Monday April 21
Shit Happens
After Meltdown, A Familiar Letdown. Triple overtime, tremendous goaltending by Olie Kolzig and, once again, the Caps are ruined by stupid penalties. This time it was Sergei Gonchar for interference with 4 mintes left in regulation, then a messed-up line change in the third overtime that led to a bench minor for too many men on the ice. [washingtonpost.com].
In the final analysis, this series was gift wrapped so nicely for the Bolts by several NHL referees that it might as well have been from Tiffany's. [Sporting News]. Yet as I said before the playoffs returned to DC, the Caps' powerplay would ultimately be the deciding factor. Officiating clearly played a role in creating chances for the Lightning, but Tampa Bay managed to capitalize while the Caps' power play -- featuring more abundant individual talent -- finished the series in a 2-for-18 rut and went 1 for 7 Sunday. So there. Hit the midget!!