Coming into the playoffs, many pundits had the Caps taking their first round series in 6 games. Those who weren't so sure still had the Caps taking the series, but in 7 games. No one, and I repeat, no one, saw this coming. After last night's dreadful 2-1 loss that wasn't even as close as it sounds, the Caps return home for tomorrow's game in the hole 3 games to 1.
After their 4-0 stomping of the Rangers at MSG the other night, there was an abundance of hope that the Caps would strike twice on the road, and come home with things squared at 2. But last night everything they did right in game 3, they failed to do in game 4. They didn't crash the net, they didn't play gritty, and they spent too much time ripping shots from the outside. As On Frozen Blog puts it;
I somehow doubt Coach Boudreau instructed his charges to ignore their Game 3 success but, for some reason, most of the players decided that risky pass attempts and shots from the perimeter were the best strategy tonight. It was stunning to see the first few Capitals' power plays, as they broke out the umbrella formation... when every camera angle shows viewers an unobstructed view of the opposing goaltender, it's safe to say that "crashing the net" was not part of the team's philosophy this night.Finesse hockey is pretty when it works, and embarrassing when it fails. Tonight's game falls firmly into the latter category.
And they were the worst in the statistic that is most important in a game: faceoffs. Winning the face-off puts that team on offense, and sets the tempo of play. Unfortunately, the Rangers started off too many plays with the upper hand. As The Peerless points out, "If you decompose the faceoffs, it goes like this
