PenCap Musings and In-Game Scribbles (Game Seven)
May 13, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Pittsburgh 6 at Washington 2
Game Seven, Second Round
First Period
Pens win the faceoff and fire it in. Caps go get it and return. That ends quickly. Crosby is on with Guerin. Caps have Steckel’s line.
Ovechkin jumps on the ice. He delivers an early hit. Puck rounds around the Cap net. Action slows somewhat. A Pen misses a vicious hit. Moments later Fleury makes his first stop on a middle area shot. Freezes. Wrister from Ovechkin. Good velocity. We are told that Ovie has seven goals and six assists in the series thus far. He leads in points but there is no corresponding “Ovie Superior” article on nhl.com. Shame.
Crosby’s name will continue to be chanted years after his retirement. As Gretzky’s was in superiority to Lemieux. At least the Lindros voices finally died out. Revisionist history can only last as long as the lifetime of those who were biased. Once they are gone, the truth is clearer. And will be moreso with these athletes as all the games are readily available for historians to analyse.
Sports history, when there is visual evidence, is far more difficult to reframe.
Pace is quiet. Ovechkin now breaks in alone. A move, another small move. Fires high. Fleury. Great glove. Splits. No banana bulges in the net. This time.
Malkin’s line is on now. Satan and Adams make problems for Varlamov and he, too, is up for the challenge. Two quick saves in close. Puck bounces away. We see the replay and Fedotenko’s earlier shot glances off the edge of the post. High.
Teams are protecting the puck. Less helter-skelter. Good positioning. Pens control for most of the first five minutes. Green launches an attack that is short-lived. Puck dies in the neutral zone and both clubs make line changes. Fleischmann gets in, corners and turns. Shoots. Save.
Nine minutes elapsed. Ovechkin gets a wild shot off a partial three-on-two. Hits the high part of Fleury’s stick. Bounces safely way.
Very few sticks and almost no grabbing. It’s clean and high. Fuelled and feral. Two greatly skilled teams on ice. Avengers, Defenders (and Alpha Flight). Ovie is the Hulk. Sid is Vindicator.
Pens work the cycling game on the boards. It works and even though Washington has two to one on most of the coverage, Pens retain control. Caps are not committing to the boards. Deferring to the slot pass. Giving the bubble to prevent being beaten.
Pens get a power-play. Forced back early. They set up. Letang takes it deep behind Varlamov. Crosby in the Gretzky’s office. To Malkin in Kovalev’s phone booth. Puck keeps moving. Pens show good control. Gonchar fires. Misses the side of the net. Rebound pops out. Crosby shoves it home.
1-0, Pittsburgh.
Replay shows some deflections off a defender and Crosby’s skate before it finds the captain’s blade.
Sudden goal follows!
2-0, Pittsburgh.
A quick break-in and the puck is shot through Varlamov’s pads by Adams. Caps will have to open it up. And now it will get entertaining.
Huge hits exchanged in the Pen zone. Mild shot results. Bad angle. Frozen.
Fedorov is on next. Caps lose the faceoff. Keep it in briefly. Have to chase it in their own zone. And have trouble getting out. Now Pothier carries it out. Finds Semin in the middle. But he can’t create.
Now a two-on-one. Satan gets an EA setup and Varlamov gets over. Pad stop. Pens get in again. Satan again. Stopped from the high circles.
Peter Schilling would be disappointed. Or maybe he gets a paycheque. Another thirty-something exhortation. Forty-something.
Cherry likes to call the 2-0 lead the worst lead in hockey. Just enough to lull the leading team in to a false sense of confidence. And close enough for the trailing team to quickly re-enter the game. I agree.
The pace is not rising as I had expected. Caps are still cautious. The caution yields some long possessions with few turnovers. But Washington gets called for interference. Fedorov. Crowd doesn’t like it. They are also quiet. But not as quiet as a Penguin crowd. Crowd exhorts their team on the penalty-kill.
Varlamov has to be quick on a slot chance. Then Malkin enters the zone shortly afterward and fires one on the goalie. Stopped.
Gonchar’s return is a critical difference for Pittsburgh. He now controls it on the blue line, keeping it from escaping. Fires in but it deflects upward. Just over two minutes left in the period.
Boudreau rarely if ever uses Ovie on the PK.
Pens step into the zone. Defencemen are deeper. They get a chance. Varlamov resists.
Penguins get two great chances on the side to close the power-play. Varlamov gets two sprawling stops. Loses sight. Whistle goes. Puck is under him.
Half of Pittsburgh’s 16 shots are on the power-play.
Caps get a good chance. Ovechkin to Green. Puck can’t settle on his stick. Open net was there.
Semin tries a back-pass in the neutral zone. Right onto a Penguin stick. More swirling in the neutral zone ends the period.
First Intermission
Penguins 2, Capitals 0
Demers has a sharp suit. Blue tie is metallic, oceanic. They discuss the nervousness affiliated with participating in a game seven. Hartley says that with a game seven it’s hard to wait for the game to happen. The hours get long and you don’t want to wait. Demers somehow looks blonde today. He’s gone Kovalev.
Hartley says that the Pens have been the better team on the forecheck. We see some examples. Bottled caps.
Second Period
Crosby drifts in. Drops it to Guerin. Slapshot. Scores. That’s final.
3-0, Pittsburgh.
Or is it. Beat Varlamov stick-side. From Varlamov’s left. High circle. Pens have the 3-0 lead they needed.
Caps have the series in their throats.
Pens confidence is higher. They control with aplomb. Only Semin interrupts. And again. He is a difference-maker. But three goals is a long way to go. Or at least in the nineties it was.
Caps start hitting again. They start giving up space. And it results in a Penguin drive. Varlamov is beaten. Crowd shots. Despondence. Chins on hands. Ovechkin has his head in his glove.
4-0, Pittsburgh.
Varlamov is pulled. Jose is in. Cold. And small. Our puckish former hero.
Caps give up another puck. Pens enter but are blunted. Just over seventeen minutes left in the second period. Lots of time. But Caps have to pull down. And perk up.
Ovie enters. Fires. High. Puck exits. Cook. Rams Green. Caps exit. Backstrom. To Semin. Fired. Nothing.
Malkin the other way. Stays down low. Talbot. Fedotenko. Now to the front to Talbot. His stick is hooked.
Semin tries a wild shot. Neutralized by a defender.
Puck is trapped to the right of Fleury. Caps get their nerve back. Nothing else to do.
Montreal fans would be doom-bringers. Booing? Who knows. Caps fans choose silence and waiting. Caps work very hard to control deep. Beagle.
Theodore has to extend outward. Leaves the crease. No harm done. Theodore is a liability in the net. These days. What about tonight? The little battery. One of the best athletes in the game. Let’s see what happens.
Just over thirteen minutes. All the pieces are there. For the greatest comeback of the playoffs this season.
All the pieces are there. For the worst drubbing in 09. Pens and Lemieux’ 8-0 Cup-clinching win in the early nineties comes to mind. Gainey was coaching on the opposite bench. Remember?
Over Minnesota North Stars. Game Six. 1990-91. First Cup in Pen history.
Theodore is like a small boy. Compact. Quick. Varlamov is watching maskless from the bench. Curious look on his face. Theodore is tested by Malkin twice at the side of the net, now. Stands true.
Caps get in. Backstrom. Real chance. Fleury. Another smaller, quicker dude. Not as short as Jose. Caps firing from the point and from the slot. Wide and stopped.
Green gets them back in. He has Pronger’s torque.
Now Staal gets in alone. And somehow doesn’t score. Theodore reaches aside to grasp and trap the puck at the side of the net.
Just ten minutes in the second. Or thirty minutes in the game as Brunet says it. Pittsburgh leads 22-8 on shots.
Brunet and Houde are all hope and futures. Caps can get it going they say.
Game is still. Waiting for further punctuation. So much red in the stands. It’s almost unanimous.
Penguins ice. Ovechkin is on the ice. Looking at the clock. He is able. And we all know it. Faceoff leads to Cap bungling in their own zone. Ovechkin watches someone on the boards. Puck moves around. Goes out front. And Jordan Staal makes it seem as if he is a player. He isn’t. Scores.
5-0, Penguins.
The silence flattens.
Boudreau calls a time-out. Fedorov is bearded. Looks Russian. Siberian lumberjack. We resume play.
Long enough for a freeze by Fleury and a commercial break.
Where is the legendary game seven we were promised?
Just over seven minutes. Caps are halfhearted here and there. Semin is still playing with urgency. Ovechkin gets fancy on the boards and loses the puck. Touches and releases but can’t get to it.
Green neutralizes a Penguin two-on-one.
Scouting the Capitals. Who would be good to have on Montreal? Green? I feel like a liquidation vulture.
Just under four minutes in the second period. Ovechkin line is on. Pace picks up. But a Washington accidental icing ends that surge.
Five, nothing. Life isn’t fair. Hockey, less so. Another team advances that doesn’t deserve to. Hey, that’s sports.
Houde sees Byfuglien’s second-most checks stat and calls him the Tasmanian Devil.
Ovechkin fans on a sure goal.
Fleury gives it away behind the net. Alarms and sirens. Ovie grabs it and puts it in. They spotlight him. Ovechkin doesn’t celebrate this one.
5-1, Pittsburgh.
Houde references the Montreal comeback against Rangers in early 2008, Canadiens came back from 5-0 down to win 6-5.
Staal and Cook enter. Pass. Shot. No.
Now Semin takes it back down. Barely stopped by Fleury. Edge of the pad. Nice save. Fleury is a very quick keeper.
Cook driving in again. I don’t remember him being this swooping player. Umberger type?
Just over ten seconds. And not much else to end the period.
It’s always humiliating to give up a goal to a Staal.
Second Intermission
Pittsburgh 5, Washington 1
Not many teams have returned from four down in NHL history.
Third Period
Caps start with a bad penalty. Who do? Brooks do. Four minutes. Crosby with the blood. Boudreau shakes his head.
Penalties. About as important as turnovers.
Penguins’ power-play begins. Caps work to counter it. Semin and Ovechkin are on the ice for the first pairing. Ovechkin is like a carnivore bee. Following the roast puck. Caps get a two-on-two. Fails. Puck escapes. Ovechkin stripped.
Crosby comes in alone. Scores. Slows. Slips it between the pads. Memories of Montreal. Season-opener. Theo. Croz. The passing of the torch. Remember? I could use a steak.
6-1, Pittsburgh.
Crowd is chanting something unintelligible. But I’m very interested to know what it is they feel is so important. Houde doesn’t comment on it.
Penguins power-play ends in the Pittsburgh zone.
What a disaster.
Now we have to hear all about Crosby’s top hat and the NHL kool-aid. Go Broons.
Clark misses an open net.
Fleury later loses control of a puck. Some sirens. Some joy.
6-2, Pittsburgh.
Fleischmann’s work results in a tap-in. Laich. Just over thirteen minutes left. Should we feel bad for Brooks Laich? I don’t. Thugs don’t get my sympathy.
Four goals in twelve minutes. Stranger things have happened. In hockey. Elsewhere, too. Sure. Yup.
Clark bangs Fedotenko to the ice. Lands on his back hard. Nice hit.
Fleischmann is feeling it. Gets through two defenders. Puck slides free and slow toward Fleury. Who sees it and covers up.
Caps crowd is exhorting the team. Good show. Someone on the airhorn. Or trumpet. Fan? Cap employee?
Caps are working for it. And controlling to a degree now. Pittsburgh will sit back and let them do so. Poti enters now. Morrison and Poti create some pressure. Puck stays deep. Centering pass for Clark misses. Pens get it to the neutral zone. But not much further. Caps work it back in. They take the tempo up. It’s a good line for Washington. They leave the ice.
Backstrom and Ovechkin are back on. Semin, too. They control in a luke-warm way. Starts to look like a power-play. But no shots. Pens are forced to ice.
Just over six minutes left.
It’s all a mail-in now. The Capital intensity rarely surfaced today. It seemed similar to their first period in game six. Caution. Did that extinguish the fire?
Just over three minutes left.
Crowd begins to rise to cheer their team. Just over two minutes left. The crowd yells “Let’s go Caps!”. Very nice gesture.
Red team responds with another surge. Number 83 shows great fire even though the result is in.
Game ends. Penguins advance to Conference Final. Ovechkin can’t keep the disappointment off his face. He is a gracious hand-shaker. They line up and comment. Ovechkin talks to Gonchar and then hugs him. Photo-op. Crosby and Ovechkin. Cordial between the two.
And then a haunting shot of the Capitol building.
HDS Stars: Gonchar, Fleischmann, Crosby
RDS Stars: Crosby, Guerin, Satan
Related posts:
Subscribe to the Podcast
0 comments
Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment