Hello All,
The Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers by a whopping score of 6-1 for game three of the series. I was at the game live and it was eletric in the building! The crowd got out to a slow start but once they were rocking, it was loud and proud! The Capitals have been the better team this series so far and the upset is looking more and more likely. Quick shout out to the doubters from my previous blog:
^^^I do genuinely appreciate the comments and participation in the blog. But my only question is...do you believe in the Caps chances now?
Here are the stats from the game:
Shots on Goal:
WSH – 31
FLA – 30
Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 21
FLA – 25
Corsi For %:
WSH – 56.03%
FLA – 43.97%
Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 43.68%
FLA – 56.32%
Power Play:
WSH – 2/6
FLA – 0/3
Hits:
WSH – 44
FLA – 59
Blocks:
WSH – 14
FLA – 12
Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 26
FLA – 25
Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 22
FLA – 20
High Danger Chances For:
WSH– 12
FLA – 10
High Danger Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 9
FLA – 8
xGF:
WSH – 3.55
FLA – 2.81
xGF (5v5):
WSH – 2.09
FLA – 2.07
My Takeaways:
Ilya Samsonov - What a game from Sammy! There were multiple times in the third period and as time expired that we were chanting and roaring "Sammy! Sammy! Sammy!" It was beautiful. The kid played his heart out. This was arguably the biggest game of his career. Certainly a top three game if you factor in level of importance and performance. Samsonov gave up an early goal that he would probably like to have back. The goal was pretty soft and was counted as a "low danger" goal from Jonathan Huberdeau. It was a nice rip from Huby, but certainly a fairly routine glove save in most cases. Samsonov bounced back after that, even though you know he was feeling the pressure. If you include game two where he filled in for Vanecek in the third period, Samsonov has stopped 46/47 shots faced so far this postseason. In addition, he has stopped 16/16 high danger shots in four straight periods of action. When Samsonov was asked about his thoughts about the crowd chanting his name, he essentially said he was about to cry. That's how much that meant to him. The performance, the crowd, and the resilience should all be momentous for his confidence moving forward. Ilya Samsonov was deservedly awarded the 1st star of the game.
Marcus Johansson - Wait, a Capitals trade deadline acquisition is actually paying off in the playoffs? Pinch me. MoJo was the second star of the game. He had 1G-1A-2P for the game. He was 5th best on the team with 0.31 individual expected goals. Offensively speaking, Mojo was fantastic. What also really stuck out to me was his all-around play today. He got pucks in deep, he battled in the corners and often won, and was in the right place at the right time. I thought Mojo was very noticeable today even when he wasn't producing points. The Capitals trade deadline acquisitions have a tendency of under producing in the playoffs. This is a breath of fresh air. The experience he has with this group is paying off huge right now. It is like they brought him in for this moment.
The Penalty Kill - The PK once again shutdown the Panthers potent power play. The Panthers went 0/3 today and are now 0/9 in the series. It was a team effort for the PK and everyone was doing their part. Kuznetsov really jumped out to me with some incredible work during his shifts. This will be a trend to keep an eye on. It would be remarkable if the Caps are able to continue to shut out the Panthers power play but that may be wishful thinking. The law of averages is bound to catch up at some point. IF the Caps can keep this up, they are going to have a shot to win every game.
Sergei Bobrovsky - What do we all know about Playoff Bob? He eventually cracks. Bobrovsky has honestly played spectacular this series and he is the only reason this series is not 3-0 Caps. Today however, Bob showed glimpses of his history of inconsistencies as a goalie in the playoffs. Is his confidence shaken at all? Not sure but if the Caps get a couple goals early in game four, the flood gates could open.
Final Thoughts -The Caps have been the better team for a bulk of this series. The only thing standing between the Caps and upsetting the presidents trophy winners is goaltending. If Samsonov plays like he did today for the rest of the series, the Panthers might not win another game. The Caps have a core group of veterans who have been here before, their special teams are on fire, and there is zero pressure on this group. ALL the pressure is on Florida. Talk about a recipe for an upset? Any former doubters starting to believe the upset is real? I gave you hard data, I gave you bias opinions, and now the Caps give you a 2-1 series lead. What else do you need? All aboard!
That is all, thank you for reading and GO CAPS!
PS I apologize for not posting after game two of this series. My real life job required significant amount of attention for a couple days and I could not squeeze in time to put out content. I should be good to go for the rest of the games. Yeeee
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»