The Washington Capitals tied their series with the New York
Rangers at 2 Saturday with a 3-2 win.
The grinding style of play that led to the victory has become a
trademark of the Caps this postseason as the team continues to redefine itself. Previously, the Caps were a run-and-gun,
offensive juggernaut who could outscore any team in the league as they coasted
their way into the postseason. Yet, the
past four seasons have ended far too soon as they Caps fell victim to upset
after upset. Suddenly, the stars could not
score and the team rapidly imploded. Now
with a new defensive system and a new coach, the Caps have exceeded almost
everyone’s expectations.
The Caps have been a playoff team every year since 2008 but
have yet to reach the conference finals despite twice being number one seed
from the East and winning the President’s Trophy in 2010. Prior to 2012, the constant of each
postseason has been disappointment, most notably in 2010 when the Caps took a 3
-1 series lead over Montreal before losing in seven games in one of the biggest
upsets in NHL history. This year, after
Dale Hunter took over as head coach, the Caps struggled under his tutelage and
nearly missed the playoffs. The
coaching change appeared to have failed when the Caps lost 5-1 at home to
Buffalo in what was thought to be the decisive game between the last 2 playoff
contenders. Yet, the Caps clawed all the
way up to the seventh seed and were rewarded with a matchup against the
defending Stanley Cup Champions. Most
experts I saw predicted Boston would win in five. Yet here we are in round two, now tied at 2 with the top
seeded Rangers. What happened?
When Hunter took over the team, he preached a more defensive
strategy. The players struggled
initially with it and Hunter went into the playoffs with a 30-23-8 record. Add to these struggles injuries to the team’s
top 2 goalies and hockey writers around the country began preparing their
reactions for the yearly Washington collapse.
Yet, you could tell from games one and two that this was going to be
different. Facing the second best
offense in the league, the Caps and rookie goalie Braden Holtby held the Bruins
scoreless through 60 minutes before losing in overtime. Rather than collapsing, the team fought back
and won game two in Boston in yet another overtime game. Two games in, and the team had allowed only
two goals. The series became the closest
series in the history of the NHL before the Caps finally won it in game seven.
Not only had they won a series in which they were clearly
outmatched, but it was the way they had won it that made it so noteworthy. The team had not collapsed after not one, but
two OT losses; they never trailed by more than one goal at any point; they led
and still lead the playoffs in shots blocked; and they did it without relying
on their top scorers. Few playoff
stories have gotten as much traction as Ovechkin’s ice time. There are times when he has been “benched”
receiving sometimes as little as a minute and a half of ice time in a single
period. Some have questioned if there was
trouble in the locker room of if Hunter was sending a message, some people
(myself included) ripped Hunter for taking out his best player so the other
team wouldn’t have to. The thing is…it’s
working. Hunter plays matchups and
situations when it comes to his lines.
When the team is ahead, Ovechkin sits.
Does Ovechkin enjoy this setup?
No, and he has said so, but he has also said he’ll do whatever is good
for the team. Even Ovechkin’s staunchest
critics will admit that he is a team player.
If the team keeps winning, he’ll keep sitting on the bench.
So far, however, the Caps have not relied on only his
scoring in order to win. The team is
buying into this new system and everyone is playing two-way hockey. The grinders are scoring big goals and the
scorers are blocking shots. Think back
to game seven, the Caps won off of goals from Matt Hendricks and Joel
Ward. The team is getting contributions
from everyone in their lineup. The only
player without a point so far is Jeff Schultz and he has only played 7 of 11
games. The same effort can be seen on
the other end of the ice where some of the Caps best players are giving
themselves up to block shots. Marcus
Johansson has been hit in the face, Nicklas Backstrom looks unafraid despite
coming back from a concussion, everyone is chipping in. Even Alexander Semin, who consistently
disappears every year come the playoffs, has turned in some gritty
performances. Did you ever in your life
think anyone would describe Semin as “gritty”?
Right now, we are watching a different kind of
Capitals team. They are finding ways to
win when previously they would have found ways to lose. While it may be fair to say that the Caps
have gotten lucky with the remarkable play of Holtby in net, the Caps have seen
a rookie step in before and were not able to capitalize. In 2009, the Caps turned to rookie Semyon
Varlamov after Jose Theodore was lit up for five goals and a loss in game one
against New York. The Caps still
collapsed in round two, losing four out of five games to Pittsburgh after
winning the first two. Of course there’s
no telling what may happen in this series.
With game five tonight in New York, the Caps may collapse and find
themselves sent home in the second round yet again. But, watching the way we have played thus
far, I head into tonight’s game and this series with a renewed sense of
confidence.
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