Washington leads the series 2-0 as the venue flips from Downton DC to West Raleigh. You guys know the details of how we've gotten here ... Carolina has dug themselves a hole and the clawed back only to come up short ... once in regulation, once in OT. The level of play has been physical, but game control has been all over the place. Neither team really seems to be able to grab a game by the neck, which is fine. This IS the playoffs after all. Nobody's supposed to go down easy ... cough, cough TAMPA.
I assume we will get some morning skate and morning press conference updates from the usual media sources, but I don't expect many changes for either team. Nobody got extra discipline following Game 2, so everyone who was available for Game 1 is available for both teams. Given home ice and the way they felt the need to hide Fleury in Game 2, if de Haan is ready to roll, then expect him to do so. Maenalanen looked decent but didn't get a lot of ice time as the 4th unit felt the brunt of Ferland getting tossed in Game 2, so I'd expect him to stick and Kegger to stay on the sidelines. There's no compelling reason not to go back to Mrazek in net, unless Brindy just wants to send a "business as usual" message by going back to his rotation. I expect the Czech. Up 2-0 and playing fairly well, I don't expect much to change for the Caps. Until something breaks, there's nothing to fix.
Now ... the game. Remember that old saw about nothing having changed in a 7 game series until somebody wins on the road? Yeah ... it's only true if you win at home. We're at that point for the Canes. Of course, playing at home is a HUGE boost and not just because of the fans and sleeping in your own bed. Last change is always a big deal in the post season, and Carolina will certainly be looking to mix up the matchups to get Aho's line away from Kuznetsov, and maybe to line up Staal on Backstrom as much as possible. Meanwhile, Washington has been hiding Christian Djoos and that's going to be a LOT harder to do on the road without actually juggling your defense pairings. And if you're the Canes brain trust I'd think you'd go to significant lengths at this point to make somebody other than Backstrom beat you. He has owned this series through two games and that needs to be disrupted. It's go time for the Canes. The building will be jacked and the boys need to moderate their emotions early. After that, they can ride it home.
I assume we will get some morning skate and morning press conference updates from the usual media sources, but I don't expect many changes for either team. Nobody got extra discipline following Game 2, so everyone who was available for Game 1 is available for both teams. Given home ice and the way they felt the need to hide Fleury in Game 2, if de Haan is ready to roll, then expect him to do so. Maenalanen looked decent but didn't get a lot of ice time as the 4th unit felt the brunt of Ferland getting tossed in Game 2, so I'd expect him to stick and Kegger to stay on the sidelines. There's no compelling reason not to go back to Mrazek in net, unless Brindy just wants to send a "business as usual" message by going back to his rotation. I expect the Czech. Up 2-0 and playing fairly well, I don't expect much to change for the Caps. Until something breaks, there's nothing to fix.
Now ... the game. Remember that old saw about nothing having changed in a 7 game series until somebody wins on the road? Yeah ... it's only true if you win at home. We're at that point for the Canes. Of course, playing at home is a HUGE boost and not just because of the fans and sleeping in your own bed. Last change is always a big deal in the post season, and Carolina will certainly be looking to mix up the matchups to get Aho's line away from Kuznetsov, and maybe to line up Staal on Backstrom as much as possible. Meanwhile, Washington has been hiding Christian Djoos and that's going to be a LOT harder to do on the road without actually juggling your defense pairings. And if you're the Canes brain trust I'd think you'd go to significant lengths at this point to make somebody other than Backstrom beat you. He has owned this series through two games and that needs to be disrupted. It's go time for the Canes. The building will be jacked and the boys need to moderate their emotions early. After that, they can ride it home.
(Thank you DVR. ) I'll have to ignore the phone as well.
