Posted by Scott Burnside
PITTSBURGH -- The
Washington Capitals will be looking for more balanced scoring in Monday night's Game 6 against the
Pittsburgh Penguins given that three players (
Alex Ovechkin,
Nicklas Backstrom and
Dave Steckel) have combined for 12 of the Caps' 15 goals in this series. Caps coach Bruce Boudreau would specifically like to see more from
Alexander Semin, whose contributions have declined as the series has progressed.
"I have no idea what's behind it. We've tried a lot of different things, and hopefully whatever we try today will make him play his best," Boudreau said. "If you could bottle up why players don't play good that are supposed to be playing better and why players play above what they're supposed to be playing, come and tell me and I'll market that thing."
The Caps' coach took issue with the notion that Norris Trophy candidate Mike Green isn't living up to his pre-series billing.
"He's leading the league in defensemen scoring," Boudreau said. "We can complain and b---- about him all we want and expect more from him, but he's trying his rear end off. He's not looking as pretty as did in the regular season, but he's got nine points in 12 games for a defenseman, which is tied for No. 1 in the league. Our expectations for him must be so high that it's unreachable."
As for facing elimination Monday night, Boudreau believes the answer is relatively simple for his team.
"They care a lot. When people care a lot, they don't want to go home. They want to stay together," Boudreau said. "You get in an elimination [game], there's definitely a finality to it if you don't play your best. Hopefully it'll continue tonight."
No word on Gonchar
No talk of Sergei Gonchar returning to the lineup for Game 6, and one would assume Penguins coach Dan Bylsma will continue to go with seven defenseman and 11 forwards instead of the traditional breakdown of eight defensemen and 12 forwards. But Bylsma wouldn't tip his hand on his Game 6 lineup, even though both Alex Goligoski and Philippe Boucher both did what was expected of them in Gonchar's absence. The rookie Goligoski helped out on the power play and the veteran Boucher blocked shots.
"They did what we thought they could do and make the decision tough for me, whether to go to seven and 11 or go back to six," Bylsma said. "Always a game-time decision."
Pregame speech? Um, no
Don't look for Ovechkin to give his teammates the old "Win One for the Gipper" speech tonight. It's not really his style, even if he may be the most dynamic, passionate player on the ice in this series.
"I haven't seen it -- [the] coaches aren't in the room a lot -- where he would stand up and say something profound other than cheering, you know, 'Come on guys, let's go, we've got to win,'" Boudreau said. "I haven't seen him walk around and say, 'OK guys, this is what we've got to do' unless he's echoing my statements."
Ovechkin wasn't formally made available to reporters after Monday's morning skate. That's the first time that's happened in this series.
Pens try to stay focused
The Penguins were up 3-1 in the first round against Philadelphia and could not close out the Flyers at home in Game 5. Bylsma said his team lost focus a bit in that potential elimination game, but doesn't think that will be an issue Monday night against the Caps.
"We had a chance to close that one out, and I think we all felt maybe it was going to happen and it caused us to lose some focus and attention to how we need to play," Bylsma said Monday morning. "We've been behind in this series and been faced with going down 3-0, going on the road in Game 5 and facing going down 3-2.
"I think we've been faced with desperation in this series and had our backs somewhat against the wall, and we know how that feels, and I think we feel like we're still there," Bylsma said. "We need to feel like we're still there. That's the difference between this Game 6 and the previous Game 5 in the first round."
Surprise, surprise
Ruslan Fedotenko, who now has goals in three straight games, led all players with 10 shots in Game 5. Like us, he seemed shocked at his shots total and admitted it was a high-water mark for him as a professional player.
"I do not believe that," Fedotenko said. "I think that was my personal record. I don't know -- maybe, I'm sure, like, in juniors or something like that, but as a professional, I don't believe I ever had as many shots. I didn't really realize until after the game. People text-messaged me."
Feeling a little relief?
Talk about getting the monkey off your back. Jordan Staal, considered, along with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, one of the three great pillars down the middle for the talented young Penguins, notched his first goal of the postseason in Game 5.
Staal admitted he had trouble putting the dry stretch behind him.
"I'm usually not very good at that," Staal said. "It's something that I've got to work on when things aren't going well, is just keep plugging away and doing the right things, and good things are going to happen. It's obviously something I've got to work on."
But Staal said there was significant relief after netting the first goal.
"It obviously helps," he said. "Your legs feel a little lighter and your hands feel a little quicker and, at the same time, it helps to know you're doing the right things out there and playing well."
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