Caps Try to Right the Ship at Home

Well last night certainly felt like a kick in the nuts. The Caps finally showed the grittiness and teamwork that they need to win this series, and they still couldn't come away with the win. They even dent Briere to the box 3 times. Huet played his best game of the series, making a pair of killer saves to keep the Caps going. (Video here, Check the times at 3:23 in and 4:45 in)

But in the end they couldn't put it away. The good news is is that the Caps have come back from down 1-3 to win before. Their opponent? The Flyers. It would be interesting to see if Dale Hunter makes a trip down to the Verizon for tomorrow night's game.

This is a series of conundrums. Ovie is relatively cold while Semin is giving back almost more than he's getting from the physical Flyers. The Philly powerplay isn't hurting the Caps as much as people thought, although it doesn't give the Caps the right to take multiple too many men penalties in one game. But the series is not revolving around the big factors people had predicted.

It all comes down to this: the Caps need to clear out the front of their net. Nearly every goal the Flyers have scored, including all 4 goals last night, have been from between the hash marks or closer. The Flyers are banging away right in front of the net, and chances are pretty good that you're going to bang a few in from that close. The Caps defense needs to step up and clear out that area. One good moment I saw last night was John Erskine pitchforking a Flyer out from in front of the net. You've got to get dirty, but that's how you prevent goals from in close.

Joe Dumas 04:07 PM

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