By Tom Jones, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, April 28, 2011
St. Petersburg Times staff writer Tom Jones breaks down the series between the Lightning and Capitals.
Offense
Lightning: The Lightning got contributions from pretty much everybody in the first round as 13 players scored goals and 17 registered a point. Marty St. Louis led all scores with four goals and eight points. In the final three games, it was the pluggers — Steve Downie, Sean Bergenheim and Dominic Moore — who carried the offensive load. With those players stepping up, the Lightning now has three lines that can score, especially with Ryan Malone (a key goal in Game 6) and Simon Gagne (second behind St. Louis with seven points) looking healthy and playing the best they have all season. The big concern remains Steven Stamkos, who did have two goals in the first round, but both of those goals came in the 8-2 victory in Game 5. He hasn't had a goal in 17 of the past 20 games.
Capitals: Washington has what most consider the best hockey player on the planet in Alex Ovechkin. Alex the Great didn't have a typical Ovechkin season because the Caps turned to a more defensive style. His 32 goals and 85 points were the lowest totals in his six years in the NHL. He struggled at times in the first round against the Rangers, but still leads the Caps this postseason with six points in five games. Alexander Semin is Washington's next most-dangerous player. He tied Ovechkin in the first round with three goals and was a Lightning killer this season with seven goals in four games. The Caps also have one of the league's best offensive defensemen in Mike Green, who returned for the playoffs after missing nearly two months with a concussion. Despite the layoff — as well as disappointing postseasons in the past — Green looked good in the first round, picking up five points.
Defense
Lightning: Granted, the Penguins were missing their two best offensive weapons, but the Lightning's defense was superb in the first round, allowing only 14 goals in seven games (including one empty-netter). The Lightning gave up 247 shots (most in the first round by any team), but many of the shots were from the outside and it gave up very few odd-man breaks. Second-year defenseman Victor Hedman seems to have taken his game to another level in the playoffs, and veterans Pavel Kubina and Mattias Ohlund have stepped up their games as well. Kubina, because of his size and strength, might get the assignment of playing against Ovechkin. Then again, it could be Eric Brewer, who has been the Lightning's best defenseman since coming over from St. Louis in February.
Capitals: When you think of the Capitals of the past few years, you think of a run-and-gun team that is always on the go-go-go. Not this season. Perhaps influenced by past postseason failures, the Caps have clamped down to play a more defensive style, and as a result allowed the fourth-fewest goals in the NHL (while dropping to 19th in goals scored) The defense corps, outside of Green, is not loaded with big names, but they are big bodies who play a simple and smart style. And the key for Washington's success on defense has been the forwards, who have become more responsible in their own end of the ice. It used to be the Caps beat you by scoring more goals. Now they win by give up fewer goals.
Goaltending
Lightning: The Lightning acquired Dwayne Roloson midway through the year and while many questioned whether a 41 year old could be the answer, Roloson silenced his critics with a spectacular performance in the first round, including a 36-save shutout in Game 7. Roloson stopped 243 of 256 shots against the Penguins and ran his record in 6-0 in elimination games.
Capitals: If the Caps had a weakness, or at least a question mark, coming into the playoffs, it was in goal. But rookie Michal Neuvirth was outstanding in the first round with a 1.38 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage. The Rangers weren't loaded with firepower, but Neuvirth was solid during the regular season, too, posting a 27-12-4 record with a 2.45 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
Special teams
Lightning: One could argue the Lightning made it through to the second round specifically because of its special teams. It killed off 34 of Pittsburgh's 35 power plays, while scoring on eight of its own 27 power plays. The Lightning's 29.7 success rate on the power play is the highest of the teams still alive in the playoffs. The Lightning's best chance for an upset of the top-seeded Caps likely will hinge on its continued success on special teams.
Capitals: Washington's penalty killing unit was nearly as impressive as the Lightning's in the first round as it allowed just one goal on the Rangers' 20 power plays. And the unit was ranked second during the regular season. Washington's power play scored three goals in five playoff games. That's not so bad. But it had 16 power play chances and the 18.8 percent rate is not special. During the regular season, the Caps power play, in spite of their talent, was only ranked 16th in the NHL. But they certainly bring more firepower than the Penguins did in the first round.
Coaching
Lightning: For a guy who has never been in an NHL postseason before, Tampa Bay's Guy Boucher looked like a veteran coach in the first round. He didn't panic when the Lightning fell behind three games to one, he kept the Pens off balance with various line and scheme combinations and he made a few key lineup changes during the series that panned out well. He also raised eyebrows by rarely practicing during the last series, a move that looks as if it will serve the Lightning well with Games 2, 3 and 4 being played in a four-day stretch.
Capitals: Lots of eyes are on Caps coach Bruce Boudreau, who has put together solid regular season teams in Washington only to have them peter out in the playoffs. Credit is due for his recognition that the Caps needed to become more responsible defensively. He altered Washington's style even though it meant the team stumbled through much of the first half. It paid off in the second half as the Caps went 16-5 down the stretch with one of the losses coming in a meaningless last game. Still, the Caps have not handled postseason pressure very well in the past — they've lost three Game 7s at home in the past three seasons — and leadership remains a sore subject until Washington's exorcises some its postseason demons.
Intangibles
Lightning: The Lightning went 2-3-1 against the Caps this season. The two victories came in Roloson shutouts just after the goalie was traded to the Lightning. He shut out Washington, 1-0 in overtime, in his first game in a Bolts uniform on Jan. 4. He then shut them out, 3-0, eight days later. The teams have met once in the postseason with the Lightning winning is six games after falling behind 0-2 in 2003.
Capitals: The Caps are trying to advance to the conference final for the first time since reaching the Stanley Cup final in 1998. No team in the playoffs is under as much pressure as Washington. The Caps entered each of the past three postseasons as one of the Cup favorites, but lost to inferior teams each season. Anything short of a Stanley Cup would be a disappointment. So far, this appears to be a more mature team, but it hasn't faced any real adversity yet.