The Russian Connection gets it done against the Rangers (photo: Mike Rucki)

Based on tonight’s performance, the Caps will be just fine with that.

In the post-game press conference, Coach Hunter was asked if this game was similar to the Caps’ victory over Nashville. “This is more heated because it’s a rivalry,” he replied. “It’s more emotional, and the guys rose to the occasion.”

A game that started out hesitantly — as if both teams were aware of the HBO cameras and trying to avoid mistakes — turned into a dominant performance by the Capitals. After just two shots in the first six minutes, the floodgates opened and 55 shots were on target by the end of the game. The important number, of course is 4: Four even-strength goals for a Capitals team that hasn’t given its netminders much support of late.

Alex Ovechkin entered the game on a point-per-game pace (14g, 11a) in his last 25 contests against the Rangers. He’s improved on that rate slightly with his 2 assists, both on beautiful shots by Alexander Semin, though didn’t find the net himself.

The Capitals’ forecheck was in fine form, stymieing the Rangers’ attempts to exit their zone or move through the neutral zone. Two of the Caps’ goals were direct results of their aggressive forecheck — the first a sweet steal by Marcus Johansson, who dished to Jeff Halpern and crashed the net as Halpern shot to pot the rebound.

The Caps’ second forecheck-created goal started with a sweet open-ice hit by Ovechkin; Backstrom collected the puck and fired a smooth pass to a streaking Semin.

Just seconds earlier the Rangers had a golden opportunity to tie the game at two apiece, when John Carlson (whose first-period stumble led to the Rangers only tally on the night) misplayed the puck. Yet the Rangers failed to convert, and Semin,with a burst of speed, made them pay for their missed opportunity. And in a blink, what could have been 2-2 became 3-1.

But the feel-good goal of the game goes to Troy Brouwer. He was having a rough night, whiffing in front of an open net on the power play despite a tic-tac-toe pass from Ovechkin to Backstrom to Brouwer. Later, a two-on-one break with him and Ovechkin did not yield a shot on goal; then Brouwer missed another great chance down low. But his persistence paid off, as he camped at the top of the crease and redirected a Carlson shot into the net. Brouwer burst into a huge grin after the goal — you could almost hear his sigh of relief from the press box.

The Capitals’ PK units stood tall and denied the Rangers on five opportunities (including another pesky Delay of Game… a lucky fan got a souvenir lofted over the defensive-zone glass for the second game in a row), including two late in the third frame. “It was a commitment by the guys. You see the blocked shots out there, and the puck does hurt! But they committed to it . . . that’s commitment to win.” Hunter also complimented Vokoun, who put in a solid performance despite ample bench time of late.

There were problems: a few bad passes by Ovechkin led to odd-man rushes the other way. The Rangers paid very little price for getting in Vokoun’s crease, nor for blatantly snowing him more than once.

But the team played as, well, a team, and the scoreboard rewarded their efforts with a much-needed victory.

HBO’s Sports Media Relations department confirmed that no Blu-Ray version is planned; they also pointed out that “this [will be] the first time a ’24/7′ has ever been available for purchase.” In other words, baby steps.

So while Blu-Ray would certainly be preferred by some, the Sports Emmy-winning broadcast will be a welcome addition to any hockey fan’s library even any format… and required viewing in Washington and Pittsburgh, of course. In fact, fans of the Flyers and Rangers may want to buy it too — not only is it great television, but the more DVDs that sell the more likely the 2012 Winter Classic will get a DVD (and perhaps Blu-Ray) release.

Correspondingly, those bitter rivalries have been freshly renewed by the showdowns. That’s how hockey hatred is developed. In the sorta old days, you first had to best your Patrick foes in divisional play before advancing toward Eastern conference supremacy. There is a bit of that feeling to all these Patrick division springtime reunions, albeit spread out over a couple of seasons.

The hero of the Caps’ game 7 triumph of 2009, Sergei Fedorov, is no longer in the NHL, and many of the names from that spirited series have changed: just eight Rangers from then still wear a blueshirt today, and one of them — Ryan Callahan — won’t play this time around due to a fractured ankle he suffered while blocking a Zdeno Chara slapshot late in the regular season. But while many of the names have changed since 2009, the allure of this matchup doesn’t. It’s a heritage matchup, and as such, it’s special.

This is a one-versus-eight matchup wherein the difference in talent is marginal, and the MoJo might just be with the underdogs on Broadway:  An intangible to this series is that the Rags administered two of the worst beatings the Caps endured this season, 7-0 in Madison Square Garden December 12 and 6-0 at Verizon Center on February 25. But both of those blowouts occurred prior to the dramatic roster alterations made by general manager George McPhee at the NHL trade deadline on February 28, when he secured a difference-making second line center in Jason Arnott and an impact two-way rearguard in Dennis Wideman. Wideman, like Callahan, is out for the entire series with injury.

McPhee’s moves not only addressed glaring vulnerabilities on his roster, but they seem to have ushered in a dramatic change in the atmosphere enveloping the team. The Capitals played their best hockey of the season subsequent to the change in personnel. OFB’s young guns take a closer look:

Andrew:

Is this 2009 all over again? The Caps are again one of the top teams in the East, again they are ready to go for playoff redemption, and again they are playing the New York Rangers. While the team is much different than the one which played a grueling seven game series against the Rangers just two short years ago, there is a lot that is the same about the series.

Again the second line is run by a hardened veteran with significant playoff experience, except instead of it being Sergei Fedorov it is Jason Arnott. Again Washington has a large question mark in between the pipes, except this time it involves two younger goalies and not Jose Theodore. Finally, the Caps yet again have to figure out Henrik Lundqvist and prevent him from being the lynchpin, series-stealer of the showdown.

In fact, the way the team attacks the net is going to determine, I think, whether Lundqvist is able to push the series to six or seven games. Two years ago the Caps settled for perimeter shots against the Rangers netminder, and as a result struggled to score more than three goals in four of the seven games. It was only once they made the commitment to crash the net late in the series that they really broke through the BlueShirt Wall.

Even two years later, the strategy the Caps are going to have to play has not changed either. Neil Greenberg of RMNB and Washington Post fame recently brought to light some of Lundqvist’s more astonishing numbers. Now take scoring chances for what they are worth, but the Rangers’ King has a .974 save percentage against shots from the so-called perimeter. If you extrapolate that over 100 shots, Lundqvist would only let in two goals. That right there says it all and says a lot about how the Caps can win the series. Books Laich, Mike Knuble and all of the other net crashers better be ready to set up shop in blue paint come Wednesday night, or be prepared for a long evening and another dreaded long series.

On the other side of the ice the Caps have to prevent the Rangers from, you guessed it, scoring down low on the doorstep. Lets take a trip in the “way-back machine” to the series two years ago against the Penguins. We all remember watching Sidney Crosby bang home goal after goal after goal from the side of net. Down low is the jackpot zone in the playoffs; take that away and you make it very hard for a team to score.

Now the Rangers don’t have a Sidney Crosby or anything close to that level of impact player on their team, but they do crash the net very well. Whichever young Capitals’ goalie gets the call — and they both might — he is still going to have to stop the shots in crunch time, while the defense is going to have to help eliminate second and third chances for the Rangers’ gang attack on the cage. It is up to the defensive pairings to take away New York’s lane to the net and clear out the crease.

With any playoff series, it comes down to a series of ifs. If the Caps can drive the net and force doorstep chances and if the defense can keep the Rangers from setting up camp in and around the blue paint, then the Caps have a realistic shot at a relatively short series. Those are two huge questions though, and the feeling I get is the team may struggle to do both consistently. As a result, I’d be prepared for a long, tough and physical series.

Lis:

Since we’re past the point of no return on selecting first-round opponents, I’m looking at the several positive things that could come out of this series, provided the Caps win in 5 or 6 games.

The Capitals can play physically, but they usually don’t do it by choice and it hasn’t been their style in the past. But it’s how you win in the playoffs, and playing the Rangers is going to force the Caps into this habit immediately. New York is also most likely to keep the Capitals focused out of any plausible first round opponent, considering the Capitals have something to prove. I will also say this — the Rangers’ matchup definitely favors a more Braden Holtby-style goalie in net (although I don’t think he will be called up) because he’s so territorial about the crease and, as Andrew pointed out, the Rangers like to crash the net.

Finally, although  much has been made of the Rangers missing Ryan Callahan, Callahan accounted for only two of the Rangers’ 18 goals this season against the Capitals. He only has three points total (yes, that includes the two goals) in the series this season. Of course, any team is going to miss a caliber player, but he hasn’t been particularly lethal against the Capitals this year when it comes to showing up on the scoreboard.

Jimmy Hascup, an outside point of view:

[Hascup currently writes for SB Nation NY and has covered the Rangers for multiple outlets. He has followed the team his whole life and knows what helps them succeed. He has been brave enough to defend his Blue Shirts on OFB and gives us his keys to beating the Capitals.]

1- Under John Tortorella, the Rangers have bought into his system and have formed a team identity that’s admittedly not flashy but makes them a squad that’s very hard to play against. They are hardworking, throw their bodies around, aren’t afraid to sacrifice to block shots and are expected to play in both ends of the ice.

2 – The second key for the Rangers to win this series is getting pucks deep and working beneath the goalline. Sounds simple and boring, but it’s when the Rangers do that that they’re most successful.

3 – Henrik Lundqvist. Plain and simple, if Lundqvist is on his game, he can win the series for the Rangers.

4 – Slowing down Alex Ovechkin. The tandem of Marc Staal-Dan Girardi has slowed Alex Ovechkin down to just two assists in the four games played, clearly frustrating him the past two games because they’ve played physically and been able limit his space. I don’t expect him to have a quiet series – and it will be harder for Tortorella to match them against Ovechkin when they’re playing on the road.

5 – Scoring from all lines. The way Marian Gaborik has played this season, any scoring from him is icing on the cake, so I can’t make him a key to the series. The fact is, this team has received contributions from all over this season (and lines have been interchangeable) – five players with 20-plus goals – and will need at least the top-three lines rolling because it makes them that much harder to match up against.

• It’s an astounding statistic: the Caps have led in every single one of the 21 games they’ve played this season.
• For the wrong reason there’s a can’t-avert-your-eyes quality to Matt Bradley’s fights, as he so often engages true heavyweights and thereby comes out on the worst end of so many of them, and this again happened in last night’s first period at Madison Square Garden. You watch Bradley’s battles and hold your breath that he doesn’t get hurt too badly. Bradley’s a middleweight, and he backs down from no battle, and I’d be one to suggest that his extraordinary sacrifice midway through the first period carried a significant bearing on the Caps’ play the remainder of the period and throughout the second frame. He departed the ice looking like a Halloween night massacre at the hands of Aaron Voros, and then of course came back and had strong shift after strong shift, capped by his brilliant play along the boards — directing the puck through the legs of Wade Redden, New York’s $8 million dollar man — before water bottling a beauty behind King Henrik. Officially Matt Bradley was identified as the game’s third star, but he was hands down no. 1 on my blog.

At the end of his engagement Bradley appeared to ask a linesman if he was bleeding! A Toro Voros lawnmower had ridden over his face. If you are newly conscripted in the Red Army and not quite fluent with the role that violence plays in our sport, I’d be one to suggest that the Caps may well not have prevailed last night absent Bradley’s aggregate sacrifices. Hockey requires warrior effort and sacrifice, particularly in a game between two evenly matched clubs, and last night the Caps got just that from Brads.

• Beast (Bradley) and the Beauty: I was introduced to Charissa Thompson in high definition on last night’s broadcast. Youth movements well serve hockey teams, and apparently they do so as well for hockey television broadcast teams. No wonder Ovi wanted to get back in the lineup for this game — he was interviewed by her twice last night. It’s going to be a warmer winter than I imagined.
• I call it Mike Green’s lateral ballet coiling action at the point, when the puck comes back to him with time and space and he begins his effortless, ever so agile hot-steppin toward a shooting lane, five defenders more or less helpless at that point. Sergei Gonchar was lethal on the pinch and especially on the weakside one-timer goalies never saw, but he could never butterfly across the blueline like Greener does.
• Once again I liked what I saw from Mathieu Perreault, particularly in the faceoff circle. Did you notice how MP created a terrific scoring chance in period two while carrying the puck down the right wall, with two Rangers’ defenders perfectly positioned, with a simple saucer flick of his wrists that bounced the puck dangerously across Lundqvist’s crease and among his linemates? He can make something out of nothing, which premiere playmakers tend to do. Terrific feature on MP that ran on NHL.com yesterday.

photo by Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

• Cheapshot punk Sean Avery sucker-punched Semyon Varlomov in the head in plain view of the Zebra 20 feet away, John Erskine responded as he should have, and our guy was banished to the box. A Brian Pothier penalty followed not long after, the Caps couldn’t kill both, and the game was unjustly tied. Which made Matt Bradley’s late-game heroics all the sweeter.
• The scoresheet shows Ovi with just a single shot on goal (a successful one at that), but you’d have to label it a fantastic return performance. He had 7 hits that seemed like 70 ferocious ones against skaters in blue shirts. In fact, when the Rags were seriously pressing in the Caps’ end midway through the final frame Ovi went up the ice at last with the puck and made like the proverbial bull in a china shop, stalking Lundqvist with his powerful drive wide strides, swirling back again dangerously behind the cage, and then going on a one-man missile mission of hitting Rangers who’d taken the puck away from him. They were like bowling pins falling down. The shift reversed the game’s momentum.    
• A great road game by the Caps? You betcha. They weathered an early Ranger storm, seemed bolstered by Bradley’s bravado, carried the play for pretty much the game’s middle 30 minutes, overcame some third-frame zebra malfeasance, and perservered against a quality club.
• Bruce Boudreau became the fastest coach to 100 wins in Capitals history, and the 4th fastest in NHL history. I hope he got interviewed afterward by Charissa.

With tonight’s win, Head coach Bruce Boudreau leaves tonight’s game with a 100-45-19 record in 164 career games behind the Capitals’ bench. He is the fifth Capitals head coach to win 100 games and the fastest to reach that milestone. He is the fourth fastest coach to reach 100 wins in NHL history, trailing only Tom Johnson (138 games), Mike Keenan (152) and Terry Crisp (158).
Information provided by the Caps Media Relations Department

And this year?

Still, as silly as these errors are, they don’t compare to Stan Fischler, the so-called “Maven.”  Here’s some of his predictions prior to today’s game:

• Before The Maven got carried away by visions of a Sweep early in the
  series, I originally predicted that the Rangers would win this tourney
  in six games. I’m poised to be proven right. So is Tortorella.
• John Tortorella‘s one-game suspension is a shocker,
  to be sure. But, The Maven predicts that in no way, shape or form will
  it be cause for Rangers disaster.  Rather, I suggest that Torts
  sitting out what should be the Rangers series-clincher on Sunday
  afternoon will be an enormously positive motivator to victory.
• I expect the Rangers to win this one for Torts!  That done, I’ll tell you how they’ll beat Boston.

Yeah, good luck with that, buddy.  I don’t expect the guy to be psychic, but how about having some realistic expectations?  He does get a little credit for going way out on a limb here.  However, I have to wonder what game he was watching, in his recap today:

• Alexander Ovechkin was well muzzled. My notes showed several Caps misplays. “Few good
  chances. Careless giveaways and a general uneasy quality about their
  game.”

“Uneasy quality?”  I agreed with the NBC guys (for once) when they said that the Caps were just toying with the Rangers midway through the second period.  And I suppose it must be impressive to Fischler that Ovechkin won the third star of the game, despite being “well muzzled.”  After these comments,  I’m looking forward to seeing what The Maven has to say before and after Game 7.