Time CAPSule - Late Goals Lead to Another Loss for Caps

Earlier this season, we posted a lengthy piece on Alex Ovechkin's early years in DC and another shorter piece on Nicklas Backstrom's five-year contract extension. 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!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

For the first time in nearly a month, the Caps have dropped consecutive contests. Tuesday night's 6-3 loss to the Flyers in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup playoff series leaves them down 2-1 to the Flyers with Game 4 slated for Thursday.

The first 16 minutes of the first frame were quiet, and then the two sides combined for four goals in a span of just 153 seconds late in the period. Unfortunately for the Caps, Philly netted three of the four to take a 3-1 lead into the second; the Flyers never trailed for a second straight game.

After Daniel Briere staked the home team to a 1-0 lead at 16:10, Eric Fehr evened it up for the Caps at 17:21. But Scott Hartnell struck for the Flyers at 18:26 and Sami Kapanen struck 17 seconds later to give Philadelphia a two-goal lead after 20 for the second time in as many games.

Mike Green pulled the Caps to within a goal, scoring on a Washington power play at 7:28. But with less than 10 seconds left in the middle period, Briere answered on a Flyers power play to restore the two-goal lead.

Brooks Laich again drew the Caps to within a goal at 15:26 of the third, making it a 4-3 game, but Philadelphia again responded with some late thunder. Mike Richards scored at 17:01 and Mike Knuble made it 6-3 at 18:55, as all six Philadelphia goals came in the final four minutes of a period, and four of the six were scored in the last two minutes of a frame.

Here's our postgame notebook from Game 3, followed by a blog entry analyzing what the Caps need to do to get right in this series in Thursday's Game 4.

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9.8 - That's how many seconds were remaining in the second period when Philadelphia's Danny Briere netted what looked at the time like it would be the backbreaking goal of the game. As it turned out, Briere's tally, his second of the game, was the game-winner.

Had Washington been able to escape the second period with just a one-goal deficit after 40 minutes, maybe this one would have turned out differently.

Then again, maybe not.

Down two goals going into the final frame, the Caps had to kill two minor penalties in the first half of the period, not what you want when you need to generate offense. Washington also needed 11 minutes and 19 seconds just to generate its first shot on goal of the third period. Again, not what you want when you're down a pair.

2:33 - That's how long it took for the Flyers to score three goals -and take control of the game - in the late minutes of the first period. Washington scored one goal of its own during the same stretch.

No Shot - When Washington trailed by two in the third period of Game 2 in Washington on Sunday, the Flyers outshot the Caps 18-8 in the final frame. Tonight, Philly held a 22-10 advantage in shots on goal over the final 40 minutes of the game.

The Capitals averaged 31 shots on goal per game during the regular season, tied for fifth in the NHL. They averaged 30 shots per game in their four meetings with the Flyers during the regular season. But in the first three games of the series, the Caps have been held two single-digit shot totals in seven of the nine periods and have yet to reach 30 shots on goal in any of the three games.

Washington's total of 19 shots on goal in Game 3 was its fewest in a contest since it recorded just 16 in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Islanders in New York on Dec. 22, 2007.

In the last five periods of this series, Philadelphia has outshot Washington by a combined 65-33.

Early in the first period, Washington's Alexander Semin rang a shot off the mask of Flyers goalie Martin Biron. The shot shook Biron up, and he was attended to briefly by the Flyers' training staff. This would have been a great chance for the Caps to pour some shots on a shaky netminder early in a 0-0 game, but it would be several minutes later before Washington would muster its next single shot.

On the night, the Caps had more shots blocked (25) than shots on goal and nearly as many missed shots (18).

First Line - One of the biggest and most glaring differences in this series to date has been the respective performances of the first lines of the two teams. Washington's first line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov has combined to record just one goal and three assists in this series to date. The Caps' top trio is a combined minus-6 in the series.

Philadelphia's first line of Scott Hartnell, Daniel Briere and Vaclav Prospal has totaled seven goals and seven assists in the three games. The first Philly line is a combined plus-11 in the series.

Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, the man mainly charged with the responsibility of defending Ovechkin, left the game with an injury in the second period. Even with Timonen out of the picture, Ovechkin was not a factor in this one.

Digging A Hole - For the third time in as many games in this series, the Caps fell into a two-goal hole. For the second time in as many games, the Capitals fell behind by two goals in the first period.

Power Struggle - The Caps' Mike Green netted a power play goal for the Caps in the second period on Tuesday, just Washington's second power play goal in 16 tries during this series. Dating back to the Caps' last six road games of the regular season, Washington is just 3-for-31 (9.7%) on the power play in its last seven road games.

Even Strength Issues - Coming into this series, Washington had allowed just 20 even-strength goals in its last 20 games. The Capitals have been torched for 10 even-strength tallies in the three games of this series thus far.

At the other end of the ice, the Caps managed only 11 even-strength shots on goal in 37:55 of even-strength time in Tuesday's Game 3.

Gordie Howe Hat Trick -Green had a fight (with Philly's Scott Upshall) and an assist to go with his goal, giving him the first fight of his NHL career and thus, his first Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Green and Upshall faced each other in the playoffs previously, in the 2006 Calder Cup finals when Green was with Hershey and Upshall with Milwaukee.

G-Man - Green's goal was his third of the playoffs; he leads the team. His first two goals of the playoffs came in his first ever NHL playoff game, and he became just the third defenseman in NHL history to achieve that feat. He joins Red Goupille (Montreal, 1938) and Sergei Gonchar (Washington, 1995) as the only other blueliners to turn the trick.

Blueline Blues - Caps defenseman Jeff Schultz logged just 2:23 before leaving the game with an upper body injury. After his departure, veteran Caps forward Sergei Fedorov skated several shifts on the backline. Fedorov, who volunteered for the defensive duty, skated 21:07 on the night.

Traffic Patterns - Philadelphia has almost always had a body parked in front of or near Washington goaltender Cristobal Huet during this series. The Flyers have twice been whistled for goaltender interference penalties in the series, with Hartnell getting called both times.

Washington had two first period power play chances on Tuesday, but managed a total of just two shots and virtually no traffic during that span.

If Washington is to get back into this series, it will either need to curb the traffic in front of Huet or start generating some of its own in front of Biron. In the series to date, Huet's save pct. is .884 and Biron's is just .886. That suggests that the Caps can beat the Philly netminder if they can start creating some traffic and some chances.

Multiples Of 7 Line - Midway through the third period, the Caps went with a line of Alexander Semin (uniform #28), Brooks Laich (#21) and Eric Fehr (#14). The line had a great shift in the offensive zone, dominating down low, cycling, working the puck around and running the Philly blueliners ragged for a 1:04. In a summary of the night and the series, the shift ended without the Caps getting a shot on goal.

First for Fehr - Fehr netted his first career NHL playoff goal, joining Green, Ovechkin and David Steckel as the fourth Capital to achieve that feat this spring.

Kids Coming In - Earlier in the day, Washington announced that it had signed winger Francois Bouchard to a three-year entry level contract. Bouchard had played the final four games of the regular season with the Bears on an amateur tryout agreement, scoring his first pro goal in the process.

Bouchard will soon be joined by a pair of his fellow 2006 draftees and QMJHL peers in Hershey. Forwards Mathieu Perreault and Maxime Lacroix are expected to join the Bears in the next day or so. Perreault has already inked an entry-level deal while Lacroix will be in Hershey on an ATO agreement.

A First - Mike Richards' third period penalty shot goal was the first ever in a Capitals playoff game. The only other Washington opponent ever to be awarded a playoff penalty shot was New York Islanders defenseman Denis Potvin, who failed in his try on Apr. 9, 1983. Washington is 0-for-3 all-time in playoff penalty shots of its own.

Down on the Farm - In a double-overtime thriller, the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays defeated the Augusta Lynx 3-2 on Tuesday at North Charleston Coliseum to extend their best-of-five first round series to a deciding fifth game. The Rays dropped the first two games of the series, but have won two straight overtime contests to even the series.

In Tuesday night's triumph, Marty Guerin scored twice in regulation and Trent Campbell netted the winner - with help from Stephen Werner and Sasha Pokulok - at 3:36 of the second overtime session. Werner scored the overtime winner for South Carolina in Game 3.

Josh Johnson made 27 stops to earn the win for the Stingrays.

Game 5 is Wednesday at North Charleston Coliseum.

Up a level, the AHL Hershey Bears open their East Division semifinal series against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Giant Center in Hershey on Wednesday night.

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Nobody Asked Me

But … it's the little things. And it's lots of little things. If the Caps can fix them, or even fix most of them, they can even the series Thursday night in Philly and regain home ice advantage in this best-of-seven set.

Here's what I'm talking about.

They need to put the body on Danny Briere. The guy has four goals in three games, and I'll bet he hasn't been hit four times. I can't remember any. Philly's defense has made it uncomfortable for the Caps' top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov. The Flyers have hit them frequently, and done a good job of taking away time and space. Two of Briere's goals have come on the power play, but he got way too much room with which to work on the other two.

The Caps need to do a better job of protecting Cristobal Huet. Maybe I'm too old school here, but if a team or some particular players are going to make a habit or a sport of running my goalie, or they think it's their privilege to park at the top of the paint, then I'm gonna make them pay for that privilege. Huet should feel comfortable and confident out there, and the guys in front of him should be going out of their way to make sure he feels comfortable and confident. And that the likes of Briere and Scott Hartnell do not.

Get more traffic of their own. Flyers goaltender Martin Biron has had it too easy thus far. In the early minutes of Game 3, the Caps had two power play chances while the game was still 0-0. And yet Washington had no one in the front of the net during that stretch. What few shots the Caps were able to get through, Biron was able to see. And to stop.

Shoot the puck. The Caps averaged 31 shots on goal per game during the regular season, tied for fifth in the league. The Flyers allowed an average of 31.8 shots on goal per game during the regular season, 27th in the league. I don't remember the Flyers picking up Chris Pronger and Nicklas Lidstrom at the trade deadline. Somehow though, the Flyers are preventing shots from getting through.

Which leads me to …

Get the shots on net. Through three games, the Caps have 70 shots on goal. Another 57 have been blocked before they could get to Biron. Forty-four more missed altogether. That's 101 intended shots that never reached their mark. Biron has a shutout in this series, yet his save pct. is just .886 in the three games. If the Caps are able to get another 8-10 shots per game on goal, it could mean another goal or two per game. Especially if they combine this with some traffic in front.

Get a lead. The Caps haven't had a lead since Game 1, and they've dug a two-goal hole for themselves in each of the last two games. Try playing with the lead. It's more enjoyable.

That's it. Simple stuff, little stuff, but very important stuff. Especially at this time of year. Washington certainly has not played its best hockey in this series, yet the Caps are just one solid 60-minute effort away from shrinking the series to a best-of-three.

A few adjustments were made this morning at practice. Sergei Fedorov and Backstrom were flip-flopped as pivots on the top two lines, with Fedorov skating with Ovechkin and Kozlov in an all-Russian unit and Backstrom joining Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin.

Also, the power play got a bit of a makeover. One unit has Laich stationed in front of the cage, Ovechkin in the high slot and Fedorov at center point. Mike Green and Backstrom man the half-walls. The other unit features Eric Fehr at the top of the paint, Kozlov in the slot, Green at center point and Tom Poti and Semin on the half-walls. I like the set-up, and like the idea of Ovechkin being closer to the net. Laich and Fehr are the right guys for their respective gigs, too.

I think the Caps can do it, and we'll find out in about 24 hours. In the meantime, I'm here in Hershey for the off night in between Games 3 and 4, watching the Bears and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Game 1 of their East Division semifinal series. No score midway through the second, and Mathieu Perreault has looked good to me as he makes his pro debut for the Bears.

Here are the Hershey lines:

Bourque-Wilson-Gordon

Morgan-Joudrey-Giroux

Flinn-Perreault-Pinizzotto

Robitaille-Beagle-Collymore

Boumedienne-Lepisto

Hunt-Sloan

Paiement-Syvret

Frederic Cassivi is in goal.