Caps: Round 2, Game 6

There will be a game 7! And I get to keep my beard for a few more days. Steckel got it this time! Great play, great recognition of the defender breaking his stick on the faceoff, and great hookup. Steckel getting to the front of the net, once again making the difference and winning it for the Caps. You know Verizon Center is going to be loud.

Positives in this game: The Caps played hard all game long, as you knew they would. They had to leave it all out there and they did. Everyone worked hard on every shift. Semin showed up and played terrifically with Backstrom, Federov, and Koslov. And holy crap, Koslov. He turned in a great performance. Also, Laich had a great game. He was the screener on the Semin goal, he took the shot that Steckel deflected in for the game winner, and overall was all over the ice. The third line played hard and took the pressure off of Ovechkin, or thrived in the lessened attention on them.

Semin also drew one penalty en-route to Fleishmann's goal, and shoudl have drawn two others. The referees were once again arguably biased. They made weak calls and missed three key penalties in front of the Penguin net: One, a crosscheck on Ovechkin, and twice trips on Semin as he drove the net. But the Caps kept their heads about them, didn't let the officiating get to them, even when it included a questionable call that forced them to kill the last two minutes of regularion shorthanded.

The Negatives: The Penguins still managed to net four when the Caps were playing well. The defense did a better job of boxing out in front of the net, and defenitely prevented a few rebounds from getting tossed in, but they were still scored on four times, and none were weak goals like in game four. They have to be a bit more cautious on defense, but mostly they need to make the right reads and keep the puck in the offensive zone. One goal was an odd man break, and another was a situation where the puck should have been cleared, but wasn't.

But despite that, they got the win, eventually, and so, the series returns to Washington for one game where the winner moves on and the loser goes home for the summer. The fans are going to be loud. Both teams are going to be playing their hearts out in this one. This should be a fantastic game. This has been a fantastic series, win or lose. This series has been everything the NHL central office could have hoped for and then some... Which is why I'm still somewhat curious about a conspiracy...

Honestly, I think this will be the best matchup of the playoffs, and has been arguably a contest between the two best teams in the NHL right now. I think whichever team wins this series will represent the East in the Stanley Cup. Both teams feel that they have outworked and outplayed the other team in this series. Both teams think they deserve to win, and it's hard to argue against either. It's going to come down to who is going to work harder for it. I've seen no giving up from this Caps team, and I expect them to play a full 60 on Wednesday, and more if necessary.

In conclusion, this has been an amazing series to watch, but I'm ready for this one to end on Wednesday... with a victory. C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!

Until next time,

-TES