Courtesy: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
The Washington Capitals are set to take on the New York Rangers in Round 1 of the NHL Playoffs. Game one is this Thursday at 7:30 at Verizon Center. The Caps have been one of the hottest teams in the league in the month of April with captain Alex Oveckin winning NHL Player of the Month honors. Ovechkin led all NHL players with 14 goals and 22 points in 13 games as he helped the Caps to an 11-1 record to clinch the Southeast Division for the last time in its history. Ovechkin’s 14 goals are also an NHL record for the month of April and he was the only player in the league to score 30 or more goals, also becoming only the 9th player in NHL history to score 30 or more goals in each of his first 8 seasons. Ovechkin captured his third Rocket Richard Trophy as the leagues top goal scorer.
The Caps and Rangers have become post-season rivals meeting 4 times in the past 5 years, including a 7 game 2nd Round series last year in which every game but the first was decided by one goal. The sting of last years defeat is still resonating in caps locker room:
“We felt that maybe we should have won last year,” said Troy Brouwer. “We’ve got a little extra fire in us this year to get the job done.”
So why could this be the year the Caps win the Cup?
Because no one is talking about them winning the Cup. For the last 5 years, the Capitals have been a contender. They’ve won a Presidents Trophy. They’ve won a bunch of Southeast Division Titles. They have one of the best pure goal scorers in the history of the league and one of the top playmakers. But this year was different. Everyone gave up on them and the Caps finished the season as one of the best teams in the league in the second half. However, punidts are still not giving them a chance and it’s because they have always floundered come playoff time. The Caps have made the playoffs the last 5 years, but have failed to get past the second round.
Could this year be different? Ovechkin is playing like the Ovechkin of old and a lot of people question his efforts and wonder if he can actually lead the Caps (I am guilty of this too). When it comes crunch time, can Ovechkin pick up his team and carry them to a playoff victory? If there is anytime in his career that he could do it, it would be now. As long as he has been captain, I’ve never seen Ovechkin play like he has in the past month. He has fire, drive, desire and most of all he has confidence. He knows what to expect come Thursday.
An interesting set of stats for Ovechkin are his playoff numbers. In 51 career playoff games Ovechkin as 30 goals, 29 assists and 59 points and a whopping 245 shots on goal. To put that into perspective, in 48 games this year Ovechkin had 32 goals, 24 assists and 56 points and 220 shots on goal. Ovechkin doesn’t disappear when the playoffs come around. He’s involved and he comes through. His supporting cast, however in the past, has not.
Unlike previous years, the Caps have back up. Mike Ribeiro, Troy Brouwer and Martin Erat have done very well together in a second line role. The three of them could do well in a first line role on a lot of other teams. With support like that, Ovechkin will be left unguarded at times playing on his new right side and that could bode well for the Caps if Backstrom and Johansson can get him some space. Hendricks, Volpatti and Beagle have been exceptional lately and the Caps defense lead by Green and Carlson, although leaky, has jumped up in the play and produced. It’s a different team than years past. They’re older, more mature, and they’ve shared a lot of tense, pressure moments in previous years.
Braden Holtby could be the star of the show again. Last years playoff performance was unlike anything the Capitals have experienced since Jim Carey was in net during the ’94 lockout shortened season. Although Holtby stumbled out of the gate, he’s a big reason why the Caps are heading to the playoffs now. He builds team confidence with every puck he stops and that creates more chances for the offense to get a flow going and create oppurtunities. The Capitals have to give Holtby more support though and plug those leaks up to keep fewer shots from getting to him – he can’t stop everything although I’m sure he’d agrue that he could.
Adam Oates came to the Capitals in ’97 and they reached the Cup Finals the following year. Although they lost to the Red Wings in 4 games, it was an historic moment for the franchise. In his second return to Washington, Oates has a good oppurtunity to lead his team again to a surprising run, but this time from behind the bench.The leagues best power play at 26.8% is enough to make most teams shy away from too much physical play that will lead to penalties, and that can work in the Caps favor. Oates knows the game very well and he knows how to handle his star players. He’ll need to keep his stars active and know when to calm them down in a playoff atmosphere if he wants to continue with his success so far this year.
It’s going to be a great series and a great playoffs this year. Maybe one of the best playoffs in the last 10 years. Stay tuned.
More to come…
