Heading into the playoffs, there were a lot of
question marks for the Capitals. Would the Caps be able to match Boston's
physical play? Could the defense handle Boston's scoring depth? How did the
Caps plan to beat Tim Thomas? Would Braden Holtby be able to handle the
pressure of his first NHL playoff appearance? Well, heading back to DC, I'd say
the Capitals so far have answered all of those questions and now have a chance
to take the lead in a series most people gave them no shot of winning.
There is probably no bigger story so far in
this series than the performance of Holtby in net. He has allowed only two
goals in two overtime games against a Boston team that had the second best
offense in the regular season and has a whopping .973 save percentage in the
series. His unflappable demeanor was really on display yesterday when he turned
in another impressive performance despite giving up the OT winner in game 1. A
lot of goalies would have had trouble rebounding from that, but he looked just
as cool and calm as always. He tends to give up too many rebounds and trusts too
much in his stick, something that contributed to Boston's only goal Sunday, but
otherwise I have been more than impressed by his performance. I knew he was
good, but I did not think he was this good yet.
Boston has also been unable to take advantage
of Holtby's rebounds because of how well the Caps have played defensively. They
have been in great position to tap away those rebounds and shot block and it
has clearly frustrated Boston's vaunted offense. They have not been pushed off
the puck in their own zone, something I was concerned may happen, and they are
getting an all out effort by everyone on the ice. Everyone is laying out to
block shots, both Marcus Johansson and Jeff Schultz have taken pucks to the
head. Even Alex Semin, a player long criticized for not always giving his best
effort, contributed about four or five key defensive plays yesterday in OT.
When players see someone like Semin going all out, it inspires the rest of the
team. Even though he did not contribute to the score sheet yesterday, he was
one of the best players on the ice.
The biggest thing the Caps need to improve on
is their offense. The team only mustered 56 shots in both games, and that's
including OT. There was some criticism of Alex Ovechkin, but I thought he has
played well. Playing against the 6 ft 9 Zdeno Chara is a tough matchup, but he
has created opportunities and matched him hit for hit. He even had an assist on
Troy Brouwer's goal making a great pass to the front of the net. He needs to
continue generating what he can and pushing the tempo. The other lines need to
pick up the slack. I knew secondary scoring was going to be key, and as a
result, Backstrom and Semin are playing on the second line away from Chara's
shadow. So far, Backstrom has generated some chances and netted the OT winner
yesterday, but the team will need more than 56 shots and a few chances from 8
and 19 to beat Boston.
Besides the offense, the Caps look to be in
good shape. They've allowed only two goals despite playing the second best
offense in the league and having a rookie goalie. They have matched Boston's
physical play and tied up the series. Now, with two games down, three of the
last five games are in DC. The Caps need to continue playing great defense to help
Holtby, but the best thing they can do to help him is generate more offense.
While the Caps have only allowed two, they have only scored two. For both games
to come down to OT is putting a lot on Holtby's shoulders, despite how well he
has played. Whoever can solve the other team's defense is going to be moving on
to the next round.
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