Game 2 Caps vs. Penguin Scum 5-4-2009 Post-Mortem

We have David "Bolt Cutter" Steckel and they don't and that's all the difference... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• The votes were cast and counted weeks ago now but if anybody didn't vote A.O. as NHL MVP, they probably want their ballots back now after tonight's Hat Trick, his first in his playoff career. Yes, Canadian Diving Team Captain, Lowblow Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby had one too, but A.O.'s was a dominating performance of a player taking over a game and make sure that his team wins it.
• We're still not entirely there yet but we're becoming believers in Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov who has to have the Penguin Scum talking to themselves after another sterling performance. He's still relying mostly on his athleticism but the Penguin Scum are totally befuddled as they just don't know where to shoot on the guy. Lowblow Cindy scored three goals tonight all off rebounds as she was the only member of the Penguin Scum willing to go to the front of the net to get those rebounds.
• Steckel was the difference tonight after scoring his second goal of the series and in his second game in a row. He too went to the front of the net and also drew a bad penalty call on Kris Letang in the first period because he accelerated towards the net with the puck on his stick. We admit, Letang got the puck first but we've seen that exact same call go against us time and time again this season. It was a break that the Caps finally got.
• After taking it on the chin in Game 1 in the faceoff circle, the Caps roared back tonight, winning 62% of the faceoffs tonight. No Penguin Scum was higher than Jordan Staal's 41%. For two teams that rely on puck possession, this stat is vital.

THE BAD:

• Once again, too many penalties. While the Caps did get the very cheap call on Letang, they were hit with their share of cheap calls as the Penguin Scum once again had five Power Plays in the game and went 2 for 5 with the Man Advantage.
• Too wide open for our tastes in the playoffs. The Caps fired 33 shots which is actually fine with us but allowed 36 shots against. We know we're not playing the Rangers but way too much free flowing action.

THE UGLY:

• We understand that Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green has been making a conscious effort to play well in his own zone in the playoffs. We happen to think he should return to his usual end-to-end game because he's better in his own zone when he's active in the offensive zone.
• The alleged MVP, Evgeni Malkin-Lindros was a -2 tonight and in the penalty box when A.O. broke the third period tie.

Don't get us wrong folks, we're glad we're up 2-0 on the Penguin Scum but this series could very easily be 1-1 or worse right now because of how we're playing in our own zone. That is why we're taking the advice of tonight's special guest, Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn, and "staying medium." Again, we don't want to be a downer or rain on anybodies parade, but we've watched the Caps blow 2-0 and even bigger leads to the Penguin Scum before. We like the direction this series is heading but things will change when the series shifts to Pittsburgh starting on Wednesday night. How the Caps handle the adversity that is certain to come over the next two games will determine whether things have really changed for good because this series isn't over until somebody has won four games. Our first round adventure should have taught us that.