“We’ve all seen that it was Nicky’s best game for us. It doesn’t just happen,” Coach Dale Hunter said. “He got his hands back and saucered the puck, you know, without bobbling to [John Carlson] for the one-timer, and then the great shot. Definitely, you know, he wants to play like that all the time, but it takes time coming back from injury.”
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=626529
X-Factor: Resurgent Backstrom changes look of Caps
Alex Ovechkin is the face of the franchise, but Backstrom is the team’s most important player.
Washington has other guys on the wing -- Alexander Semin, Troy Brouwer, even Jason Chimera this season -- who can provide offense.
The Capitals, however, are thin at center, and haven’t employed a traditional No. 2 pivot since Sergei Fedorov left town. Brooks Laich and Marcus Johansson are both more suited to be a strong No. 3 center, and while Mathieu Perreault has provided some offensive spark he can be exposed at the other end.
[...]
Without Backstrom, the Capitals were really thin down the middle. Now that he’s back, Washington has one of the 7-10 best players at the position when he is playing well. They also have two strong defensive centers in Backstrom and Laich to match up against teams with better depth at the position.
Tudom, csak most olvasgatok és az érdekesebbeket mondom berakom már ide is, hogy legyen itt valami értelmes is
Washington Capitals - Braden Holtby (?)
Wins/SO: 4, 1
GAA: 2.49
SV%: .922
Picked up on a one-year deal, Tomas Vokoun was supposed to be the missing piece for the perennial powerhouse Capitals, a team that had earned the dubious distinction of the San Jose Sharks of the East - ripping up the regular season only to fall early, and hard, in the post-season. But as the team struggled through the 2011-12 campaign, and now find its top two goalies out with injuries. Yet to solidify an undisputed No. 1 goalie, the team now turns to 22-year-old Braden Holtby, who appeared in just seven games this season.
Burning question: Will Neuvirth or Vokoun return? Is Holtby ready to be a No. 1 starter, especially on a team that has endured a goalie carousel in playoffs past?
Memorable save:
Ezt sem láttam még természetesen, mielőtt megszólnál érte Szép
Here are five reasons the improbable could happen:
●After deciding to stand pat at February’s trade deadline, General Manager George McPhee told reporters, “We can beat anybody in this conference” if Nicklas Backstrom recovered from a concussion. The 24-year-old, world-class playmaker returned four games ago, and after a posting a goal and assist against the Rangers, he finally resembled the game-changer he was prior to the injury.
●Most questions about goaltending will focus on the inexperience of Capitals rookie Braden Holtby, the presumed Game 1 starter because of injuries to veterans Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth. But it must be noted that Thomas has endured his share of struggles. Although he’s yielded two or fewer goals in seven of his last eight starts, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner is only three weeks removed from a 3-5-0 stretch during which he posted .842 save percentage and 4.06 goals against average. “We’re stuck,” Thomas said at the time. “I don’t have answers.”
●History suggests that the rigors of last year’s run will catch up to the Bruins. The question is when. No team has repeated since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998 and, in fact, only one of the past five champions even got the opportunity (the 2009 Red Wings fell in the finals).
●Under Bruce Boudreau, the Capitals struggled to adapt their high-octane style of play to the more conservative, tight-checking, defense-first strategies teams employ in the playoffs. That’s no longer an issue. They’ve been trapping and grinding out low-scoring games under Coach Dale Hunter for four months now. No adjustment will be needed.
●This one is the hardest to quantify, but every team in the NHL has one or more opponents it simply doesn’t “match up” well against. For the Bruins, that team might be Washington. The Capitals won three of the four meetings this season, including the past two in Boston. In each of the contests at TD Garden, the Capitals jumped out to 2-0 leads.
Optimistic? Sure it is. But who believed the Montreal Canadiens had a chance in 2010? Or that the Tampa Bay Lightning had one in the semifinals last spring?
It’s indeed a new season — and it’s one the Capitals are excited to embrace.
Viszont remélem Hunter rendbe rakja a PP-t, azzal is pluszba lennénk. Amúgy jó underdognak, vagy még annak se lenni Csak sajnos a Boston nem olyan amatőr, hogy lebecsüljön minket, főleg a regular series fényében. Holtby...rajtad a világ szeme Jó lenne 1-1-el hazajönni
Beags barátod góljainál van egy ilyen Mert ugye Snoopy beagle Amúgy valami húsvéti témát kerestem, de ezt tudtam kihozni belőle csak, szal kellemes nyulat
“I think it’s new season and it’s not going to be excuses,” Ovechkin said. “You have to be sharp every second, every game. It doesn’t matter what score is going to be, are you going to win. You still have to fight and you never know what’s going to happen.”
“It means nothing,” Wideman said. “Boston, they’re a different team in the playoffs. We had success agiaist them throughout the regular season, but I think you’re going to see a different team [when] we play them in the first round.”
“I think it’s good for your confidence, obviously,” Backstrom said. “The first three games has been a little up and down for me personally, but it felt better tonight. We have power-play goal there and then nice pass from [Alexander Semin] on my goal there.”
“We’ve all seen that it was Nicky’s best game for us. It doesn’t just happen,” Coach Dale Hunter said. “He got his hands back and saucered the puck, you know, without bobbling to [John Carlson] for the one-timer, and then the great shot. Definitely, you know, he wants to play like that all the time, but it takes time coming back from injury.”
“Nicky’s never shied away from contact,” Brooks Laich said. “He’s very solid on his skates and a lot of times surprises guys. He can lay a shoulder into somebody and knock guys off the puck. So he plays in those dirty areas in the corners and the scrums. He’s just very slippery and very hard to hit.”
“It’s good sign for us and bad sign for different teams,” Ovechkin said. “I think he’s move well. He was sharp today, control the puck well. It’s good thing to see he went to the battle and nothing serious happened. For him mentally it’s very important and for us as well.”
Congrats are in order for prospect d-man Patrick Wey and the Boston College Eagles, who captured their second national title in three years, defeating Ferris State 4-1.
Jól van, te celeb vadász, engem nem nagyon érdekel se a foci, se a magyar foci, az aranycsapatot adom, de szerdán rájátszás, szal bitch please Koncentrálj
A fórumban a kiadvány regiszrált látogatói kapnak lehetőséget magánvéleményük kifejezésére.
Ezen vélemények nem tükrözik a kiadó szerkesztőségének álláspontját.
8-9re jó lenne ha leimádkozná magát 
Kb hány olyan meccs volt amit nem láttál egyébként?
Szép 
Mert mikor írtam a te avatarod se láttam, most meg jó.
Csak sajnos a Boston nem olyan amatőr, hogy lebecsüljön minket, főleg a regular series fényében. Holtby...rajtad a világ szeme 
Jó lenne 1-1-el hazajönni 
Mert ugye Snoopy beagle 
Fostos real meccsre kapcsolni egy ilyen meccsről, tudom, hogy kötve vannak, de hát 
Akkor csütörtökig tanulok 
Jövőhét szerdai Red Sox at Blue Jays 70% az ESPN American, szóval a nézők úgy tűnik jól döntenek 