So far, the Caps have managed to put 56 shots on Boston goalie Tim Thomas through the first two games of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal. They have tested him at times and, like any good Vezina Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy winning goalie, he’s been up to the challenge. In Game 1, Washington struggled to generate consistent chances with 17 shots. Things were much better on Saturday in Game 2 – a 2-1 overtime victory that featured 39 shots in just over five periods of hockey.
“That is the only way that we are going to beat Thomas. He is too good of a goalie,” said forward Troy Brouwer, who scored a goal on Saturday. “Everything that he sees he is going to stop. On mine we put it to the net or there was a rebound. Jo Jo [Marcus Johansson] threw it out to [Nicklas Backstrom] and went straight to the net. There was a screen. There was lots of traffic in front of the net. It is not just our guys, it draws their guys in as well. There were a couple shots that he didn’t see that he made saves on, but we finally got one to go in at the end.”
That’s a pretty good blueprint that’s easier said than done when various Bruins defenseman are delivering crunching hits to anyone who ventures in front of Thomas – as they should. You pay a price by trying to go into those areas of the ice. Even Thomas himself delivered a blocker to the face of Backstrom in the third period. It was actually a pretty vicious punch that should have been penalized – at least if you’re going to do the same thing to rookie goalie Braden Holtby for a similar infraction in Game 1.
Dale Hunter wouldn’t take the bait when asked about the play afterwards, pointing out that different referees were working the game and that those calls will even out anyway. Interesting take considering most coaches would use the bully pulpit to lobby for calls. Hunter is far, far from a lobbying kind of guy, apparently. Backstrom, too, was unperturbed.
“I got a lot of things to my head this game, but that’s how it is in playoffs. I’m fine with it,” Backstrom said. “Obviously, you want to go to the net and see if you can score goals and they want to protect the net so that’s how it’s going to be in the playoffs. Lot of great battles out there tonight.”
And it didn’t hurt that Backstrom won the final one when he took a feed from teammate Marcus Johansson despite losing a faceoff. Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk whiffed on a clearing attempt and Johansson outhustled three Bruins players for the puck before finding Backstrom, who scored from the left faceoff circle. That makes any blow to the head feel better.
“Well, today I got the last laugh,” Backstrom cracked.
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