Game 5 Caps vs. Canadiens 4-23-2010 Post-Mortem

Some things never change... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• After giving up two early goals, Semyon "The Saviour" Varlamov recovered with a solid performance to keep the game from getting further out of hand.
• For the first time this season, the Caps Penalty Killers shutdown the Montreal Power Play.  The Caps were 6 for 6 tonight.

THE BAD:

• No way to sugar coat it, the Caps top line was on the ice for all three goals scored tonight.  If we had won 3-0 or 2-1, that wouldn't be a problem, but it is a problem when we lose 2-1.
• We're not sure how it happened, but taking a Too Many Men on the Ice penalty with just over a minute to go is not a good way to finish off a game.

THE UGLY:

• The Caps Power Play failed big-time tonight.  0 for 5 with 11 shots on goal.  We give Jaroslav Halak credit for making a big save on Alexander "Slappy" Semin in the third period.  But there was precious little fighting for rebounds on the Power Play tonight which is a cause for concern going forward.
• As usual with a loss, we didn't bother listening to the Post-Game Show on the radio because we didn't want to hear what was being said about Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green.  We don't think Green's defending has been all that bad, it has been his puck handling as he seems to be once again succumbing to the pressure of the playoffs.  Some of it isn't necessarily his fault as he had some bad bounces but as long as he's not blowing defensive assignments, we can live with his play.  Other however are different story...

Well folks, we told you initially we just had a feeling that this would go a little longer than everybody thought.   We aren't too upset about this loss tonight though.  We remember reading last year that teams who wrap up their first round series in 4 or 5 games have a dismal record in the second round because the rest turns into rust with the long layoff.  The Caps can still close out this series on Monday night in six games and the earliest they would have to face Philadelphia is Thursday but much more likely on Friday.  So we're not too concerned about getting enough rest before facing the Flyers as long as the series ends on Monday night.  But we are concerned that talk of yet another blown 3-1 lead is going to start before there is a Game 7.  That is talk we don't need over the next two off days.