Word is Varlamov was first on the ice at the pregame skate, and will start.

Ovechkin tried to get in the Rangers' heads this morning, watching them practice from the Caps' bench- he got tossed (asked to leave, really, but he left rather than watch from the stands, as allowed).

According to the reports on Comcast Sports Night, Clark, Schultz and Nylander are out, Brashear is in....

 

Later reports are NO Brashear, so we shall see... I'll have to check NHL when they open the event summary page.

edit: Yep- the Caps are shown with 20 on the roster (18 skaters, 2 goalies)- no Brashear.

edit II: I must be blind- his number's right there on the sheet.

Game on.

Right off the bat, Semin alone in the slot- he shanks it, and King Henrik turns it away easily.... now Varly stops Callahan easily.... both guys in it. 

Zherdev a shot through the crease, now the Caps a backhand effort that Lundqvist covers. Action at both ends... JB says the Caps dominating in the faceoff circles, and win another..... 3:00 gone, Rangers offside....

15:28, an Ovechkin followthrough catches Roszival right in the face- he's down, no foul called. He's up, and off to the bench...

14:51, no rebound as Varlamov stops Dubinsky.

A turnover, Semin in again gets Lundqvist out of the way, and misses the open net thanks to Girardi....

more work by the Caps.... Semin again! he scores!

1-0 Caps!

 

 

 

Well now there's Brashear out there, and he goes for a slash... but a Ranger goes too, and it's 4 on 4....

Varly stops one dead center, rebound to his right, and he crosses the crease to the post to stop that too! Great goal play!

More good play by the Caps.... TV timeout with 9:53 left 1st.

Right after that Varlamov double save, Ovechkin had a chance that concensus seems to be he should have buried....

Rangers OFF THE POST! Backstrom clears! No goal!

Ovechkin comes down..... SEMIN AGAIN!!

2-0 Caps!!

Backstrom/Ovechkin assists on both goals!!

Laich to the box, accidental, but a high stick to Girardi's face.... Rangers on the PP....

and killed! Caps come down on a 2 on 1.... nothing.... Kozlov a chance, Lundqvist covers and a TV timeout at 4:52 left 1st.

2:06 left, icing Caps....

Steckel goes for a hold, the Rangers on the PP with 1:39 left 1st....

Caps finally clear with about :27 left.... Varly a save.... another, with the stick-

2-0 Caps, end 1st! And good news- a call right at the end of the period against the Rangers!

2nd will start with a short 4 on 4, then a Caps' PP!

2nd on, 4 on 4 for :21.... now the Caps on the PP....

Caps dump it twice, Rags clear it twice.... cleared and killed. A Cap knocked HL's stick out of his hands, and he wanted a call- didn't get it.

Already 3:00 gone 2nd.... a whistle, but Avery takes on Erskine afterwards- Caps' PP!

 

Henrik "robs" Ovechkin, now a great glove save on Semin....

Rags a steal, Ovechkin gives up the body to stop one SH chance, there's another shot- Varly GREAT save! Now Henrik at the other end SPRAWLING SAVE FLAT ON HIS BACK!! Now off the post (it got through HL, Staal cleared it from the crease) !! ES.... great playoff hockey!

under 14:00, now a delayed call against the Caps.... 13:42, slash called, TV timeout with the Rangers on the PP when they return.

 

Hi, Roger! Mid-game, here I am for the last 30 minutes of hockey. Just read your thread. Going well so far.

Replay shows it was an "iffy" call on Jurcina, but called....  Erskine crushes Avery, and Avery ends up in the net- play comtinues.... now Avery gets called for the crosscheck and kills the PP!

4 on 4.... Fleishmann ROBBED by Lundqvist.... another delayed penalty, on the Caps this time.... it's fedorov in the box. 4 on 3 Rags for a few.... now 4 on 4 for :55.... lots of action in front of Varlamov, we're under 11:00 left 2nd.... Rags' PP for :44 or so.... and with :06 left in the PP another penalty- on the Rangers!  What a sequence! Caps PP....

HL saves on Semin, 1:50 left PP (9:57 left 2nd).... 1:16, HL covers a rebound off a Green slapper.... Fedorov.... LAICH!!!!!!!!! FROM SEMIN!!!!!!!

3-0 Caps!!!

Semin with his third point, yes. Great game!

I guess this is the "Dr. Jekyll" team tonight.... "Mr. Hyde" is nowhere to be seen....

Semin with 5 shots on goal and 2 missed.

Ovechkin with 2 on goal, 2 blocked and 4 missed (that's 52 unsuccessful attempts, now).

Green with 4 hits.

Another Ranger called, good.

Backstrom having a good game too: 2 assists, 6-3 at faceoffs, and the puck he cleared.

EDIT: and guess what? 3 hits.

Caps on the PP....

Korpikoski had a short-handed chance, but good defensive play by Ovechkin.

Great save by Varlamov! He "saves the day", according to Kolbe. Caps are leading 3-0, though, hehe.

Ovie the great D save, penalty killed though.

Tell the truth, the last several games of the regular season, I was talking up how impressed I was with Backstrom- (Varly the save! ) he's tough along the boards, hard to get the puck from him- I'm thinking Dahlen, but with a shooting/passing touch. he looks soft, but he's becoming one hell of a center, and he's only 21. look 5-6 years down the road- he'll be one of the top 3 in the League.

Semin fires on a 3 on 1, but Girardi gets a piece.... Caps to the PP- Avery again!

I think he's already in the top 5 as a center. What a pick by McPhee! He got Fehr instead of Getzlaf, but he also picked Semin and Backstrom.

His shyness and reticence probably cost him the Calder last year (as well as the year he stayed home to "develop" ).... nothing on the PP, but the period ends 3-0 Caps- who'da thunk?

Gotta add that Backstrom was probably the best Cap in last year's playoffs. He scored key goals.

Fleischmann with another opportunity. Kolbe's buddy says he could have had a hat trick in the period.

End of second. So far, so good.

Third period's plan, I guess: defending Varlamov's shutout. No silly rush. They'll eventually score the fourth one.

Also, staying out of the box.

Pothier interview- "driving the net.... back on their heels".... and he's got those intense "Peter Forsberg" eyes....

God, I love it.

Pothier to the box for slashing.

50 seconds, crowd loud, but for some reason, I'm not too worried. Good clear by the Caps.

20 seconds...

Short-handed rush by Erskine, no scoring opportunity, but the penalty is killed.

So I talk him up, and less than 2:30 into the 3rd, he goes to the box.... Rags' PP....

Caps clear after a lot of work by the Rangers.... cleared again.... and killed! Lots of bodies on the ice now for both sides- diving to get to the pucks first, for the pokechecks, whatever.... great hockey.

15:02 left in regulation....

 

 

Good blocker save by Varlamov on a deflection in front.

Varlamov a kick save off the faceoff.... we're at 13:01, Caps offside and a TV timeout....

Shots blocked are 12-11 Rangers only, this time.

I kinda feel sad for Theodore, but Caps now have a #1 goalie. Another Russian kid, we can't have too many, hehe. What a generation we have. Caps may have one of the top teams in the NHL for the next few years.

12:44 Rangers offside with a 3 on 2, the crowd boos.... now the Caps offside at 12:23.... 12:06, Rangers offside.... exciting (not)....

under 11:00.... under 10:00.... Pothier another great stop on Dubinsky.... we're under 8:30.... waaaay too intense to type.... Var a pad save right at 8:00.... 7:48, TV timeout. 

 

Under 7:00, Caps with almost 40 SOGs.... 6:30.... 6:00.... Laughlin calls this an "ugly" 3rd, JB agrees, and they're right- another TV timeout.

 

I knew that Varlamov would start game 2 when Boudreau said 'anything is possible'.

I knew he would start game 3 when Boudreau said 'he had a good game, and if we ask him to play again, I'm sure we'll get another good game from him' (or something like that).

And I don't even need to hear Boudreau's post-game interview to know that Varlamov will start game 4.

And Varlamov with another highway robbery on a Naslund shot.

Under 5:00.... Semin blasts at 4:34- Lundqvist glove save....

SOGs are 39-31 Caps.... under 4:00 left reg.... the Rags with a lot of pressure, Naslund- point blank- it's under Varlamov!

Kozlov to the box with 3:29 left VERY "iffy" call....  Backstrom clears at 1:27 PP (2:48 reg).... Carcillo goes for the "message" penalty and Avery goes, too! It's 4 on 4 for well over 1:00....

Comcast loses the clock as the Caps go on the PP.... under 1:30.....

POTI!!!!

4-0 CAPS!!!!

Kolbe's buddy saying that, after a good game 1, Avery is now having a very negative impact on his team... 4th and 5th penalty for him (roughing and 10-minute misconduct).

POTI SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORES!!!! 4-0 Caps. Exactly what they needed to rebound.

Caps fans chanting "FOR-TY SHOTS!" Loud, since the Rangers fans are either silent or gone.

EDIT: And it was post #40 too. We're shooting as fast as the Caps, LOL!

Assist on the goal from.... who else? Mr. Backstrom....

the officials are picking up debris off the ice around the Ranger bench.... fans are leaving "in droves", JB says.... we're under 1:00 left in reg.... under :30....

CAPS WIN 4-0!!!!

Final horn!!! Caps win 4-0, Varlamov gets the shutout! 1 goal allowed in his first two playoffs games.

Stars should be Varlamov, Semin and Backstrom.

Finally, a complete game from this team, and a well-deserved shutout for Varlamov. No question who starts the rest of the way.

See you Wednesday for the leveler. 

We suddenly feel better after this very convincing win, hehe. See you next game, Roger. Hopefully a copy of this one.

Kolbe reminding that Backstrom is in the all-time top 10 (or better) for most assists in first two seasons (130, I believe), with Gretzky, Lemieux, etc.

The stars were the ones I mentioned, in that order, but after watching the video summary, I'm wondering if Backstrom didn't deserve to be the first star. That's more or less what they said on the Caps-Rangers blog at NHL.com.

Very hard work along the boards and fabulous passes. This guy is simply great in the playoffs. I hope we'll go far. They also spoke a lot about Ovechkin's great defensive play.

LOL! I had read it (I posted a comment minutes after, not about it, though, but I remember reading it). I had simply forgotten about it.

A few stats I could find, first two NHL seasons:

Gretzky 195 (86 + 109) in 159 games
Lemieux 150 (57 + 93) in 152 games

Most of the guys who are in the top 20 all time for assists had a slower start than Backstrom (some were close, though).

Here are some numbers given at NHL.com:

"C Nicklas Backstrom ranked fifth in the NHL in assists (66) in his sophomore season. Only seven players have posted more assists in their first two NHL seasons than Backstrom's 121. Backstrom finished 10th in the NHL in points with 88 (22 goals, 66 assists), the most by a Capitals player other than Alex Ovechkin in 20 years (Mike Ridley had 89 points in 1988-89)."

From the "Season Highlights" here.

And there's this funny article (especially the Ovechkin quotes, as usual), too: Capitals remain unimpressed by Avery's antics.