Visions of 1988 were certainly coming to mind leading up to and during last night’s game. The Caps were storming back from a Flyers 3-1 playoff lead and when the game went to overtime, it was almost eerie. Unfortunately, the Flyers snuck a puck in with six seconds left on an overtime powerplay and it was all over.
I think the Caps played with desperation last night, as evidenced by the 16 shots on goal in the third period, but I couldn’t help but think they were running on fumes. The toll of climbing out of the cellar on Thanksgiving had finally caught up with them. It was a valiant effort, but I am not going suggest some sort of “we went the distance” pablum (as a certain fake Philly boxer said), makes it okay. The game and series was there to be won and they could not get it done. Yes, there was some poor officiating, but the lesson to be learned is there will always be poor officiating, play harder and smarter and render it a moot point. As much as I loathe to say it, learn from the Flyers and stretch the rules a little bit to get things done. The Flyers did that and they have at least four more games scheduled because of it.
Overall, it was a good series that just did not end the right way. Seeing how much the Caps grew during it is certainly a promising development. I did not expect Alex Ovechkin to have as much trouble as he did in the early part of the series, but in the end his four goals and nine points are pretty good for a superstar in his first playoff series. I was also pleased with Nicklas Backstrom who had four goals; I expected him to have more trouble against Philly. Alexander Semin also had some good moments and I cannot complain about the goaltending. Hopefully, they can sign Cristobal Huet in the offseason. Olie Kolzig is a goner though (Capitals Insider), something I will talk about later.
I am running out of lunchtime, so this post won’t be as ambitious as I would like, so I expect to have more to say at a later date. Check out the Recommended Reading widget too.
Post-game video:
