Caps vs. Bruins Game 2 - Where Karma Happens

Is there anything better in sports than playoff hockey? Honestly I don't think there is...maybe the NCAA Basketball tournament but really most people only have investment in it if they're betting on the tourney and while the upsets are nice they aren't long lived.

Playoff hockey though...the hitting, the atmosphere, the sudden death overtime and when the Caps are involved you better have a strong heart because the cardiac Caps have a thing about making things long and interesting. Game 1 ended 1-0 minutes into overtime and today's game looked and felt like it was going to go the same way. Until around the 2 minute mark of the 2nd period when Troy Brouwer put one 5-hole on Tim Thomas and gave the Caps a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately the Caps couldn't hold the lead as the Bruins scored and were kind enough to run over Braden Holtby after the goal was scored. The play was clean though as Holtby put himself into that position. Luckily for the Caps that was the only thing that got past the young netminder in regulation and it lead to overtime where both teams had chances but none of them scored.

In the 2nd overtime I felt the Caps looked a bit more tired than the Bruins but they hang tough and Nicklas Backstrom sent a slapshot past Tim Thomas for the game winning goal and sending the series back to DC tied up at 1-1.

As the title states though that game winner had some karma attached to it.  Both teams are physical, in fact I felt that of all the teams in the East the Bruins were the most physical and dirtiest team in the East. While I may have some bias let us look at the facts. The Bruins on many occasions will gang up on a single player of the other team while no one else is around to come to their defense. During a "scrum" in front of the net, after Backstrom was trying to go for the puck but Thomas had made the save, Thomas took his blocker and hit the recently concussed Backstrom right in the face, add to it a cross check from another Bruins player as that happened and a third grabbing Backstrom from behind and putting him into a bit of a sleeper hold. Oh but this wasn't the first time in the game that happened. At the end of the 2nd period a fracas broke out after the horn and the Bruins went after Brouwer and Backstrom and Patrice Bergeron had Backstrom into a headlock then as the refs tried to separate them he grabbed Backstrom by his visor and appeared to say some unpleasant things to the young Swede...who gave a nice little shot back to Bergeron.

That's not to say the Caps weren't guilty of infractions that went uncalled, like Ovie cross-checking a guy in the face but hey the refs had already called Roman Hamrlik for a cross-check after he cross-checked two Bruins that had cross-checked him moments prior.. Obviously its playoff hockey and they let the boys play every now and then but even the seemingly anti-Caps NBC announcers, namely Mike Milbury, said as much...and I'm sure that's tough for him to do since he's a former Bruins player and coach.

Back to the play though. Alexander Semin gets criticized for disappearing in the playoffs and while he hasn't shown up offensively he was a huge part in securing today's win including sacrificing his body on a shot by Zdeno Chara, who has the hardest shot in the world. Blocking shots has been a huge key to this series too as the Caps, who gave up over forty shots on net today, ended up blocking at least 25 and held a 21-5 advantage in blocked shots...this is a team that usually has theirs blocked so its been a welcome sight. Now if we can only get that power play going.

Regardless of it all the Caps pulled out the victory, shaved some years off the life of their fans; as they been known to do over the years when it comes to playoffs; and head home with momentum. Braden Holtby has played amazing and will need to continue to do so if the Caps are going to steal this series. Here's hoping the next two games are as entertaining as the first two and that the Caps win both, preferably in regulation. I do expect the series to be even more physical and hope that the SEA OF RED in Verizon Center comes out in full force, we want as few Bruins fans as possible in that place.

A Trade, A Signing and a Parting of Ways

Last weekend the 2011 NHL Draft came and went and for the Capitals it was...well "boring"...according to many analysts and to some extent they are right. The Caps traded their 1st round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for the rights to restricted free agent Troy Brouwer...or as I thought when I first heard the deal...WHO? I know Patrick Kane, I know Jonathan Toews but I didn't recognize the name Brouwer, even after I went to the Caps/Hawks game last season.

After a quick google search and doing a little reading up on the newest Cap I was impressed with the deal pulled off by GMGM. I immediately saw him as a guy who could produce, much like he did before making the NHL, read that he can play on any line, which is good since Boudreau LOVES to move guys around, and saw him as a viable option on a Power Play that suffered mightily last year and could use a jolt. I also saw a video of him and his Beagle and well...I'm a huge fan of Troy now. Of course it also lead me to believe this may be the end of Brooks Laich in Washington...

But Brooksie wouldn't do that to the city he's called home for the past 6 seasons. Today it was announced that the Capitals and Laich agreed to a 6 year - $27 million deal and Brooks had told the Caps before the draft he intended to stay. Its a long deal, for a lot of money, and apparently I'm one of the few or only Caps fans that like the deal. Many of the same guys saying sign him for whatever it takes are now complaining because of what it does to the cap, that he got too much money and the deal is too long. In this weak free agent class Brooks Laich was gonna get PAID whether it was here or somewhere else. I'd rather have a guy that is heading into his prime and had been dependable and is a glue guy over trying to replace him with someone older or less experienced or overpaying for what someone did somewhere else and end up getting no production out of him like has happened in the past...yeah I'm casting a death stare at you Michael Nylander. So while the deal is a bit excessive it could also be much MUCH worse and I can live with it...even if it turned out to be a terrible deal and crippled the franchise...that part won't happen. Also as seen with the trades of Brian Campbell, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter at the draft teams, especially bad ones or ones in need of taking on salary (sometimes both...well hey there Florida) trade for bad contracts down the line so Laich will be movable.

Its also been reported that the Caps and Semyon Varlamov are soon expected to part ways. I'm slightly torn on this (groin pun not intended). I fear Varly will be much like many former players from DC teams and play better once he leaves the team, in this case his health will hold up. If its true that Varly is done here because he wants to start or feels disrespected its understandable but the ice isn't always as frozen in another rink and Neuvirth has had his fair share of injuries too so Varly is a tweak away from having a shot at the starting job again. I guess we'll find out Friday when free agency begins though Dmitry Chesnokov is reporting that the situation between the sides should be resolved before then...we shall see.

Also on July 1 or within a few days/weeks I'm expecting Jeff Halpern to sign his final NHL contract, one that allows him to return home to DC to finish his career where it began, unless he's traded again. I'd guess it'll be a two year deal for around $1.5-$2 over the length of the contract