"For six months, folks inside and outside of Kettler Capitals Iceplex have suspected that Washington was pacing itself after last April'shistoric first-round collapse in the playoffs. In that series, Backstrom didn't register a point in the final three games, while Ovechkin had a goal and an assist as Montreal rallied from a three-games-to-one deficit. To me, it looks like we've now got enough evidence to conclude the Capitals were doing just that. They've won 14 of their past 17 games, all despite injuries to key players. Ovechkin, prior to his injury, had been playing better than he had since November. Now Backstrom, the team's second most important player, seems to have rediscovered his game." - Tarik El-Bashir