[MDSKINSFAN]

[Fios]

[Sir_Monk]

[Jake]

[JansenFan]

I was pissed at Poti, but watching the replays, if he doesn't touch the puck, it goes right to Crosby with the whole net to shoot at. Maybe Varly makes another great save, but probably Crosby scores.

If we don't quit letting the Penguins skate all the way to the net without touching them and letting Crosby stand next to the goal for minutes at a time without touching him, we don't deserve to win.

Won good thing to note, we've got the Caps playing the Pens, and the Bears playing the Baby Pens (insert Crosby joke here). The Caps and Bears won games 1 and 2, the Pens and Baby Pens won games 3, 4 and 5. The Bears won game 6 last night, so the Caps should win tonight. Then we'll have to hope like hell the Bears win tomorrow.

[PulpExposure]

[JansenFan]

Varly's definitely had trouble controlling the rebounds, and the Penguins seemed to have discovered a slight weakness top-shelf glove-side, but he's 21. I can live with those for now. I thought coming into this year the Caps were about 2 years from really being Cup contenders, and that's plenty of time for Dave Prior to address those areas. Unfortunately, the lack of real playoff toughness (or at least the inability to match the Pens toughness, because none of the Capitals ever skate halfway into the offensive zone without being touched) makes it a) harder to control the rebounds because there's always a guys in front of the net and b) makes it way too easy to set up the cross-ice pass to the open side of the net, something that has accounted for what seems like 80% of the goals the Penguins have scored in the series.

The good thing is that the Caps have not played even close to the way they can play in this series and they've won twice and have played in OT two of the three losses with real good chances to put them away early in both. The Caps are a rare Ovie fan at an open net, and another fan by Steckel on Saturday from having won the series 4-1. The bounces have to go our way in one game at least.

[Bob 0119]

If there's anything to be excited about tonight (at least IMO) it's the return of "The Donald."

I made my case in blog form here

Here's a taste...

[Bob 0119]

Playing on the edge – The Capitals have been here before. Last year, they trailed Philadelphia 3-1 in a best-of-seven series before forcing a Game 7 with two straight wins. They were in the same situation this year in the first round against the New York Rangers and then won the next three games to advance to the second round. Now, after two overtime losses, they trail Pittsburgh 3-2 and face the Pens on their home ice tonight. A win would force Game 7 in Washington on Wednesday and a loss would mean the season is over. Under Bruce Boudreau the Capitals are 5-1 in elimination games, including 3-0 this year. Disregarding shootout losses, the Capitals have never lost four straight games under Boudreau.



Hershey Bears Update

Washington’s AHL affiliate will face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for Game 7 of their series on Tuesday at 7 p.m. tonight in Hershey. The series is currently tied 3-3.



Note of the Night

8 is No. 1 – Alex Ovechkin's two-goal, one-assist effort in Game 5 gave him the NHL lead in points (17), goals (10) and plus/minus (+ entering Sunday's games. His point total matches the best in Capitals history (in three fewer games than anyone else). Ovechkin has points in each game of this series and goals in seven of the last nine games overall (10 goals in that time). He has a hand in 10 of Washington 's 15 goals in the series and has points in nine of the 12 games this year. He has had multiple-point games in nine of the 19 playoff games he has played in his career.

Caps Record, Points in a Playoff Season

17 Alex Ovechkin, 2009 (10g-7a in 12 GP)

Joe Juneau, 1998 (7g-10a in 21 GP)

Adam Oates, 1998 (6g-11a in 21 GP)

John Druce, 1990 (14g-3a in 15 GP)



Five More Notes No Media Person Should Be Without

Recent history – Washington is 6-1 in the last two seasons when facing a win-or-go-home game (including the final game of the 2007-08 regular season). This is the third series in a row in which Washington has faced elimination before the seventh game; the Capitals have forced a Game 7 in the previous two series, winning last round against the Rangers.



Ancient history – Washington is seeking to beat Pittsburgh in a playoff series for just the second time in eight attempts. In three of the previous series that the Penguins have won the Capitals held a two-game series lead at some point (either 2-0 or 3-1).



Nick of time – Nicklas Backstrom has established a Capitals playoff record with points in seven eight games, including goals in each of the last three games. Backstrom ranks second in the NHL in assists (11) and is just two assists shy of the Capitals single-season playoff record for assists (Andrei Nikolishin, 13, 1998); he is tied for fourth in the NHL in points (14).

Caps Record, Consecutive Playoff Games with a Point

8 Nicklas Backstrom, 4/24/09 to 5/8/09 vs. NYR, PIT

7 Geoff Courtnall, 4/13/90 to 4/27/90 vs. NJ, NYR



Caps Record, Assists in a Playoff Season

13 Andrei Nikolishin, 1998

11 Nicklas Backstrom, 2009

Adam Oates, 1998

Mike Ridley, 1992

Scott Stevens, 1988



Close calls – All six of Washington 's playoff losses have come by one or two goals; Game 4 of the series in Pittsburgh (a 5-3 loss) was the only multiple-goal loss for the Capitals.



For the record – Washington is 9-9 all-time in Game 6, 6-6 when it is played on the road and 4-6 when facing elimination. The Capitals are 1-4 against Pittsburgh in Game 6.

[Bob 0119]

Jake has pointed out to me that Brashear may not play.

Brashear Is Eligible To Play, but May Not

[JansenFan]

Dear Coach Boudreau,
We need Brash, and we should see if the Hansen Bros are available. William the Refrigerator Perry on skates, too. He doesn't have to skate. He can do like he did on the goal line. Just fall on the guy in front of the net.

What's Mike Williams doing tonight?

[Bob 0119]

[JansenFan]

I get angry when I see people just park in front of our net, or worse, when someone punches Varly in the face or cross checks him in the neck, and no one sticks up for him. It happened to Huet last year. We have a lot of skill guys, but we need tough guys, too. When Brash and Erskine were both out, we were missing that toughness that you have to have in play-off hockey. Don't get me wrong. We have other tough guys on the team, just not enough.

[Sir_Monk]

[JansenFan]

If Boudreau can work his connections to get the Hansen's and Ogie, that would be some old-time hockey!