Playoff Edition Who's Hot, Who's Not

Hot

-          Mike Green: Greener came back from his lengthy injury with something to prove in the playoffs. He has been criticized in the past for his lack of defensive play in the postseason, but not this year. In the four games vs. the Rangers Green’s logged 4 assists and has a +3 ice rating. This year he has learned his role and is contributing offensively and defensively for the Caps.

-          Alex Semin: Semin hot in the playoffs? Yes folks Sasha has returned to the stat sheet for the Capitals. He started off the postseason with a bang when he scored the overtime winner in game one. Semin’s hardworking performance in game four added to his stats giving him 2 goals and 1 assist in the series with a +3 ice rating. If he can eliminate his stupid minor penalties Alex will help out the Capitals in a big way.

Not

-          Nicklas Backstrom: Nicky B hasn’t played terrible in this series, but you haven’t heard his name a lot which isn’t a good thing. Last year Nicky logged 5 goals and 4 assists in the seven game series vs. the Habs. Hopefully we will see that Backstrom for the remainder of the playoffs. He simply needs to find the net and setup his line mate Alex the Great to improve his only 1 point, -1 ice rating.

Many people and fans are probably shocked to see Greener and Semin succeeding so much in this year’s postseason. I heard a hockey analyst on the radio yesterday stating that Semin has no heart, and Green hasn’t improved his defensive game. What series are you watching buddy? Obviously not the Caps Rangers! Those two players have made the Caps Daily hot list and have more than proven themselves. As for Nicklas Backtrom, he remains one of the elite players in the NHL and will be back to tearing up the stat sheet in not time.