Caps too much for Rangers in Game 3

April 21, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

It was Capital punishment for the Rangers at the Garden. Up two games on the favorite No.2 seed, the Rangers didn’t come close to matching a more desperate opponent’s intensity as the Caps easily prevailed 4-0 in Game Three, cutting the series deficit to 2-1 with a pivotal Game Four at MSG Wednesday.

Let’s be honest here. Not many believed our team could win this series let alone take the first two games at their place after having such a dreadful road record. I highly doubt anyone thought the Rangers would win this game and go up 3-0 with a possible sweep looming. The Caps are far too good to just roll over. They came in, got an early Alexander Semin goal and then following Ryan Callahan’s near miss, another Semin finish took the fans completely out of it. Before the game was 12 minutes old, Washington had a 2-0 lead and enough momentum to run away with it.

Let’s give plenty of credit to Bruce Boudreau’s club as they were well prepared and did all the little things the Rangers did in Game Two. From moving the puck effectively to generating quality chances they finished to winning loose puck battles to sacrificing their bodies to get in the path of shots, they did what was required to get back in the series.  Tonight, the Blueshirts got hit by a buzzsaw. They weren’t good enough which John Tortorella made sure to point out during the postgame press conference.

“They played very well defensively and I thought we stunk defensively,” the fiery Ranger coach said. “That was the key to the game. They defended very well in front of their net and we were chasing our tail all night long—spinning and watching the puck.”

In some aspects, it was similar to Game One except our team at least battled giving themselves a chance to steal that one. Plus sieve Jose Theodore helped. Maybe winning the first two got them in the wrong mindset. For whatever reason, this team doesn’t play well when there’s less urgency. I’d hate to think they read their press clippings and thought it was going to be a cake walk. I don’t believe that. My gut feeling is two things happened:

1.The Caps elevated their game and played like one of the best teams which they were this season.

2.The Rangers were flat and played like a seventh seed who struggled just to make the postseason.

Combine those two factors and it’s easy to see why tonight was such a debacle. From the monsoon windy rains a couple of days removed from near 80 degree sunshine to the Dolan staff handing out cheesy Thunder Stixx instead of traditional Ranger towels, I just never had a good feeling. Even before I went in, I didn’t think we’d win because there’s nobody who could tell me this team was three games better than the Capitals. They got arguably the game’s top superstar Alex Ovechkin for a reason. He was better helping setup Semin’s first pair to set the tone. So was Nicklas Backstrom, who played a dynamic game assisting on three of the four goals with some great passing.

As for Semin, he was an absolute beast in scoring twice and setting up Brooks Laich’s power play tally that made it 3-0 more than halfway through. He had been the Caps’ best player in Washington and it carried over thanks to a smart move by Boudreau, who flipped him with Ovechkin allowing Sergei Fedorov to work with AO while Semin meshed perfectly with Backstrom. The two goals he scored, it just so happened that Ovechkin was out there probably getting double shifted. Something any good coach would do with their best player in such a must win situation. Semin was dangerous all night and easily could’ve scored a couple of more if not for some outstanding goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist, who played about as well as he could in a 4-0 loss making 36 saves including some of the highlight reel variety stoning numerous Caps and getting a piece of Semin’s deke when he was down and out.

I thought Ovechkin did a much better job using his teammates as opposed to trying to do it all on his own like the first two games. He was more team oriented and also hustled back making a couple of great defensive plays including a tremendous stick check from behind to break up a Lauri Korpikoski breakaway. I also saw him dive to block a shot. That kind of yeoman effort is what won the game for the Caps.

It would be easy to point the finger at the refs for a few questionable calls including at least half of primary target Sean Avery’s half dozen penalties. There’s little doubt that the Avery Rules were in effect where if he even looks at another player, it’s an automatic two. Probably the weakest call had to be goalie interference because the ref already had the arm raised before he even got into Simeon Varlamov’s crease leading us to believe the penalty was on the Caps. There also was a ridiculous high sticking call which negated the powerless play with it still a game down two where Avery didn’t even touch the player. But hey. He’s Sean Avery! So, he must ALWAYS be guilty. It’s true he took a couple of bad penalties including an undisciplined rough of John Erskine early in the second with them already in a hole. Those are the ones he must stay away from. He got suckered in by Erskine, who made a smart move to draw it.

Sometimes, it becomes two fold because teams are taking liberties with him and getting away with more blatant infractions. Speaking of which, Mr. Elbow Mike Green was at it again. Of course, nothing. That’s what really frustrates me about this league. They program these hand picked refs robots to call every ticky tack thing but ignore more dangerous penalties such as elbowing and slashing. I might not like him much but Larry Brooks is dead on about the direction of the league when there’s no playoff assignments for a well respected veteran referee like Kerry Fraser. Inexcusable.

All that said, the officiating had nothing to do with why the Rangers lost. They had just as many opportunities as the Caps but took the collar in six attempts while Washington scored twice including of all people, former booing target Tom Poti tallying late for his first career playoff goal, putting the finishing touches on a woeful performance by the home club.

For me, I can live with losing tonight because the Caps needed the game and you had to figure the Rangers would have a letdown. Unfortunately, it occurred much earlier than expected when Markus Naslund’s low backhand- one of the few Varlamov let out a juicy rebound went right to a wide open Callahan, who had all day but instead hit the post. From our vantage point up in 411, it was hard to believe he missed tying it. But a caller into WFAN later indicated that a hustling Backstrom actually got a stick on it forcing the dreaded clang when we were all up on our feet ready to celebrate.

Hockey is a game of bounces. Sometimes, it goes your way and sometimes, it doesn’t. Who knows what happens if the game is tied up? Maybe it’s a different game entirely. Maybe they weren’t going to win anyway. You never know. But that play along with Semin scoring some 10 seconds later off a magnificent Ovechkin feed was a momentum killer which took the air out of the balloon. No pun intended since we did our traditional balloon tosses during John Amirante’s splendid national anthem.

See. I can still smile and laugh even though they stunk tonight. It’s one game. Here’s the deal. Win Wednesday and they still manage a split at home and would still be in a good position. Lose and we could be talking about Varlamov in the same breath as Cam Ward a few years ago when he came in relief and helped the Hurricanes storm back from 0-2 down to beat Montreal four straight on their way to a Stanley Cup.

The only thing that troubles me is they didn’t get the kind of pressure on Varlamov, who stopped all 33 shots en route to his first career NHL playoff shutout in what was his first ever back-to-back starts (Games 2 and 3). He’s stopped 55 straight since Ryan Callahan’s Game Two winner. That’s the only one he’s given up. That’s bad going into Wednesday night. There were a few rebounds early on but our guys weren’t sharp enough with Cally missing and Nik Antropov also missing off the side of the net. The 33 saves were too easy because our team never got a sustained forecheck. There were no sequences where they bunched together shots putting some pressure on the 20 year-old Russian. That can’t happen in Game Four. Obviously, they’ll need a better effort and have to take low shots getting traffic in front. The Capitals played good D in front making life easy for the kid.

There’ll be a lot more pressure to perform. We’ll see what they’re made of.

Three Stars:

3rd Star-Simeon Varlamov, Wsh (33 saves, 1st career playoff SHO)

2nd Star-Nicklas Backstrom, Wsh (3 assists, 2 SOG, 4 hits, takeaway, 8-6 draws, +2 in 20:58)

1st Star-Alexander Semin, Wsh (2 goals incl. GW at 6:57 of 1st, assist, 8 SOG, 2 takeaways, +2 in 18:25)

Notes: Donald Brashear was in for the Caps in place of an ineffective Michael Nylander. The Capital pest got six shifts registering a shot, hit and matching roughing minors with Ranger enforcer Colton Orr in the first. … Washington held a slight edge in the faceoff circle going 31-for-60 with Boyd Gordon (9-4) their best. For the Rangers, Brandon Dubinsky won 12-of-21 and Scott Gomez was 9-9. … Hits were 33-24 in favor of the Blueshirts with defenseman Marc Staal pacing everyone with seven while Avery chipped in with six when he wasn’t in the box. Mike Green led the Caps with five while Backstrom and Milan Jurcina each chipped in with four.

… One notable difference Washington improved in was blocked shots with both them and the Rangers each getting 13. Four Caps had a pair while Dan Girardi led the way with three. … Missed Shots: Wsh-15, NYR-18. Total which didn’t reach net: Wsh-28, NYR-31. Total shots taken: Wsh-68, NYR-64.

Hobbled Drury A Question Mark: When asked about Chris Drury, who clearly is struggling with whatever’s bothering him, Tortorella expressed concern for the Ranger captain who was ineffective in 15 shifts (10:58) with no key stats or faceoffs while taking a hooking minor and going minus-one.

What will the Rangers do? Does Aaron Voros return Wednesday or might they dip into Hartford, who’s leading their first round series against Worcester 2-1 following a double overtime 3-2 defeat Sunday. Would management consider recalling Artem Anisimov? The former second rounder finished fifth in AHL scoring with 81 points (37-44-81) in his second pro season. He’s got two goals in three playoff games so far. Considering the lack of depth here with Voros probably not playing more than a few shifts, wouldn’t it make better sense to recall Anisimov? My guess is as good as yours.

I’ll try to put up some video of the warmups from tonight later.