[ad_1]
RALEIGH – After 21 years, Carolina capitals and Hurricanes may finally have a rivalry in their hands.
Regular season games are one thing. The regular season games in the Southeast Pedestrian Division are another, about as far off the radar as hockey has been in the last decade and early years. But now? In their first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, rivals in the Metropolitan Division have something to cook.
It was not until the third match on Monday night at the PNC Arena that Alex Ovechkin – in an unfortunate fight – hit a young Russian compatriot who grew up idolizing him. Andrei Svechnikov was knocked out by a quick series of straight hands. He had to be removed from the ice like a gladiator of the arena.
In a few minutes, however, the Hurricanes had put the Capitals flat in what became a 5-0 defeat that was not even as tight. Washington shot a shot on goal in the second period. There were 17 for the match. After Ovechkin's fight, the Capitals seemed to lose energy, not win. And against a team playing with two strikers – striker Micheal Ferland also left the game due to an upper-body injury – they were powerless to support anything in the offensive zone.
It was as bad a defeat as in the playoffs since the seventh game of the first round in 2013, when the New York Rangers eliminated Washington 5-0 to a defeated audience. And, for a nascent rivalry, it was almost the perfect tonic. The Capitals' lead was reduced to 2-1 in the series with Game 4 at the PNC Arena on Thursday.
"They are at home, they attracted the crowd and they became emotional," said center Nicklas Backstrom. "They became emotional, I think, and that's the reason for the playoffs. We just have to regroup here and make sure we get better on Thursday. "
A controversial series suddenly found traces in the cauldron of noise generated by the crowd at PNC Arena. They had not seen their Hurricanes play a home playoff game for 10 years. It was like that. In a 2-0 Stanley Cup playoff series streak, Carolina played with despair against the Capitals for maybe 10 or 12 minutes. It was not close enough.
In the end, each hurricane hit was followed by a bloody and thirsty howl of the crowd. Each goal dropped the roof. The Hurricanes did not just beat Washington, they embarrassed the Capitals. This is how the rivalries of a handful of relatively meaningless regular season games develop on a heated television show not to be missed.
"We knew they were not going to wait for something to happen," Ovechkin said. "We knew that they were going to grow. We knew that they were going to play hard and they did it. I think what I said tonight, the four lines did not go well. We did not play our game at all. We have two days (and) we will rest and forget this loss. "
You know that a playoff series gained its edge when the opposing coach sincerely told one thing – the Hurricanes coach, Rod Brind's Love, thought Ovechkin had left his gloves first and had jumped a 19-year-old player without experience in the fighting – and the other side said the opposite. Ovechkin insisted that Svechnikov challenge him.
Who knows the truth? Anyway, the Hurricanes were frustrated with losing a key, a young player for the night – and maybe longer – and the Capitals were frustrated with losing a 5-0 game. The defending champions are not used to it. They usually impose their will to the opposition. That's how they won the Cup last year. They swear to be ready for what should be an explosive game.
"This is obviously not acceptable the way we came out of this apartment," said Backstrom. "At the same time, I mean that they played well in hockey and that they were aggressive. They came out loud and they played physically. It's like they did it. We just need to learn from it and make sure we adjust, improve, and tackle on Thursday. "
MORE NEW CAPITALS:
[ad_2]
Source link