PenCap Musings and In-Game Scribbles
May 11, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Washington 5 at Pittsburgh 4 (OT)
Second Round, Game 6
First Period (RDS)
The RDS feed is direct from TSN. Same company.
Again, the white on white of the Capital uniforms (white uniforms on white ice) is a blanding. It’s magnified by the prim white throughout the arena. Fans en blanc.
Caps miss an open net chance.
Pothier from the blue line and the Capitals control for a power-play length of time. But no dangerous chances.
The Capitals occupy Penguin territory for the first four minutes. Five-on-five.
The Penguins seem to want to wait. Hang on the ropes. Maybe absorb some of Washington’s early energy? It’s surprising because I expect the home team to have the early jump in games of these types. It’s not a good sign for Mario’s team.
It will mean little if Washington doesn’t score, though.
Pittsburgh gets some control and pop off a surprise shot on Varlamov. Then they flow down again, two-on-one. Crosby with a mild but elegant pass to Guerin. Easy goal. Made to look easy, anyhow. Great high shot from the former Bruin.
1-0, Pittsburgh.
These commercials that place women in the role of guardian of the family budget. Can’t these guys just be egalitarian and responsible? No. Instead they place their wives in the role of mother (creating an impassable dynamic) and we get stuck with inane commercials with men begging for or sneaking in giant-screen emperor’s television sets.
Caps are playing a careful pace. Boudreau remarked after their loss on Saturday that his team seemed to play better once they fell behind. Less mistakes. Turnovers are certainly a concern for both teams. Washington ranked second-highest in the NHL regular season with 1011 giveaways. They are first in this season’s playoffs with 126. It’s a flat stat and needs more context for precision but it’s something that is apparent to the casual observer. Pittsburgh is 18th and 3rd respectively in the same area. For Pittsburgh, it’s an area they have improved in since last season.
Puck protection.
Now the Capitals take a stupid penalty. Brooks Laich. Crosschecks Crosby twice. While Crosby is down on the ice. The other Brooks (Orpik) is a knucklehead as well. Pattern?
It’s a two-man advantage. Guerin is on the ice with Malkin and Crosby. Third penalty now. But this one is on the Pens. Crosby. The Caps constricted into a tight triangle to prevent damage prior to the call. Big missed opportunity for Pittsburgh.
Crosby is probably too young to be captain. I agree, in principle, with Bob McCown’s position on the issue.
Just under ten minutes left in the first period. And the action cools even more. Both teams are cautious. They don’t overskate on the forecheck in order to avoid giving up man-advantages.
Fedorov is on now. Mild three-on-two for Washington results in a turnover. Caps come back with more of the same. Finally the third time in, they get it settled. They have a short man-advantage. Pens boo Ovechkin as he handles the puck. Caps are unable to create anything. Penalty ends.
We are informed that the Kelowna Rockets are in the Memorial Cup Final against Rimouski.
The game resumes. Hockey is a mighty long season, folks. And it doesn’t have much of an off-season. They need to go to 70 or even 60 games. And maybe increase the playoff series length to best-of-nine but maybe one less round. And four less teams. So an overall decrease in games played.
Caps are game but not able to connect the dots. They get it deep and hold it along the boards. But they can’t get the puck onto sticks in the slot.
Just over four minutes left in the first.
Fedorov is on with Laich. Loses the faceoff and has to chase. Letang eventually gets it and his pass is into sticks. A lot of lost puck and lost footing. The action bubble travels in the neutral zone or to Pittsburgh’s crease. Very little presence in the Capital end.
Both teams seem sluggish. Is fear slowing their reactions? Cus D’Amato might know.
Within all this entertainment, big money, slush and concession money there is something beating. There are rivulets of honour. Grooves of spatial geometry; memorials to ice magic. They are more rare but the runes are there. Maybe not worth digging for; so buried as they are. But still there. Immutable.
The players skate scissored and heavy, unaware.
Caps get a power-play. Not much results. And we go to the break.
First Intermission (RDS)
They discuss yesterday’s punch thrown late in the Boston-Carolina game.
Jacques is asked, “Why is it so difficult for the NHL to apply their rules consistently?” He says that there are many who are asking these questions. He explains why yesterday’s decision looked as it did. It’s clear that the NHL optics are far worse than the other major leagues’. Jacques doesn’t need to say it.
Conversely, a game suspension was handed out in a recent NBA playoff game for a player who whacked another dude on the back of the head. It would seem, on the surface, that their house is in order.
However, it’s complicated because both the NFL and NBA brass (the NHL’s ugly elder step-sisters) enjoy punishing the black athlete (to different degrees and in different situations). And so in that league there need to be watchdogs protecting players from unfair punishments. In a recent Rocket-Laker playoff game, for instance, Ron Artest was disqualified for a hard foul. It was interpreted as a Flagrant 2. TNT analyst Jeff Van Gundy (former Rocket and Knick head coach) said he couldn’t disagree more with the call. Artest has become today’s Dennis Rodman and is a favourite target for NBA refs. Amongst others.
So the players fight less in the NBA. And the finger-wagging for aggressive play is directed at players who are in the majority, non-white. A cleaner game? A better league? It’s a bigger discussion for another day.
In the NHL the rules are written differently for different athletes, as well. It’s subtle at times. And at times, not so subtle. There are divides and there are haves and have-nots, Golden Boys and ne’er do wells, cultural exiles and cultural heroes. My country, right or wrong is sadly still a mantra for many Canadians.
Second Period (TSN)
Let’s see how TSN televises games. With CFL, they far outstrip CBC. Let’s hope it’s the same for hockey.
Washington has just over a minute in this power-play. It’s strange to do double-English. I feel like someone in this process should be Francophone. I’ve gotten used to listening in French, thinking in both French and English and typing in English. It reminds me of growing up in Sept-Iles. I’d think and speak in three languages.
Caps get stymied early on. One more possession. Broken up. Staal intercepts. His poor skating prevents the rush from developing.
McGuire seems to be the colour guy tonight. Pierre McGuire. I seem to recall musing a game this season with his involvement.
Back to even-strength. Caps are not playing breakneck. They are at their best when they do that. Or at least, at their most dangerous. Is the decrease in turnovers worth it? Was Dan Reeves right in only letting Elway free to run around on the last or second-last possession of a game? Ask a Boulderite.
Yes. It’s McGuire. Some are touting him as a serious candidate to manage an NHL hockey team. He has strong viewpoints. But does he have the patience to be a long-view kind of persona?
Satan is on with Malkin and they control deep for a time. Caps emerge. Semin. Passes to Poti on the point. Wild shot. (Walton)
Pens get it out and force Caps to regroup. The game is there for Washington if they want it. Penguins are just sitting on the lead.
The work on the boards is with low purpose. Both lines. Washington is playing neutered.
Nobody wants to goad the game to that high level. It’s too much, perhaps.
But someone will. Or a goal will.
Goal.
Kozlov. Lopey shot. High wrister. Great torque. Hands high on his stick. Great strength. Today’s sticks help, too. Over Fleury’s glove. From the high slot. That’s a quick puck.
1-1, Tied.
Crosby looks gassed and frustrated. Sitting on the bench gritting his teeth. In pain?
Caps control smartly off the next faceoff. They have a touch more zip. Penguins just trying to keep it away. Keeping the puck outside or banged down the boards. They don’t want to pay the price. And Washington has been instructed to hold off. Or so it seems.
Pens get called for too many men on the ice. They send Malkin in to serve it. Cadillac exit.
Ovechkin on the point. Shot. Nothing. Puck stays in. Diamond formation. One man on the point. Cross-ice pass intercepted. Drive. Harmless save by Varlamov. Pens forecheck makes moments. But no shots. Killed time, though. And an offside marks the one-minute mark of the power-play. Cadillac is waiting.
Faceoff outside Caps blue. Caps win. They take it in. First shot blocked. Second Ovie fires. Stopped. Fleury on his knees. Driveway save.
Faceoff. Contained. Kozlov fires wide. Down in the corner. Laich is on the ice. Why? Ten seconds. Opposite side. Kozlov gets one more shot. From the phone booth area (slats part of the circle).
Cadillac faceoff. Malkin wins. PK is over.
Pens take it down. Satan is hitting. And so is Fedotenko.
Action is up a notch. It’s looking more like earlier in the series.
The announcing is solid. McGuire is down on the bench now talking to Bylsma. Standing right on the bench behind the players. That whole intrusive repugnance. Coaches can’t do anything about it. And the media claims that the fans want this stuff. We don’t.
McGuire tries to talk about X and O quite a lot. And I enjoy the information he comes up with.
Caps are trying some longer passes. This one results in a wide shot. Ovechkin is starting to get his barrel rolling. Big red X. Look out.
Semin and Ovechkin remain on the ice for a longer shift. And still on. Finally they change off. Just under six minutes left. Semin gets in alone. Penalty. Caps score. Lotta scramble and panic. Gawp.
2-1, Caps.
Delayed call is wiped out.
One Cap stick flying up and another bangs in the crease. Fleischmann is the scorer. McGuire says Pittsburgh is sleepwalking this whole period. Wild goal. (Walton)
Whoever is doing play-by-play is doing a solid job. Just announcing the game and describing the things we need to hear. Like line changes. And McGuire’s economy of words is the right weight and touch. Very nice. Who says RDS is the only good team in the country? (Me, for a long time, actually)
McGuire shows us some of Pothier’s good work. It’s good analysis and good TV. Pothier is solid, too. The Cap defender has kept things clean when he’s on shift.
The crowd has quieted. Sounds like a Stampede Corral crowd. From 1983. Back when Wregget was visiting as a Lethbridge Bronco.
Ovechkin gets in. Does an Astaire move. Arm over and stick vertical. Can’t draw his dance partner across, though. Skitters away.
And now Pothier takes an interference call. Pittsburgh crowd wakes up somewhat. A rise. And then a plateau. A little louder overall, though.
Pens can’t do much with this opportunity. Just over a minute and no quality shots. Crosby gets a space-making pass over to the point. Shot goes just wide. And the Caps clear.
Another Penguin attack. Pass blocked. Puck skitters around. Eaton gets it, retreats, shoots. Through. And in.
Penguins score. Eaton’s fourth of the playoffs.
2-2, tied.
Period ends seconds later.
Second Intermission
Washington’s season in a period. What will Boudreau tell them to do? In basketball, the idea for the visiting team is to stay close and then go for the kill before overtime. Shoot for three. What is the equivalent on ice?
Go Ovie, Go.
Red dawg barkin’.
Laviolette explains that both Washington and Pittsburgh were using many players for longer than 45 seconds which he asserts is the cutoff point for a high-energy playoff shift length. TSN definitely does a much better job than CBC. They analyse the game and give us some insights.
Co-opting artistic world images to sell corporate products for the sake of profit. Air Canada.
Like Carbonneau, Bylsma likes keeping his power spread across different lines. Thus we see Malkin with Crosby only on the power-play. It makes it harder to defend. You have to hope that your top four defenders can skate with these two lines. Rather than your top two defenders against their one line. Math works better. On paper, anyway. Gainey ended up moving Tanguay together with Koivu and Kovalev because the scoring was a problem. And Pittsburgh always has that option if they run into the same.
We are told that Rick Tocchet is named the regular head coach for the Lightning. Tocchet is like having Pat Quinn junior in charge. What has happened to the Lightning since the Cup win? It’s a slow, ugly decline. What is Tocchet going to impart? “We need to hustle more. We need to shoot more.” Wisdom of the hockey ages.
McGuire is asked what’s wrong with the Penguins. He tells us what they have to do to win. He believes that Washington is playing to survive. And that Pittsburgh must respond by playing to win.
Third Period (TSN)
Caps control early. Pens crowd is their loudest of the game. Long shot from the blue line is stopped by Fleury. Wrister. Ovechkin.
McGuire says that Ovechkin’s line are the most important players for the Capitals. And that they have to get it going. He’s standing down on the arena floor. Outside the boards.
Malkin. Cruises in front on his backhand. Importunate. Fires. Wide. Glamour play.
Caps must win. To keep the balance in The Force.
Crosby shoots. Deflected. High. Controlled on the point. Shot. Varlamov. Pens are macking. Puck hops over Staal’s stick. Uncoordinated.
Pens keep it alive. Shots are 27-14 in favour of the Penguins.
Caps move it out. Caps try and contain and control but take a slashing penalty. Steckel. In the Penguin zone. Pednault would be harsh.
Letang scores off a rebound early. Bang.
3-2, Pittsburgh.
Crowd alive.
What has Washington got left? Fifteen minutes and twelve seconds to show the world. Or this rink, anyway.
Defencemen are pinching for Caps. Orpik takes a Brook. I mean penalty. Up the Brook. Hook. What a dolt. In character.
Green fires from the blue. Kept in. Semin. Shoots. Scores. Silence. Head-holding. Red faces. Weird sounds from the rink.
Wrister.
3-3, tied.
The Capitals font is very nice.
Caps in again. Shot. Players go around. Shot again. Kozlov. Scores. Wow.
4-3, Washington.
Kozlov followed the puck and shot from the opposite side. Hal Gill somehow tangled up with Fleury and the goalie couldn’t get across. Lucky goal.
Then the Caps get away with a trip. Not intentional but could have been called. Action becomes tentative again. Pittsburgh controls. Crosby on the ice. Puck to the point. Letang looses a projectile. Wide. Big ricochet. Goes to the neutral zone. Caps eventually pour into the Pen zone. Great pressure. Fedorov. Backhand shots. Smothered by Marc-Andre.
Why is everything so imperfect the closer you get to it? Grrr.
Speed increases. It’s back and forth again. Speed and interruptions. Just over ten minutes. Ovechkin has been contained so far. But Semin and the others remain a problem for Pittsburgh. There is a lot of offensive talent on the ice in this series. It would be a shame to end at six. They should take this one to nine.
Crosby makes Varlamov stumble like a baker. Pass crosses the crease but no finders. The action is rising. Bylsma calls a time-out to rest his team. After an ice. Crosby is working as hard as Gretzky. And he has the backhand and change of direction to create almost as much havoc from it. Almost.
Crosby on with Malkin. Pass from Crosby to Malkin. Malkin jams. Jams. Nothing. Varlamov. Big stick. Big presence. Pens are not intimidated.
Faceoff.
They give us the game story. About as imaginative as Walby’s one-liners.
Faceoff again.
This time the Caps control. Crosby gets a feed at the high circle. Fires. Keeps it low. A lot of these low shot wristers from both teams. Hands high and quick release type of shot. It’s a dangerous shot. I like it.
Kunitz now. Chance. Varlamov on his knees. Behind the net. Crammed. Then Staal. Cruises in front. Fires wide. Wrister. Pens keeping it in. Falling, caring, controlling, driving, checking, trapping bodies. It gets rougher. Then the puck leaves. Back behind Fleury. Penguins carry it out. Repelled but retain. Fire it in. Just over seven minutes.
Talbot working deep. To Stan. Fired from the point. Now Ovie exits. Loses it right away. Fedotenko takes it back for Pittsburgh. Some team tennis. Neutral zone. Washington pressing now. Bang on the boards. Hitting. Nobody backing off. Spaces less. Gaps decrease. Urgency is high. Higher, anyway. Pens have to ice.
Malkin gets in. Fires. Goes wide but takes a strange bounce. Varlamov has to control.
Too many weird commercials. Imagine if the players had to watch them, too? They are spared. Food products and people smiling as if hypnotized and full of valium. It’s unsettling.
McGuire lobs a chapeau at Kozlov. We see his two goals.
Just over five minutes left.
Pens trying to break out. Stopped at their own blue line. McGuire says that Ovechkin doesn’t have his extra burst today. Hurt?
Puck dances and bounces in front. Skipping. Banged in. Crosby. Backhand. Three whacks. Great goal. He wants to be great.
4-4, tied.
Where is Ovie.
Fedorov. Tricky bounce backhand. Semin in. Brought down. Stopped by Fleury. No penalty.
Very emotional reaction from Crosby. Very Canadian. It’s inspiring for his teammates. Wanting gold. Wanting his best. Wanting to be a part of it all. The Silver Heritage.
Where is Bobby Orr.
Just under three minutes. Heading to the most unfair ending in all of sport. The sudden death overtime.
Pierre Larouche in the booth with Mario Lemieux. Larouche chewing gum. Mario keeping a poker face. Hands behind his head. Leaning back. And then forward again.
Caps called.
Boudreau swearing and throwing towels. Slashing. Just over two minutes. Boudreau yelling like a cop. Brooks Laich. Brooks bloopers.
Poti gets an early clear. Crosby in. Shoots. Off a leg. Nerves are nerves. Playoffs are playoffs. Nerves are drained. Liquid words. Thirty. It’s not my team but it’s too much to type. Oh my god. What an ending. LOL I can’t even type. Twelve. Nine. Fleury. Varlamov. How can anyone write in a game like this? LOL
Wow. Just 0.1 seconds. And I’m sweating like a new father.
These aren’t my teams. Gee Whillikers.
Still laughing. “Wow. What a two minutes we just saw,” says our play-by-play companion.
Ok. It’s quieter.
I can think a bit. One faceoff. One intermission. That sequence was quite bloodless and brave. Standing scared, shoving like scarecrows, digging like blacksmiths, coals in both nets. Goalies drawing all of their ken. Ice suffering. Lines blurring. Capitals. Penguins. ….. and …. Penguins. Capitals. Couldn’t even type.
Faceoff with one one-hundredth left.
Pushing and shoving after a called off faceoff. Nothing. They set up. Nothing. Period ends.
Third Intermission
Duthie says that Crosby took over in the third period. McKenzie mentions that Crosby played nine minutes. And compares his goal to Wayne Gretzky. Laviolette tells us that any shot is a good shot. Any turnover is a good turnover, I’d say.
Darren Pang gets analytical on sticks. The slash. The penalty on Washington late. The stick broke. He says it’s legit. It was legit. Laviolette says if you don’t like the penalty, change the rule. Fair enough.
Duthie wraps it up with some relevant macro stats and tips his hat to Crosby. Crosby is a great player. Too.
Recall. Both Ovechkin and Crosby had a hat trick in the same game. Not too many games ago.
Overtime Period One
Well, the Caps are looking and thinking before passing. McGuire says that teams have to just play. In overtime. Keep everybody involved all the time.
Short passes. So far. Careful work on the boards. Pittsburgh. Malkin gets it ahead to Talbot. Poti ends that. Now Washington gets some control. Steckel. Controlling deep. To Laich. He has some making up to do. Laich centres it. Off a skate. Poti deflects a pass smartly. Down under the Pittsburgh net.
We are reminded that this is the third game in four nights. And the fourth in six. That would explain some of the first period lack. But Ovechkin has been very quiet. He comes in now. Screen. Shot. Wide. Long shot. Pens change. Caps dump.
Pens pressure. Shot. Save. Out to the point. Shot. Post. Bink!
Caps come in now. Fired. Fleury! Glove like love. Beauty.
Palmateer splits. Fuhr glove.
Caps win the faceoff. Get it back in. Steckel is a big man in the corner with the puck. Satan. With Malkin. Nothing this time. But fear.
Caps move in. But a whistle. Gloved ahead, it seems.
Caps deep. Semin. To Fleischmann. To the front. Semin can’t get his stick on it.
Goes the other way. Pens shoot. Varlamov gloves. Freezes.
Ovechkin. On the ice with Backstrom. They keep it in. For a short time. Caps creating again. Ovechkin is present. They show how Ovechkin has been ganged up on tonight. He still has three assists.
Laich. Scores. Makes up for it.
5-4, Capitals win. OT.
Crosby is great. Maybe not a Gretzky. But could be highly regarded. And there are greater players in the NHL. But it’s not unfair to say he is great. Just not the greatest.
HDS Stars: Kozlov, Crosby, Varlamov
TSN Stars: They go to the NBA on TNT and skip the stars….. do they even do stars at TSN?
So I go to RDS to get theirs…
RDS Stars: Kozlov, Crosby, Ovechkin
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