It is not a trip the Capitals wanted to make a second time. But if they are to advance in these Stanley Cup playoffs they will need to play another game at Bell Centre in Montreal along the way.
Washington is still in control of this first-round series with a 3-2 lead. But Friday’s disappointing 2-1 loss at Verizon Center brought up some serious questions as the Caps prepare for Game 6 against the Canadiens on Monday night.
Forwards Alex Semin and Tomas Fleischmann are still struggling to produce points. Semin, a 40-goal scorer during the regular season, has just one point in the series and hasn’t scored a goal at all in his last 12 playoff games. Fleischmann, meanwhile, also has just one assist in the series and played only 7 minutes, 26 seconds during Friday’s game, taking two shifts in the third period.
Both players missed golden scoring chances in the third as Montreal held on to its one-goal lead. Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said he thought Semin actually played a solid game. He did take a team-high nine shots.
As for any lineup changes, Boudreau would only grant that he was “still entertaining those thoughts.” He could turn to winger Scott Walker — a trade deadline acquisition who has been a healthy scratch this entire series — or even center David Steckel, scratched the last three games, and then shift other personnel around.
“I hope so,” Fleischmann responded when asked if he expected to play on Monday. “I wish. I felt really good yesterday. It’s just too bad I didn’t score a goal or do anything else.”
Walker scored the game-winning goal last spring in overtime of Game 7 of a second-round playoff series between Boston and Carolina. On March 4, in his first appearance with the Caps after the trade from the Hurricanes, Walker scored two goals. Brought in by general manager George McPhee for just such a situation, the 5-foot-10, 196-pounder is a natural fit if Boudreau wants to insert more grit into his lineup.
“But I don’t think anybody in hockey wants to go [into the lineup] because we’re losing,” Walker said. “You want to go in because we’re winning and you’re playing so hard that guys are just getting injured or falling off. That’s been my whole idea.”
Boudreau admitted he was not at all happy with his team’s play during Friday’s loss, calling it a blown opportunity. Assistants Bob Woods and Dean Evason even had to tell him to calm down at one point. The Caps’ poor play in the first 10 minutes, questionable officiating and an inability to solve Jaroslav Halak (37 saves) contributed to his sour mood.
“I think I was mad only because I wanted the result to be different,” Boudreau said. “We haven’t had a chance to win a series in five games or get time off. We’d seen Pittsburgh not come out in the first period [in Game 5 against Ottawa]. We knew Montreal would be ready. All the warning signs were there and yet it happened.”
