Now A Best Of 5: Game 3 of Capitals-Rangers

The Caps took Game 2 from the Rangers at MSG on Monday night.  This means the series comes back to Verizon Center tied up at 1 game a piece and becomes a best of 5 series.  There is a few things to look forward to as they face-off tonight in Game 3. 

First the lineup: 8-19-90, 25-21-28, 26-83-20, 22-23-42; 27-74, 44-52, 55-6  

No you're eyes are not deceiving on you. They finally put Ovi and Backstrom together again! Expect big things from this dangerous Swede/Russian/Swede combo. Unless Dale Hunter changes the lineup...again.

Ovi is hungry as all hell to play and score more.  The low TOI (13:36) in Game 2 already raised his production. It will be curious to see if Hunter noticed that and plays him more.  Plus with someone like Backstrom feeding him the puck, there should be a goal for our top line tonight.  

However don't underestimate lines 3 and 4.  They have been the ones that have been winning the battles along the boards and have been getting the Caps those dirty goals all postseason long.  Knuble and Ward were the pair that lead to the series winner in Boston after all.


The D lines have remained the same throughout the series. Expect more of the shot blocking, Dale Hunter defense that we've been seeing.

As far Holtby goes, all he needs to do is keep steady and play like he did in Game 2.  He performed better after falling off a bit in the first game.  In front of the home crowd, he should be able to hold the Rangers to minimal rebounds again which will frustrate the Rangers offense.  As long as there are no bad line changes or errant passes (fingers crossed) he should be fine. This kid is a big reason the Caps are as far as they are. Plus look what he can do! (video from rmnbblog on youtube)

As soon as the puck drops tonight, Holtby will have officially have more NHL playoff experience than Michal Neuvirth. Through nine career playoff games, Holtby is 5-4-0 with a .931 SV% while Neuvie is 4-5-0 with a .912 SV%. Just thought that was pretty interesting. 

Today is Jason Chimera's 33rd birthday!  Happy Birthday from all of us big guy! Here's to hoping Verizon Center breaks out in "Happy Birthday" for number 25!

I will be live tweeting the game tonight from @CapsAcrossPond so if you can't watch the game, head over there to keep track and to chat about the game, Caps, or just life in general. Look forward to hearing from you!

Puck drop is at 7:30 in Verizon Center. Be ready to Rock the Red! You know I already am!

Lets Go Caps