Washington will need one to climb back into series
The Capitals find themselves down two games in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers with history completely against them.
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Only 37 of the 291 NHL teams that have fallen behind 2-0 in a playoff series have come back to win it. Going on the road to Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4 makes the task even harder.
But that’s the one allotted to Washington, which faces the Rangers Monday night in Game 3. The Caps must solve New York star goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who has allowed just three goals in two games, and get pucks around a Rangers team that has blocked 50 shots in the series.
“Shoot it where they ain’t,” was the succinct advice doled out by Caps coach Bruce Boudreau after Sunday morning’s optional practice at Kettler Iceplex. “They do a very good job dropping back and are committed to blocking shots,” he said.
The most recent 2-0 comeback was in 2006. Both Carolina and Edmonton overcame that deficit and went on to meet each other in the Stanley Cup finals. An added parallel for Washington is that Carolina made a goalie change, going from veteran Martin Gerber to rookie Cam Ward, who was playoff MVP.
The Caps made a similar switch Saturday, starting Simeon Varlamov, 20, in place of veteran Jose Theodore. The rookie performed well. But Boudreau would not confirm Varlamov as his Monday starter. Meanwhile, Theodore spoke for the first time since being benched.
“I didn’t see that coming, to be honest,” said Theodore, who allowed four goals on 21 shots in Game 1. “One thing through my career that nobody could take away is that I was always a fighter and always to bounce back from big challenges. And for me that was a big challenge.”
