Derailment
A Train Of Thought That Jumped The Track

It's over. A disappointing end to a record-breaking season for the Caps, at the hands of the lowest-seeded team in the East. Montreal got spectacular goaltending from Jaroslav Halak down the stretch that kept them in the games where the Caps heavily out-shot them. Game 7 had stout defense on both sides, but the lack of power play production was the Caps' downfall. You simply cannot win in the playoffs scoring so little on the man advantage.

Coverage summary

Good news for Habs fans, not so good news for Caps faithful. Last night was a pretty disappointing result despite a high volume of shots on Halak. There's a good summary and links to coverage at Caps Nut.

A lackluster offense (until the third period) and amazing goaltending by Halak. It's a cliche that elimination games are difficult for the series leader to win, but we've got to snap out of this habit of getting behind or we'll have no energy left.

Another solid game for the Caps, taking the series lead to 3-1 with a chance to put it away at home on Friday. A nail-biter through two (Varly's glove should be bronzed when this is all over) but explosive offense in the third was the difference.

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win a hockey game. Defense and goaltending. And short-handed goals. And face-off wins. And secondary scoring. Oh yeah, and getting Ovie on the board didn't hurt. Montreal has to ponder their goaltending choice while Washington's seems settled. Something about the playoffs must elevate Varlamov's game, because he looked stout tonight. LET'S GO CAPS!!

The Caps managed to eke out a win in another overtime. Disappointing start to go down 2-0 early, and it was pretty grim being down 4-1, but the comeback was there, and congrats to John Carlson on his first playoff goal. That was a veteran wrist shot from the slot. Nice to see Backstrom get a hat trick to boot.

We'll be looking to steal some thunder from Montreal on Monday.