The Capitals’ power play in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs has been a running gag. Friday night at Verizon Center, the joke became really old.
Washington entered the evening with a valuable opportunity to put Montreal down in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals — it took two wins in Quebec, chased starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak to the bench and drove his replacement Carey Price to the edge of his wits.
Considering it is by far the NHL’s best power play, the lack of juice flowing through that unit now is a serious red flag. But who was looking at that with the Caps ahead 3 to 1 in the series and coming home for the clincher?
Washington’s extra-man unit hadn’t come through against the Canadiens despite rolling at a 25.8-percent mark in the regular season. Its absence hasn’t been fatal with strong five-on-five offense and a pair of shorthanded goals tacked on for good measure to stake the Caps to a two-game lead in the series entering Game 5.
After blowing five extra-man chances in Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Canadiens, Washington’s postseason power play now clocks in at one goal in 24 chances — a miserable four percent.
“The power play’s got to amp up and that’s what cost us tonight,” said Caps forward Mike Knuble. “That’s [coach Bruce Boudreau’s] decision if he changes personnel. I would expect as a player that there’s going to be some shakeup in the power play. And this is something that will give at some point. But a power play can’t go 1-for-24 in a series and expect that things will stay the same.”
While Boudreau laid blame for the loss at the feet of “passengers” in the lineup, it’s difficult to group forward Alex Semin into that segment. The 26-year-old Russian put a team-high nine shots on goal. But he must score for his impact to be felt.
Meanwhile, forward Tomas Fleischmann, who skates about 15 minutes per game, saw his ice time fall to just 7 minutes, 26 seconds in Game 5. Defenseman Mike Green, nominated on Friday for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman, has looked out-of-sorts again in the postseason — both on the power play and at 5-on-5. Semin, a 40-goal scorer during the regular season, was held off the board for a 12th-consecutive playoff game. The Caps must find a way to start cashing in on power play chances for goals — or it may cost them more than a game.
“I’d agree that it is part of the reason,” Boudreau said. “I also don’t think we’re getting 20 guys playing. We are only getting 13 or 14 guys every night rather than everyone coming to play.”
