Day 10 Round 1 NHL Playoffs 2009

With so many sweeps in the first round, today hosted only one playoff match.

Washington Capitals vs New York Rangers: Washington wins 4-0 (New York leads series 3-2)

The Capitals live to see another day, and won in a pretty convincing fashion. Henrik Lundqvist was pulled for the third period after allowing 4 goals on 14 shots. Alexander Ovechkin netted his second of the playoffs and Semin continues to be hot. Varlamov played another strong game, and he is the only reason why the Capitals even has 2 wins in the series. Surprisingly, there was not a lot of space for either team, as there were only a combined 41 shots on goal (1 shot edge to the Capitals), and a combined 0 for 11 effort on the power play. Big concern for the Capitals as they try to send the series to a 7th game as they will play the 6th game in New York: 0 for 7 on the power play. And that's 7 power play opportunities with Sean Avery out of the line-up. 3 game misconducts were handed out in the third period, with 2 going to the Rangers. Still, I believe the Rangers will pull the upset in game 6 at home.

New York coach John Tortorella benched Sean Avery for game 5 since the agitator was taking too many bad penalties, especially after game 4. However, at the end of game 5, Tortorella threw his water bottle into the stands after an argument with a fan. Interesting statistic as the Rangers head to New York for game 6 and their second opportunity to eliminate the second seeded Capitals: the Rangers are 0 for 18 on the power play in the last 4 games.