Game 1 Caps vs. Flyers 4-11-2008 Post-Mortem

I had forgotten how much fun these could be... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• We told you that secondary scoring would be key and we would like to know what the odds in Las Vegas were on Mr. Donald Brashear and David "Bolt Cutter" Steckel scoring the first two goals for the Caps in the Playoffs. Mr. Brashear's goal was huge because it was the first goal of the game and allowed the Caps to settle in.
• Who also expected the Caps to be the aggressors with the physical play in the first period? It looked to us as if the Caps were the ones trying to intimidate their opponent.
• We were also surprised by the lack of fisticuffs tonight. You can see hatred returning but the first period seemed more like the first period of a season opener than a playoff opener with both teams feeling each other out and trying to get their legs under them.
• Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green didn't get caught up in the moment single handedly tying the game up in the third period.
• As Dan Patrick used to say "You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him" and where would the Caps be without A.O.? There were parts of the game were he seemed to float around the edges instead of going to the net but when he made a break for it in the third period, it was all he needed to get his first goal and first game winning goal in the playoffs.
• After getting the lead back in the third period, the Caps didn't allow another shot on goal to the Flyers. As a matter of fact, the Flyers had only three shots on goal for the entire third period.

THE BAD:

• What were Tom Poti and Steve Eminger doing at the end of the Power Play with Dani Briere in the Penalty Box? They got caught up in the moment and made a pretty huge mistake letting Dani get free for her first goal.
• Martin Biron was fighting the puck tonight and didn't seem very comfortable in his first playoff start. The Caps had the right idea getting what turned out to be 27 shots on goal, the Flyers greatly helped him out with 18 blocked shots. Early on in the game it seemed as if the Caps had more shots blocked than on goal.
• Cristobal "WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE" Huet did not have a good game tonight giving up four goals.

THE UGLY:

• The fourth line giveth, the fourth line taketh away as they collectively share the John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles Bonehead Play of the Game Award for their lackadaisical effort which lead to a 3-on-2 for the Flyers which lead to the Flyers go-ahead goal. We're not sure if it was Mr. Brashear or Matt "Omar" Bradley who botched the outlet pass from Shaone Morrrissonnn; but none of the forwards made any kind of effort to get back on the odd man rush going the other way.
• The Caps allowed 13 shots on goal in the second period. They allowed just 9 for the rest of the game. The Caps got too far away from their game in the second period.
• To us it looked as if Patrick Thoresen took the Green slapshot in the man region. If that's the case, we tip our hat to the guy who is spending the night in the hospital. Sure, he plays for the other team but the Brotherhood does not like to see its members take blows like that in the man region.

In the playoffs you will take any win that you can get. It's nice to see the Caps bailing out UA and keeping the current streak alive while ending the five game home playoff losing streak. But the important thing to note is that we haven't won anything yet. We still need three more wins to get past the Flyers and if we play many more periods like we did the Second Period tonight, we won't win two more games. But if you're the Flyers you have to wonder why you couldn't lock down a two goal lead heading into the third period on the road. That's the even bigger cause for concern.