A New Beginning
The Capitals regular season is now over and done with, something that, in the past, would have come as a great relief to Washington’s fans as they were likely put out of their misery.
This time around, the end of the season has only brought about a surge of energy in DC. This rush, this sensation of something bigger happening is relatively new to sports fans in the Nation’s Capitol. Not often do teams from Washington play beyond their regularly scheduled season.
So, while this unfamiliar notion of one of their sports teams playing beyond the regular season floats about the sports fans in Washington, the Capitals quietly prepare to take on the Montreal Canadiens.
Ok, quietly may be a bit of an under-statement as the media hordes from Montreal and Washington have turned this series into the biggest thing in DC since the President took office(well…for those paying attention anyways…).
The Caps finished the regular season as the top team in the NHL, reigning supreme in nearly every single offensive category, yet, as the regular season closes, so do the running totals on all those wonderful numbers that the Capitals have compiled.
With the closing of the books, the Caps must know realize that it is once again time to start anew.
With the frustrations of Olympic snubs and losses spurring on some of their super-stars, the Caps and their head-coach, Bruce Boudreau, are itching for a chance to finally do what no other team from Washington has ever done in the sport of hockey, win a Stanley Cup.
Game Notes
82 games for today – For 82 games, 30 NHL teams compete to get to the second season – the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sixteen teams advanced to the playoffs and they began in earnest last night with four series dropping the puck. The Washington Capitals wait for the postseason – one they qualified for on March 11 – is finally over. The Caps host Montreal today in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series tonight at Verizon Center. The Caps are 20-11 all-time in Game 1 of a series and 13-5 at home.
New faces - While Washington’s core is largely unchanged from the last two playoff appearances, the lineup has seen significant changes since Game 7 of last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals. Joining via free agency or trade have been Mike Knuble, Brendan Morrison, Jason Chimera, Joe Corvo, Eric Belanger and Scott Walker. Rookie John Carlson has been promoted from Hershey.
New foe –Washington and Montreal have met 139 times in the regular season, the most the Capitals have met any team that they haven’t faced in the playoffs. This is just the second time Washington has met a Canadian team in the playoffs (beat Ottawa in 1998).
Home sweet home –The Capitals will open their fourth straight playoff series at home, a first for the franchise in more than 20 years.
Washington had home ice advantage and opened at home in seven straight playoff series from 1984-85 through ’88-89.
Super series –This year’s Capitals-Canadiens series was full of drama, including:
- Alex Ovechkin’s Jan. 5 debut as captain
- Two games sent to overtime by Washington with goals in the final 20 seconds of regulation
- Montreal halting the Capitals’ club-record 14-game winning streak in overtime on Feb. 10
- Brooks Laich’s first career hat trick in that same game
Goalie oddities –The two goaltenders expected to start Thursday night combined to play 37 minutes in the four-game season series. Michal Neuvirth started three of four games for Washington –he’s currently with Hershey –while Carey Price played all four games for Montreal. Price and Capitals backup Semyon Varlamov are two of only four goaltenders all-time to post playoff shutouts before turning 21.
Early impact - Alex Ovechkin has 15 goals and 30 points in just 21 playoff games. His 0.714 goals per game is actually ahead of the all-time playoff leader (Mario Lemieux, 0.710), but in too few games to qualify for the leaderboard. With his next goal Ovechkin will be tied for eighth in Capitals playoff history (he’s currently tied for 11th with 15). Ovechkin has five points (2g-3a) in his three career Game 1s.
2009-10 Series Notes
– Montreal’s Jaroslav Halak played the majority of minutes in goal for the Canadiens this year but did not see action in four games vs. the Capitals
– Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth played just 17% of the team’s minutes in goal on the season but 59% of the minutes vs. Montreal
– Three of the four meetings were decided by one goal
– Eight Capitals had a goal and 11 Caps tallied an assist against the Canadiens this season.
– The Capitals had 30 players suit up against Montreal; the Canadiens had 31 players see action against Washington
– Eric Fehr led the Capitals with four goals against Montreal, including goals in each of the first three meetings
– Average shots on goal in the series favored Washington, 34.5-27.8
Historic Notes
– The Capitals lost the first 23 games in series history and were 0-31-3 vs. Montreal before posting their first win, 3-1 at home on 2/19/80 in the first meeting of the new decade
– Since that 34-game winless streak the Capitals are 53-36-14-2
– These two teams completed the most significant trade in Capitals history on 9/9/82, with Washington acquiring Rod Langway, Craig Laughlin, Doug Jarvis and Brian Engblom for Ryan Walter and Rick Green
– Montreal won its 24th Stanley Cup in 1992-93, one year before the Capitals played their 20th season
– Washington is 7-2 all-time in meetings decided in the five-minute overtime
– Montreal has shut out the Capitals 19 times, seven more than any other franchise (Ken Dryden posted nine of those shutouts)
– The Capitals have shut out Montreal 10 times, tied with New Jersey for the most Washington has posted against any team
Playoff History
– These teams have never met in the Stanley Cup playoffs
– The 139 regular-season meetings without a playoff series are the most vs. any opponent for the Capitals
– Washington has only faced one other Canadian team in the playoffs – Ottawa in the 1998 Eastern Conference Semifinals
More Capitals-Habs Notes
– Semyon Varlamov (WSH) and Carey Price (MTL) are two of the four goaltenders in NHL history to post a playoff shutout before their 21st birthday
– These two teams ranked 1-2 on the power play in the NHL this season
– Alex Ovechkin has one of his two career four-goal games against Montreal (1/31/08), an epic performance in which he broke his nose and later scored the OT
winner
– Three of the last five meetings and five of the last 11 have gone to overtime
– Capitals goaltender Jose Theodore was a Montreal draft pick who played parts of 10 seasons with the Canadiens, including his Hart and Vezina Trophy winning
season of 2001-02
– Montreal center Glen Metropolit played 80 games for the Capitals during parts of four seasons
– The only current member of the Capitals who has faced the Canadiens in the playoffs is Mike Knuble, who had three goals and an assist vs. Montreal in 11 games as a member of Boston and Philadelphia.
Caps-Habs Season Series
At A Glance
Playoff Series:
First meeting
Regular Season Series: Washington trails, 53-67-17-2, through 139 meetings
In Washington: Washington leads, 32-28-9-0, through 69 meetings
In Montreal: Washington trails, 21-39-8-2, through 70 meetings
2009-10 Regular Season: Washington won, 2-1-1 (Montreal was also 2-1-1)
Bruce Boudreau’s record vs. Montreal: 7-4-1
Game 1
Montreal 3, Washington 2
November 20, 2009 • Verizon Center • Washington, D.C.
Score by Period | Shots | Pen/Min | PP
MTL 0-2-1—3 22 5/13 1-2
WSH 1-0-1—2 34 4/11 0-3
The Capitals outshot Montreal 34-22 for the game, including 27-8 in the second and third periods, but dropped a 3-2 decision for their first regulation loss at home since Oct. 8. Carey Price made 32 saves for the Canadiens and held off the late rally that saw Brendan Morrison cut the lead to one with 2:32 remaining.
Game 2
Washington 4, Montreal 3 OT
November 28, 2009 • Bell Centre • Montreal , Quebec
Score by Period | Shots | Pen/Min | PP
WSH 2-0-1-0—3 (SO) 23 4/8 1-3
MTL 0-2-1-0—3 24 3/6 2-4
A week after succumbing to Montreal at Verizon Center, the Capitals returned the favor on the road, handing the Canadiens a 4-3 shootout loss. Washington scored twice in the first period but surrendered its lead on two second-period goals and a third-period goal by the home team. Eric Fehr’s second of the game, with just 0:12 remaining, sent the game to overtime and set the stage for Nicklas Backstrom and Semyon Varlamov to win it in a shootout.
Game 3
Washington 4, Montreal 2
January 5, 2010 • Verizon Center • Washington, D.C.
Score by Period | Shots | Pen/Min | PP
MTL 0-1-1—2 26 5/10 1-3
WSH 0-3-1—4 43 4/8 1-4
Washington snapped a three-game losing streak with a solid 4-2 victory against Montreal in the Capitals’ first home game of 2010 and Alex Ovechkin’s debut as team captain. Tomas Fleischmann had three points (1g-2a) and Alexander Semin scored twice while Washington held a commanding 43-26 shot advantage.
Game 4
Montreal 6, Washington 5 OT
February 10, 2010 • Bell Centre • Montreal, Quebec
Score by Period | Shots | Pen/Min | PP
WSH 1-1-3-0—5 38 5/10 1-7
MTL 1-4-0-1—6 39 7/14 1-4
The third-best winning streak in NHL history came to an end at 14 games as Washington’s three-goal third period rally led to Montreal’s late overtime goal, giving the Canadiens a 6-5 win. Brooks Laich posted his first career hat trick, including the tying goal with just 19 seconds remaining in regulation.
Caps – By the Numbers(Regular Season):
GOALS BY PERIOD
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Total | Avg.
Capitals | 92 | 103 | 112 | 6 | 313 | 3.82
Opponents | 67 | 85 | 68 | 7 | 227 | 2.77
SHOTS BY PERIOD
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Total | Avg.
Capitals | 842 | 933 | 866 | 52 | 2693 | 32.8
Opponents | 835 | 832 | 8 |12 | 56 | 2535 | 30.9
POWER PLAY
G | Att. | Pct. | Rank
Overall | 79 | 313 | 25.2 | 1st NHL
Home | 41 | 160 | 25.6 | 2nd NHL
Road | 38 | 153 | 24.8 | 2nd NHL
PENALTY KILLING
G | Att. | Pct. | Rank
Overall | 67 | 316 | 78.8 | 25th NHL
Home | 25 | 149 | 83.2 | 14th NHL
Road | 42 | 167 | 74.8 | 27th NHL
PENALTIES
Pen. | PIM | Avg. | Rank
Overall | 385 | 940 | 11.5 | 9th NHL
Lineups
Washington Capitals
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble
Semin-Fleischmann-Laich
Chimera-Belanger-Fehr
Gordon-Steckel-Bradley
Schultz-Green
Poti-Corvo
Morrisonn-Carlson
*Theodore
Varlamov
- It is expected that the scratches for Game 1 will be Brendan Morrison, Scott Walker, Quinitn Laing, John Erskine and Tyler Sloan.
- Jose Theodore will be the starting goaltender tonight, despite taking a “stinger” off the inside of his knee yesterday. Boudreau and the goaltender claimed there was nothing to worry about, so it seems that Theo will still start as expected.
- Tomas Fleischmann will start the series as the 2nd line center, mainly due to the fact that Brendan Morrison will be the healthy scratch for tonight’s game, if the Caps end up needing a defensive center as the series wears on though, expect BMo to take Flash’s spot.
Montreal Canadiens
Gionta-Gomez-Pouliot
Cammalleri-Plekanec-A.Kostitsyn
S.Kostitsyn-Moore-Moen
Pyatt-Lapierre-Darche
Markov-Bergeron
Spacek-Hamrlik
Gorges-Gill
*Halak
Price
- The Habs only healthy scratch for tonight appears to be Ryan O’Byrne. OB sits in favor of power play specialist MA-Bergeron.
- Jaroslav Halak will get the start, although one can’t help but think that he is on a somewhat short leash.
- The Habs only injured player, Glen Metropolit, has actually battled his way back to practice, despite having suffered a seriously separated shoulder. Metro has been skating in practice with the Habs and has joined the Canadiens on their trip to Washington. It is doubtful that Glen will play in the first 2 games of the series, but given his rapid recovery time, I would not be surprised to see Metro re-inserted into the lineup for Games 3 or 4.
After 139 regular season games, over the span of nearly 3 decades, the Red, White and Blue finally get to take on the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.
The Capitals first test of these playoffs is an appropriate one, coming in the form of the most historic and legendary team in the entire sport, the Montreal Canadiens.
Although the team may be historic, the current members of the Habs are relative ‘newbies’ as the Montreal is the only team in NHL history to pull off a complete team makeover in just one summer. The fact that they still remain a relatively unknown squad, even amongst themselves, will go a long way in making it difficult for the Caps to walk all over them like they did to other opponents throughout the year.
This will be an absolutely epic series, in my opinion – the most exciting one of the first round.
Sit back, but don’t relax. Puck Drop is @ 7pm! Enjoy the Game!
(For those who were wondering, I will be back with my prediction for this series, as well as the rest of the matchups, before puck-drop tonight.)
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Go Caps!!!!!
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