Washington Capitals Hockey
Friday, April 18, 2008
Better Effort, Same Result
The Capitals' backs are officially up against the wall.
But at least getting there wasn't as embarrassing as it was in Games 2
and 3.
This one could have gone either way, and that's exactly
why it required a pair of extra frames. Both teams had their share of
chances and both received spectacular goaltending (featuring two of the
best saves you'll ever see by Cristobal
Huet.)
Let's check out the good, the bad, and the ugly:
THE
GOOD
- Huet, despite being touched up for four more goals,
was spectacular at times and very solid otherwise en route to making 42
saves. But the question remains, should Olie Kolzig get the
start in Game 5? I'm guessing he will, if no other reason than to light
a fire under this team. A better reason is to terrify these Flyers
forwards who continually crash the crease.
- Nicklas
Backstrom, invisible in the first three games, led the
Capitals in shots with 6 while putting up a goal and an assist with a
+1 rating.
- Steve
Eminger got the start in place of Jeff Schultz and
scored his first ever playoff goal. He also finished second among all
players on both teams in hits with 5 (Ovechkin was first with a
whopping 10, but I'd trade one goal for those 10 hits any day.) Eminger
also broke the 20 minute mark in ice time for the first time this
season, but still had the least among Caps defensemen (gotta love
double OT.)
- The Capitals did a much better job of keeping the
front of the net clear, which isn't saying a whole lot considering how
dreadful they've been the rest of this series.
THE BAD
- Nearly 87 minutes of action, only one shot on goal
for Alexander Ovechkin.
He also missed a wide open net that would have given the Caps a 4-2
lead in the third -- one of his game high 6 missed shots.
- Viktor
Kozlov, who along with Ovechkin led the Caps during the
regular season with a +28 rating (good for 7th in the league,) is a
team (and league) worst -5 in the playoffs.
- The Capitals are still having trouble at even
strength. Exhibit
A: Despite losing by just one goal, the Capitals had a -10
rating as a team while the Flyers were +10. Exhibit B:
Shaone Morrisonn
was -3 while Kozlov,
Sergei Fedorov, and Mike
Green each finished a -2. The Flyers, meanwhile had two
guys at +3 and a couple more at +2.
THE
UGLY
- Martin
Biron had a game-high 5 giveaways. What's even uglier is
that the Capitals failed to make him pay.
- David
Steckel, who ranked 6th best in the NHL during the regular
season in faceoffs, is 5th worst in the playoffs after going just 3 for
12 in Game 4.
- The Caps are down three games to one. The only thing
uglier will be losing one of the last three. On the bright side, the
Capitals had to win 7 straight just to make the playoffs, so (to borrow
the '89 Baltimore Orioles motto) Why Not?
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