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And so it's set.
Caps vs. Rangers. Red, white and blue vs. blue, red and white. Six prior playoff meetings, with the Caps leading 4-2, a pair of those wins coming in the last three post-seasons. Bobby Carpenter (and a pick) for Mike Ridley, Kelly Miller and Bob Crawford. Jaromir Jagr (and a ton of cash) for Anson Carter. John friggin' Druce. The Miracle on 34th Street. Sergei Fedorov. Matt Bradley's heroism. Alex Semin vs. Marc Staal, John Tortorella vs. Verizon Center fans, Jason Chimera in double overtime... the list goes on and on. There's history and there's present-day animosity.
There'll be plenty of time to dive into those storylines and others in the days ahead, but first things first - the numbers. Below are the Caps team and individual stats (after the jump) through the first three games of this season against the Rangers (Game 4 stats to be added shortly). Oh, and if this intro sounds familiar... it should.
Head-to-Head:
| Game 1 | L, 6-3 |
| Game 2 | W, 4-1 |
| Game 3 | L, 2-3 |
| Game 4 | |
| Record | 1-2-0 |
| GF/Game | 3.00 |
| GA/Game | 3.33 |
| Goal Diff/Game | -0.33 |
| Powerplay Success | 12.5% |
| Powerplay Opps. | 8 |
| PP Per Game |
2.67 |
| Penalty Kill Success |
91.7% |
| Times Shorthanded | 12 |
| Times SH/Game | 4.00 |
| Save Percentage | .892 |
| Save Pct. Against |
.871 |
Capitals Skaters vs. New York
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PPG | PPA | GWG | SOG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Carlson | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Alexander Semin | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Troy Brouwer | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Marcus Johansson | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Dmitry Orlov | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Chimera | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Jeff Halpern | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Karl Alzner | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Roman Hamrlik | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Brooks Laich | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Dennis Wideman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Joel Ward | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Matt Hendricks | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jay Beagle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| John Erskine | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Knuble | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cody Eakin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Schultz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keith Aucoin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mathieu Perreault | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Capitals Goalies vs. New York
| GP | GS | MIN | W | L | O | GA | GAA | SA | SV | SV% | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michal Neuvirth | 2 | 2 | 119 | 0 |
2 |
0 | 9 | 4.53 | 61 |
52 |
.852 | 0 |
|
Tomas Vokoun |
1 | 1 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1 | 1.00 | 32 |
31 | .969 | 0 |
Capitals Centers' Face Offs vs. New York (minimum two draws)
| GP | FOW | FOL | TOT | PCT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks Laich |
3 | 16 | 27 | 43 | 37.2 |
| Marcus Johansson |
3 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 36.1 |
| Nicklas Backstrom |
2 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 51.5 |
| Jeff Halpern | 3 | 17 | 10 | 27 | 63.0 |
| Mathieu Perreault | 1 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 23.1 |
| Matt Hendricks | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 50.0 |
| Jay Beagle | 2 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 83.3 |
| Team Total* | 3 | 75 | 91 | 166 | 45.2 |
| Team Total (PP) | 3 |
10 |
7 |
17 |
58.8 |
| Team Total (PK) | 3 | 11 |
6 |
17 |
64.7 |
*Includes players who did not meet the minimum for inclusion in the table
And now, for getting through all those stats, your moment of zen:
