Caps-Penguins Series Officially Boils Over

For players in the NHL, an off day in the middle of a playoff series offers a welcome respite from the rigors of the game. You can stay out late the night before, sleep in late the morning after, and if your coach is benevolent, you may even get to go a day without having to practice.↵↵But if you’re a member of the working press, an off day is just another 24-hour news cycle that you have to fill before getting another playoff game to write about -- something that can be a terrifying prospect. ↵

↵↵So, what did Thursday have in store for us? Fortunately for guys like me, there was plenty to write and talk about.↵

↵↵It started off with a number of Washington players complaining about the officiating, continued with a broadside against the CBC for some footage they shot before Game 3 in the Caps locker room and finally took a bizarre and scary turn when Pittsburgh police announced they were investigating a death threat against star winger Alex Ovechkin.↵

↵↵To paraphrase Nigel Tuffnel, I think the intensity level on this series now goes to 11.↵

↵↵So what should we be looking for when it comes to Game 4 tonight in Pittsburgh? For starters, Washington needs to do something to take some heat off of rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov. He faced 39 shots on Wednesday night, and one of the reasons why is that Washington had to kill off seven penalties. Though Pittsburgh only cashed in once with an Evgeni Malkin goal, playing for so long with a man down takes a toll on the team, and the Caps certainly looked gassed once Game 3 got to overtime. ↵

↵↵One other concern: Will the 20-year old Varlamov be able to bounce back quickly enough after Game 4 to be ready to start Game 5 back in Washington less than 24 hours later on Saturday night? My friend, Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport, seems to think that might be a problem.↵

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