STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS FIRST-ROUND SERIES
Caps 0, Rangers 0
What – Game #1
Where – Verizon Center
When – 7:30 p.m.
TV – CSN HD/VERSUS HD
Radio – WFED-1500 AM
Ready to get started from Verizon Center tonight. The Caps and Rangers meet for the sixth time in the Stanley Cup playoffs. New York got the best of Washington during the regular season, including a pair of blowouts (7-0, 6-0). But the Caps say don’t read too much into that. They have different personnel after the trade deadline, including forward Jason Arnott.
Lines combinations tonight: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble; Sturm-Arnott-Semin; Laich-Johansson-Chimera; Hendricks-Gordon-Bradley. The d-pairings: Carlson-Alzner; Schultz-Hannan; Green-Erskine. Time to see if the tactical changes Washington made in mid-season – the ones that turned it into fine defensive unit – translate to the postseason and against a New York team that has embraced that style for a longer period of time.
“It’s nice to see frustration on other team’s faces,” Caps forward Brooks Laich said. “I know when I play against a very strong defensive team you get mad by the end of the night, you’re upset, you’re frustrated. Somebody’s in your face, poking the puck off you, finishing a check on you and you feel like you haven’t done anything. So I still think we can frustrate teams when we have the puck. I think we have the ability to score still. Now we’ve got another asset in being able to defend pretty strong.”
Michal Neuvirth starts in goal for Washington. The rookie has won playoff series at every level, but has to prove he can step into the cauldron of an NHL playoff series and match New York star Henrik Lundqvist. There is plenty of angst and anxiety as the players wait out these final minutes before the action begins for real. But defenseman Karl Alzner said he wasn’t worried about the extra half-hour wait for the 7:30 start. These guys are so ingrained in their pre-game routines nothing much fazes them. And, as several Caps players told me today, this is the best time of year.
“I still get butterflies. This is the biggest tournament in our sport. Hopefully I know a little bit more than what was going on in ’08,” Bruce Boudreau said. “But at the same time – like I know the pressures and the press is and how you talk to the press after you lose. I mean, that was all a first time thing for me [in 2008], but I think I’ve gotten a little smarter at it. Other than that – playoff games. If you work all year, whether I was in the East Coast league I was just as nervous in the championship there as I was in the American League as I was in the International league as I will be here. So hopefully you’ve learned and you’re better, but a championship is a championship.”
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