No longer the go-go Capitals, Alex Ovechkin's team now winning with defence, goaltending
2012-04-26 12:29:00
WASHINGTON - This hardly is the way Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals were expected to succeed when this roster was being put together.
Doesn't matter one bit, of course.
After year upon year of underachieving in the post-season, the seventh-seeded Capitals finally are overachievers: They're headed to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after getting past the Boston Bruins in seven one-goal games, the first time in franchise history the Capitals eliminated the reigning champions.
What's changed is that Washington no longer relies on Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom and other scorers to carry them. Adopting new coach Dale Hunter's defence-first strategy, and with Ovechkin spending plenty of time on the bench, the Capitals are winning ugly.
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"We're playing the defending champs and you can tell they're not going to beat themselves. That team, just from them going all the way, you can see it over there. There's no panic…You can tell that's a machine over there and we've got to be at our best."
- San Jose's Scott Gomez on the Los Angeles Kings. Los Angeles leads the series 2-1.
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