series 3-2. But Montreal has life now and a raucous home crowd to fuel it.
“We let it slip away,” a steaming Boudreau said in his postgame press conference. “We had Game 5 in our building and we played like crap the first 10 minutes and the game’s over.”
Star forward Alex Ovechkin scored his fifth goal of the series at 3:52 of the second period to cut into that early lead. But Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak – benched during Game 3 – was excellent in his return to the ice. He stopped 37 of 38 shots, including two fine saves on forwards Alex Semin and Tomas Fleischmann in the third period. But while Halak played well those missed opportunities – and a power-play unit that is in a tailspin at 1-for-24 – ate at both Ovechkin and Boudreau.
“We have to score on the power play,” Ovechkin said. “We had lots of chances. [Semin] has to score in the middle when he has a chance. [Fleischmann] had a chance. Our top guys have to score goals.”
Boudreau was even more blunt – though he declined to take shots at individual players. He did, however, at least comment on Semin, who has not scored a goal in his last 12 playoff games since potting one in Game 7 last spring against the New York Rangers in the first round. In those 12 games the 26-year-old Russian also has just seven assists. That’s an unacceptable rate for a player who scored 40 goals this season for the first time in his career.
“How many goals or assist did [Semin] get [tonight]? He did put in a better effort, I thought, than he did the previous three or four games,” Boudreau said. “But still if we don’t get him scoring it’s too easy to check certain guys. He’s just got to come through. That’s 12 games in a row now in the playoffs he hasn’t gotten one.”
Caps rookie goalie Semyon Varlamov was solid. He finished with 26 saves on 28 Montreal shots. Cammalleri’s was a wrister in the slot just 90 seconds into the game and Moen’s came on a beautiful behind-the-net pass from teammate Brian Gionta as Montreal cycled the puck down low. All three goals, including Ovechkin’s, came at even strength. Washington’s penalty kill – with two shorthanded goals in the previous two games – killed all six Canadiens power plays. But none of that mattered in the aftermath of a blown opportunity that could linger for three days. The final straw was a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty taken by Washington with 1:07 left as a player jumped onto the ice before Varlamov left for the extra attacker.
“No, this game is done. It’s done. We don’t worry about it,” said Caps defenseman Tyler Sloan. “We just regroup. We just need to concentrate on playing in Montreal.”
