Thoughts From The Duke: Round 2 vs. Washington Capitals

Round Two vs Washington

I’m sure the suits at the NHL would have wanted this for the East final, or in some fantasy-land, the Cup Final, but Alex Ovechkin vs Sidney Crosby in Round Two would have to do.

This was an epic series from start to finish, with an all too familiar Caps’ choke job for a final act. Lead by an all-world Ovechkin and the surprising goaltending of rookie Simeon Varlamov, the Caps’ rushed out to a 2-0 series lead, despite being outplayed by Pittsburgh. It should be noted that Game Two featured one of the greatest head to head duels in the sports history, with AO and Sid both recording hat tricks in a 4-3 Washington win. Then Ovechkin decided to show his “passion” for the game, and take a dirty run at Sergei Gonchar’s knee. A play that would have resulted in suspension had the hit been administered by Donald Brashear or some other skud.

Did the Penguins or I panic, NO. They simply won the next two at home, followed up by a “Geno” Malkin deflection OT winner off of Tom Poti’s stick and past Varlamov in Game Five. Poised to head to a second consecutive East final, Pittsburgh played a rather lack lustre game losing in OT. The 7th game, which should have been as epic as the previous six, turned out to be a laugher, with the Pens’ crushing the Craps’ 6-2.

 Another Washington choke job to Pittsburgh, following the pattern from 1992, and 1996. I must say that with the exception of AO and the early series goaltending of Varlamov, this could have been a 4 or 5 game Pittsburgh win. I should also note that Crosby simply took his game to another stratosphere in this series, with 8 goals and 5 assists. Unreal!

Star of the Round – Sidney Crosby (with honourable mention to AO)