In a very strange scenario in last night’s game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals, both teams had a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a regulation win in this game. It depended on other scenarios, but the eastern conference playoff race has been unlike anything else when it comes to recent year playoff scenarios. Around 5 teams were competing to get that last wild card spot, and all had a chance to get there leading up to the very final games of the season.
Last night, with around 3 minutes to go, John Tortorella made a polarizing decision, pulling Samuel Ersson in a game that stood at 1-1 in regulation. Understood if the Flyers were down, but in that moment, they must’ve known the situation with Detroit and how their game ended up going to overtime. That game going to overtime eliminated Philadelphia’s hopes, so it had to have been a last second impulse decision by a frustrated Tortorella. But this is also very unlike Tortorella, given the mental side of the game that he preaches and his will to win that separates himself distinctly from other coaches in the league.
That’s one perspective, but on the other side, it could also be very easily understood why Tortorella did this. The Flyers had nothing to lose essentially, because they could still win the game and be out of the playoff race. The Flyers also needed to win this game in regulation, and the game going to overtime would also eliminate those hopes. With Tortorella pulling the goalie in regulation to try and get a lead on the Capitals, he knew that he had nothing to lose in that moment. So whether or not this was because of the Detroit game or not, Tortorella still is unafraid of taking whatever sort of risk necessary to try and help his team win.
As for the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin would score the first goal of the game for the Capitals, his 853rd of his career in the final game of the season. Obviously, playoff goals won’t count and will be separate, but Ovechkin continues to inch closer and closer to the milestone everyone has been talking about with him for a long time. If he can continue his career into his 40s, we can likely see Ovechkin finally pass that mark.
This was a big accomplishment for Washington, because of all the different adversities and difficulties surrounding the team throughout this season. They had a bad taste in their mouth from the previous season, where they ended up missing the playoffs and having to change some of their hockey ops department. Spencer Carbery has come in this season and has done a tremendous job interchanging lines and figuring out which young players work where. As the youngest coach in the NHL and a rookie NHL head coach, he could relate to some degree to some of the rookies playing on the team.
However, a lot of players stepped up as the season went on. Alex Ovechkin had a strong second half of his season after a slow start the first half, Connor McMichael stepped up, Beck Malenstyn came in and stepped up, rookies Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko were strong in the games they played, Max Pacioretty was back, and much more. For the injuries with Nick Backstrom at center and longtime center Evgeny Kuznetsov getting shipped to Carolina, that left two big holes at center that Carbery looked to maneuver around throughout the season. Lapierre had reps playing on the top line with Ovechkin and getting power play time, with the reps prompting him to establish himself as a possession center that the Caps were hoping he’d evolve into.
Lapierre established more poise with the puck and poise shutting down opponents for matchup purposes as well, as he’d get ice time against other top lines a lot of the time as an interchanging 1st/2nd line center. Connor McMichael could fill that role as a top-9 center who could move up and down those three lines and play any style, and Dylan Strome was electric again as a top-six center all year long.
Now, the Capitals will end up playing the Rangers in their first round series, as Washington has potential to give the Rangers a run in this first round. It should be interesting to see how the Russians matchup against each other, Ovechkin and Panarin, as well as how much influence Washington’s OZ Forecheck could influence their puck retrieval game and cycle game down low. To compete against a fast team like the Rangers, Washington needs to match that right away from Game 1, especially in an arena with a ton of energy like Madison Square Garden. If Washington could afford to at least tie the series 1-1 heading back to Washington, they might have a shot of going at least 6 games in this series moving forward.
Again, great job to the Capitals and their staff for getting their team back into the playoffs, and it should be interesting to see how this team fares with a slightly younger group with veteran experience mixed up front.
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