Now that's a mixed feeling...

I wasn't able to watch the Caps game the other night; after getting up before dawn having a dozen small kids over for a party, then seeing a friend from out of town for several hours, I just needed to get to sleep.

I went downtown at dawn on Sunday to take more pictures (got some decent shots of the Capital), then tried to watch the game when I returned. No recording. The only thing I can think of is that it was on NHLN (where I don't have an auto-record set up); I thought it would be on CSN, and blacked out on NHLN, if that was the case. Anyway, I was pretty upset I couldn't watch it.

But then I pulled the sports section of the paper out, and was certainly pleased to see the 4-1 result. Now that I'm looking at more details, it looks like we can largely hang the results on the respective goaltenders, with Holtby having an excellent night and Lundqvist having a terrible one. The power play must have been pretty terrible, allowing three shots and only taking one. Although it's hard to complain too much when that one shot scores, I guess. Still, one shot on three opportunities is pretty bad. And allowing six on three penalty kills ain't exactly sparkling.

Well, if Holtby can provide anything close to that level of save percentage in the playoffs, he could steal a series or two. (Yes, I know that's an unsustainable level of performance; let me dream for a minute or two.) Not sure what the Neuvy situation is, though; TVo was listed as a scratch, so I assume he's still too injured to play. It doesn't list the back-up, but since Neuvy wasn't a scratch, maybe he was healthy enough to back up. If so, that's extremely encouraging.

Of course, Florida also beat Carolina, so the Caps couldn't take the division again (oh well, one less stupid banner in the rafters; and yes, that's mocking the division championship banners, not sour grapes). Plus, Ottawa lost to the Devils, so the Caps slid into seventh, and will be playing in Beantown on Wednesday.

Let's hope the Caps take good advantage of the time until Wednesday, and can be healthy by then. Because the Bruins will be hitting anything that moves after that. If they can match that, and play well, maybe then they can worry about who wins the other series.