FUUUUUUUUCK

Goddamned Chris Kelly went and ruined what had previously been a fine evening for the Capitals, who had been enjoying a nice defensive performance and excellent work from Braden Holtby in his first playoff start. I mean, it wasn't exactly the most titillating (heh heh heh) game in the world, but it was certainly much more exciting than the 0-0 scoreline would imply. In fact, if you were a fan of neutral zone turnovers, battles for pucks in the corners, and dumping and chasing you were happier than a pig in shit during game one. Also sure to be pleased were fans of jumping up excitedly as scoring chances materialized, only to sit down sheepishly when the onrushing attacker whiffed on his shot and the puck returned to its natural habitat along the boards.

As losses go this one really hurt, because it was such a different way to lose than I'd been anticipating. I was thinking it was going to be more along the lines of 5-3, with the Capitals jumping out in front early and then having a defensive lapse and/or a soft goal past Holtby derail them. As more and more time went by and the back end held up, the more you thought that Washington would be able to steal game one with a goal in the third. Alas, not tonight. I am doing my best to stay optimistic for the rest of the series, seeing now that our defense and goaltending have shown they can hang with the B's, but it's hard after such a deflating defeat. And unfortunately even my rose (crimson?) colored glasses can't overshoot the gross disparity in shots, and hits, and other such objective numbers.

So all in all I'm not feeling too great right now. The best I can say is that this year I was at least expecting an early elimination, unlike previous iterations of Lord Stanley's Challenge. It's much less exciting to be that cynical, but at least I won't get blindsided by the Tampa Bay Lightning again. So at least there's that.