Follow @james_tanner123 Well I haven't seen a script play out like this since my son and I watched the Mighty Ducks movie - a rag-tag group of rascally young scrappers is giving it to the heavy favorites....
"EMELIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......."
Bary Trotz is no coach Bombay, that is for sure. After the Leafs won in the third straight overtime game to take a 2-1 series lead, all I could do was question the coach: where is the knuckle puck? Why no Flying V?
Why no Ovechkin?
In last night's game, he didn't even crack 16 minutes of total ice-time.
In game one, four Capitals forwards had more ice time than Ovechkin.
In game two, six Capitals forwards had more ice time than Ovechkin.
The coach has to play his best player more. In addition, the Capitals failed - in their two home games - to keep Ovechkin's line away from Kadri and Komarov's line, even though they had last change.
If there is one difference - however slight - in this series, it's coaching. Mike Babcock is showing why 26 other teams would likely fire their current coach to hire him.
And the series is close.
Far be it for me to tell hardcore fans how to feel about their team, especially when this is the like the tenth year they've started the season with Stanley Cup aspirations only to see their team earn a reputation for choking.
So when I saw a guy tweet out that he wanted to punch the 'don't panic' portion of his fanbase in the face, I understood where he was coming from.
Sports are emotional. The word 'fan' is the root word of the word 'fanatic.' You know sports don't really matter, but you invest yourself in them for fun and, once you do, you care to a degree which seems ridiculous to your non-sportsing friends.
So, if you paid money for cable, bought tickets, or jerseys, it is going to be annoying when, for the 19th straight time (it seems like), your team blows it in the playoffs.
But realistically, we also know that fanatics are not reasonable people - it says so right in their name.
And, if we are to be reasonable and objective, the Capitals are doing fine.
They're down 2-1 against a good team, but a team they know they can beat. A team that needs everything to go right for them to beat the Capitals - who are an awesome team.
Yeah, the coach should play Ovechkin more, and he should at least look like he's trying to contain William Nylander, who has been nothing short of 'best player in the NHL' quality for the first three games. Not saying he is or will be, but if he could bottle the last three games, we'd at least have to consider it.
But when it gets right down to it, you lost two straight in overtime. You aren't getting out played. You aren't being dominated physically, you aren't looking stupid and you aren't playing differently than the team that won two straight President's Trophies.
So why would you panic? Every sensible person knows that hockey is a weird game, and that the NHL is more prone to first round upsets than any other league. Sometimes you do everything right and still lose, because most games, two or three goals is enough, and in a lot of those games, goals are scored in some pretty wacky ways.
This isn't to excuse the Caps, or promise that they'll win. Just to say they aren't doing anything really wrong. The gap between them and the Leafs was clearly grossly exaggerated, but there is still a really good chance they win.
You can't say that about most teams who need to win three of next four games to stay alive.