Game is about to start. Go, Caps!

Game on, horn and crowd very loud!

Ovechkin on the breaakway, great glove save by Fleury!!

And now a good save by Varlamov on a rebound! Both teams want to score first, although it will probably won't be that important.

It's already hard to tolerate the pressure, with all that is going on, LOL!

Ovechkin again! And Fleury again, alas!

3-on-2 for the Caps, Ovechkin wide!

Forgot to mention that Gonchar is back, and Goligoski is scratched. Pens still with 7 d-men.

Morrisonn to the box for slashing, killing the Caps' momentum.

Crosby redirects a shot by Gonchar with his skate. 1-0 Pens.

And another chance for the Pens, they score! 2-0. Talk about losing momentum. Dumb goal, then no focus.

EDIT: Goals were 8 seconds apart.

Semin taken down, no call, and now Fedorov to the box for interference! Fans are booing.

Killed, mostly thanks to Varlamov.

And we reach the first intermission with the Pens ahead 2-0. Caps badly outshot, once again: 16-5.

Second on. Kolbe: "The next goal in this hockey game is a big one."

And guess what happens? Pens score! Guerin. 3-0.

And Letang, top shelf! 4-0.

Varlamov goes, gets a standing ovation. Theodore in net.

It can't be Varlamov only. Caps didn't start this game well. They had to be more serious than that, and mostly defend. Limiting the amount of shots the goalie has to face would be a start.

Vogel saying they can't wait for the last period, they can't wait for the last minutes... it's desperation, in every shift, from now on.

Green with three consecutive attempts, Vogel approve. They gotta shoot the puck no matter how.

And Staal scores! Sounds like Green was lazy on this one.

5-0.

The Laich-Steckel-Bradley line with a good shift, showing the example. They'd deserve a goal for playing with heart after all that happened.

2-on-1 for the Pens, and they are polite enough not to score.

Hi Marc

sorry I am late and Sorry the Caps are playing so poorly guess Roger will be home for the 3rd

Well Obvie woke up 5 1
_____________________________________________
100% of the shots you don't take don't go in."
- Wayne Gretzky

Hi, Lulu. Sure, he will. I may be already sleeping by then.

Ovechkin scores one! 5-1.

And now Semin could have had another one.

3rd on,PP Pens

_____________________________________________
100% of the shots you don't take don't go in."
- Wayne Gretzky

Third period on. And Laich goes very early to the box, for high sticking Crosby. There's apparently blood, double minor.

And Crosby scores! 6-1. Two more minutes to kill after that.

Crosby 6 1 PP goal

_____________________________________________
100% of the shots you don't take don't go in."
- Wayne Gretzky

And Laich scores one off Fleury's skate! 6-2! So silly.

well the crowd is a bit noisey

_____________________________________________
100% of the shots you don't take don't go in."
- Wayne Gretzky

Green has been on the ice for four of the goals scored by the Pens, the last one being on his first shift of the third period. He's been on the bench since then, replaced by Fedorov on the blue line.

Green may have cost us the series. Not in this game, but before. We should have tried him as a RW, sincerely, with the shot he has.

Had the ice, had the crowd, had everything except the game.

The boys is done for the season.

Can't "blame" Green or any other player for this- this is on McPhee and Leonsis.

McPhee, for refusing to get real help when it's needed, and

Leonsis, for tying up 20% of their cap money in one guy. I love Ovechkin, he's a hell of a player, but his contract is what will kill the Caps whenever they need help.

3 minutes left to this thriller, still 6-2 Pens, who's going to win? It's intense.

Agree that the Caps needed help and didn't get it.

And now, they may lose Fedorov and need more help.

Final score, 6-2 Pens. That was fun while it lasted (except for this game).

Well. sorry guys  but it was a fun run and sorry but WOOT

Take care Marc hope to see ya for the awards

_____________________________________________
100% of the shots you don't take don't go in."
- Wayne Gretzky

Pens were the best team overall, by far, so there's nothing to regret. Caps were dominated in every game against them, and it's a miracle they got to game 7. They relied too much on offensive talent and fantastic saves by their goalie. You need to control the game a little more than that if you want to go far. You can't let the goalie hang to dry by himself all the time.

That was both Sad and Embarrassing .
Caps did not show up when called apon and Mcphee better take a very long look at the roster during the summer.
Cannot come back next year with just superficial changes .

I am tempted to quote ex Hawks coach Tessier and suggest that they need a Heart Transplant .
But I will not

Per Tarik, today:

Here are a couple of really quick notes from Breakdown Day at KCI:

GM George McPhee just said that he has no plans to buy out Michael Nylander's contract. It does not make financial sense, he said. McPhee also added that he thinks Nylander has not fully recovered from the shoulder injury.

The injuries:

• Mike Green (shoulder)
• Alexander Semin (thumb)
• Tom Poti (broken foot)
• John Erskine (broken foot)
• Alex Ovechkin (groin pull)
• Shaone Morrisonn (groin, ankle)

 

Now I'm not saying this is an excuse, but it's an awfully long list of critical guys.

 

As for TAK's saying "superficial" changes won't get it done, I agree, and looking over the roster I only see maybe 4 guys who MIGHT get the ax-

Fleischmann (he's at the age where the Caps look for return on investment, AND he's stuck at left wing behind Ovechkin and Semin)

Fehr (they may give him one more season to live up to expectations, but no more)

Kozlov (and he did have his best ever playoffs in any league, with maybe 1-2 more good seasons in him), and

Nylander (never recovered from the injury, I don't think, and he just doesn't fit with Boudreau's style of play.... not to mention, he's growing old fast).

Notice I think all the D stick for at least one more year (with Alzner as maybe an 8th man- I know many people are down on Schultz, but the team won't give up on a 23 y.o. D man with the potential he has for at least 2-3 more seasons. Some guys take longer than others, and I really think they'll give him a chance to mature in the organization).....

if these turn out to be the only casualties, God help the Caps next season (because McPhee won't).