Time CAPSule - Young Guns Set for First Taste of Playoffs

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!

Friday, April 11, 2008

As Neil Young might have put it, "Tonight's The Night." For the first time in their respective NHL careers, the Caps' quartet of "Young Guns" will taste Stanley Cup playoff hockey on this night when Washington hosts Philadelphia in Game 1 of its opening round playoff series. The oldest of the group - Alexander Semin - is a month past his 24th birthday while the youngest - Nicklas Backstrom - is coming off a splendid rookie season, but at 20 he is still not old enough to drink legally in the States.

With 64 goals in the previous two regular seasons - including 26 in just 63 games in '07-08 - Semin has scored one less goal than the 22-year-old Alex Ovechkin scored (65) in 2007-08 alone. Ovechkin's total remains his career best; he won the first of his eight Rocket Richard Trophies that season.

Also 22, blueliner Mike Green had a breakout season with 18 goals - tops among NHL defensemen - and 56 points, while Backstrom set a Caps franchise record for rookies with 55 assists. Backstrom's 69 points is good for second on the team, and he ended up finishing second to Chicago's Patrick Kane in Calder Trophy balloting for 2007-08.

All four of the "Young Guns" were at their best down the stretch as the Caps put on a remarkable late surge to win the Southeast Division. Backstrom and Ovechkin both produced at a pointer-per-game or better from the beginning of March to the end of the regular season, while Green totaled 14 points in 17 games and Semin chipped in with six goals and 10 points over the same span.

Going into Friday night's series opener with the Flyers, the Caps own a six-game winning streak on home ice, and they've yielded a grand total of seven goals in those six contests.

Here's our preview of Friday night's Game 1, the first Stanley Cup playoff action in the District in five years.

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April 11 versus Philadelphia Flyers at Verizon Center

Time: 7:00 pm

TV:Comcast SportsNet

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

Pre-Game:Pre-Cap Podcast at 3 p.m. on www.washingtoncaps.com

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

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

Six days after they claimed their first Southeast Division title in seven years, the Washington Capitals set out on their first Stanley Cup playoff voyage in five years. The Caps host the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference on Friday night at Verizon Center.

The Caps put forth a furious finish to earn a playoff berth and a division title after winning their final game of the season, a 3-1 decision over the Florida Panthers at Verizon Center last Saturday. That win was Washington's seventh in succession, its 11th in its last 12 games, and its 15th in its last 19 games.

By virtue of that late surge, Washington became the first NHL team ever to go from 14th or 15th in its conference at midseason to a playoff berth at season's end.

After a day off, an optional practice and three "regular" practices, the Caps have had time to heal the bumps and bruises accumulated over the course of the 82-game regular season. After answering many of the same questions after practice from the suddenly bulging media horde over the last four days, the Caps are ready to lace up the blades and start playing some hockey again.

"The last part of the season was an incredible grind," says Capitals general manager George McPhee. "We obviously made history with that run; it was kind of neat. I think as a club we needed some time to decompress. You can only produce so much adrenaline. It's why clubs aren't able to do what we were able to do. It's only happened once in 80 or 90 years. We needed a little time off, and we built it back up. We like to think we're ready to go."

The Caps were obviously on a roll when the season ended, but having a few days to recharge the batteries and tie up some loose ends isn't the worst thing that ever happened.

"We're going to adjust to just a couple of minor things [because] when we go into the series we don't want to worry about those things," says Caps center Brooks Laich. "We want to have those things already ironed out and be 100% in our system play and our adjustments to how Philly is going to play.

"It's a nice break mentally and physically, but it's time to recharge it and get ready for the next series."

The Caps and Flyers split four regular season meetings, with each team winning both games in the other team's building. Both teams are coached by men who won Calder Cup championships in their respective organizations before being promoted to their current NHL posts. Both teams have rebounded from dismal 2006-07 seasons to make the playoffs.

The Flyers were remade as a hard-hitting, aggressive and physical team. It's convenient to link this year's Flyers team to the Broad Street Bullies bunch of the mid-1970s, but Philadelphia was more than likely rebuilt in the image of the 2006-07 Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks.

Regardless, a physical series is expected on both sides.

"We know how they play, and they know we play, unless they've got a whole bunch of surprises in store for us," says Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. "The prototypical Philadelphia team is an aggressive, in-your-face team. That's how the fans love it there, and that's who they've been since 1972. They've been like that this year and they've been successful at it. I don't think they're going to turn into a bunch of guys who win the Lady Byng."

Washington doesn't feature a lot of previous NHL playoff experience; most of its players will be getting their first taste of Stanley Cup playoff hockey. Veteran center Sergei Fedorov, acquired at the Feb. 26 trade deadline in a deal with Columbus, has played in nearly as many NHL playoff games (162) as the rest of Washington's skaters combined.

Although the Caps don't have much in the way of NHL playoff experience, virtually every player on the roster has previous experience with a deep playoff run at some level. Washington's Hershey farm club went all the way to the Calder Cup finals in each of the last two seasons, winning the Cup in 2006. Seven members of that championship team now skate with the Capitals.

The few Caps who have previous playoff experience are chomping at the bit to get back again.

"I'm real excited," says right wing Matt Bradley. "It's been a long time since my first year. When you make it your first year, you kind of expect to make it every year. It's been a long time in between, but it makes it extra special this year. I'm really looking forward to the series."

The Caps and Flyers are very evenly matched, but Washington believes it will prevail if it continues to play its system as it did over the season's final quarter. The Capitals surrendered just 37 goals (only 20 of them at even strength) in the season's final 20 games, an average of just 1.85 goals per game.

"Things are going right," says defenseman John Erskine. "Guys are buying into the system and we're winning. The system that Bruce has us playing, in the neutral zone we're stepping up on the guys. It makes it hard for them to enter our end without them dumping it in. If we're on our game and the forwards and defensemen are all doing things right, it makes us tough to play against."

The Capitals had a power play success rate of 18.8% during the regular season, the 10th best rate in the league. Washington successfully snuffed 80.5% of its opponents' power play chances during the season. The Caps ranked 25th in the league in that department.

Like Washington, the Flyers missed the playoffs in 2006-07. But that was Philly's first postseason miss in 12 seasons. While the Capitals patiently and painstakingly rebuilt their team from the ashes of the 2003-04 team, Flyers chairman Ed Snider insisted the word "rebuild" was not in the Flyers' vocabulary.

Philly general manager Paul Holmgren smartly and swiftly remade the Flyers, and a year after last season's 56-point debacle - by far the worst season in franchise history - the Flyers are back in a familiar spot, getting ready to compete for the Cup.

Philadelphia also needed a late and strong run to get to the postseason. One of four Atlantic Division representatives in the playoffs this spring, the Flyers needed a 7-1-1 finish to get in, clinching a berth with a win in their penultimate game of the regular season.

Also like the Caps, Philly is a bit banged up going in and appreciates the extra day to heal and mend. Center Daniel Briere (knee) will play in Game 1 on Friday, but defensemen Derian Hatcher (leg) and Jason Smith (upper body) are less certain to go.

Flyers goaltender Martin Biron will be making his first foray into NHL playoff waters, but he goes in on a roll. Biron has authored consecutive shutouts and brings a shutout streak of 121:34 into Friday night's Game 1.

Philly featured the league's second best regular season power play unit with a 21.8% success rate. The Flyers' penalty killing outfit ranked 10th in the league with a kill rate of 83.2%.

Fun Fact: Washington is 18-10 all-time in Game 1 of a playoff series, the only game in which it is over .500 all-time. The Capitals won their most recent Game 1 when they defeated the Lightning in Tampa on April 10, 2003 by a 3-0 score. Robert Lang supplied all the offense the Caps would need and Olie Kolzig outdueled the Lightning's Nikolai Khabibulin in that contest. The shutout was the sixth of Kolzig's NHL playoff career.

Washington's last playoff win on home ice also came in a Game 1 and was also a shutout win. On Apr. 12, 2001, the Caps got up 1-0 on the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 1-0 win in Game 1 over the Pens. Peter Bondra scored the game-winner and Kolzig outdueled Pittsburgh's Johan Hedberg.

Injuries

Philadelphia Flyers

Defenseman Jason Smith has an upper body injury and is day-to-day.

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

Defenseman Derian Hatcher has a broken right leg and is day-to-day.

Center Daniel Briere has a knee injury and is day-to-day.

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

Right wing Sami Kapanen has flu-like symptoms and a sore neck and is day-to-day.

Washington

Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn has an upper body injury and is day-to-day.|

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

Defenseman Brian Pothier 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.

Center David Steckel has a broken finger and is day-to-day.

Possible Line Combos and Defensive Pairings

Philadelphia Forwards

19-Hartnell, 48-Briere, 40-Prospal

20-Umberger, 18-Richards, 15-Lupul

9-Upshall, 17-Carter, 22-Knuble

25-Thoresen, 34-Dowd, 24-Kapanen

Philadelphia Defensemen

5-Coburn, 44-Timonen

6-Jones, 21-Smith

26-Modry, 28-Kukkonen

Goaltenders

30-Niittymaki, 43-Biron

Washington Forwards

8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 25-Kozlov

28-Semin, 91-Fedorov, 24-Cooke

43-Fleischmann, 21-Laich, 15-Gordon

87-Brashear, 39-Steckel, 10-Bradley

Washington Defensemen

26-Morrisonn, 52-Green

55-Schultz, 3-Poti

4-Erskine, 23-Jurcina

Goaltenders

37-Kolzig, 38-Huet