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Five Thoughts: Lay off Alex Ovechkin; Bruce Boudreau’s future murky at worst

Bruce Boudreau

Washington Capitals players and coach Bruce Boudreau, third from left, watch the final moments of Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa, Fla., Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Tampa Bay won 4-3. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

AP

After tonight, one top seed is in serious trouble while the other found a way to get things done in overtime. What kind of trouble lays ahead for the Capitals? Possibly a lot. Meanwhile the Canucks looked like they figured things out in a couple of ways. One thing we’re not lacking on is drama all around.

1. Game 3 was such a tough game for the Capitals and while they looked motivated and ready to get back into the series for the better part of the game, when Ryan Malone scored a goal off his skate just 15 seconds after Steven Stamkos tied the game at 3-3 you could see the life and the fire to compete disappear from the Caps’ eyes. They’d been victimized so much by goals against that either bounced in off their own defensemen or ones where it took a beneficial bounce off a Lightning player now that Malone’s goal may have been the one that broke them.

I don’t expect the Caps to lay down and get rolled over tonight in Game 4 but the way the Capitals are playing now is reminiscent of how they played during their eight game losing streak back in December. The way they’re playing they look resigned to losing. Accepting that fate well before a game is over is unacceptable.

2. Should the Caps be finished off soon we expect that Alex Ovechkin will end up taking a lot of the heat for such a second round failure and another season without Washington at least making the Stanley Cup final. It’s what happens when you’re the captain and that’s how things go, but if you’re a fan and you’re pointing at Ovechkin as a reason why the Caps lost, you’re nuts.

With so many guys on the Caps roster to choose from that either are playing poorly or looking like they’d rather be anywhere else than on the ice when they’re losing, singling out Ovechkin is wrong. There’s not another guy out on that ice, aside from maybe Mike Knuble, that is busting their tail harder than Ovechkin to try and will his team into winning. In the past Ovechkin has wilted a bit in the face of disaster, but not now. If anything, losing is pushing him to play even harder and considering the level he plays at in every game that’s a frightening thing.

Fans can question Ovechkin’s ability to lead all they want, but if they were following his example in how to get back into a game, the Caps would never be in this position in the first place.

3. If the Caps are swept the call for Bruce Boudreau to be fired will go up immediately if it hasn’t already started happening. Caps fans will want someone to suffer for another playoff failure and while series losses can happen, getting swept doesn’t. My thought on this is pretty straight forward. Boudreau won’t be fired because that’s not how GM George McPhee or owner Ted Leonsis works, but he’ll be officially on notice to get the Caps into the Eastern final or Stanley Cup final next year or else.

Dominating the regular season is all well and good, but coming up empty against teams like Montreal last year and Tampa Bay this year who are outworking and outcoaching him just will not do. With a team that’s as good as the Caps are, failing in the playoffs cannot continue and while Boudreau did well to get his team to adjust and be more of a playoff-ready team this year, getting snuffed out like this won’t sit well and Boudreau will be on the clock to get it done next year... Or else.

4. A lot was being made of Vancouver’s inability to take advantage of Nashville on the power play. The Canucks appeared to figure out a plan against Pekka Rinne as Ryan Kesler scored two power play goals including the overtime winner. Vancouver was able to crash the net and either get Rinne scrambling like they did on Kesler’s first goal, or park out in front of him so he couldn’t see the shot coming all and deflect it in as he did in overtime. It doesn’t always have to be a gigantic overhaul of what you’re doing to that gets you results, sometimes it just takes hard work to make it happen.

Lots of people are eager to dump on Vancouver for doing things the hard way rather than flat out dominating opponents. Domination doesn’t just happen in the playoffs though. Vancouver’s going to need to be rough like that the rest of the playoffs because nothing will come easy.

5. The one guy that might be the most terrifying to go up against in Game 4 of the Nashville-Vancouver series will be Shea Weber. The Predators captain got booked for hooking in overtime and that penalty led to Kesler’s game winner. If you think he’s going to take that and not use it as motivation to play harder and tougher than he ever has, you’re crazy. Expect Game 4 to be a physical war and Weber to be leading the charge to try and even the series up at 2-2. Weber’s a prideful guy and he’ll take all the responsibility for Game 3’s loss on his shoulders and use it to play harder the rest of the way.