Justin Williams (Caps Outsider)
The Caps’ 2-0 loss Friday couldn’t have been more frustrating as Washington out-shot the Flyers 44-11. The Caps had no net-front presence, making Michael Neuvirth’s life a little easier. Sunday, the Caps need to crash the net and poke home some rebounds.
The Caps are playing fine defensively, however, as the Flyers’s go-ahead goal was a lucky bounce off of Taylor Chorney’s skate. The Flyers had only five 5×5 shots, excluding their empty net goal. The Caps also need to stay out of the penalty box, more for the sake of getting goals than preventing them (They’re fine there).
The Caps also need to do a better job of making Neuvirth work for his saves. Despite the 44 shots, they only had 12 shots within 20 feet of the net. The Flyers also had 19 blocked shots. To counteract this, the Caps need to stop looking for the “beauty plays” and need the “dirty goals.”
As we have seen, there are no bad shots in the playoffs. The Caps need to remember this. The Caps will need to pepper Neuvirth with shots and get traffic in front. Look for Tom Wilson, Jason Chimera, and Justin Williams to get to the dirty areas and establish a net presence to beat Neuvirth. If the Caps do, this series will not return to Washington.
