Can Halak handle Ovie's heat?
I'll be in the press box at Verizon Center for Game One of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal playoff series between the Caps and the Montreal Canadiens. If you want to keep up with my observations in real time, please follow me on my Twitter feed. After the game is over, I'll leave some notes here, as well as any video I shoot in the locker room.
As for last night's results (click here for my predictions), I had a hard time stifling a chuckle after watching every one of the higher seeds drop Game One on home ice. And being a Washingtonian, it was hard not to smile after seeing the Ottawa Senators drop the Penguins in Pittsburgh by a score of 5-4. As it turns out, the rumors are indeed true: defending the Cup can often be harder than winning it in the first place.
Here's something that dropped in my email box earlier today that I wanted to share:
Eric, I don't think I can go another playoff season without my own Caps jersey, but which player should I get? Everyone has Ovechkin, but there's good reason for that. I like Backstrom, but he's a free agent this summer, though I don't see why he'd want to leave. Maybe Brooks Laich or similar? Who would you get?
Good question. Indeed, Backstrom isn't going anywhere. There's no doubt that he'll be re-signed over the Summer to at least a one-year extension if not a multi-year deal. If you want a jersey that's going to be here for a long time, but might not be as well known, go for #74, John Carlson. Here's an interview I shot with him in Hershey a couple of weeks ago. He's going to be a monster:
More later.
UPDATE: We're tied 1-1 after two periods. Safe to say, the Caps have been getting the better of the run of play, but they can't seem to convert. The one goal they did score, a wrist shot from just inside the blue line by defenseman Joe Corvo that found its way through a screen and into the back of the net, was a textbook example of a dirty playoff goal. The key here: Jason Chimera setting a very effective screen that prevented Halak from picking up the puck.
Tomas Fleischmann prepares to let loose with a backhand shot on Jaroslav Halak.
All I know right now is that I'm smelling overtime.
OVERTIME UPDATE: It's one thing to lose Game One of a playoff series in OT. It's another thing entirely to lose that game after the puck comes off the stick of the player who called out your goalie in the days before the game the way Tomas Plekanec did with Jose Theodore earlier this week.
The story tonight was a familiar one for folks who have watched a lot of playoff hockey. Higher seed dominates play early on, but can't translate that dominant play into many goals. Other team withstands the early push and begins to think they can actually win.
Here's a dejected Ovechkin after the game:
More tomorrow.
