By Bill Whitehead

SUNRISE, Fla. — If you head on over to Floridapanthers.com, the front page has a smaller sub-headline that reads like a horror movie title: “The Return of Vokoun.” The mind conjures a terrifying vision of the arrival of a monstrous right-handed catching goalie wearing a white No. 29 Capitals jersey, hitting opponents with his stick, kicking at pucks along the end boards like they are tiny soccer balls and denying rebounds off long shots by defensemen. But it’s really no horror show featuring some alien that’s invading the BankAtlantic Center this evening.

In fact, the headline above it is the real attention-grabber: “The Battle for First.” It’s the second meeting between the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers — the Caps took the first one 3-0 in DC on Oct. 18 — and the first matchup in South Florida. At 7:30, the Panthers return from a 3-game road trip, two on the West Coast, to face Washington and new coach Dale Hunter, who scored his first win Saturday night when the Capitals beat Ottawa 3-2 just 12 seconds into overtime.

With only five points separating the two teams, here’s what to watch for tonight when the first-place Panthers (14-8-4, 32 pts.) host the second-place Capitals (13-11-1, 27 pts.):

Special teams: The power play and penalty kill have been streaky for both clubs this season. At its best, Florida scored five times on the man-advantage and once shorthanded at Tampa Bay in a 7-4 win on Oct. 17. The last three games on the road trip have been the Panthers in a nutshell — a good performance on special teams results in a win, while poor play ends with a loss that’s tough to stomach. In wins over Carolina and San Jose — the origin and end of its road tests — Florida was 3-for-6 on the power play and 6-for-7 in killing penalties. In its lone loss in which it peppered Kings’ goalie Jonathan Quick with 42 shots, the Cats were 0-for-6 with the man-advantage and gave up a power-play goal in two chances.

Florida’s 18.7% on the power play (20-for-107) ranks 10th in the NHL. The team’s penalty kill is 18th, having killed 60 of its 73 penalties (82.2%).
Washington grids 21st on the power play (14-for-93, 15.0%) and is 19th at 81.8% when shorthanded.

Familiar Faces as Foes: Writers won’t have to go too far back into the memory bank when it comes to finding a storyline for this one. Tomas Vokoun, who played four seasons for the Panthers and shut the Cats out on 20 shots two months ago, looks to beat his former team again, just as Pete DeBoer naturally wanted a victory over Florida last month when the Devils visited. Like Vokoun, Florida goalie Jose Theodore will try to shut down the offense of his former team, where he played from 2008 to 2010. Red-hot Tomas Fleischmann, who has flourished this season, played in the shadows of Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin and Nicklas Backstrom during his tenure with the Caps, and Flash would surely enjoy a repeat of his 3-point performance from Saturday against his former teammates.

Expect the Capitals to attempt to neutralize Florida’s speed with plenty of physical play. Florida’s opponents, like the St. Louis Blues last month, have routinely tried to outmuscle them. Getting aggressive with Florida may work, though the team has still managed to be on pace for 101 points this season despite the rough play. Sometimes players like Andre Deveaux and Derek Joslin have resorted to illegal hits to get them off their games, but Florida won both of those as well.

This is a statement game for the Panthers, who are concerned primarily about the season-long war but would like to be victorious in this battle before heading back out on the road. A win helps solidify the notion circulating around the league that they are for real. And really, if they’re going to be taken seriously as a possible postseason player, Florida must regularly beat the teams it faces six times each year within the Southeast Division.

Especially the team that’s sat at the top for so long.

By Bill Whitehead
NHLHS Florida Panthers Credentialed Correspondent
Twitter: @BillWhiteheadFL
Email: BillWhiteheadFL@hotmail.com

As predicted, it didn’t take very long for Bruce Boudreau to resurface on the NHL head coaching map. After being dismissed from his post with the Washington Capitals on Monday, Boudreau didn’t even have time to make it to the proverbial unemployment line.

Boudreau produced a 201-88-40 record in Washington. Anaheim hopes for similar success. (Photo credit: Jean Levac, Postmedia News)

When the Anaheim Ducks fired Randy Carlyle following Wednesday night’s 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, the team swooped in and hired the 56-year-old Boudreau to be his replacement.

The irony of the situation is many feel that Boudreau’s demise in Washington was hastened by an incident that occurred late in a November 1st meeting between the Capitals and Anaheim. Washington trailed by a goal late in regulation time, and Boudreau left captain and face of the franchise Alex Ovechkin on the bench with his club in dire need of a tying goal. Ovechkin was caught on camera uttering some unrepeatable phrases, and it seemed his play was rather indifferent for the rest of the month. Even though the team tied it and went on to win in overtime that night, it appeared that Boudreau’s fate with the Caps was sealed that night.

As pointed out in the aftermath of Boudreau’s firing in Washington, he absolutely deserved a better fate, but something had to be done.

Now just a month later to the day, Boudreau is at the helm of those very same Ducks.

Carlyle’s circumstances was very similar. Before Wednesday’s win, Anaheim had been in a horrific tailspin. Even with the victory against the Canadiens, the club had gone just 2-7-1 in their last 10 games, and 3-12-4 in the last 19. Their 7-13-4 record has the Ducks battling the Columbus Blue Jackets for the basement spot in the Western Conference.

Coaching the team since the 2005-06 campaign, Carlyle posted a 273-182-6 mark in Anaheim. His biggest accomplishment was in his second year with the organization, as he guided the team to a Stanley Cup championship in 2007.

One of the biggest disappointments for Anaheim this season has been their almost total lack of offense. In their last 16 losses, the club has mustered a measly 32 goals. The Ducks’ big line of Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf, and Corey Perry have all slumped this year, leading to persistent rumors that Ryan is on the trading block.

Look for the intensity of those rumors to calm down for a period of adjustment to the new coach, and for management to assess their club’s needs and Ryan’s performance.

It might be perceived that Boudreau is taking over in a climate that is much the same as what he experienced with the Capitals. The Ducks are a team that thrives when the big line produces, and Anaheim’s success is proportionately dependent on the amount of ice time given to the star players.

One of the issues he had tried to deal with in Washington was cutting the star player’s ice time, especially when they took a bad penalty or generally underperforming. In addition to Ovechkin’s murmuring caught on video, it also led to a rift with Alexander Semin, who was benched numerous times for lazy stick infractions and coasting in the team’s defensive zone.

For those expecting this move to be a failure in Anaheim, betting against Boudreau would not be a wise choice. Remember, he took over a confused and disjointed Capitals team in 2007, and immediately brought cohesion and disciplined play to the squad. He won the 2008 Jack Adams award as the League’s top coach, and sported a 201-88-40 record during his time in Washington.

The Ducks have looked to be in a similar fog of disarray this season, so Boudreau should be no stranger to the type of chaos he is coming in to.

Much the same as when he took over the Caps, many of the pieces are already in place in Anaheim. Just like Washington had Ovechkin, Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green, the Ducks boast reigning NHL MVP Perry, Getzlaf, and Perry, along with ageless wonder Teemu Selanne.

It may just be the team isn’t deep enough and moves will have to eventually be made. Or it could be all they need is for someone to arrange and maneuver the existing pieces in a way that makes sense, and in a manner that returns the Ducks to the western powerhouse we have come to expect.

It will be interesting to see just how long it will take to right the ship in Anaheim, but things will be rectified with a club that is struggling to find its way at the moment. Boudreau will see to that, just as he did in Washington.

And maybe, just maybe, Anaheim will eventually give Boudreau something in return that the Capitals could not during his time in Washington, and that is a deep playoff run.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

There is an old adage in professional sports about how it is easier to fire a coach than it is to fire 23 players, and that could not have been more true in this morning’s axing of Bruce Boudreau by the Washington Capitals.

Following a team-best 7-0-0 start the Caps had fallen on hard times in recent weeks, going just 5-9-1 over their last 15 games.

There were obviously issues in the dressing room that revolved around new implementations by Boudreau, involving accountability of his club’s numerous star players.  The coach was apt to bench anyone if they were playing at a level deemed less than what was expected.

The situation between Boudreau and Ovechkin may have been 'irreconcilable'. (Photo credit: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

One of the most-publicized – and perhaps damning - incidents occurred on November 1, when Boudreau sat captain and face-of-the-franchise Alex Ovechkin in the last minute of a contest that Washington trailed by a goal.

Even though Nicklas Backstrom would score both the game-tying goal late in regulation and the game-winner in overtime, cameras caught Ovechkin - who was visibly unhappy - murmuring on the bench.  If you are good at reading lips, Ovechkin’s displeasure at Boudreau’s decision to leave him on the pines at a critical time in the tilt was crystal clear.

Prior to last year, Ovechkin had scored 50-or-more goals and 100-or-more points in four of five NHL campaigns.  Even in his sophomore season of 2006-07, when he did not attain those levels, he still recorded 46 goals and 92 points.

Already coming off a career-low 32 goals last season, Ovechkin was slumping badly again in the season’s first two months this year. 

After 22 games, Ovie had all of eight goals and 17 points – good for second on the club, but far below the numbers usually put up by the 26-year-old Russian-native.  He had all of one goal and three points in his last eight contests, a stretch in which he also was tagged with a -7 rating.

Something had to change, and there was no way that Ted Leonsis and the Capitals were about to move Ovechkin.

Not surprisingly, it was Boudreau who ended up as the one on the chopping block.

Stephen Whyno, the Caps’ beat writer for The Washington Times, tweeted this quote from Bill Watters, who was Boudreau agent during his playing days.

“I called this a week ago. It was inevitable with Ovechkin. I don’t know whos going to be the second victim, but Bruce is the first.  When they decided that keeping Alex Ovechkin happy was secondary to winning a Stanley Cup, that was the end of Bruce Boudreau.”

In hiring former-Capitals captain Dale Hunter as Boudreau’s replacement, there is no doubt Washington is getting another incredible bench boss.  He has spent the last 11 years as coach of the OHL’s London Knights, sporting a gaudy 451-189-23-24 mark.  There is no reason to believe Hunter won’t attack this opportunity with the ferocity that helped him to become the only NHLer ever to record more than 1,000 points and 3,500 PIMs during his 19-year career.

But one has to believe that Boudreau deserved a better end to his time with the Caps.  He took over a team that was very much in disarray in 2007, and turned things around to the tune of an amazing 201-88-40 record.  He won the Jack Adams Trophy in 2008, and became the coach to win 200 games the quickest in NHL history.  Now he is out of a job, but there is no doubt Boudreau will be picked up by another team at some point during the remainder of the regular season.

With the air of frustration and dischord surrounding the team, a change definitely had to be made.  The disinterested play exhibited by Ovechkin, as well as that of fellow-Russian star winger Alexander Semin (five goals, 10 points, -3 in 21 games), seemed to seal Boudreau’s fate.  

Thrashings at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets (4-1 on November 17), Toronto Maple Leafs (7-1 in on November 19), New York Rangers (6-3 in Washington on November 25), and to an injury-depleted Buffalo Sabres squad (5-1 this past Saturday night) also could not be ignored.

Boudreau’s biggest downfall during his time in America’s capital was his 17-20 playoff record.  By acquiring character players such as Mike Knuble, Jason Chimera, Joel Ward, and Troy Brouwer over the last few years, the Capitals had added several character players to not only help push the club over the hump in the postseason, but also to get them through the times of adversity.  This is certainly one of those times, and it will be interesting to see how they react and get the players to respond.

Sure, Boudreau deserved a much better fate in Washington.  But it was easier to change coaches than to go through a massive rebuilding stage for a club that appeared destined to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

Sometimes old professional sports adages ring true far too often.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By Alexander Monaghan
President 

By Bridget Samuels (originally posted to Flickr as IMG_6946.jpg)

A quick glance at the League leaders in scoring would yield some household names. Budding forwards Jamie Benn, Phil Kessel and Claude Giroux sit atop stats pages with a familiar name sandwiched in between. That name is Nicklas Backstrom, a once 100-point producer whose production — much like the rest of the Washington Capitals — simply fell off a map last season.

Backstrom has been excellent, sitting third in the League in total points and first in assists. He’s the first player to double digit power play assists and power play totals overall. The crafty Swede is a huge reason why the Caps hold the fourth-most efficient conversion rate with the man advantage. Their power play efficiency was actually a huge reason why the Caps fell from first in scoring to 19th last season.

Looking back at those initial statistics, you will find Alex Ovechkin a bit farther down the list. Not necessarily struggling but also not proving himself statistically as the best player in the League. His six goals and 13 points tie him for 28th overall in scoring. More importantly all six goals scored have been assisted by Backstrom; the six notches this season are only one more than his pivot, making Backstrom’s totals that more impressive.

We all knew Backstrom was a top-notch talent but perhaps he is now ready to break free as a true superstar, not just Ovi’s center.

On Monday, the Gavle, Sweden received a bit of notoriety, earning the third star of the week thanks to three dominant games. Over those three tilts he potted three goals and six points — out producing everyone except fellow Swede Loui Eriksson. His accolade acknowledged his excellent streak but it did not define his contributions on the ice thus far.

He actually has continued his tear, moving from a three-game point streak to a current five-game streak. In addition, these consecutive point totals mark his second streak of the year and second five-game streak for that matter. In fact, he only has two games played without a single point and eight multi-point games over the course of the season.

Last season we saw Backstrom post three multi-game point streaks with only one sustaining a five-game length. More importantly, he only scored a point in 37 of his 77 games played as he struggled with injury and inconsistency. While he took 202 shots on goal, and has taken over 200 shots for two straight seasons, he contributes his early success to throwing more pucks at the net. From Capitals Insider:

“Obviously even if I like to pass — and I like to pass — I’ve got to try to shoot it more too,” Backstrom said. “That’s what I’m trying to do this year.”

More shooting has led to a 13.2 percent shooting percentage. His career high 33 goals came with a 14.9 percent success rate so an uptick could be sustainable. However, it should be noted that his career average is a bit below at 11.7. What’s most important is the total amount of shots he projects to take: 240 — a would-be career-high.

At this current rate, Backstrom is on pace for 32 goals and 120 points while Ovechkin looks like a 38-goal, 82-point winger. Again, nothing to sneeze at but not the most talented player in the world and possibly not even the top guy on this team.

The buzz word in Washington has been accountability. When Ovechkin was recently benched for the final minute of play against the Anaheim Ducks it was Backstrom who skated out as the extra attacker. Furthermore, it was Backstrom who scored the tying goal in the final minute. Alexander Semin had his ice time slashed due to too many minor penalties during Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars but Backstrom finished second in ice time.

In a more evenly-distributed and accountable hybrid system, Backstrom is once again thriving under coach Bruce Boudreau. Moreover, he may give the Sedin Twins a run for their money as the top scoring Swede in the NHL.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

By Resolute (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

However, there remains the re-signing or possibly non-re-signing of superstar Steven Stamkos, which people simply want!  Fear not hockey fans, according to The Fourth Period, via Twitter, “talks between the Lightning and Stamkos crew seem to be making progress…” Although we are almost certain Stamkos will re-sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning, there remains a very limited chance Paul Holmgren and the Philadelphia Flyers sign the 21-year-old to an offer sheet. After all, he claimed today, “Our writers [Philadelphia MSM] have nothing better to do.” And if we learned anything from this offseason, when Holmgren announces anything outside of a confirmed deal, the complete opposite is very likely.

Moving on, we are gathered here today to discuss how much Stamkos is worth in this insane, open market. Keep in mind, the last players of this ilk were Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin — all of which made $9 million in their first year of their new contract. While we understand the kid known as Stammer may be a tough guy and team player, accepting a contract below his market value would be foolish; especially considering these life-time deals doled out, which dictate he only play in a Bolt’s sweater. After all, his GVT — a statistic which measures his goals above replacement level — ranked him as fourth in the League, in MVP territory behind Daniel Sedin, Corey Perry and teammate Martin St. Louis.

Furthermore, two years of 45-plus goals per season in his first three seasons is slightly uncharted territory. Although Ovechkin matched these numbers, almost perfectly, there really are not too many more comparable players. Moreover, Ovechkin came into the League at 20, Stamkos did most of his damage before turning the legal drinking age. In this era, goals do not grow on trees and neither do top tier snipers. There remains no question out there that the Lightning need to lock up Stamkos, the problem remains how much can he ask for.

To start, he will earn at least the base $9 million per season in his first few seasons. He could choose to only re-sign for four more seasons and cash in via free agency but something tells me Steve Yzerman and company had a little longer of a deal in mind. Taking Ovechkin’s 13-year, $124 million contract seems somewhat outdated in this comparison, especially since it fails to circumvent the CBA in any way.

This weekend the New York Rangers inked Brad Richards to a nine year, $60 million pact which includes two seasons at an outrageous $12 million per season. Stamkos needs to start somewhere and although only a restricted free agent he simply could ask for similar money in the beginning of the deal, or sign Holmgren’s offer of the same. While average fans throw around the idea of Stammer on their team, they fail to recognize the true worth of this generational talent. Stevie Y better prepare to ask Jeff Vinik for a pretty sizeable paycheck to lock their superstar up while they still can.

By Alexander Monaghan
President of NHLHotStove.com

About a month ago to the day, we discussed the possibility of Head Coach Bruce Boudreau getting the ax should the Washington Capitals not advance at least into the Eastern Conference Finals. After four short, painful games his Caps team could simply not beat the 1-3-1, or modern day “trap”, rather falling to their Southeast Division rival Tampa Bay Lightning.

Clearly with failure, the blame gets put at the top with a trickle-down affect. In case you live under a rock during the past two weeks, here is how the blame was passed around.

Photo Credit: scriptingnews / Flickr

Outspoken owner Ted Leonsis took to the blog and congratulated the Bolts on their win, putting the focus on how well they played opposed to how poorly the Caps played against them. In his opinion the team let the fans down, as referenced by these excerpts:

“The best course of action for us though is to let a few days pass; be very analytic about what needs to be improved; articulate that plan; and then execute upon it…

…Clearly we know we have to improve to build a franchise that is as good as our fan base…

…Thank you for caring so much. I am so very sorry we let you all down.”

That blog entry came a short six days ago yet the Capitals have not made a single knee-jerk reaction. That same day acting GM George McPhee said that he expected Boudreau to return for another season. McPhee sounded confident when speaking to Tarik El-Bashir of The Washington Post, saying “I expect him to be back, yeah. He’s a good coach.”

It sounds like the team has the guy they want to coach them to the Stanley Cup, but honestly is Boudreau the right guy?

When asked whether Boudreau and his 17-20 record when the games matter most is the right guy, McPhee remained on his side:

“Someone said he’s not a good playoff coach. There’s no difference between a playoff coach and regular season coach. Either you’re a good coach or you’re not. He’s a good coach.”

If McPhee is referring to Boudreau’s success in the AHL, internal options Mark French and Bob Wood have had success themselves in guiding the Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup. However, a more experienced playoff coach would be a better bet after all Boudreau has coached four Southeast Division winners and somehow holds only two playoff series victories, with both coming against the lowly New York Rangers. One has to wonder whether the team is afraid of change or simply afraid of accountability amongst their beloved staff.

Well, one thing we know is true–Leonsis will not be making the decisions.

Yesterday, according to Katie Carrera at The Washington Post, McPhee will make all the decisions. If he is a man of his word — which we have no reason to doubt after his 30+ years in the business — then Boudreau will stay on as coach. His firing seems like the logical decision as this team simply has not crossed the barrier from elite regular season team to elite playoff team. The San Jose Sharks took years of retooling, coaching changes and development to get themselves into the Western Conference Finals. At no point did they not make strong moves in order to get them into better position.

So Leonsis won’t be firing McPhee, McPhee won’t fire Boudreau. Then should all the blame get passed onto the players?

Photo Credit: Dan4th / Flickr

Nicklas Backstrom took a good deal of chirping after his no-show effort during the playoffs. Mike Green looked exposed in his brief time playing in the series. Alex Ovechkin, who also will not be blamed, could also have been better. Ovechkin will not be known as the problem, this entire team was built around him and he will use his undisclosed injury as a reason for not playing better. That same nagging injury that puts him in the World Championships as I digress.

With a few good young players already with the team in Marcus Johansson, Karl Alzner, John Carlson and Michal Neuvirth the Caps are in good hands but also in transition. Will those guys replace players like Backstrom, Green and Semyon Varlamov or simply supplement them. When all of their players are in their prime, there will only be so many minutes to go around. Keep in mind, the team holds bluechip prospects like Evgeny Kuznetsov,  Braden Holtby, and Dmitri Orlov and other budding youngsters like Cody Eakin, Patrick Wey and Stanislav Galiev.  All of these guys, should they pan out, will also need to slot in somewhere to succeed.

An educated guess would say the team will make a minor heart transplant, replacing players like Jason Arnott, Marco Sturm and even a blueliner like Jeff Schultz in hopes that their big guns bounce back in a big way.

The question is, when that plan fails next season, who will then take the blame in Washington?

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove NHL / Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

James van Riemsdyk is coming of age.

Tim Shaffer / REUTERS

He has begun to shed the “potential” portion of the “potential elite-power forward” label that van Riemsdyk has carried since coming to the Flyers last season.  

On his birthday, Philadelphia will rely on their new-found offensive cornerstone to hopefully get them a big win tonight in Boston.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove NHL / Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

Boston Bruins center David Krejci continued his great play in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring the game-winning goal at the 14:01 mark of overtime to give Boston a 3-2 win and a 2-0 series lead.

AP photo

Krejci, who scored two goals and added two assists in a game one blowout, sent a one-time rocket from the slot that beat Brian Boucher over his right shoulder on the short side that went off the back bar behind him and came back out.  After a quick video review, it was confirmed that the shot went into the net.

“He (linemate Nathan Horton) picked it up and he made a nice play“, Krejci said of the winning sequence.  ”I wanted to get a good one-timer and it worked.  I thought it was in but then they kept playing, so I just wanted to finish up on the shift and then the ref took a look at it and it was in.”

Goaltender Tim Thomas had a stellar night as he stopped 52 Philadelphia shots, including the last 46 he faced.  Thomas was at his acrobatic best stopping several Flyers’ breakaways, and a point blank one-timer by Mike Richards off of a Kris Versteeg pass from behind the net late in the third.

“He’s playing great,” Claude Giroux said of Thomas.  ”He competes a lot.  He will do anything to stop the puck and I think we just need to keep shooting.”

“Sometimes that’s what goalies do in the playoffs,” said Danny Briere.  ”We’ve seen it before.  Ryan Miller stole a few games for them (Buffalo) in the first round against us.  He (Thomas) was hot.”

Even though there was late-day news that defenseman Chris Pronger would not play in game two due to an undisclosed injury, the Wells Fargo Center was electric on Monday night.

Lauren Hart’s epic rendition of “God Bless America”, performed along with video of the late, great, Flyers’ good luck charm Kate Smith, gave the Flyers a tremendous wave of emotion to start the contest.

“That was pretty cool,” said James van Riemsdyk.  ”Obviously being an American and playing in a city like Philadelphia, one of the most prominent American cities is pretty cool and the fans were unbelievable.  They are so passionate about a country and our sports and to hear that it was pretty special.”

They rode that wave, getting a quick goal from a red-hot van Riemsdyk just 29 seconds after the opening puck drop.  Nik Zherdev sent a pass to Giroux, and the center was in on a two-on-one.  Giroux got the puck to van Riemsdyk, whose shot was initially blocked, but made it’s way past Thomas to give the home team a 1-0 lead.

But van Riemsdyk wasn’t done, as he staked Philadelphia to a 2-0 lead midway through the opening frame by jamming Briere’s rebound past Thomas.  That goal gave the 21-year-old seven goals in the playoffs, tying him with Briere for the postseason lead.

Giroux said Philadelphia has to follow van Riemsdyk’s lead.

“He’s our best player right now,” said the crafty center.  ”He has a lot of energy and a lot of confidence.  I think we just need to follow him.”

But the Bruins would tie the game with two goals just 1:25 apart from Chris Kelly and Brad Marchand late in the first period.

The score would remain that way for the next 79:46, in large part because of Thomas’ stirring play.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Flyers’ playoff game without some sort of goaltender drama.  Boucher stopped a shot with his glove hand, then as play went to the Bruins’ end of the ice, Boucher motioned that he was having some distress.  He would leave the game midway through the middle stanza, giving way to Sergei Bobrovsky.

Bobrovsky played well, stopping all six shots he faced through the end of the second, although Krejci did hit the goal post on one chance where he had a lot of net to shoot at on the backhand.

Boucher would return to start the third period.

Heading into the third period, Boston led in the shots department, 29-22.  But that would soon change.

Over the last 34:01 of the third and overtime, Philadelphia outshot the Bruins by a 32-12 count, but Thomas would not relent.

Briere had a golden opportunity to end the game at the end of regulation.  After winning the offensive zone faceoff with 4.2 seconds left, Briere found himself with the rebound of a van Riemsdyk shot at his stick and an open net with Thomas out of position after making the initial save.

“Off the faceoff I never saw the puck,” said Briere after the game.  ”I was just trying to find my way to the open space, and next thing I knew, I felt the puck at my feet.  It just hopped over my stick.  I never was able to put a stick on it, and it bounced behind me.”

“The puck just squirted out and I tried to fire it on net and Danny was on the back door and it just bounced over his stick,” van Riemsdyk said.  ”It’s a game of inches out there and that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Just prior to the Krejci game-winner, Rich Peverley had beaten Boucher from a similar spot, but his shot rang off of the goal post and stayed out.

After the game, there was a buzz regarding the play of van Riemsdyk.  The winger now has scored goals in five consecutive games, netting six goals over that span.  And his coach paid him a massive compliment.

“It was such a good night for him,” said head coach Peter Laviolette.  ”It makes you anxious to see his future unfold. Tonight he was an impact player. I thought it was the most dominating performances that I have seen from a player.”

Defenseman Kimmo Timonen said the team has to do exactly what it did tonight to be successful in games three and four in Boston.

“We have to go into Boston and play the same way we played tonight,” said Timonen.

And they will also have to find a way to solve Thomas.

Taking a Flyer:  The 22 shots on goal in the third period is a new Flyers franchise record for shots in a period of a playoff game at home.  Previous record was 20, last done in second period of Game 2 of the 1980 Semifinals against the Minnesota North Stars…van Riemsdyk now has 59 shots on goal in the 2011 postseason, the second-highest total after nine games in the last 30 years – Alex Ovechkin had 70 in the first nine playoff contests in 2009…Richards had a game-high 10 shots on goal…Philadelphia is now 1-2 in overtime in the 2011 playoffs…Briere was hobbled early in the game when he blocked a point shot on a Boston power play…Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid left the game late in the first period after attempting to drill Richards.  McQuaid missed the Flyers’ captain and went face-first into the boards.  The blue liner laid motionless on the ice for several minutes before going off with some assistance.  McQuaid went to a hospital for tests…Scott Hartnell and Darroll Powe were each credited with six hits tonight, while Matt Carle blocked seven shots…Thomas ran his lifetime record in Philadelphia to 8-0.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

After three contests the Washington Capitals failed to bury the New York Rangers, allowing them to get back into this series. As anticipated from the very beginning, these two teams will clearly make a series of it.

Back home in Madison Square Garden, the Rangers fed off their fans and found themselves at a critical time. Had they not scored timely goals on Sunday, leading to a 3-2 win, they would have found themselves down 3-0 with only two of the next four games coming at home. The team looks to replicate their latest win and go back to Washington with an even slate.

Photo Credit: bridgetds / Flickr

The Rangers offense, led by leading goal-scorer Brandon Dubinsky, looked invigorated by almost scoring four goals after no forward put anything past Neuvirth in the first two games. They crashed the net, talked trash at Neuvirth and generally generated more offense by playing tough, hard-working defense.

Neuvirth stayed calm, but other members of the organization seem rattled.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau publicly chastised MSG and accused numerous Rangers players — Marc Staal and Brandon Prust specifically — of targeting the head of recently-concussed All-Star Mike Green. If you recall correctly, it was an elbow by rookie Derek Stepan amongst other plays the forced Green to miss 33 games during the regular season. Boudreau has been incredibly outgoing with his dislike of the referees, certain members of the team’s roster and the fans alike. In short, the Rangers as a whole appear under his skin.

By contrast, coach Tortorella retorted by calling Boudreau a ‘whiner’ and claimed that despite these attacks on his team he believes the referees will call an even match. Although it seemed to take a while to get chippy, regardless of some attempts by Capitals fans, this series will be played with a chip on its shoulder from this point on. Caps fans hate Tortorella and now Rangers fans have their motivation to hate Boudreau — if they did not already.

Sunday’s game, unlike the two played in Washington, came via the run-and-gun style the Caps tried to stay away from. They allowed Neuvirth to face 35 shots after he only saw 47 in the previous two games combined. The loss could act as a wake-up call that they need to stay tighter defensively and allow the Rangers to give the puck back. On Sunday they allowed the Rangers to establish their forecheck early and set the tempo with their home crowd behind them.

Will this new-found momentum be enought to get the Rangers back on even standing? Will the near three-day layoff be enough for the Caps to take a dominating lead in the series?

To steal another game the Rangers will need to play to their strengths and coach Tortorella did exactly that offensively by putting Dubinsky back at center, pivoting star Marian Gaborik. Tortorella decided to make one minor change during yesterday’s practice, swapping Vinny Prospal and Ruslan Fedotenko. The team also re-assigned Mats Zuccarello, making it very clear they are happy with Sean Avery in the lineup.

The expected lineup should be as follows:

• Prospal, Dubinsky, Gaborik
• Fedotenko, Anisimov, Stepan
• Avery, Boyle, Prust
• Wolski, Christensen, Drury
• Staal, Girardi
• McDonagh, Sauer
• McCabe, Gilroy

Henrik Lundqvist will of course get the start. He makes his 30th consecutive start in goal. At this point he seems geared up to play 20 more; he can only hope those would be in a Ranger uniform not representing Sweden at the Worlds.

The visiting team looks to have made a few changes of their own as they look to go home to a series clincher.  If the Caps do indeed win this game they will need to do it without top-line right winger Mike Knuble. The recently re-signed veteran has not skated for the three days between games and is expected to miss tonight’s action due to his undisclosed injury.

The rest of the lineup should look like this:

• Ovechkin, Backstrom, Chimera
• Sturm, Arnott, Semin
• Laich, Johansson, Fehr
• Hendricks, Gordon, Bradley
• Alzner, Carlson
• Schultz, Green*
• Erskine, Hannan

*After limiting his minutes through the first two games it looks like Green has the full green light. He moves off the bottom pairing and will be reunited with longtime partner Jeff Schultz. However, the standout play from defensive d-man Karl Alzner has allowed for this unit to become secondary.

Michal Neuvirth will start his fifth consecutive game in net. It will be interesting to see if he faces over 30 shots again and how he reacts to the excess workload. If his first three playoff starts are any indication he will be as cool as a cucumber.

Knuble missed three games during the regular season in which the team went 1-1-1.

The Rangers came into this series confident in their ability to block shots and shut down their opponent’s top players. According to Neil Greenberg of The Washington Post, the tandem of Dan Girardi and Marc Staal are simply not stopping Alex Ovechkin as he continues to crash the net with a purpose.

Will the game-plan be altered to further push the top line away from Lundqvist? Would assigning Michael Sauer and Ryan McDonagh to the top line change anything?

From all indications it seems like the Rangers are finally playing the style of game they want to play in this series. All eyes will be on the Capitals to react accordingly.

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By Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder / CEO

On Wednesday night, the Washington Capitals set the pace with their 2-1 win — a victory that they earned with their new, defense-first system. By contrast, the New York Rangers responded by staying in the game and displaying their hard-working mentality but fell just short mostly due to an offensive deficiency.

At this point in the series, the Capitals have John Tortorella and the Rangers right where they want them.

Playing a tight-knit game actually favored the Caps as they showed more success in closer games against their new-found rival during the regular season. If the Caps can continue to keep these games close, their offensive firepower should bail them out as they did on Wednesday night.

After bottom-pairing defenseman Matt Gilroy gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead both Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin contributed to their team’s comeback, leading the Caps to a thrilling overtime victory.  The lack of this firepower contributed to the Caps losing three of four during the regular season since clearly the top guns need to be exactly that.

In addition to the re-emergence of Semin and Ovechkin, the Caps received a boost from the return of Mike Green, who clearly adds another dimension by moving the puck up the ice. While his team relies on rookie John Carlson and Karl Alzner to provide solid, two-way minutes, Green’s offensive ability is what stirs the drink on the powerplay.

With all these pieces in effect and a tight defensive game, the Caps stay true to the team they want to be and the team that scaled back their run-and-gun style.

For the Rangers to stand any chance, they need to play more in their opponent’s zone. Clearly the team knows that and losing game one will not shoot down any hopes they had going into this series.  According to Henrik Lundqvist, via Andrew Gross of The Record, the game plan is to put their overtime loss behind them.

However, without more offense, this team does not stand a chance.

Players like Marian Gaborik, Vaclav Prospal and Brandon Dubinsky amongst others all clearly need to provide their offense with the much-needed spark. Using players like Brandon Prust, Brian Boyle, Ruslan Fedotenko and Chris Drury to cycle the puck down low and grind into the Caps with their forecheck will prove to be beneficial and allow the Rangers to set their own pace.

Once again Lundqvist will start against the Capitals, after stopping 31 of 33 shots through almost 79 minutes on Wednesday. In fact, the only line change seems to be swapping centers Artem Anisimov and Erik Christensen in order to get the offense kickstarted.

When questioned about the change, coach Tortorella responded with these comments about Christensen:

“We’re not putting Erik in there for his defensive purposes. He is a skilled guy. He’s given us good minutes at certain times. We’re not idiots, we need to spend more time in their end zone.”

In the past Christensen has put up points in bunches, the team is hoping they can catch lightning in a bottle once again.

• Prospal, Christensen, Gaborik
• Dubinsky, Stepan, Fedotenko
• Wolski, Boyle, Prust
• Avery*, Anisimov, Drury
• Staal, Girardi
• McDonagh, Sauer
• McCabe, Gilroy

As of this morning, Sean Avery will be in the lineup tonight as the team attempts to spark the offense.

On the other side of the ice, the Caps are expected to field the same lineup. Michal Neuvirth stopped 24 of 25 shots in his first career playoff victory. Perhaps this team has found the starting goalie they needed to carry them into a long playoff run.

The rest of their lineup is expected to be as follows:

• Ovechkin, Backstrom, Knuble
• Sturm, Arnott, Semin
• Laich, Johansson, Chimera
• Hendricks, Gordon, Bradley
• Alzner, Carlson
• Schultz, Hannan
• Erskine, Green

Defenseman Tom Poti continues to skate with the team but according to Stephen Whyno of the Washington Times will have a hard time cracking this lineup barring any injuries.

Semin was the only player to score more than one point, assisting on Ovechkin’s goal before scoring the game winner in overtime. Semin, Ovechkin, Laich, Knuble and Backstrom all played over 22 minutes.

Dan Girardi and Marc Staal each played over 32 minutes. Staal led all players in powerplay and even strength minutes, playing 27:55 regularly and 3:25 with the man advantage. Both he and Girardi should play slightly less in order to stay fresh and avoid fatigue in what they hope to be a long series.

On the other hand, the Caps distributed their minutes amongst the blue line with all six players topping 19 minutes. John Erskine, the clear-cut number six, played only 50 seconds less than the number five d-man on the Rangers, Bryan McCabe.

Ovechkin led all players in shots taken with six while Gaborik took four shots on net.

Who will take the lead offensively in the next game? Will the Rangers bounce back or do the Caps take a decisive series lead? All of these questions will be answered at 7:30 EST when the Caps host the Rangers.

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