Caps: Round 1, Game 5

Lundqvist looked human this game for the first time in this one and even seemed to get a bit rattled. Bradley (who had 5 goals during the season, and is known more for his hitting than his shooting) started the night off with a short-handed goal, beating Lunqvist top shelf. I honestly believe it was his celebration that actually scored the goal. I think his shot hit off the crossbar and popped out but hit Lundqvist in the back as he gave up on the shot (having passed him and presumably scored) and was knocked in off his leg. That's probably over-complicating the situation... but I like my interpretation anyway.

Just a few minutes later, Bradley struck again on a sharp-angle shot that was just a complete fluke, squirting in between Lundqvist's arm and body. But I was more than happy to take it. In the third, Semin scored off a rocket right off the faceoff that happened so quick the camera hadn't even shifted to the ice before the puck was in the back of the net. Then, with just a minute or so left in the second, Ovechkin pulled out what could be argued as his third best goal ever. He crossed the blue line, cut across ice and around one defender, knocking him down in the process. Once around him he cut back the opposite direction, nutmegging another defender with a pass to himself, kicked it to his stick, and then shot backhanded as he was being tackled by a third defender and the shot went in through Lunqvist's legs. Go watch it on YouTube, it's worth it.

Varlamov was nasty again in goal, posting his second shutout in the playoffs and lowering his GAA (Goals Against Average) to just below 0.75. That's insane, and the best of any goalie in the playoffs thus far.

Game 6 is back in NYC, and the Caps, once again, must win to stay alive. Tortorello, the NYR coach has been suspended because of his violent reaction to a fan during Game 5. A fan dumped a beer on him and he reacted by squirting a water bottle at the fan then trying to throw it at him. Tortorello missed the fan in question, but did hit some lady. As a result, he will not be commanding the bench on Sunday afternoon. While this isn't exactly a huge blow, it definitely adds up to one when combined with the Sean Avery problem and the feeling that Lundqvist was impenetrable being shattered.

The way I see it, as long as the Caps keep up the tempo, particularly on offense, they can and will win this series. Varlamov has, thus far, shown that as long as the Caps can score 2 or more, they should be golden, and he'll take care of the rest. If he can post up another shutout, awesome. If not, well, the Caps are more than capable of posting up several goals as long as they keep playing well as a team, don't get selfish, and just play hard. But they know that, and the Rangers do too. So I am definitely looking forward to Game 6 on Sunday.

Until next time,

-TES