The Caps are going through the morning skate right now. Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Backstrom are exactly where they were yesterday. Eric Fehr and Matt Bradley have switched places, reuniting the Brashear-Gordon-Bradley group that was pretty effective at the end of the regular season. Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin are not on the ice, and neither is Jeff Schultz. Here are the lines:
Ovechkin-Fedorov-Kozlov
Laich-Backstrom-Semin
Cooke-Steckel-Fehr
Brashear-Gordon-Bradley
UPDATE: Boudreau said he still hasn't made his mind up about his top two centers tonight, and shrugged off the jersey colors because it was an optional skate. He did say he plans on scaling back Backstrom's playing time a little, because he thought 24 minutes in Game 3 was too much. He also said Steve Eminger will play in place of Jeff Schultz.
There was one word written on the dry erase board in the Caps dressing room: RESILIENCY .
"It seems like the press from what I'm reading, everyone has given us up for dead because we're down two games to one," Boudreau said. "And it is an easy write to say, 'Hey, listen they did their run. They made the playoffs.' But that's never been our goal. Our goal is to win and win a lot. From the minute I got here, making the playoffs was not what we talked about.
"The media is wrong if they think we're satisfied, and the media is wrong when they think the series is over.
He was also asked about the team's problems on the forecheck against the Flyers.
"I think the problem is we're trying to stickhandle in over the blue line instead of getting it deep and doing what we do," Boudreau said. "Sometimes the stage being playoffs is scrutinized and we've got so many guys who are in their first playoffs and are thinking, 'I've got to make the good play. I've got to do this. I've got to do that,' rather than getting back to simple hockey and dumping it in and finishing our checks in the corners.
"We've got the biggest team in the NHL, and we've got to play to our strengths quite frankly. And we're not."
Comments (4)
Funny how every time I see him quoted I like Boudreau more.
Posted by dmg | April 17, 2008 2:18 PM
I haven't seen any press saying they are given up for dead, I've seen LOTS of press saying they have to hit more, shoot more, and protect their goalie more. I don't think having your coach just say do a better job is much of a recipe for success so I'm glad he is changing the lines. But I cannot figure out why he won't put OLIE in there. I'd love to see him matched up against that squirt Briere. Plus, IT'S TIME!
Posted by melinda | April 17, 2008 2:41 PM
The Caps may be the biggest team in the league, average height-wise, but for many of them that does not translate into playing physically strong. Schultz is the most obvious example of this. He is the tallest Cap but plays small and does not play a physical game at all.
Posted by Monty | April 17, 2008 5:35 PM
The day Olie sees the net in this series is the day that the Caps have given up.
Posted by freakinandpeakin | April 17, 2008 5:56 PM