April 21, 2003

Shit Happens

crazy"

After Meltdown, A Familiar Letdown. Triple overtime, tremendous goaltending by Olie Kolzig and, once again, the Caps are ruined by stupid penalties. This time it was Sergei Gonchar for interference with 4 mintes left in regulation, then a messed-up line change in the third overtime that led to a bench minor for too many men on the ice. [washingtonpost.com].

"Things just happen. I don't know why," said Kolzig, "Why haven't the Red Sox won the World Series in how many years? For some reason, every series there is something we can't control that happens and seems to turn the series around for the opposition. Things just happen."

In the final analysis, this series was gift wrapped so nicely for the Bolts by several NHL referees that it might as well have been from Tiffany's. [Sporting News]. Yet as I said before the playoffs returned to DC, the Caps' powerplay would ultimately be the deciding factor. Officiating clearly played a role in creating chances for the Lightning, but Tampa Bay managed to capitalize while the Caps' power play -- featuring more abundant individual talent -- finished the series in a 2-for-18 rut and went 1 for 7 Sunday. So there. Hit the midget!!

 Posted by glenn

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