Time CAPSule - Caps at Philly, Game 4, April 17, 2008

Earlier this season, we posted Alex Ovechkin](https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/early-times-of-the-great-eight/c-311761890) and another Nicklas Backstrom](https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/backstrom-takes-center-stage/c-313921356). In the process of crafting those stories and talking to the subjects themselves and many others, we were reminded of how exciting and thrilling the 2007-08 NHL season was in these parts.

It stands as Ovechkin's career year, it was Backstrom's rookie year, Bruce Boudreau took over behind the Washington bench on Thanksgiving Day, and the Caps made the playoffs for the first time in five years, winning 15 of 19, 11 of 12 and seven straight at season's end to come back from a dismal 6-14-1 start to win the Southeast Division title.

That season and that run into the playoffs augured in the "Rock The Red" era of hockey in DC, the beginning of 11 playoff appearances in a span of a dozen seasons. At this time a dozen years ago, the Caps were in the midst of that wild run. With the NHL's 2019-20 season "paused" for the foreseeable future, we're going to spend the next month looking back at the day-to-day of that remarkable late-season run, revisiting some of our coverage at the time with some fresh hindsight mixed in. On the off days between games, we will revisit some events from earlier in that landmark season. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Caps are getting set for Game 4 of their first-round playoff series with the Flyers in Philadelphia, trailing the set 2-1 in the wake of Tuesday's 6-3 loss in Philly. After taking the opener at home, the Caps dropped the next two games and are now seeking to avoid a third straight loss, something they haven't experienced in the brief coaching tenure of Bruce Boudreau.

Defenseman Jeff Schultz exited Game 3 early with an upper body injury; he logged only 2:23 on five shifts before departing for the night. With Schultz still on the sidelines, Boudreau will re-install Steve Eminger on the Washington blueline in his absence.

Since Boudreau took over in November, the Caps awakened offensively. But in the last two games of this series, they've not spent enough time with the puck or in the Philadelphia end of the ice. They're seeking to rectify those shortcomings in Game 4.

Here's our game preview from that critical contest of a dozen years back.

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April 17 vs. Philadelphia Flyers at Wachovia Center

Game 4, Eastern Conference quarterfinal series (Philly leads, 2-1)

Time:7:00 pm

TV: Versus, Comcast SportsNet

Radio: 3WT 1500AM, 820 AM and 107.7 FM

Washington Capitals (43-31-8, 94 points in regular season)

Philadelphia Flyers (42-29-11, 95 points in regular season)

For only the second time in Bruce Boudreau's tenure as head coach, the Washington Capitals have lost consecutive games in regulation. Those two losses have the Caps down 2-1 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Philadelphia Flyers. Washington takes on the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday in Game 4 of the series.

Philly went up 2-1 in the series by virtue of a 6-3 win over the Caps here in Game 3 on Tuesday night. Although the Caps have played only one really strong period (the third stanza of Friday's Game 1) in this series, they are only one strong 60-minute effort away from evening the series and regaining home ice advantage, as slim an advantage as that may be at playoff time.

The trick will be putting together that 60-minute effort on Thursday in Game 4.

Washington has been outplayed on special teams and at even strength, and has not yet played the way it played down the stretch when it put on a furious finish to win 15 of its last 19, 11 of its last 12 and seven in a row at the close of the regular season.

The Caps have two power play goals in 16 tries (12.5%) in the series, and they have rarely been able to establish a sustained forecheck against Philly.

"We want to get more shots there and more traffic," says Caps center Brooks Laich. "I think at times we've been a little too [much on the] perimeter on our power play. One-for-seven is not good enough. We need to do a better job than that. We're going to have to get pucks there, traffic in front and try to bang in a couple."

With blueliner Jeff Schultz ailing because of an upper-body injury, Caps defenseman Steve Eminger may be back in the lineup on Thursday. Eminger, who last played in Washington's 5-4 win in Game 1, was asked what he has seen in watching the Caps' successive losses in Games 2 and 3.

"They're outworking and outhitting us," says Eminger. "And that's it. There's no secret to their game. There's no secret attack or anything."

There's no secret attack, but the Caps could certainly stand to be a little more physical with Flyer forwards who crash the net and try to rattle Caps goaltender Cristobal Huet.

"They've been taking a little liberty there," admits Eminger. "I think [Scott] Hartnell has done it about three times now. It's no secret what they're trying to do. They're trying to get in [Huet's] face, get him frustrated and get him off his game. It's our job as defensemen to get in there, clear them out and not give them a chance to get in there."

Another significant Capitals shortcoming of late has been the team's inability to get shots on Flyers goaltender Martin Biron, who has a mediocre save pct. of .886 in this series despite spinning a shutout in Game 2.

In Tuesday's Game 3 loss, the Caps had just 19 shots on goal, the fewest they've had in any game in nearly four months. Worse, the Caps had 25 shots blocked and missed the net altogether with 18 other bids.

Through the series to date, the Caps have 70 shots on goal, and average of just 23.3 per game, ranking 14th among the 16 playoff entrants. During the regular season, Washington averaged 31 shots on goal per game, tied for fifth in the NHL. And the Flyers allowed 31.8 shots per game during the regular season. They ranked 27th in the league in that department.

Washington has had 57 shots blocked and has had 44 more miss the net altogether, meaning that only 70 of the Capitals' 171 attempted shots have gotten to their intended target. By comparison, Philly has averaged 30.3 shots on goal per game (91 shots in three games) and has had just 37 shots blocked. The Flyers have missed altogether 41 times.

"They're doing a good job of blocking [shots] and taking away lanes," says Laich. "You see that every year in the playoffs. You see guys who usually don't block shots now are all of a sudden blocking shots, getting in lanes, making you shoot it wide. It's tougher to get shots, tougher to get chances because everyone plays so desperate defensively.

"We just have to make better decisions with the puck. Take the shots when they're there, when they're not there, don't try and force them and put them into pads so it goes out to the neutral zone. Just make better decisions with the puck, get pucks to the net and get pucks around the net, get people there and good things will happen."

Caps coach Bruce Boudreau sees it similarly.

"I don't know if that's more Philly and [it being the] the playoffs," says the bench boss, "blocking shots and paying the price rather than it is our not making good shots. But it's probably a combination of both.

"We've just got to stick to it. That's just a skill thing. You've got to shoot the puck and hit the net. It's frustrating for coaches when you hear glass after a shot, especially for a guy who used to take pride in being able to score a couple goals. Hit the net. They're trying to be too cute, trying to be perfect and that's not the way you succeed."

Finally, the Caps could stand to score the game's first goal and play with the lead for a while. The Caps have not held the lead since Game 1, and have been down by a pair less than 20 minutes into each of the last two games.

"We'd like to have it," says Laich. "[On Tuesday] they got off to a good start but we got a goal back. We want to play with the lead. It's something we haven't done much in this series. If we can get one or two early and maybe shake them up and make them chase us a little, maybe they get off their game plan and we can be sticking to ours. A goal early would be nice, but we're going to have to work hard for it."

If the Caps had played their best in the series and were down 2-1 or 3-0, there would be reason to worry. But Washington has yet to play to its capability. Hopefully it can do so before the series ends, and there is no better time to start than Game 4.

"We still think we have a lot of hockey left," declares Laich. "We're excited to get back on the ice [Thursday]. Losing two in a row is something that doesn't sit well in here. We're looking for a big response because we don't want to go down 3-1 and put ourselves in a hole."

From a purely historical standpoint, the Flyers have to feel like they're in the driver's seat. In Philadelphia franchise history, the Flyers are 16-3 in playoff series in which they've gone up 2-1.

Philadelphia scored three times in a span of just 2:28 in the waning minutes of the first to forge a 3-1 after the first frame. Danny Briere's power play goal - his second goal of the game - with 9.8 seconds left in the second period proved to be the game-winner.

The Flyers defense got a boost when veteran blueliner Derian Hatcher returned to action after missing a month with a broken bone in his leg. He skated 20:34 in his first playoff action since 2006, blocked four shots, had three hits and was a plus-3.

Philadelphia defenseman Kimmo Timonen suffered an upper body injury late in the second period when he went sailing into the Washington net and appeared to collide with the camera stationed in the back of the goal. He left and did not return to Game 3 but is likely to play in Game 4 on Thursday.

Notes: Washington led three different times in Game 1, for a total of 17:11. The Caps have not held a lead since.

Fun Fact:Through the first three games of the Flyers-Caps series, Washington has gotten more combined offensive production from its fourth line than its first. The trio of Donald Brashear, David Steckel and Matt Bradley started the series as the team's fourth line, but they've split up since. They've accounted for two goals, six points and an even defensive rating.

The top unit of Ovechkin, Backstrom and Kozlov has one goal and four points and is minus-6.

Injuries

Philadelphia Flyers

Defenseman Mike Rathje has a back/hip injury and is out indefinitely.

Defenseman Kimmo Timonen has an upper body injury and is day-to-day.

Left wing Simon Gagne has a mild concussion and is out indefinitely.

Washington

Defenseman Brian Pothier has an upper body injury and is day-to-day.

Defenseman Jeff Schultz has an upper body injury and is day-to-day.

Center Michael Nylander underwent shoulder surgery and is out 3-6 months.

Right wing Chris Clark has a groin injury and is day-to-day.

Possible Line Combos and Defensive Pairings

Philadelphia Forwards

19-Hartnell, 48-Briere, 40-Prospal

9-Upshall, 17-Carter, 22-Knuble

20-Umberger, 18-Richards, 15-Lupul

32-Cote, 34-Dowd, 24-Kapanen

Philadelphia Defensemen

5-Coburn, 44-Timonen

6-Jones, 2-Hatcher

26-Modry, 21-Smith

Goaltenders

30-Niittymaki, 43-Biron

Washington Forwards

8-Ovechkin, 91-Fedorov, 25-Kozlov

21-Laich, 19-Backstrom, 28-Semin

24-Cooke, 39-Steckel, 10-Bradley

87-Brashear, 15-Gordon, 14-Fehr

Washington Defensemen

26-Morrisonn, 52-Green

3-Poti, 23-Jurcina

4-Erskine, 44-Eminger

Goaltenders

37-Kolzig, 38-Huet