Corey Masisak from NHL.com is reporting that Bruce Boudreau has flip flopped his top 2 line centers for game 3, moving big Jason Arnott between Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble on the top line. This move intern drops Niklas Backstrom to the 2nd line, where he will be skating between Alex Semin and possibly Marco Strum. No matter who the 3rd player is on this line, this will likely be the move that puts the Washington Capitals over the top.
"The great 8" has burned the Rangers in this series in just about every way possible. Ovi has hurt them on the scoreboard, with his physical play, and just being the emotional leader the Capitals need him to be. In game 1, Ovechkin brought the puck down the left one 2 on 2, simply lowered his shoulder, and knocked Dan Girardi right off his feet. This play eventually lead to the game tying goal with less than 6 minutes remaining, a lead the Rangers are not used to giving up that late in a game. In Game 2, Ovi was back at it, taking runs at players such as Fedotenko, Prust, Girardi, Staal, and Boyle. The only one who was able to withstand an Ovechkin hit was Boyle, as the 6'7" center simply shrugged off the 6'2" Ovechkin.
With Ovechkin and the Capitals already dominating the physical game against the Rangers top defensive unit, the addition of Arnott with make it even more difficult to defend this gigantic unit with Knuble on the opposite wing.
The other aspect of this move is dropping Backstrom to the second line to play with Alex Semin. Now the Rangers will have a decision to make; do Staal and Girardi play against Ovechkin Knuble and Arnott where they have already been ineffective, or drop them to match up with the smaller more finesse styles of play Semin and Backstrom bring to the table. Keep in mind, the other defense pairs have their own issues. While McDonough and Sauer have played fairly well, they are both still rookies and don't have that real playoff experience. The third pair leaves you with McCabe and Gilroy, where McCabe is clearly not the skater he used to be and would likely not put up much of a fight for the speed and strength of Ovechkin.
The only real chance the Rangers will have to get back into this series in game 3 will be if they can somehow carry the offensive play much more than they have in the first 2 games. While Avery brought a lot of life in the lineup, Tortorella has not seemed to be able to find the right line combination to get his only offensive threats going. Marian Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky must be better in game 3, and the Rangers must also find a way to win a few more faceoffs throughout the course of the game.
While Lundqvist has been superb, it is clear the Rangers will not sneak by the Capitals with his brilliance alone. If the Rangers have a slow start on home ice in game 3, this young inexperienced team may end up out of the run for the Stanley Cup far sooner than anticipated.
"The great 8" has burned the Rangers in this series in just about every way possible. Ovi has hurt them on the scoreboard, with his physical play, and just being the emotional leader the Capitals need him to be. In game 1, Ovechkin brought the puck down the left one 2 on 2, simply lowered his shoulder, and knocked Dan Girardi right off his feet. This play eventually lead to the game tying goal with less than 6 minutes remaining, a lead the Rangers are not used to giving up that late in a game. In Game 2, Ovi was back at it, taking runs at players such as Fedotenko, Prust, Girardi, Staal, and Boyle. The only one who was able to withstand an Ovechkin hit was Boyle, as the 6'7" center simply shrugged off the 6'2" Ovechkin.
With Ovechkin and the Capitals already dominating the physical game against the Rangers top defensive unit, the addition of Arnott with make it even more difficult to defend this gigantic unit with Knuble on the opposite wing.
The other aspect of this move is dropping Backstrom to the second line to play with Alex Semin. Now the Rangers will have a decision to make; do Staal and Girardi play against Ovechkin Knuble and Arnott where they have already been ineffective, or drop them to match up with the smaller more finesse styles of play Semin and Backstrom bring to the table. Keep in mind, the other defense pairs have their own issues. While McDonough and Sauer have played fairly well, they are both still rookies and don't have that real playoff experience. The third pair leaves you with McCabe and Gilroy, where McCabe is clearly not the skater he used to be and would likely not put up much of a fight for the speed and strength of Ovechkin.
The only real chance the Rangers will have to get back into this series in game 3 will be if they can somehow carry the offensive play much more than they have in the first 2 games. While Avery brought a lot of life in the lineup, Tortorella has not seemed to be able to find the right line combination to get his only offensive threats going. Marian Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky must be better in game 3, and the Rangers must also find a way to win a few more faceoffs throughout the course of the game.
While Lundqvist has been superb, it is clear the Rangers will not sneak by the Capitals with his brilliance alone. If the Rangers have a slow start on home ice in game 3, this young inexperienced team may end up out of the run for the Stanley Cup far sooner than anticipated.
No comments:
Post a Comment