STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Caps vs. Lightning
What – Game #1
Where – Verizon Center
When – 7 p.m.
TV – CSN HD
Radio – WFED-1500 AM
Ready for some hockey? Seems like weeks since the Caps last played. But it’s only been six days since they wrapped up a first-round series victory over the New York Rangers. That rest should do Washington some good. But there’s a fine line between beneficial and too much. Might get a chance to see where that line falls tonight. Nashville looked pretty rusty Thursday after a decent layoff before facing Vancouver, which had played in a Game 7 just two nights earlier. Tampa Bay won a Game 7 of its own on Wednesday at Pittsburgh. Will the Lightning be emotionally spent or in playoff form?
“There’s a debate over what’s better – time off or keep playing,” forward Mike Knuble mused after a workout with the younger call-ups, expected scratches and fellow injured players this morning. “Our guys are back in the mood right now. You could tell just walking in this morning. There’s a little more edge to it, a little more seriousness in the room. Guys know it’s a big game and I think they’re very anxious to play.”
The Caps also understand that this isn’t the New York Rangers. As hard working as that team was it just didn’t have the offensive firepower to take advantage of Washington’s mistakes in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That isn’t the case with Tampa Bay.
You could argue the Caps need to shut down the Lightning’s top line – but that unit shifts when needed. Over the last three playoff games coach Guy Boucher has played young star Steven Stamkos with Stanley Cup-winning veterans Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. That is a powerhouse combination and one with combined numbers (244 points) better than even Washington’s fearsome top line of Knuble, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (190 points)
But while Boucher turned to that unit when his team fell behind 3-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first-round series, it wasn’t that way throughout the regular season. Feisty winger Steve Downie played with St. Louis and Stamkos while Lecavalier often centered Simon Gagne and Teddy Purcell. Veteran winger Ryan Malone – a big body up front – missed 28 games, but has returned for the postseason. He didn’t start with St. Louis and Stamkos in Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Pittsburgh. But he played with them more than Lecavalier did. So the Caps need to be ready for anything.
“It’s difficult, very difficult,” Washington defenseman Karl Alzner said on Thursday. “They can change their lines, their first line can have tons of different players on it, and a lot of guys can play in those spots, so it’s going to be tough for us, especially in their building, to get the match-ups that we want. So it’s going to be about playing the systems- it’s not just John [Carlson] or me doing the job shutting guys down, it’s the forwards, the other D-pairs, it’s [goalie Michal Neuvirth], so it doesn’t really matter who we get out against, we just have to play the way we’re supposed to play and hopefully it all falls into place.”
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