SPOTLIGHT ON
CAPITALS F ALEXANDER SEMIN
Semin’s five goals in the first round led the NHL, but through three games against Pittsburgh he has only three assists and is a minus-2. The Penguins have done a good job bottling up the winger, who has been unable to gather a head of steam entering the Pittsburgh zone. But it’s time to start scoring and help Alex Ovechkin, who has five of the Caps’ nine goals this series.
PENGUINS C EVGENI MALKIN
Invisible for the first two games, Malkin was on a mission in Game 3, posting team highs in ice time (29:38) and shots on goal (nine) to go with his first goal of the series. He controlled the play, and the Caps had no answer for him in the neutral and offensive zones. It’s time for the Caps to counter. They have to be stronger defensively and not give Malkin so much room to create.
STORY LINES
1. Penalty problems
The Capitals spent much of Game 3 in their own zone, and six of their seven penalties came at that end of the ice. This is a team that can kill penalties (14-for-17 against Pittsburgh) and score on the power play (3-for-9), but they have to be smarter and do more on the forecheck to tire out Pittsburgh’s defensemen and draw penalties.
2. Matching Pittsburgh’s urgency
The Penguins’ season was on the line Wednesday, and they played like a desperate team, taking it to the Caps after the opening 10 minutes and outshooting them 42-23. The Caps have to play with the same kind of want-to; coach Bruce Boudreau said his team played not to lose for stretches of Game 3. This series is still in the Caps’ hands, and they have to play like it.
3. Fedorov’s effectiveness
Caps center Sergei Fedorov has been much better against the freewheeling Penguins than he was against the defense-minded Rangers. But he appeared to sustain a rib cage injury in Game 3, in which he played less than 16 minutes. Boudreau should keep Fedorov with Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov but shift to an Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Semin line if Fedorov doesn’t appear right physically.
- Ryan O’Halloran
CAPITALS LINES
FORWARDS
Alex Ovechkin
Sergei Fedorov
Viktor Kozlov
Tomas Fleischmann
Nicklas Backstrom
Alexander Semin
Brooks Laich
David Steckel
Matt Bradley
Chris Clark
Boyd Gordon
Michael Nylander
DEFENSE
Shaone Morrisonn
Mike Green
Tom Poti
Milan Jurcina
Brian Pothier
Tyler Sloan
GOALIES
Simeon Varlamov
Jose Theodore
PENGUINS LINES
FORWARDS
Chris Kunitz
Sidney Crosby
Bill Guerin
Ruslan Fedotenko
Evgeni Malkin
Max Talbot
Matt Cooke
Jordan Staal
Tyler Kennedy
Pascal Dupuis
Craig Adams
Miroslav Satan
DEFENSE
Brooks Orpik
Sergei Gonchar
Hal Gill
Rob Scuderi
Mark Eaton
Kris Letang
GOALIES
Marc-Andre Fleury
Mathieu Garon
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