From Alzner to Wideman, we're taking a look at and grading (please read the criteria below) the 2011-12 season for every player who laced 'em up for the Caps for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2012-13. Next up, Jeff Halpern.

Jeff Halpern

#15 / Center / Washington Capitals

Height: 5-11

Weight: 198

Born: May 03, 1976

NHL Seasons: 12

Contract Status: $825,000 cap hit in 2011-12; UFA summer 2012

'10-'11 Rink Wrap: N/A

Key Stat: Halpern's 58.3 faceoff percentage was the fifth-highest in the League during the regular season.

Interesting Stat: Halpern went from April 18, 2006 to November 4, 2011 between goals scored in a Washington uniform, but that's not the longest such stretch. Per Mike Vogel, Anson Carter holds that distinction, going nearly seven years between Caps tallies.

The Good: Halpern was brought in over the summer to provide some of what departing Cap Boyd Gordon had lent to the team - a defensively responsible third- or fourth-liner who could kill penalties and win his fair share of faceoffs (while perhaps providing another veteran voice in the locker room). He did exactly that, too, giving the team another excellent faceoff man who did a lot of the little things that won't show up on the scoresheet. He was on the ice for just 1.80 goals-against per 60 at five-on-five over the course of the season, the fourth-lowest on the team, and was among the team's leaders in shorthanded ice time, skating an average of 1:44 a game 4-on-5 - the fifth-highest average on the team and second among the team's forwards.

Where he was the strongest, however, was in the faceoff circle. Over the course of the season Halpern would take 625 draws, the fourth-highest amount on the team, and win 365 of them - the second-most wins of any center on the team. In fact he won at least 50% of his draws in 50 of 69 games (and both playoff games in which he appeared), which would lead him to finish the season with a 58.3% win rate on faceoffs, good enough for fifth-best in the NHL.

The Bad: The expectations for Halpern were never for him to be an offensive dynamo, but 16 points in 69 games fell short of even those expectations and was tied with the lowest of his career (with the other 16-point season one in which he played 17 fewer games due to injury). Going even beyond that, the four goals he racked up beat his previous career low of five exactly a decade ago. And while he was a regular fixture of the team's penalty killing unit, he was also dinged for the most goals-against per 60 among those playing a regular role shorthanded.

But when talking about Halpern and the negative side of his season, the focus automatically falls on one which was likely not entirely in his control - the playoffs. Halpern found himself a healthy scratch for the last two weeks of the season and the first twelve postseason games the Caps played. Had he appeared in even half of the team's games, it would've tied a personal high for him; instead, the two games marked the fewest he would appear in during any season in which his team actually made the playoffs.

And when an injury to Jay Beagle meant he was finally given a jersey for the team's last two playoff games against the Rangers, he wasn't able to do much to help his team, taking a bad double minor in Game 6 (and getting dinged for the only goal-against in the last minute of regulation) and playing less than six minutes in Game 7.

The Vote: Rate Halpern below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season - if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

The Discussion: Does the lack of offense put a damper on his return performance with his hometown team or did the things he accomplished that aren't quantifiable make up for it? Did you see him as an upgrade, a downgrade or neutral compared to the player(s) he replaced? If he's re-signed over the summer, what contract terms would you be comfortable with? And finally, assuming he's still here, what will it take for Halpern to earn a "10" next season?

The Caps have traded Chris Bourque to Boston for center Zach Hamill. Hamill will be a restricted free agent this summer.

From the team:

The Washington Capitals acquired center Zach Hamill from the Boston Bruins in exchange for left wing Chris Bourque, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Hamill, 23, recorded 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 41 games last season with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL). The 5’11", 180-pound center tallied two assists in 16 games with the Boston Bruins in 2011-12. In 20 career NHL games, Hamill has collected four assists and has registered 139 points (44 goals, 95 assists) in 256 career AHL games.

The Vancouver, British Columbia, native was originally drafted by Boston in the first round (eighth overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Hamill won the Bobby Clarke trophy for amassing the most points (93) in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Everett Silvertips during the 2006-07 season.

Bourque, 26, registered 93 points (27 goals, 66 assists) in 73 games with the Hershey Bears in 2011-12. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

From Alzner to Wideman, we're taking a look at and grading (please read the criteria below) the 2011-12 season for every player who laced 'em up for the Caps for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2012-13. Next up, Jason Chimera.

Jason Chimera

#25 / Left Wing / Washington Capitals

Height: 6-2

Weight: 213

Born: May 02, 1979

NHL Seasons: 10

Contract Status: $1,875,000 cap hit through 2013-14; UFA summer of 2014

'10-'11 Rink Wrap: 5.04

'09-'10 Rink Wrap: 6.84

Key Stat: Chimera's even strength points/60 rate of 2.24 was the highest on the team during the playoffs.

Interesting Stat: Four of Jason Chimera's twenty goals came against the New Jersey Devils - three of them on Martin Brodeur.

The Good: In a season filled with surprises, the performance of Jason Chimera was probably one of the bigger and more pleasant ones, as he not only demolished his previous career highs in a number of categories - including goals in both the regular season (20) and playoffs (4) - but also spent a good deal of the season among the team's scoring leaders.

Through the first three months of the season, only Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom scored more goals than Chimera, and he finished the year with the third-highest goal total on the team behind Ovechkin (38) and Alexander Semin (21). His five game-winning goals were tied for the team lead, and he was one of only two players to score a shorthanded goal - in fact, he had two of the three shorthanded goals the team scored all season, and was the only player to score one until Brooks Laich's tally against Toronto in March.

Chimera turned into a bit of a Southeast Beast this year, with ten goals and sixteen points in twenty-four games against division rivals. And his scoring touch continued into the playoffs, his speed proving to be a bit more than New York could handle as he racked up four goals to trail just Ovechkin for the team lead and double his previous career high set a season ago; his seven points in fourteen games tied for the third-highest point total on the team. His goal against the Rangers in Game 6 was his seventh point and fourth career playoff goal against Henrik Lundqvist - and his third game-winner.

The Bad: Despite his hot hand over the course of the regular season, Chimera seemed to cool slightly as the season went on and lost a little of the consistency he'd established early on. After lighting the lamp on numerous occasions over the first few months, he had lengthy droughts between goals from December to March including two goal-less streaks that hit eleven games. That seemed to carry over a bit into the Caps' first-round series against the Bruins, as well. He managed just two points against Boston, both in the final two games of the series - his only goal came in a losing effort on home ice in Game 6, his only assist a secondary helper on Matt Hendricks' opening tally in Game 7.

And while he did provide an unexpected amount of offense for the Caps this year, he also had a tendency toward bad retaliatory penalties - the chippy stuff is a part of every game, but it's the stuff that happens after the stuff that tends to get called and Chimera found himself in the box for a lot of... well, stuff. He averaged a penalty per 60 minutes during the regular season, one of the higher rates among forwards on the team, and his 24 minor penalties on the season were second only to the infamous Semin.

The Vote: Rate Chimera below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season - if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

The Discussion: Chimera's twenty goals were just shy of his total combined output from the two seasons prior - how much, if any, do you expect him to regress next year? Coming off a career year and boasting a reasonable cap hit of just under $2 million for the next two seasons, would you like to see Chimera finish out his contract as a Cap or perhaps used as trade bait? What do you see his role being going forward? Can he hit (or exceed) the 20-goal plateau again? Finally, what will it take for him to earn a 10 rating next year?

From Alzner to Wideman, we're taking a look at and grading (please read the criteria below) the 2011-12 season for every player who laced 'em up for the Caps for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2012-13. Next up, Troy Brouwer.

Troy Brouwer

#20 / Right Wing / Washington Capitals

Height: 6-2

Weight: 214

Born: Aug 17, 1985

NHL Seasons: 3 (and parts of three others)

Contract Status: $2,350,000 cap hit through 2012-13; UFA summer 2013

'10-'11 Rink Wrap: N/A

Key Stat: His 15 missed shots in the 2012 playoffs were second only to Alex Ovechkin (18) among all Caps.

Interesting Stat: Brouwer led the team - and was ninth in the League - with a whopping 247 hits during the regular season. This is the second straight year in which he's both led his team and finished in the NHL's top ten in that stat.

The Good: Acquired on Draft Day 2011 for a first-round pick, Troy Brouwer was brought in to provide a big, physical presence (and a bit of offense) to the Caps' top six. And at the end of the day, that's pretty much what he did - he brought the big body, the bone-rattling checks and a few fights, while chipping in 18 goals and finishing fourth on the team in that department. In fact, between opening night and the end of January, Brouwer only once went more than three games without a point, racking up 26 of his 33 on the season - and his first career hat trick - during that span. And if you want to talk about big (and timely) offense, look no further than his game-winning goal in Game 5 against the Boston Bruins.

But when it's Brouwer you're focusing on, that other stuff takes a backseat to the physicality, and this year was no exception. As expected, he provided a nice one-two punch alongside Alex Ovechkin when it came to throwing the body around, with the two combining for 456 hits during the regular season (and another 97 during the playoffs) - his 247 hits on the year led the team, and included a bruising 11-hit game in the Caps' 1-0 win over the Penguins in January. Along with a bodycheck or 2(00), his five fights on the season marked a career high for the big right-winger and trailed only Matt Hendricks (who dropped 'em 11 times). Amazingly enough, despite the bruises his body took - and doled out - he was one of only six players on the Caps to skate in all 82 regular season games as well as all 14 playoff games.

The Bad: As much as the Caps appreciated the hits and the nearly 20 goals he chipped in, it wasn't all sunshine and roses for Brouwer's inaugural season with the Caps. He was on for more even strength goals-against/60 than anyone else on the regular roster during the season (although he did thankfully all but reverse that trend in the playoffs). A product of playing alongside some slightly less defensively responsible linemates for much of the season? Perhaps. But Brouwer also had an unfortunate tendency to drift a bit in his own zone, something that burned the Caps on a number of occasions and contributed to his team-low (tied with Carlson) plus-minus rating of minus-15 - although that is also owed in part to his team-worst 981 PDO, which in turn was driven by a woeful on-ice save percentage of .898. So good times all around.

And while Brouwer's 33 points weren't that far off from where his point totals usually end up, the fact is that the bulk of his scoring came early on in the season. After putting up 26 points in the first four months, his offense fell off a cliff to the tune of just seven points over the final three months of the season (with three in the final month) - at a time when the Caps, fighting for their playoff lives, needed every point they could get. The trend even continued, albeit at a more compressed rate, during the playoffs, as both his postseason goals came in the first round and he managed just two more assists - both in Game 5 - against the Rangers.

Oh, and speaking of not scoring against the Rangers... yeah, that one's going to sting. Make it up to us next year, Troy.

The Vote: Rate Brouwer below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season - if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

The Discussion: Does the first-round pick the Caps gave up for Brouwer seem like too much or was it just about the right price for what they got? Brouwer saw time on both the top line and as part of the third- and fourth lines during the playoffs - where do you see him being a better fit going forward? Finally, what will it take for him to earn a 10 rating next year?

[GameCenter - Ice Tracker - Game Summary - Event Summary - Faceoff Summary - Play-by-Play - Home TOI - Visitor TOI - Shift Charts - Head-to-Head - Fenwick/Corsi - Zone Starts - Fenwick Timeline]

After letting Game 5 slip painfully through their fingers in a matter of minutes, the question facing the Caps was one which has faced them a number of times throughout the playoffs: how would they respond? Down 3-2 in the series, the only way they could respond - the only way they could prolong their postseason at least a little longer - was to show that resilience we've grown accustomed to seeing over the past month.

And thankfully for Caps fans, it was on full display tonight, as the hometown boys made sure to send the raucous Verizon Center crowd home happy - and to book their tickets for one last trip to New York.

Ten more notes on the game:

• Getting on the board first may not guarantee a win - in fact in this series the winner has more frequently been determined by who scores last - but the fact remains that every game has been won by the team that's scored first. So it was something of a relief to see Alex Ovechkin put the Caps on top not only first but early, firing one past Henrik Lundqvist just 1:28 into the first period to give the good guys that all-important first strike.
• Ovechkin's goal came about thanks to an early power play that looked sharp and quick-moving (all fifteen seconds of it). The puck movement was precise, the passes crisp and the shot by #8 a laser that left his stick almost as soon as it arrived, while the cycling and work done by Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green was enough to make you nostalgic for Caps teams of days gone by.
• If that first goal was important, it was the second one that would prove huge for the Caps - both mentally, giving them some breathing room for once in this series (and one of the few times in the playoffs overall). Excellent job by Jason Chimera to drive the net and tap in a rebound for his fourth of the postseason. Move over, Matt Bradley... Chimera would like a spot in Lundqvist's nightmares.
• Noteworthy on that Chimera goal: it all started from some strong work along the boards by his linemate, Alexander Semin. He wouldn't earn a point on the play, but it was Semin winning the battle on the wall that freed up the puck for John Carlson, who found Backstrom going to the net, whose foot was masterful at creating a juicy rebound. That line was active all night long, with Backstrom picking up two assists while the trio created some good chances that ultimately went awry.
• Given that he reportedly could barely walk, it wasn't the biggest surprise to hear that Jay Beagle would sit out Game 6 - even as his coach insisted the opposite was true. And while the loss of Beagle, who has had a remarkable playoff run to this point, is a big one, it also meant that Jeff Halpern would make his long-awaited return to postseason play in a Caps' uniform. It wasn't the smoothest of returns for Halpern, with a double-minor and a last-minute faceoff loss leading to the Rangers' only goal, but he did seem to have an extra jump to his step tonight and won seven of his thirteen draws on the night.
• Too often this postseason we've found ourselves wondering where the Mike Green of old had gone, and whether we'd see him at all this spring (if ever again). Tonight, at last, we did. He was making smart plays in his own zone but he also had a little extra oomph (that's the technical term) offensively and there were times - particularly on the power play, cycling with Backstrom - where he was almost mesmerizing to watch.
• Only a few days ago, it was the Caps' inability to kill a double-minor late in Game 5 that cost them the lead and ultimately the game, surrendering two goals to fall into a 3-2 series hole. So if seeing a Cap go to the box for another four minutes tonight made your heart beat a little faster, you likely weren't alone. This time, however, the Caps made no mistake, killing first one and then the other penalty in dutiful fashion, bringing the Verizon Center crowd to its feet in appreciation of a job well done.
• New York may have foiled Holtby's shutout bid in the last minute, a lost faceoff leading to a shot from the point that tipped off a stick in front, but other than that the young netminder was solid once more, turning aside 30 of 31 shots he faced and earning first star honors on the night. And oh yeah, the streak continues...
• You might say that this has been something of an eventful postseason for Joel Ward. With high expectations already heaped on his shoulders, he's gone from playoff hero to playoff goat in a matter of days, experiencing the highest of highs and then the lowest of lows perhaps more than any of us. But like his team, Ward has shown resilience in the face of adversity (and at times stupidity from the outside world), and tonight he came out looking determined. The result? A strong physical game that showed no fear or hesitation - and no penalty minutes. Way to bounce back, sir.
• Continuing their steady, consistent work on the blue line, John Carlson and Karl Alzner have been a calming presence that doesn't seem to mesh with their youth and inexperience. That you hardly notice them at all anymore is a sure sign that they're doing their job, and the two continue to be quietly effective while not being afraid to jump into the play (as Carlson did while shorthanded, generating a great scoring chance in his own right).

So once again it all comes down to one game, on the road, a single game to decide a series that has been as even as any series could be. And after bouncing back from what could have been a horrific stumbling block in Game 5, the Caps have shown a quiet confidence and a workmanlike determination to not let the lows get too low. To finish the job, they'll need to avoid getting too high with the highs, as well, and hope that this series of coin-flip games comes down in their favor.

Back to MSG we go.

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Coming into the postseason, one of the biggest questions – particularly in the face of so many recent heartbreaking playoff exits – wasn’t about talent or physicality. It was about how strong the Caps were between the ears. It's become almost an annual rite of passage to take the skill and the systems and the potential and squander it by being unable to bounce back, whether within a game or after a bad loss. It’s what cost them in Game 7 against Pittsburgh, what caused them to crumble against an 8th seed Montreal team whose goalie seemed invincible, what’s held them back from greatness in the past. The ability, or inability as it were, to handle disappointment and adversity has been one of the major obstacles facing this franchise for the better part of a decade.

This year it’s different. This year it feels different. This year the team seems focused, motivated and strong enough to bounce back from anything. Whether it’s a result of a new voice behind the bench or a byproduct of the underdog mentality that’s taken hold or the maturation of the team’s core – or a combination of the three – this year’s Caps team has shown time and time again how resilient they can be. Every game is close, every goal matters immensely, and yet giving up a goal or losing in overtime hasn’t seemed to faze them. They’ve come back more determined to make it right the next time, get the next goal, earn the next win. It’s how they unseated the defending Cup champs; it’s how they’ve pushed the East’s top team as far as they have.

And yet despite all the signs that this team is capable of coming back, that winning two games is not beyond their capability, there is a significant amount of defeatism among the fans. One loss, a loss that puts them in a 3-2 hole against a higher seeded team, has sent hordes of Caps fans into the fetal position.

Uncurl, fellow Caps fans.

Yes, we have been through a lot in our nearly four decades of existence. The Caps are and have long been a team that seems to delight, albeit subconsciously, in dangling hope in front of our eyes only to snatch it away just as we reach for it. The division titles squandered; the Presidents’ trophy wasted. The incessant losses to teams from Western Pennsylvania. The sweep at the hands of a lowly division rival a year and four days ago today. There is plenty to fall back on as an excuse for being so mentally fragile that one loss causes us to retreat at full speed from any sliver of hope.

But history is history. The past is past. We can point to past heartaches as a reason not to believe or we can look at what we’ve been presented with over the last month and see it as a reason for optimism – frankly, I choose the latter.

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With the deadlocked series coming down to a best-of-three, the Caps headed to New York to try and steal one on the road in the hopes of clinching on home ice. After playing a great game to tie up the series, it seemed they had all the momentum to do just that.

But momentum's a funny thing. Just when you think it's swinging your way, the slightest breeze can knock it back the other way - whether it's between games or periods or even shifts, things can change just that quickly.

Ten more notes on the game:

• The Caps dominated the opening twenty minutes of Game 4, taking it to the Rangers shift after shift and coming away with a one-goal lead for their efforts. Tonight it was New York's turn for a little payback, as they peppered Braden Holtby early and often in hopes of getting anything through him. The Caps generated just four shots in the opening frame to the Rangers' 17 - or more accurately, Jason Chimera generated three shots and John Carlson added in the fourth late in the first just to make it a little more well-rounded.
• With all the shots one would think the Rangers had some glorious scoring chances - and they did have a few - but mostly early on it felt like they were simply trying to find a crack, a lucky bounce, a bad rebound, anything to get on the board first. And the goal that kicked off the scoring was hardly a thing of beauty, a seeing-eye shot through two sets of Caps' legs that came from Anton Stralman, after Stralman beat an overly aggressive Matt Hendricks to the puck.
• Watching that opening period, it was kind of amazing to think that 48 hours earlier the Caps were the dominant team. Tonight they were stumbling, scrambling and looking completely disjointed for long stretches of the first (and the game itself). What a difference two days makes, right?
• Both teams got a crack at scoring with the extra man a few times in the opening forty minutes, but neither seemed to really get anything going. And while the Caps' power play did seem to improve as they got more chances, the Rangers' power play did not, and they were actually held shotless through their first three extra-man opportunities. Yeah, more on that in a minute...
• Brooks Laich has had a somewhat quiet series, but he came through in a big way to tie the game up in the second period with a goal that combined all kinds of elements from this playoff run - some hard work, a bit of luck, and a confusing play by the goaltender. And just like that, despite getting outplayed big time, the Caps were once again playing in a tie game.
• Few have stood out for their sheer determination and hard work in this series (if not their offensive production) like Matt Hendricks; he's simply found another level to his play, ramping up the physicality while helping fuel the Caps' cycle game. Tonight, however, it seemed like the energy was a bit too much - he was too aggressive, too eager, and it cost the Caps a few times - including on the game's opening goal and the eventual game-winner.
• This was one of those games that seemed like one the Caps could maybe steal. Despite getting outshot, outchanced and outworked for much of it, they never trailed by more than one and were in fact tied for the majority of the game (as they have been just about every night since the playoffs started). So when Carlson fired home a bomb on the power play to put the Caps up with a little over fifteen minutes to go in the third, perhaps you, like me, felt like they would pull it off - take the lead and shut it down when it counted. It almost worked, too.
• That is until Joel Ward took a bad high-sticking penalty with less than a minute left in regulation. This is by no means saying that the loss is solely on his shoulders - it's not. Nor is this to say he's undone all the good he did with his series-clinching overtime winner against Boston - because he absolutely hasn't. But with your team clinging to a one-goal lead in a game that's been tilted against you, on the road versus a team that's long overdue for a power play marker... dude, you've got to stay out of the box.
• 6.6 seconds. That's all that remained in regulation, all that separated the Caps from a 3-2 series lead heading back to DC. And despite their penchant for "blowing" one-goal leads during the postseason, they've managed to hang on to them late when it's really counted. It's how they've gotten to this point in the first place. But a lot can happen in 6.6 seconds, and with the Caps shorthanded the Rangers decided to finally find a way to make their power play work. 6.6 seconds, a scramble in the crease, a bad play by Holtby and the game was tied.
• It wouldn't be that much longer before the game was over, as the Rangers again struck with the extra man in extra time - something that seemed inexplicable considering their power play woes and yet somehow totally unsurprising. That it was Marc Staal firing home the winner, equally inexplicable yet unsurprising. And that was it. The home team victorious and showered in streamers (...seriously?), the visitors left to contemplate what had happened in stunned silence before heading home.

As is the case with any loss in the playoffs, it's important to keep in mind that it is just one loss and the Caps will live to fight another day. We've seen how resilient they can be after losing a heartbreaking, triple-overtime game in which they played a million times better - if they bounced back then, they can again. Because as bad as this one feels, as quickly as it all happened, this loss just doesn't hurt as badly because it was not a game they deserved to win in the first place.

Don't get too high with the highs, don't get too low with the lows, and take it to 'em on Wednesday. Game 6 awaits.

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It's often said that it isn't a series until someone loses on home ice. In order for the Caps to make this a series, however, they would need to show a lot more intensity, play better defensively and get better goaltending than they did in Game 1. They would need to play more like the team we saw against the Bruins and less like the team that showed up so many nights in the regular season.

It still wasn't as good a game as this team is capable of playing, and they'll need to step it up again when they come back home, but the Caps managed to tie up the series and steal a game at MSG - in every sense of the word.

Ten more notes on the game:

• We've said it before, we'll say it again and again and again - scoring first on the road is crucial. It may not guarantee a win but it goes a long way toward taking the crowd out of it early and forcing the home team to take more risks to tie it up. So Mike Knuble's opening tally just past the halfway mark of the first was a huge one, not to mention the result of one of the prettier passing plays we've seen in awhile (by the grinders, no less).
• After Braden Holtby admitted that he had trouble focusing last game due to a low volume of shots, it's possible (if not probable) that part of the Caps' game plan was to make sure he saw plenty of shots early on. Back in Game 1 Holtby faced a whopping fourteen shots, stopping three of them; that equals the number of shots he'd face through less than thirty minutes tonight. For what it's worth, he looked much sharper throughout and even seemed to regain a bit of his swagger - and continued to show resilience well beyond his years.
• Speaking of blaming guys for goals, let's talk about Jason Chimera's second of the series - do you point the finger at Henrik Lundqvist for coming out to play the puck or Ryan McDonagh for basically kicking the puck in after the King made a somewhat ridiculous desperation save? Let's put it on both of them and hope that good things continue to happen whenever Chimera gets near Lundqvist's net.
• Mike Green and Roman Hamrlik were a highly underrated defensive pair in the first round series against the Bruins; somehow that performance of just a week ago feels like years, though, as the two continue to stumble against the Rangers. Hamrlik's poor decision-making is preventing him from covering for Green, who seems frazzled and unfocused thanks to a concerted effort by the Rangers to hit him every chance they get. It's not the most nuanced of plans but it's a tried and true one - and it's working on 52 so far.
• After trailing by a pair of goals in the first game, the Caps actually managed to build their own two-goal lead - but they wouldn't hold it for long, as Brad Richards struck late in the first to cut that lead in half. Good job by Marian Gaborik to take his defender and Holtby wide, bad job by both Troy Brouwer and Dennis Wideman for being unable to stop Richards - despite both of them being within an arm's length of the center. And a little extra slap on the wrist for Brooks Laich, who apparently needed to go make a phone call or something.
• You may not have heard, but apparently Alex Ovechkin 's ice time was cut drastically throughout this game and he would finish with what has to be one of his lowest times of his career at just under fourteen minutes. Whether it was a plot by Dale Hunter to break the Rangers' groove, or a strategy to get Ovechkin away from his shadows, or simply just to a plan to use more defensively responsible players at even strength, we may never know.
• And yet Ovechkin still managed to make a huge impact on this game - at least when he was on the ice. He got seven shots on net, had three more that were blocked, racked up two hits (as well as one that was likely uncredited on poor Marcus Johansson) and fired a ridiculous wrister from the point on the power play that would end up being the game-winner. He even found time to show his appreciation to the charming MSG faithful who have been singing his praises at least three times a night, asking them kindly to hear more. (h/t Dimagus)
• With a late first period goal, there was a chance that the Rangers would come out in the second and take control of the game, ramp up the energy and whip the MSG crowd into a frenzy. The Caps, apparently, had other plans, as they set about turning the middle frame into a slow, plodding, neutral-zone clogging, offside-causing march of doom. Bad television? Sure. But it took Ranger fans right out of the game and lulled us all, including the players, into a kind of stupor that prevented any sort of momentum. It might not have been fun to watch but darn it all if it didn't work.
• Well...temporarily, at least. The Caps were content to sit on their one-goal lead for the rest of the game, but they had to know that New York would come out and come out hard to try and tie it up. With seven minutes gone in the final frame they would get their chance, as Knuble found himself in the box for an errant high stick, Play with fire too often and you'll get burned, as the Caps found out when New York finally cracked their penalty kill to tie the game up at two.
• If you're keeping track, you know how many times the Caps have blown a one-goal lead in this postseason. If not, don't worry - we've got your back. It's nine. Nine times in nine games that the Caps have been up by a goal and failed to hold on. Thankfully they've managed to bounce back a number of times, as well (including tonight) but that's certainly not a recipe for success going forward.

So the Caps do exactly what they needed to do - pick up their game a bit, bounce back from a disappointing loss in Game 1, steal a game on the road and get back to Verizon with the series tied at one. Next step? To do what they haven't been able to do so well in this postseason, which is (inexplicably) to win at home.

Twice, preferably.

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As the Caps roll right along, so do we...

Question 1: What did we learn about the Caps last series? What lessons are they going to need to take forward if they want to keep this season going, and do what they never could do under Bruce Boudreau?

Becca H: I think we learned that the Caps are more resilient than they seemed so often during the regular season (and in regular seasons/postseasons gone by). Falling behind didn’t seem to faze them; neither did losing a one- or two-goal lead. They played a very patient, opportunistic game right up until the end and never really seemed to panic. That’s going to be really important against a Ranger team that plays much the same way.

Pepper: Hunter also seems to have been able now, finally in the second season, to get everyone to buy into that tight checking, "patient opportunism," and was absolutely not afraid to bench anyone, Captain included, in response that player’s lack of focus and effort at both ends of the rink and the game situation. These two things, in particular the second, Boudreau was never able (or willing) to consistently implement through a long series.

Rob Parker: Agreed that the resiliency was a big thing in the first round. I’d say they showed more mental toughness than we’d been accustomed to seeing as well. A familiar lament has been that one goal, one tough bounce, has often seemed to get them crestfallen and lead to a snowball effect. Against the Bruins the Caps never let that happen. They faced tough goals, bad bounces, bad calls, but they never folded. The Bruins never had a two goal lead in the 7 games, which means that every time the Bruins took a lead the Caps found a way to dig deep and come back. The Caps also had to play a game without Nicklas Backstrom, and they managed to hang in there and steal a win that prevented a 3-1 deficit. Every time the Bruins scored, the Caps found a way to answer. The three Bruins wins came on two overtime goals, and a goal in the final 2 minutes. When there was time on the clock, the Caps came back against a very strong defense and reigning Vezina/Conn Smythe goalie. Then to top it off we saw a game 7 road win in overtime.. That’s what sticks out most to me.

JP: I agree with you guys and would add that they bought into the team concept in a way we hadn't really seen before. There was balance in the scoring and well-defined roles that were played well, all-in-all. And they were tough without being overly aggressive and taking bad retaliatory penalties (with one obvious exception). All of that (with a pinch of stand-on-your-head goaltending) is a pretty good recipe for post-season success, and it certainly was in Round 1. Play another round like that, and there's every reason to believe the results will be similar.

Kareem: I agree with everything stated above. Additionally, my two big takeaways are: 1) GMGM was right; a healthy Caps squad can beat anyone (and the Bruins are no pushovers); 2) the affirmation that teams need to be lucky as much as good. We could easily be lamenting "what if" situations today and talking about next season right now. Instead we’re moving on to play the Rangers in Round 2. "Luck" is something that doesn’t usually grace the Caps in spring, so it was nice to have it, and it would be nice for it to continue.

Question 2: So, once again, it’s the Washington Capitals versus the New York Rangers - only this time it’s a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals that is up for grabs. On paper, it’s a 1 seed facing a 7 seed. On the ice, the 7 seed just defeated the 2 seed in a 7 game series and the 1 seed just barely out-lasted the 8 seed in 7 games. So let’s get right to it, what do you like about this match-up? What reasons do Caps fans have to be optimistic?

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294 – Combined number of blocked shots between the Rangers (155) and Caps (139) through the first seven games, which were the highest- and second-highest totals of the 16 playoff teams.

[Ed. note: As part of the build-up to the first round playoff series between the Capitals and the Rangers, Japers' Rink will be looking at some of the important but lesser-known players on the Rangers and how they might impact the series.]

Dan Girardi

#5 / Defenseman / New York Rangers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 206

Born: Apr 29, 1984

Birthplace: Welland, Ontario
Drafted: Signed as free agent, July 2006

Why you should know who he is - Because he's the guy that is going to be in Alex Ovechkin's face on every shift and the guy who will be trying to stop the Caps' mighty power play while inflicting some extra-man damage of his own. Girardi's one of Tortorella's go-to guys on the blueline, and for good reason - he logs huge minutes (among the team leaders in even-strength, power play and shorthanded time), is a shot-blocking fiend, and can and has played through injury. Plus he just got his first career playoff goal in Game 7 against the Senators, so... dude's red hot.

How the Caps can stop him - If the Rangers are going to give him big minutes (and they are), the Caps need to wear him out. Put the puck in his corner and punish him, hit him whenever there's a chance, and make him feel every one of those twenty-seven, twenty-eight minutes a night. It's a strategy the Caps attempted with Zdeno Chara and it's one they enlisted last year - and had success in both. Girardi's reach isn't as long as Chara's (because really whose is), and he's not as inclined to take the body, so Ovechkin - or whichever forwards end up facing Girardi - will have a bit more room to work, and needs to inflict his own physical damage.

When the Caps slid into 7th place on the last day of the regular season, it ensured them of a meeting with the reigning Stanley Cup champs - a first-round series that many "experts", to say nothing of fans on both sides, thought would be fairly one-sided in the Bruins' favor.

That it ended up not only not being one-sided but also one of the closest series in NHL history is a tribute to the entire team, from the net on out. Just about everyone finally seemed to buy in to the defense-first system Dale Hunter had tried to put in place since December, and when one guy couldn’t make it happen another was almost always there to pick up the slack. It wasn’t a perfect series – far from it – but the Caps put together a solid, somewhat surprising effort.

To do so, they needed to get a little extra from guys who don’t usually draw the spotlight, whether it was a fourth-liner ending the series or a rookie goaltender making the big save. So as we look ahead to the next round, a look back at some guys who need to maintain (and a few who might need to pick it up, just a little)...

Those For Whom Play Exceeded Expectations

Braden Holtby - One of the big question marks for the Caps heading into this series was the performance of their 22-year-old rookie goaltender, who was suddenly thrust into the spotlight after injuries felled both Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth. And while he was prone to a few bobbles and rookie mistakes – and certainly had plenty of help from the team in front of him - there’s no question that he far exceeded expectations… and as a result outdueled the Vezina trophy winner at the opposite end of the ice. Holtbeast indeed.

Karl Alzner - Was there ever any doubt that Karl Alzner would step up and continue to be the steady, solid playoff performer the Caps needed him to be? Trust us, that doesn’t make it any less pleasant. The Bruins have some skilled forwards on their roster but when Karl was patrolling the blue line, there was no need for concern, and the four goals for which he was on the ice was tied (with his defense partner) for the second-lowest on the team.

Jay Beagle - The playoffs are often a time for unsung heroes to step up and contribute, and Jay Beagle did exactly that against the Bruins. He may have only picked up one goal in the series but every time his line was on the ice there was energy and an excellent forecheck. Between that and his 62.5% effectiveness on faceoffs, it's not hard to see why Beagle's ice time over the last seven games was five minutes more on average than his regular season totals.

John Carlson - It may not have been a shock to see Karl Alzner step up and perform so well, but after the way the regular season went for Carlson it was definitely a pleasant surprise to see him do the same. He was easily one of the team's best defensemen, bringing a little bit of snarl and good positioning along with some smart offensive plays (including the one that kicked off the scoring in Game 7). His two assists trailed only Roman Hamrlik for offense among the blueliners but it was his work in his own end that really made him stand out.

Mike Knuble - He may have been scratched for the first three games, but when a suspension to Nicklas Backstrom opened up a spot in the lineup, Knuble made sure it wouldn't happen again for the remainder of the series. As the final four games went on it was Knuble who was called upon to take on some heavy defensive lifting at even strength - and you only have to see his work on the series-clinching overtime winner last night to know that one doesn't have to get a ton of ice time to make an impact on a game.

Matt Hendricks - Hendricks certainly picked a good time to get his first goal of the series, opening the scoring in last night's final game to give the Caps that all-important one-goal lead. It wasn't his offense that made him a key player in this series, however; it was his feistiness, and his intelligence to know when to keep that in check that did that (note him phyiscally holding back teammate Jason Chimera during a scuffle in front of the benches last night). He was another part of the forechecking trio that, by the end of the series, was outplaying the Bruins' third- and fourth-lines. And in the end, that would make all the difference.

Roman Hamrlik - With all the talk about Carlson and Alzner and Holtby, it's possible to lose sight of just how good Hamrlik was in this series. Alongside Mike Green, he was a quietly steady presence in the defensive zone and, more surprisingly, led all Caps' blueliners in points with three (all assists). That unfortunate deflection into his own net aside, Hamrlik was a calming presence in his own zone all series long and, at 38-years-old, trailed youngsters Carlson and Alzner in blocked shots by just one, with 16 over the seven games. Keep it up, Hamr.

Those For Whom Expectations Exceeded Play

Alex Ovechkin - It's probably a bit unfair to say that Ovechkin didn't live up to expectations, considering he still managed to lead the team in points, without his usual center and while facing off against the defenseman who has given him fits in recent years. And overall, it really wasn't a bad series for the captain (...when he was allowed to play). We put him here because whatever team the Caps face next will not present quite the same challenges to Ovechkin's scoring touch - and he needs to capitalize on that. The series against the Bruins didn't need him to be at his best, but the next one almost surely will.

Keith Aucoin - No knock on Aucoin - he's a solid, energetic player. And he made a few good plays in a series that featured numerous defensemen who towered over him by a good six inches (and often more). But too often against the Bruins he was getting muscled off the puck, making curious decisions and showing that he's probably just more suited to the AHL. That said, if he's going to stick around - and if the coach is going to throw him out on the ice for more than a minute of power play time a game (?!?) - he needs to step it up and prove he belongs there. At least for now.

Dennis Wideman - Oh, Wideman, Wideman, Wideman. The tricky thing with #6 is that there are times where he makes quietly good defensive plays, and there are the moments where he's bailed out his defensive partner and/or his goaltender; there are also many, many more times where he's either beaten on a play or makes a bad decision with the puck that leads to a scoring chance. And when you lead all defensemen on your team with eight goals-against in a fairly low-scoring series, it's not all about rebounds and passes in the skates. Here's hoping the next series features All-Star Wideman and not "Dear god what the hell" Wideman.

Alexander Semin - Overall, Semin was probably one of the better forwards among the Caps' top 6 if you take all things into consideration - goals, defensive responsibility, etc. His three goals led the team (and were tied for the series lead), and the fact that two of the three came on the power play is great. He also made some stunning defensive plays that left even the most verbal "experts" speechless. But the fact is that Semin wasn't able to provide the Caps with consistent secondary scoring at even strength, and with both teams struggling on special teams and every game decided by a goal, his presence may have helped ease a few heart attacks over the course of the series. Expect more going forward.

Nicklas Backstrom - His return to the lineup after missing forty games with a concussion was supposed to solidify the offense from the top six and make them more defensively responsible. Overall it wasn't a horrible series for Backstrom (and he, like Ovechkin, did manage to pick up some points, with a goal and three assists in this series) but it felt like it was lacking something. Granted, he spent the better part of the first three games getting manhandled by the Bruins and sat out Game 4 with a suspension - but he finished out the series with a couple of defensive gaffes leading directly to Boston goals and the actions he took leading to the suspension (whether or not you agree with the punishment) were uncharacteristically selfish and undisciplined. Better Backstrom in the next series? Count on it.

Jeff Schultz - If there was ever a team that was going to eat up a guy like Jeff Schultz, it was the Bruins; so it's not really that surprising that he got the hook for Games 4, 5 and 6 (although it was surprising to see him back in for Game 7). His decision-making skills with the puck are just not good enough against a hard forechecking team like Boston, and it showed. His positioning was pretty good, as it always is, and by the end of the series he was showing a willingness to hit back... but overall it wasn't the most comforting sight to see Double Nickel out there in this one.

3 – number of rookie goaltenders who have eliminated the defending Stanley Cup Champs; with his win in Game 7 last night, Braden Holtby joins Ken Dryden (1971) and Mike Vernon (1986) as the only others to accomplish this feat. (h/t @NHLAdamK)

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And so it all came down to this. A series of inches, millimeters even. A series of close calls and great goaltending. A series that many thought wouldn't be so close ended up being closer than any seven-game series has ever been. A series in which many thought the Bruins' physicality and experience would prove too much for the underdog Caps.

It would all culminate in the ultimate sporting event, Game 7, one game to decide it all. And as has been the case in so much of this series, this one was tied... right up until it wasn't.

Game over. Series over. Caps move on.

Ten more notes on the game:

• Coming into this game - as with all the others - the Caps had to know that the first goal would be crucially important. Take the hometown crowd out of it early, put the other guys on their heels, etc. In this series it's been crucially important, with the team scoring the first goal winning five (now six) of the seven games. And the Caps took care of business thanks to a great shot from the point from series stud John Carlson and a better deflection in front of the net by Matt Hendricks.
• After that it was time for Hunter Hockey to take over, and that meant playing a patient game, forcing the Bruins to make plays and not taking undue chances. Sound boring? Perhaps in a non-playoff, non-Game 7 situation. But early on in this one, when it seemed like the Bruins were getting frustrated by the defensive posture, it was nothing short of poetry.
• Physical play wasn't exactly lacking, a factor in this game as it has been in the six prior, but it was more of a restrained type of physicality - neither team wanting to push the envelope too much and gift the other team a power play in what was sure to be a close one. Lots of near-physical stuff, though, with Hendricks restraining Jason Chimera at one point and Rich Peverley restraining himself later on.
• Search back through your memory banks, kids - when is the last time you saw a penalty overturned that didn't involve a puck going over the glass? When's the last time you saw it happen in the Caps' favor? Every so often they get it right, and it happened tonight, as an apparent slash by Jay Beagle was waived off after a referee conference determined it was no foul. Blind squirrel, nut, etc.
• Maybe you thought that patient, defense-first, one-goal lead would hold up all game and the Caps would ride a Braden Holtby shutout to the second round... silly rabbit. Holtby was nothing short of tremendous at times for the Caps in this series, but just as it happened in other games, a bobble by the rookie goaltender ended up costing the Caps. Granted, his teammates need to get the puck out of the zone, as well, but a couple of bluffed saves turned into a juicy puck left all alone in the blue paint which led to Tyler Seguin getting his stick on it and tying up the game.
• Ovechkin's ice time has been an ongoing storyline in this series, but never more underlined than it was tonight. Sure, when the game is tight you want to give your defensively responsible guys some ice time... but Game 7 in the playoffs when another goal would give your team a cushion, this is when you let guys like Ovechkin shine. He wants the puck, he wants the stage, and he was looking dangerous tonight. The fact that it worked out okay for the Caps is fine, but Ovechkin not being a factor tonight was troubling - and it wasn't because of Ovechkin himself.
• Very surprising that after the Caps got the benefit of a call early on, the referees saw fit to put away the whistles... except when it came to the last three minutes of a tied game. Did I say surprising? I meant NOT surprising. The refs actually did a good job of letting both sides play most of the night, and while I'm not one to say game situations should dictate what is and isn't a penalty, calling one that late on a play that earlier would've been let go was frustrating. Major kudos to the penalty killers for the biggest two minutes of the year right there.
• Every Caps fan was likely smacking their forehead when Marcus Johansson made the odd decision to eschew the open lane presented to him on the power play and instead telegraph a dangerous cross-ice pass that was, of course, picked off. Those same foreheads were being wiped in relief just moments later when the Bruins failed to capitalize.
• Often in a series like this the top guys cancel each other out, leaving the outcome in the hands of the third- and fourth-liners - the guys who don't normally get much glory, who do more work that doesn't show up on the scoresheet while the big names are running the show. Tonight was no exception, and it was the Caps' third- and fourth-lines that dominated early and often, from the deflection by Matt Hendricks right up to the end.
• Nothing is as exciting as seeing your team win a series in overtime. Nothing. And Joel Ward made sure that the Caps' and their fans finally ended their Game 7 miseries when he picked up a rebound after a two-on-one with Mike Knuble, and made it count. A wee bit of interference by Knuble on Tim Thomas? Perhaps. But it's about time the karmic pendulum swung the Caps' way in that department, and it paid off big time. Your playoff hero: Joel Ward.

So we bid adieu to our valiant opponents in Boston and look ahead to the next ones - but not before we celebrate the moment, savor it, enjoy it, run it over in your heads as many times as necessary. Tonight, thanks to Joel Ward, Braden Holtby and the Caps... we celebrate.

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In any series, the biggest game is automatically the game in which one team can be eliminated - in the grand scheme of must-wins, they don't get much bigger.

Game 5 for the Caps, however, was a close second. As the first of back-to-backs in this series, the winner of this game would likely carry some momentum into a potential series-clinching Game 6 less than twenty-four hours later. A loss for the Caps would mean Boston would have two shots at finishing the series, with the second one coming on home ice.

It was something the Caps had to know going into this one - and they played like it, giving Braden Holtby some offensive support (in a game in which he'd need it) and at times out-Bruining the Bruins. The result? A 4-3 victory and the chance to do what many thought wasn't possible - knock out the reigning champs, and do so in the friendly confines of Verizon Center.

Ten more notes on the game:

• The Caps definitely started this game looking like a team that wasn't interested in going home down 3-2 in the series, controlling the neutral zone play for long stretches in the first and second while generating some good chances early. Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson in particular were all over the Bruins' zone in the first, managing to shake loose their freakishly tall Slovakian shadow for just enough time to create something in front of Tim Thomas, and the Caps held the Bruins to one shot on goal through the first six minutes (which included a shotless power play).
• About that big Slovakian guy... while it makes for good television to hear about Zdeno Chara threatening Jason Chimera at the start of the second period (and equally good television to see Chimera look a little bit terrified on the bench), you had to assume that Chara wasn't going to be dumb enough to actually act on it. Taking him off the ice for five minutes - even at the expense of Chimera's pretty face - would have been a win for the Caps, and the fact that nothing transpired is a pretty good sign that he knew that. Go change that underwear, Jason.
• Knowing as we do the ongoing saga of Alexander Semin in the playoffs, particularly over the past few years, it's nice to see the Other Alex step up and really play some good hockey when the team needs him to. His third goal in as many games gave the Caps their first goal of the day, and it came about - brace yourself - as a result of him basically crashing the net and picking up a rebound. Of course he got a little help from a hobbled Joe Corvo, who had blocked a shot a few moments earlier, as well as a prostrate Greg Zanon (diving doesn't pay, kids) and a down-and-out Tim Thomas... but it was also a product of great patience and poise amid mass chaos.
• Easy to say that no one has done a bigger 180 from the regular season to the playoffs than John Carlson, who went from bad to worse over the course of the season but has been one of the team's best defensemen in this series. He's got snarl, he's defending well, and he's jumping into the play - but smartly. And it was his pass that sent Troy Brouwer into the Bruins' zone late in the third today, putting the Caps on top for good.
• Everyone has been heaping praise on Braden Holtby since the start of the series - and it's certainly been deserved, as he's bailed his teammates out on a number of occasions. Today gave them a chance to repay him a bit, as he made some excellent saves but also let in one, maybe two goals that you'd really like to see him stop. It's to be expected with a young goalie, for sure, and it's nice to see the team step up and get a win for him for once.
• Most of this series has been played at a stalemate, with tied scores being the norm and the smallest of leads taken throughout. It's been so even that until Jay Beagle flipped the puck in off of Thomas' glove with a little over five minutes to go in the second period, no team had held a two-goal lead at any point in this series. If you want a sign of just how tightly this series has been played, look no further than the fact that it took five games for that to happen... while all it takes is for someone to sneeze in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia and the lead's twice that big.
• Didn't take long for even that lead to disintegrate, however, as three minutes later Dennis Seidenberg cut that lead in half. And then twenty-eight seconds after that Brad Marchand decided to wake up for a moment and tied the game up at two. Because having a bit of breathing room is so 2009.
• Onward we'd go with the tie score, extending the heart attack into the third. Just when we thought it was in the bag, with Mike Knuble doing his Knuble-esque work on a rebound to put the Caps up 3-2, Johnny Boychuk's blast from the point five minutes later made it a whole new game once more. For those keeping track at home, by the way, the Caps have lost six one-goal leads in this series so far. And for those keeping track at home, that's not a good thing.
• Weak call on Benoit Pouliot late in the third of a tie game? Perhaps. But the Caps will take a two minute man-advantage for that love tap any day, and especially on this day, as Troy Brouwer turned an odd-man rush on the power play into the eventual game-winner. Must be all that whining the Caps have been doing...
• Nail-biting time would follow, because if we know one thing with this team - with either of these teams, really - it's that no lead is safe and you can't trust the clock to actually run. But the Caps passed their second test in the last two games and as a result earned their second win in the last two games.

And it's back to Washington one more time for a chance to put the Bruins away for good. With a short turnaround, it'll be interesting to see how these teams rebound - the Caps riding momentum and adrenalin, the Bruins desperate and angry. Is the advantage with the battle-proven Bruins, who have been in this situation before, or is it with the Caps with their younger goalie and healthier lineup?

We'll know soon enough.

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The NHL has upheld Nicklas Backstrom's automatic one-game suspension from the match penalty earned at the end of Game 3.

Video explaining the suspension:

It's no secret that one of the Boston Bruins' favorite strategies is to play the pest - to get under their opponent's skin, make them retaliate and then make them pay. Thanks to a cast of characters perfectly suited for the role, from the goaltender on out, it was a big part of their run to the Stanley Cup last spring and has been a key component of the first three games of this series. Up until Game 3, however, it was a game plan that had been largely unsuccessful against the Caps; guys were straddling that line between sending a message and engaging in full-on retaliation, playing physical without taking unnecessary penalties.

It was that discipline, that awareness of what the Bruins would try to do and a determination not to play into their hands, which was somewhat missing in the Caps' loss last night. As Boston upped the pest factor, the Caps allowed themselves to be sucked in and proceeded to parade to the penalty box eight times - three of which came at the same time as a Bruins' penalty, with two goals (including the eventual game-winner) coming on the ensuing 4-on-4s.

Nicklas Backstrom in particular has been a target of the Bruins' physicality, receiving multiple (uncalled) shots to the head from various Boston players in the first game, and it was clear that it bubbled over tonight. The usually disciplined Swede found himself in the penalty box three times for various infractions, and then capped it off with a game-ending match penalty for a crosscheck to the head of Rich Peverley - a move that could cost him a spot in Thursday's pivotal Game 4.

To some extent the frustration and the accompanying retaliation is understandable; everyone has a breaking point, and perhaps last night was just that collective point for the Caps. And it certainly doesn't help when the officials play into the Bruins' hands, giving Boston the benefit of the doubt on several plays - including one that sent Brooks Laich to the box for what I can only assume was the audacity to fall down, assisted by After-the-Whistle All-Star Milan Lucic .

But poor officiating didn't lose that game for the Caps (although it certainly didn't help much...nor did the fact that the Caps apparently can no longer play well 4-on-4), and while frustration is understandable it still needs to be tempered and kept in check. The Caps knew coming into this series that this was the game Boston played - and after two disciplined games, they let themselves unravel just enough to give the Bruins the upperhand.

The Caps are still in this series; down 2-1 is hardly a death knell, and there's no reason why they can't even it up on Thursday. They've played a very tight, even three games against a tough opponent and for the most part have looked good doing so. But if they do lose in the end, it should be because they simply had no answer for Boston's offensive depth, because Braden Holtby couldn't match Tim Thomas save for save, because their special teams just weren't good enough or because Boston got that one lucky bounce that the Caps couldn't get. Those are all legitimate reasons, and ones that would neither be unexpected nor shameful if they happened.

What would be cause for disappointment is if the Caps let this series slip away because they allowed Boston to dictate the terms of how the remaining two, three, four games should be played, if they get drawn into taking bad penalties and allow frustration to override determination and discipline. If those things happen and they lose, it will overshadow the fact that they've kept up with the defending champs and make all of us wonder "what if" once again.

As we noted before the series, "they need to find a balance between standing up for themselves and staying disciplined when faced with the Bruins' physicality (legal and otherwise)." If the Caps play their game the rest of the way and not Boston's, they've got a shot - because the high road is the only one that leads to the second round.

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So it begins: the playoffs. It's been a long, strange rollercoaster ride of a season for the Caps and their fans, and for a few nerve-wracking weeks it seemed like they wouldn't even get here... but here they are, taking on the reigning champs in a best-of-seven series.

It's a series in which many have already written off the Caps, conceding the series to the Bruins before the puck has even dropped - and perhaps they'll end up being right. But if the Caps can get a few more performances from Braden Holtby like the one he rolled out at TD Bank Garden - even in a losing effort - they may just have a fighting chance.

Ten more notes on the game:

• All eyes were on Holtby heading into this game, yet another rookie goaltender making his playoff debut for the Caps with injuries to Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth. And after shaking some early nerves, the story at the end of the night would be how Holtby rose to the challenge and then some, making big save after big save to keep his team in a game that ultimately would come down to one goal. A goal he should've had? Perhaps. But sometimes that's how it goes, and it doesn't take that much away from what was a stellar debut for Holtby.
• Heading into this series, another major focus (and one which is likely to continue for the length of it) is the battle between Alex Ovechkin and Zdeno Chara - a clash of two titans who never seem to shy away from engaging in all-out physical warfare. There were plenty of hits but ultimately it seems round one goes to the freakishly tall Slovakian gentleman, as he and Dennis Seidenberg managed to limit Ovechkin to just one shot on goal. As we've seen, as their captain goes, so go the Caps - so that needs to change in Game 2.
• Ovechkin vs. Chara aside, the second line of Alexander Semin, Jason Chimera and Nicklas Backstrom seemed to be facing a steady diet of the Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk pairing early on, and took advantage at times with some good possession against the Boston duo. Thanks to the suffocating defense surrounding Ovechkin and friends, it seemed as if any offense the Caps' top six forwards were going to generate was going to come from that group. Unfortunately they were never quite able to get their cycle game going and (obviously) came up empty.
• Letting any team have multiple chances with the extra man is dangerous, even a team like Boston, whose struggles on the power play are almost as bad as the Caps' struggles. Thankfully they didn't cash in (and kudos to the penalty killers for the Caps, who did a tremendous job), but a parade to the penalty box by the Caps late in the first and well into the second period gave the Bruins some momentum and led to a tremendously lopsided shot total.
• There may be no player on the Caps who takes as many hits up high - from sticks, from pucks, from flying elbows - than Marcus Johansson. What's amazing about that is how he always seems to bounce right back, barely missing a step. Tonight was no exception, as he got rattled along the boards a few times while also taking a few pucks up high. Barely missed a shift. Tough kid.
• Bonus points to John Carlson, who had what was easily his best game of the season tonight. He was physical, he was positionally sound, he was smart with the puck and he was the first to jump to Holtby's aid when the Bruins did what everyone figured they would do and ran the goalie. Maybe that whole lackluster sophomore slump thing in the regular season was just a big prank, eh, John? Good one.
• Everything seemed to be tilting in Boston's favor through the first forty minutes, as shot totals and chances well outnumbered those of the Caps. But in the third period the Caps seemed to find their legs and generate some momentum of their own, shutting down the Boston attack long enough to find a bit of offense in their own right and at least making Tim Thomas work for that win.
• And many of those chances late in the game came from the third and fourth lines, who often outworked their Boston counterparts to get the cycle game going. Now if only we could mesh the hard work and never-quit mentality of those guys with someone who had good hands like Alexander Semin.
• Speaking of Semin, a bit of an uneven game to say the least for the guy who comes and goes in the playoffs, with just one shot on net and a couple more that were blocked or missed the target. And yet the one takeaway from his work in this game is the fact that Boston apparently thinks they need four guys to take him on, as was proven late in the game when it took that many to shove him to the ice and stand over him like the cool, tough kids they are. So brave. SO brave.
• Twenty scoreless minutes led to another twenty scoreless minutes followed by twenty more scoreless minutes...and then just a little over a minute into overtime it was all over. A chance by Johansson at one end turned into a rush the other way and a Chris Kelly shot that Holtby stops nine times out of ten.

With one game in the books, the Caps find themselves in a 1-0 series hole - not wholly unexpected, particularly if you ask any number of "experts", but disappointing nonetheless.

And yet it's not exactly an embarrassing start to a series in which they are seen as massive underdogs, either. The Caps hung around and stayed with the Bruins hit for hit, save for save, forcing the game into overtime - and they didn't look all that bad doing it. To say that they could improve in certain areas is an understatement, but they made it enough of a contest that might cause even the slightest hint of doubt to creep into the minds of the Bruins and their fans - and with another chance to steal home ice advantage away from the Bruins coming up on Saturday, this series is far from over.

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