All tied up

Well, this is seeming like a familiar pattern. Win the even-numbered games while losing the odd ones. I guess that's ok if the rest of the pattern holds as well.

But the big concern was coming out flat after losing the last game in triple overtime. And they answered that one pretty emphatically by completely dominating the first period. They only got one shot past Lundqvist, but they dominated play in the period in every way possible, giving Holtby a very easy period.

Things went a bit sideways in the second, with New York dominating possession almost as much as the Caps dominated the first. And the Caps didn't help themselves out with some large, and critical turnovers and breakdowns. But the Caps did manage to score one of the goals in the period (on a phenomenal play by Backstrom), allowing them to escape with the score tied at two.

The third period was much tighter, with just about everything contested. There were very few shots by either team (fewer total than the Caps had, by themselves, in the first), and the only goal came when the power play delivered. In fact, the power play looked very good, getting seven shots in their two opportunities, with Greenie scoring with six minutes remaining (only 28 seconds into the power play).

The penalty kill was also quite good on the night, allowing only two shots on goal in two opportunities, and Holtby got both of those.

The big downside for the Caps was that their giveaways were up where they've frequently been, of late. That is, they had sixteen of them on the game, which played a large part of why so much of the second period was played in the Caps zone. The Caps also had twenty-six blocks on the game, also indicative of playing too much time in their own zone.

But I will say this. At no point in the game, yesterday, did I think the Caps were going to lose. I'm not sure why, but even when they were playing very poorly in the second, I was sure they were going to pull it out. So I was happy that they did.

So, today they get a day off to rest up, before playing in the Garden again tomorrow night. Let's hope they can take back home ice advantage.