The Washington Capitals changed their system during the season to a more defensive system after having an 8-game losing streak at the beginning of December that was well-documented by HBO’s 24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road To The NHL Winter Classic. The new system has a priority on taking care of the defensive zone and blocking shots. They were 18-12-4 when they initiated the change and went on to win the Winter Classic and finish the season going 30-11-7 the rest of the way as the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. They also made a trade for Jason Arnott, who they wanted for his playoff experience and his leadership. This team is dangerous with Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Knuble, Arnott, Brooks Laich, Mike Green, John Carlson and with Marcus Johansson just heating up. They might have a slight weakness between the pipes with Michal Neuvirth but that’s another reason a more defensive system helps them win. Its kind of shocking that their power play wasn’t better(15th) and their penalty kill(2nd) is so good. It just seems backwards with the offensive weapons they have but Mike Green had a poor season missing 33 games with multiple injuries. John Carlson is still young and Tom Poti has missed the majority of the season which all contributed to the power play problems.
The Tampa Bay Lightning made a trade on New Year’s Day that brought in Dwayne Roloson from the New York Islanders for Ty Wishart. “Roli the Goalie” solidified the goaltending position for the Lightning and gave them a goalie with playoff experience and without him they might not be in the second round right now. They still would’ve made the playoffs but Roli was probably the big difference in round 1. The Bolts have great special teams with the 6th ranked power play and the 8th ranked penalty kill. They gave up the most short-handed goals though which will be something to keep an eye on. They have Steven Stamkos, who is arguably the best player in the NHL right now*. He struggled towards the end of the season having scored only 5 goals in the last 28 games after scoring 40 goals in the first 54 games. They also have a couple guys name Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier who aren’t too bad. Steve Downie had an excellent first round series with 7 points (1 G, 6 A) in only 61 minutes. That’s excellent production in a little over 10 minutes of ice time a game. Simon Gagne, Teddy Purcell, Dominic Moore, Bergenheim, Eric Brewer and Nate Thompson are other guys to keep an eye on. Tampa Bay had the rare stat of having a better record on the road than they did at home so they can win anywhere.
*This is partly due to Sidney Crosby being out with a concussion. All you Sid haters need to figure out how great he is! He recently had a setback in his recovery though.
Tale of the Tape on the Left-Handed Stick:
Goaltending – Tampa Bay
Defense – Washington
Offense – Tampa Bay
Power Play – Tampa Bay
Penalty Kill – Washington
Coaching – Even – Boudreau changing or tweaking the system to be more defensive saved their season and might lead them to the CUP!!! Guy Boucher’s 1-3-1 forecheck system has worked pretty well and has the Lightning contending for the Cup as well!
WOW! This one is tough to pick! I could go either way with it. I’m going to say that Roli* is going to be the difference in a 7-game series.
Tampa Bay in 7!
*Is that a Wild connection coming through again? GO ROLI!!!
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Robb Dahlen
BRING THE CLUTTER!
