Game 4 Caps @ Penguin Scum 5-8-2009 Wrap Up Game 5 Caps vs. Penguin Scum 5-9-2009 Preview

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post: coming home, not going well, goalie issues, called up. Times: bad night, out tonight, missing touch, tougher test, big test, Caps +. Caps.com.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com: recap, forgettable, toxic twins, paying the price, likely without, Russian interest. AP Wire. CBC.com. ESPN.com.

The Other Side:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: tied up, papering the house, taking the blame, play of the game, bad ice. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: evened up, survival of the fittest, notes, wings taking flight. Penguin Scum.com.

Final Thoughts:

2 down, 2 still to go.


Series J: Washington Capitals (56-37; 108 points; 1st Southeast Division, 2nd Eastern Conference, 4th Overall) vs. Pittsburgh Penguin Scum (51-41; 99 points; 2nd Atlantic Division, 4th Eastern Conference, 8th Overall):
Eastern Conference Semifinals Game #5, Caps Game #12, Home Game #7, NHL Game #225

Verizon Center, Washington, DC. 7:08 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WJFK 106.7-FM. Pittsburgh TV: Fox SportsNet Pittsburgh. Radio: WXDX 105.9-FM. U.S. National TV: Versus. Canadian National TV: CBC, RDS (French).

Tonight somebody will take the lead and somebody will be on the brink of elimination as the Caps and Penguin Scum go at it again in Game 5 in Washington, DC. If you were already feeling bad about the last two games, here's even more bad news, the Caps are 0-7 All-Time against the Penguin Scum in Game 5.

What The Natives Are Saying:

Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Sorry, got nothing for ya here. This is Pittsburgh we're talking about here...

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

Well folks, in some ways this is not all that surprising on a number of accounts. First of all we'll own up to predicting Penguin Scum in six so we just happened to see things very well in advance. Secondly, can anybody think of instance when breaks and calls and other actions didn't go in the Penguin Scum's favor when playing us? The officiating has been varying degrees of bad in this series ranging from downright awful to simply embarrassing. We knew we weren't going to catch much if any breaks in this series and that has pretty much been the case. Some of the penalties we've been called for have been a direct result of uncalled penalties by the Penguin Scum. And how in the world have the Penguin Scum avoided unsportsmanlike conduct penalties? Every whistle and perceived non-call against them draws all kinds of hysterics. Furthermore, when you take the X-factor out of it, these are two pretty evenly matched hockey teams. One may have a slight advantage over the other but for the most part, these two teams are just about mirror images of each other on paper. Finally there's the fact that the Caps simply don't play their best hockey until their backs are up against the wall. Sure, the Caps played very poorly in Game 3 but still could have won because of Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov. Last night Simeon the Saviour had a bad game but the Caps didn't help him out very much either. In neither game up in the largest city everybody moves out of were the Caps feeling any pressure, any desperation, like their backs were up against the wall. Will the Caps feel that tonight in Game 5? We hope so. Either way the task should be easier with Sergei Gonchar not being expected to play. The Penguin Scum had serious trouble generating offense after he went down and only got going when the Caps started pressing in the third period. The Caps shouldn't need to press from the start tonight and can wear down the remaining Penguin Scum defense. However, regardless of tonight's outcome, the pressure on the Caps is going to increase. Should the Caps lose, they'll be bombarded with "how did you let a 2-0 lead slip away and now end up on the brink of elimination?" Should the Caps win it will become "will you be able to overcome the franchise history of being unable to close out the Penguin Scum." The big question before tonight's game however is how long will the suspension for A.O. be? We know how arbitrary and capricious NHL discipline is to begin with. Mike Brown of the Thug Duck and Chris Kunitz of the Penguin Scum each escaped suspensions so there's little doubt in our minds that the NHL will seek to make an example of A.O. and suspend him in spite of the fact that he's one of the players they're heavily promoting in this series. That more than anything can even things up for these two teams tonight.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 2
Penguin Scum 5
Winner by Satan

(4-7 in the playoffs)