It feels as if the clock is about to strike midnight, the beautiful ballroom dress is about to devolve into rags, the carriage is soon to be a pumpkin and the horse are morphing into mice.
In last night's 6-2 drubbing of the Golden Knights Washington looked every bit the best team in the NHL, or a team that was playing an expansion team that had difficulty figuring out which way is up.
The pressure-filled, fore checking, quick puck moving, four line attack of the Golden Knights was stymied. Instead of quickly moving the puck to and fro, getting past the defense and scoring goals the Knights were too often forced to throw the puck into the corner and try and manufacture something from there.
They had their chances, early. Two shots that hit the post and a puzzling point-blank, empty-net chance from James Neal were quickly followed by a Capitals power play goal that saw Vegas deflate like a balloon in the desert heat. Before you knew it the score was 3-0 at the end of the first period and Vegas looked like they were skating with shovels, digging a deeper and deeper hole, rather than hockey sticks.
Even as a Knights fan, it will be hard at the end of this, to not be somewhat happy for Alex Ovechkin. The 'Great Eight' has been "the best player to never win a Stanley Cup" for a while now, and he's playing out of his mind this series.
And I'll even admit that Tom Wilson, who I (correctly) described as a "lobotomized gorilla on skates" is a jerk, but he's their jerk. Our jerk, Ryan Reaves, is essentially the same type of player. And there's nothing wrong with either of them TBH. If you have a problem with what transpired at the end of the game, when Washington put their first line out on a power play up 5-2, or when Reaves was inserted into the game to make a statement, then you haven't ever seen playoff hockey. Nothing untoward was done, and the players will still shake hands at the end of this series.
If they want to extend the series however the Golden Knights will need to do several things better in game 5.
1. Mark Andre Fleury needs to play MUCH better. Most of the goals weren't his fault (more on that in a minute) but some were the result of sloppy goal tending. It's amazing to write that after his performances in the rest of the playoffs, but he's not been clean.
2. The defense has to improve in front of Fleury. I don't have an exact count but it seems that the Capitals have scored at least 10 goals this series on the weak side, wide-open, facing an open net because a defender got caught puck-watching. There's little in this instance that the goal-tender can do, I don't care how good he is.
3. Make your shots. As great as Holtby's game 3 save was, it would have been a goal if only Alex Tuch would have elevated the puck just a little. It's the same for Neal's miss in game 4. You HAVE to finish those chances in playoff hockey.
4. Skate and pass better, not just faster. After every loss the Knights players and coaches have all had the same mantra. "We just need to play our game". By that they mean that they need to go faster, put more pressure on with all 4 lines. But they also need to take better care of the puck, have better spacing, more accurate passing.
History tells us that 3-1 leads are difficult to overcome, but not insurmountable. The Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead which allowed LeBron to get his title for Cleveland. It can be done, but not the way the team is currently playing.
If you're a Capitals fan you're finding yourself giddy with excitement this morning. If you're a Vegas Golden Knights fan you're clinging to hope.
Hope is fandom.
Hope is joy.
Hope is sports.
Go Knights Go!!!
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