I was a little worried when the clock ticked down past 10 minutes in the third and the Caps were tied with the Rangers (and apparently so was The Peerless). I had visions of a trip to overtime, and a bad bounce killing Washington's season. But then Feds sniped a seeing-eye shot inside the near post, and 5 minutes later it was all over. Japers' Rink has a quick Q & A with Feds about the playoffs, Ovie, and what it was like scoring the series winner. Now who's questioning that 4 million dollar contract?
Another guy who really earned his pay was Tom Poti. After putting up only 13 points on the season (the lowest total of his career), he put up 5 points in 7 games against his former team. He was injured for a number of games this season, and didn't see much powerplay time, which is a big part of why he was signed, but managed to come up big when it counted. With a pressure-packed series against Pittsburgh coming up, I expect Boudreau to turn to Poti to provide the steady veteran presence.
On the negative side, Inside the Room is reporting that Ovechkin was the only guy to sit out today's practice. Both he and Boudreau are saying that he is simply taking the day off, but some people have other ideas.
The bottom line is that everyone needs to be on top of their game for the Caps to keep winning. Ovechkin needs to rest up and play like the superstar he is, Varlamov needs to keep working his rookie magic, and guys like Semin, Feds, and other secondary scorers need to keep contributing. Erskine needs to keep up his physical defense, and Green needs to keep moving the puck. When everyone is on top of their game the Caps will keep going deep in the playoffs.
