What's that old adage? Ah yes, "Defense wins championships."
Someone forgot to tell the Washington Capitals that.
Flying high with dynamic forwards and a mobile defense, the Capitals started the playoffs with Stanley Cup dreams. After a few days and two games, the Washington players — from superstar Alex Ovechkin to veteran Sergei Fedorov to speedy Mike Green — are looking at themselves and wondering what's happened to their team.
While New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding in his Game 2 shutout of the Capitals, Game 1's 4-3 loss was a mixture of good and bad for the Capitals. Generally, when a team scores three goals in a playoff game, it's enough to win. But the Capitals went into the playoffs with question marks on team defense and in net, and those two exact problems bit Washington in that game. In fact, in the age-old Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin debate, one of the constant points in favor of Crosby is that he can play the penalty kill and consistently backchecks, something that Ovechkin often fails to do.
How bad is the goaltending situation in Washington? Jose Theodore, a measure of doubt for everyone but the most die-hard Caps fans, played inconsistently enough to warrant the Game 2 start of Simeon Varlamov.
Who? If you don't know Varlamov, you're not alone — the 20-year-old rookie was a 2006 draft pick with no playoff experience.
That's right, coach Bruce Boudreau elected to go with zero playoff experience rather than the veteran. However, it wasn't totally Theodore's fault. In fact, the Game 1 loss was more an example of defensive breakdowns — the very Achilles' heel that so many speculated about entering the post-season.
The Caps' offense-first thinking is a dynamic, entertaining brand of hockey. If they employed a Hall of Fame goalie in his prime (or at least swapped goalies with the Rangers so they could have Lundqvist's Vezina-nominated skills), that sort of thing might work in the long run. However, the regular season and the playoffs are two separate beasts. While the Rangers had plenty of flaws going into the playoffs, they also had one of the league's best goalies and a disciplined commitment to team defense (check out that No. 1 ranked penalty kill). Sure, it might make for boring hockey, but that defensive strength has carried plenty of teams deep into the playoffs.
The problem is that it's easier to win a 2-1 game in the playoffs than a 6-5 goal-fest. It just doesn't happen in the playoffs, and when a team's strategy emphasizes offense rather than a balanced approach, it becomes a risky gamble. The Capitals have discovered that whenever you gamble, eventually you lose. In the regular season, those losses were acceptable. In the playoffs, two losses in a row can be devastating.
Only about 13% of playoff teams have come back from 2-0 deficits. It's also a different beast when the road team loses their first two games. The Capitals, on the other hand, have lost the first two at home, something almost unheard for a team nearly unbeatable at the Verizon Center.
So let's just assume that despite a valiant effort from OVechkin and company, the Caps lose. What does this mean for next season?
Well, there's no doubt that Bruce Boudreau will be back for next season — but will his style change? The Capitals don't need to have a Jacques Lemaire-style of "defensive automotons on ice," but their overall strategy needs to be revisited.
Defense wins championships. That's been acknowledged since the beginning of sport, probably dating back to the original caveman competitions. Perhaps it's time that the high-flying Capitals traded in some of that explosive offense for a little more stability on the back end.
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