Just before four AM this morning, I pulled myself from bed, took my medication, and crawled back upstairs. But I never went back to sleep. Playoff hockey is here. Time to grab the wine. Things are about to get real.
After a sluggish start, John Carlson opened the scoring with a blast from the point. Naturally, there were 38 minutes of penalties, but skill won out in the end — especially after Jay Beagle’s late third-period insurance goal. Caps blank Flyers 2-0! One-nil series lead.
- After all those mind games, TJ Oshie was in his usual spot on the first line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Of course he was. Ovi had 11 shot attempts. Not bad.
- The Caps were able to control Flyers PP wunderkind Shayne Gostisbehere PP, who managed 17 goals, including eight on the power play, in 64 games. He’s a shot master, but they forced him into passes.
- John Carlson was dominant in Game One. In addition to notching the inaugural goal, he spent around 70 percent of his ice time on attack during 5v5. When he was on D, which was rarely, he blocked shots. Impressive leadership on the blue line.
- Now the bad. Sixty percent of shot attempts at five-on-five went the Flyers way with Dmitry Orlov on the ice. He took a tripping penalty midway through the second. Barry Trotz then paired him with Brooks Orpik, who was the Capitals second-worst Capitals defender at even-strength. And were protected, starting all their shifts in the offensive zone. Orpik was also called for two minor penalties in the first, putting the Caps under the gun when they weren’t generating much. He did, however, lose a tooth, which gained the Caps four minutes of power play time.
- Speaking of the man-advantage, Washington was just one for six in 10:19 of PP time. That doesn’t sound great, but the Caps generated 13 of their 31 shots on the power play.
- We’ve got a Schmidtuation. Nate Schmidt didn’t take a shift in the game’s back half, save for a single one in the third. No explanation yet, but Schmidt’s big hit at center ice in the first period might have been a factor. There were also a myriad of power plays and penalty kills, and Nate doesn’t get special teams time, but something seems up.
- UPDATE: I asked Trotz. He just didn’t like Schmidt game. Mike Weber time? (Oh, God)
Nate Schmidt: BOOM! pic.twitter.com/ikZhg34Yxk
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 14, 2016
- Tom Wilson almost made it through an entire Flyers game without getting into a fight. Progress! At first it looked like he was going to put his team down a man after a dirty hit, but he ended up taking out Wanye Simmonds, one of Philly’s top players, out for the remainder of the game. A silly play that worked out well.
- Only three Caps players got outshot during 5v5: Mike Richards, Dmitry Orlov, and Marcus Johansson.
- Sean Couturier got his left arm or shoulder wrecked after Alex Ovechkin slammed him into the boards. He did not return to the game and the Flyers say he will be reevaluated tomorrow. If he’s out for even a few games, Philly will be in trouble.
- With the Simmonds fight, the Sam Gagner high stick, the too many men, the delay of game, and the Ryan White in the lineup, you could argue that the Flyers did this to themselves.
Joe B. told me this morning his suit was something to behold. Beautiful shirt, playoff red tie, galaxy effect pocket square. One of the season’s best ensembles.
That was the first Caps’ shutout of the Flyers in franchise history. Bravo, Braden!
One down. Fifteen to go.
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