Hello Caps, Au Revoir Canadiens

The Washington Capitals sprung back to life Monday night entering Madison Square Garden down 0-2 but leaving with a 4-0 shutout and their first win of this post-season. Alexander Semin led the way with the first two goals of the game and the Caps never looked back. Alexander Ovechkin finally made his presence known by assisting on the first two goals by Semin and making an unbelievable back-checking play to prevent a possible breakaway goal for New York. The stars stepped up for Washington on Monday but they weren’t the story; instead rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov stole the show stopping all 33 Ranger shots to post his first career shutout. Coming into this series many felt the glaring weakspot for Washington was between the pipes but if Varlamov can keep this up the Rangers fast start in this series may be negated by the weekend. The Caps may have lost the first two games at home, but after their performance in game three we may have the makings of a very long and entertaining series.

The story is a bit different for the Montreal Canadiens who followed a poor performance in game two with a fast start but slow ending in game three against Boston. The Canadiens fed off of the home crowd energy to take a 1-0 lead (their first of the series) but that was neutralized soon thereafter. As the game settled in it unfolded more like game one with the Canadiens hanging in there until the very end with a chance to tie and/or win late. The Bruins however stayed the course and showed why so many people picked them to steamroll the Canadiens. Boston is by far the superior team with stellar skill accompanied by dominating size. Montreal tried to get bigger in the offseason but as the season unfolded they ended up once again relying on skill and speed to carry them to success. That philosophy did not work last year and is not working this year. Boston may not be heads and shoulders ahead of all the competition in the Eastern Conference but they are proving that to be so when it comes to the Canadiens.

Top-Notch Theodore is Caps Only Prayer

Monday night the Washington Capitals were defeated 5-1 by the Atlanta Thrashers who, although are much improved from earlier in the season and won their sixth in a row, are way out of playoff contention. There is no doubt the Capitals have a lineup that can make a lot of noise in the playoffs with incredible talents Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, and Mike Green. They are fantastic in 5-on-5 play, absolutely dominating on the power play, and have ok penalty killing that is made to look much better because of how good the power play is. Donald Brashear gives them size and toughness which added to the rest of the equation would seem to put them in great position to make a run at the Stanley Cup… and then there’s goaltending. Jose Theodore’s numbers do not appear to be all that bad (GAA 2.81 and .902 save percentage) but he seems to give up goals in spurts and cannot manage to make the big saves consistently enough. He also has a tendency to give up some soft goals which the forces the offensive talent of the Caps to bail him out. Once their first playoff series starts the Capitals cannot afford to have Theodore go through stretches where he doesn’t make big saves, gives up soft goals, and yields goals in spurts. When those things happen it spells disaster for any team and an early exit from the playoffs no matter who they play. The bottom line is this; if Theodore can clean up his game just a bit the Capitals are a legitimate threat to not just come out of the east but to win the Stanley Cup. IF Theodore does not then the guys in front of him will be forced to carry too heavy a load and the Capitals immense talent will be wasted because of bad goaltending.

The critics have ridden Theodore all year long because of his streaky play. If Theodore can step up when it counts then all will be forgiven, but if not then the Capitals and all of their talent will be eliminated early and Theodore will more than likely be the one who gets the brunt of the punishment.

Do Not Sleep On Ovechkin and Capitals

Alexander Ovechkin tallied 5 points (a goal and 4 assists) Wednesday night as the Washington Capitals defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-4. Many people in the league have talked about: how well the Bruins are playing in front of Tim Thomas, the Penguins are off to their best start since 1995, San Jose rolling, Marian Hossa gelling with another great Detroit Red Wings team, Minnesota’s fantastic defense, and of course year 100 pour Les Canadiens de Montreal—but do not sleep on the Washington Capitals. The defending Southeast Division champions are once again leading a fairly mediocre pack of teams with a quarter of the season gone. Most will focus on Ovechkin but the Capitals have a more complete team surrounding their superstar this year. Alexander Semin is racking up the points thus far and although the defense is nothing to write home about they absolutely do an adequate job in front of the goaltending duel of Brent Johnson and Jose Theodore who have preformed more than admirably through the first 18 games of the season. Washington will be a very scary team come playoff time because they can score enough to beat anyone on any given night, have a great home ice advantage where they have yet to lose a game in regulation, and now have a team with a full tank of playoff experience. Although I think the Caps need more of a physical presence to be a championship contender (sorry but Donald Brashear cannot do it all himself) they can certainly make a lot of noise nonetheless come April.