Stanley Cup Journal: Defensemen step up at most critical time

They play the back line, and they’re going to take the backseat.

On a team with Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Sergei Fedorov, the talk about the Caps usually centers on scoring and not defending.

“You look at our team and think offense,” Poti said.

Not anymore.

Game 7 was the time to think defense, and the Caps delivered. Fedorov scored the winner with 4:59 remaining, but it was the defensemen who buckled down in their own zone, limiting the New York Rangers to just one shot in a 2-1 victory that sent the Caps to the second round for the first time in 11 years.

Considered the team’s weakness two weeks ago, the Caps’ six-man unit and 21-year-old goalie Simeon Varlamov were terrific the entire series.

The Rangers scored four goals in Game 1 but only seven goals total in the final six games.

New York recorded 15 shots on goal Tuesday night and averaged only 23.7 shots a game in the series.

“I thought our defense was excellent,” Caps general manager George McPhee said. “We really limited the other team not only in goals but scoring opportunities.”

A big part in the defense was the switch to Varlamov after Jose Theodore made a mess out of Game 1.

“We both agreed it should be done,” McPhee said of the decision, made by coach Bruce Boudreau. “It took some guts, but the playoffs are about adjusting and going with your gut, and it worked.”

It worked so well that not only did the Caps rally from a 3-1 series deficit, but they also found their starting goalie for 2009-10. Varlamov was unflappable, flubbing up only one play - Chris Drury’s goal in Game 4, when the shot appeared to handcuff him and float out of his catching glove. Varlamov handled the puck with composure, played perfect technically and wasn’t fazed by the Game 3 antics of Sean Avery.

The other change for Game 2 was Brian Pothier replacing the injured Jeff Schultz.

The pairings of Pothier-John Erskine, Poti-Milan Jurcina and Mike Green-Shaone Morrisonn limited their defensive zone turnovers and even contributed offensively. Poti ended the series with six points, and Caps defenders combined for 14 points.

“We’ve been criticized a little bit for our defensive game throughout the season, but it seems like we’re starting to pull together, and if we’re going to win, that’s needed to happen,” Green said.

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