Bounces and deflections

The Pittsburgh Penguins needed a deflection off of a stick to beat Washington Capitals goaltender Simeon Varlamov last night in overtime, 3-2. Varlamov, who made 39 saves on 42 shots, was brilliant yet again, singlehandidly giving the Capitals a chance to go up three games to none in what was their worst outing this Playoff season.

To say they were outplayed would be an understatement. The ice seemed to be literally tipped in Pittsburgh's favor, and as Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau put it, "they (Pittsburgh) played great. They were going on all cylinders and we were watching them skate." What it comes down to, as it does many times in a hockey game, is who gets the bounces and deflections.

The scoring opened up with one of the strangest playoff goals this season. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (21 saves on 23 shots) left his crease to go and play the puck behind his net. As he skated to retrieve the puck, his goalie stick flew out of his hands, and the puck took a freakish bounce. With Fleury now out of postion, the puck slid out in front of the vacant net and Alex Ovechkin dived and deposited his 8th goal of the playoffs 1:23 in, quieting Mellon Arena early. For Capitals fans, this game could not have started out any better. But, the team who has scored first in this series has not come out on top in the end, and this goal seemed to not sway Pittsburgh from their gameplan.

Evgeni Malkin came to play. This was his coming out party for the 2009 playoffs. This guy is good, and it was only a matter of time before he woke up. Everytime he got the puck, he seperated quickly from the pack and displayed some amazing stickwork. Varlamov had to come up HUGE numerous times, stopping Malkin on a semi-breakway. Once again it was an unlucky bounce that tied up the game in the second period.

Washington's Tomas Fleischmann held the puck along the boards in the Penguins defensive zone, and instead of looking to dump it deep, he went for the pass towards the middle of the ice. Unfortunately, Ruslan Fedetenko of the Penguins was there, and he collected the puck and skated in 2 on 1 with Maxime Talbot. Fedetenko faked shot, and went with the pass. Varlamov read the play well, sliding over with the pass, but Washington's defensemen Milan Jurcina got low to get in the passing lane, and the puck bounced off of him and back to Fedetenko who buried the puck behind Varlamov. It was his first goal of the playoffs, and a must for the Pens.

The Capitals had no response to this goal, and in fact were on their heels. Varlamov continued his dominance, many times making the Penguins and their fans stare up to the heavens in disbelief. But then the Capitals, as they had many times during the regular season, decided to play with fire... and they got burnt. Taking penalty after penalty, and Varlamov making save after save it was inevitable that the Pens were going to strike. And Malkin made sure of it, taking a wrist shot from the point that hovered over Varlamov's shoulder to make it 2-1 Penguins.

The Capitals still had no answer, and if not for a late penalty in the third period, would not have gotten to overtime. It was only their second powerplay of the game, but the Capitals made it count. Alexander Semin, quiet this series so far, took a shot that bounced off of Fleury's pads and onto Nicklas Backstrom's stick. He shot it off of Fleury's leg pads and into the net with 1:50 seconds left in regulation. Overtime was among us.

But, as the overtime period continued, it looked like the only way the Penguins were going to beat Varlamov was with a lucky bounce or deflection. And that's what they got... a deflection of a Kris Letang shot off of Shaone Morrisonn's stick. 3-2 victory for the Penguins, but still a two games to one deficit in the series.

Varlamov was uncanny and the Caps could not rally around his performance to take a commanding three game to none series lead. But, even as the Capitals were outplayed in almost every facet of the game, it came down to bounces and deflections with the Penguins getting the extra deflection.

"...we haven't really played well..."

The Washington Capitals will skate onto enemy ice tonight for Game 3 in their best of seven Eastern Conference Semifinals Playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, up two games to none. After the "anything you can do, I can do better" show that was Game 2 (with Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby notching hat tricks), the Pittsburgh Penguins are staring at a 2-0 deficit for the first time in the Playoffs since the Stanley Cup Finals last year vs. the Detroit Red Wings (a series in which they lost in six games).

Game 3 in the last series for the Capitals was huge and is somewhat similar to Game 3 tonight for the Penguins. Back in Round One (seems like so long ago doesn't it?) the Capitals trailed the New York Rangers two games to none, with the Capitals losing both of their home games. Not wanting to go down three games to none, the Capitals played what was their most complete playoff game up to that point, winning Game 3 4-0. It was Simeon Varlamov's second playoff start in goal, and first on the road. But, as he has been all playoffs, he was as relaxed as ever, not letting the chatoic crowd of Madison Square Garden bother him. The difference tonight is that the Penguins are at home, a place where they went 2-1 in their first round series with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals were 2-1 on the road in their first round series.

According to Brian Pothier, the Capitals are somewhat lucky to be up by two games going into tonight. "I hope we're not going to be lulled into a false sense of security, because we haven't really played well," Pothier said after yesterday's optional practice. "We've had timely goals and great goaltending, but as a team I don't think we've played nearly as well as we can. I'm sure Pittsburgh's a little frustrated by that; they have been playing pretty well but they haven't been able to score. We cannot think for a second that we've been dominating the series."

The difference thus far in this series has been the play of the goaltenders. Varlamov has the edge, making 68 stops on 73 shots (.93 save percentage) to Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury making 52 stops on 59 shots (.88 save percentage).

Varlamov must remain brilliant for the Caps to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals and get past the defending Eastern Conference Champion Penguins. But, as Pothier pointed out, perhaps the Caps have not played their best hockey in this series. That thought has to be daunting for Crosby and his mates.

A Steckel of Flouride

David Steckel.

Doesn't quite flow off of the tongue as well as say Alex Ovechkin or Simeon Varlamov.

On Monday night, David Steckel added one more NHL Playoff goal to his resume, upping his career total to two... both scored in this best of seven Pittsburgh Penguins series (Washington up 2 games to none on Pittsburgh).

All anyone is talking about this morning is Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby. Both had a hat trick in Game 2, only the second time such a thing has happened in Capitals Playoff history (the Caps Al Iafrate and the Islanders Ray Ferraro did it back in 1993, a Caps 6-4 Game 5 first round win). Unfortunately for Crosby, his three goals were the only goals scored by his Penguins, and fortunately for Ovechkin, his three goals were somewhat sandwiched around Steckel's one goal.

Tyler Sloan, a call up from the minor leagues to fill in for John Erskine, received the puck at the point and flung it at the net deep into the second period with his team trailing 2-1. The puck struck a Penguin and bounced to Steckel who was planted to the left of Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (what do you know... a puck actually bounced in our favor!). Steckel collected the bounce, and took a wrist shot five hole to knot the game up at 2-2.

Steckel was a huge part of Coach Bruce Boudreau's Calder Cup winning Hershey Bears in 2006-2007 notching 15 points (6 G, 9 A) and finising a plus-10 in 19 games. As a Washington Capital, his faceoff abilities and defensive skills (mainly when killing a penalty) have always stuck out. Yes, he chips in goals every now and then, but that is not what he is relied upon to do. So far though, in this Pittsburgh series, he has two goals in two games.

And, that was the difference last night. Yes, Ovechkin got the game-winning goal, en route to a hat trick, and Varlamov remains BRILLIANT in net. But, the grinders also continue to play their roll. Like I pointed out in the last post, the unlikeliest of names have been chipping in when it counts this Playoff season.

Perhaps David Steckel will roll off of the tongue a little easier when all is said and done.

Game 2.

Tonight is the biggest game in this young Capitals teams history. Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Verizon Center in DC.

The Capitals, coming off a miraculous comeback in round 1 vs. the New York Rangers, took game 1 3-2 on Saturday. The big story is of course Alex Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby in their first playoff series against each other. Some could say Ovechkin has the advantage after Game 1, scoring a beautiful goal off of a slap pass from Alexander Semin on a 5 on 3 advantage. But, others might say the 21 year old story-of-the-playoffs goaltender Simeon Varlamov stole game 1 with his did-he-really-just-do-that "save of the playoffs", as Eddie Olcyk said Saturday on NBC. Crosby, who also had a goal in Game 1, received a cross ice pass from Chris Kunitz late in the second period with the game tied at 2-2. Varlamov, who had to slide from his left to right if he wanted to make the save, was clearly beaten by the pass. Not giving up on the play, Varlamov did the only thing he could do: try and bat the puck out of the air with his hockey stick. And that is exactly what he did, showing that his spider-like reflexes and hand-eye coordination are something to be marveled at.

Here is Varlamov's save. You have to watch the whole video to get the full-effect.



Moments earlier, Varlamov was beaten by a routine slap shot from the point by Mark Eaton. The shot elluded Varlamov, and he whiffed at it with his glove hand and it found it's way through. It is possible that it was redirected off of Boyd Gordon's stick, but it was a shot that he HAS TO stop in the playoffs. But, like any great goaltender in the NHL does, he made up for it later in the second with what is now being deemed "The Save."

"He owed us one," Coach Bruce Boudreau admitted. "He let a floater go in from the point. But he made a great save. There's no doubt. Goalies are taught to never give up. They keep fighting. And that's the only way the Brodeurs, the Thomases, the Luongos look like they make great saves, it's because they never quit on the puck. It was obviously the turning point because they would have had the lead and we would have had to play catch up."

The Capitals went on to win Game 1 3-2, with the game winner coming from another unlikely hero, Tomas Fleischmann.

So, for those keeping tabs, the Caps have had playoff success so far from the unlikeliest of sources:

- Tom Poti, with his goal and three assists in Game 3 of the New York Rangers series, a game the Caps had to win to avoid a sweep.

- Matt Bradley, with two goals in Game 5 of the New York Rangers series, his first one of the shorthanded variety. Some may say that was the backbreaker in that series... the straw that broke Henrik Lundqvist's back. I would agree.

- Sergei Federov, with his series-cliching goal in Game 7 of the New York Rangers series. Up to this point, Sergei had been mildly quiet. But, his wrist shot from the left circle, high glove side on Henrik will be remembered forever in Capitals franchise history.

- Dave Steckel, with his tying goal in Game 1 on Saturday, coming moments after Crosby skated in unscathed and ripped a wrist shot over Varlamov's glove to make it 1-0 Pittsburgh.

And now Fleischmann can be added to that list. Notice that there is no mention of Ovechkin, Semin, or even Mike Green. Some could say this is a good omen for the Capitals, that they are winning games with their "grinders", and that once their stars wake up, watch out. Semin has had an inconsistent playoffs so far, but leads the Caps with 10 points (5 G, 5 A, plus-5) and is second in the NHL. Ovechkin, who many think is playing through an injury has had a subpar playoffs, but still has 8 points (4 G, 4 A, plus-4).

Regardless, Pittsburgh does not want to be down 2 games to none when the series shifts to Pittsburgh. So, the stars, and the "grinders" have to take it up even one more notch tonight because with their Game 1 win, Game 2 becomes even bigger.