Game 3 Caps @. Canadiens 4-19-2010 Post-Mortem

So much for the Montreal Home Ice Advantage...  Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Brooks "and Dunn" Laich loses the face shield and picks up the game-winning-goal.  The only one the Caps scored from distance tonight.
• Boyd Gordon returns to the lineup and gets a shorthanded goal to start all the scoring by taking the puck to the net and whacking away at it with some help from Mike Knuble.
• Semyon "The Saviour" Varlamov came up with his best game since getting injured back in December.  Now the goaltender controversy gets really interesting.
• The Penalty Killers had some extra work tonight but ended up going a respectable 4 for 5 tonight.
• Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green  and Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz both played much better tonight that they did on Saturday.  Pity that nobody will give either of them credit for it.

THE BAD:

• Though the Penalty Killers weren't perfect, they did blow the shutout in the third period with some lackadaisical play.  And the sad part is, it was the only time it happened during the game.
• We're not surprised that Thomas Fleischmann has gone MIA, as a matter of fact we expected it and he as usual blew a prime chance tonight but Alexander "Slappy" Semin has to get on track.  Eric Belanger proved that Brendan Morrrissonn wasn't the problem on that line.

THE UGLY:

• Not counting the 3 second Power Play, the Caps were 0 for 6 on the Power Play tonight.  Lots of nifty passing but only 5 shots on goal.
• The Montreal fans classy as ever as the Frogs boo the Star Spangled Banner once again.

Well folks, the tide in this series has certainly turned.  Had you paid much attention to the pundits, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Caps were down 2-0 again and yet after tonight they're up 2-1.  Will the same wags who complained about the Caps defense and goaltending still chirp about it after tonight?  Somehow we doubt it but we also know that they won't give the Caps defense and goaltending any credit either.  Just 1 goal allowed, 27 shots on goal, and 16 shots blocked.  Those are pretty good numbers against anybody in the NHL Playoffs.  While Matt "Omar" Bradley's goal late in the third may be seen as running up the score, it helped to bring Carey Price down a notch after he had made 14 saves in the third period up until that point.  The Caps are likely to face him instead of Jaroslav Halak in Game 4 on Wednesday night and they will need to beat him more than 2 times on 23 shots.  The Caps haven't won this series yet, but they are clearly in control right now.