There appears to be some animosity and head games brewing between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens.
Or not.
Come playoff time, every quote or on-ice gesture gets magnified, and this first round series is no different.
It started before the series even began, with Canadiens centre Tomas Plekanec launching a volley towards Capitals goalie Jose Theodore.
And now, the game's most exciting player has become the centrepiece of more playoff trash talking.
Alexander Ovechkin said at Sunday's practice in Arlington, Va., that he believed Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak looks shaken.
"I watched the replay when Fehr scored the goal and his arm was shaking when he drank water," Ovechkin said of Halak after he allowed Eric Fehr to score on a breakaway in the first period of Game 2. "So, he's nervous. He knows all the pressure is on him and that's a good sign for us."
Halak did not address reporters after last night's game, and he declined again today, choosing instead to send a message through the Canadiens PR department that he won't get into a war of words through the media.
That's fair enough, and frankly whether Halak wants to talk to reporters or not is his prerogative.
But when an opponent claims you look nervous and that the pressure is getting to you, then you choose not to address those comments, does it not in some small way prove that he is right?
If that's not enough proof to make that point, how about looking at on-ice performance, since that's all that really counts anyway?
When the Canadiens went ahead 4-1 late in the second period, Halak had stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced, allowing only the breakaway goal to Fehr. From that point on, starting with Nicklas Backstrom's first of three goals at 18:23 of the second period, Halak allowed five goals on 17 shots.
"That 4-2 goal was a tough one for us to take, I'll be honest," said Habs winger Michael Cammalleri. "If we go into the locker room with a three-goal lead, it's probably a different game."
Still, Cammalleri doesn't buy the notion that Halak is the least bit bothered with anything going on around him.
"I think Jaro's a pretty calm, cool, collected cat in that net," he said. "I've never seen him shaking."
It was suggested to Canadiens centre Scott Gomez that perhaps a team leader like him should go talk to the young goaltender to calm him down. It was a suggestion that quickly shot down.
"I don't know anything about goaltending, I don't know if anyone else does. So I don't know if I can go up and talk to him," Gomez said. "I guess in knee hockey I was pretty good at goaltending. I think that's why they have a goaltending coach. Especially goaltenders, they're different all around. They're weirdos anyways, so I don't think I can make any sense to him anyways."
Gomez denies planning fight
Speaking of Gomez, his fight with Tom Poti in the third period of Game 2 was seen by many as a momentum shift. Poti said after the game that it was Gomez who issued the invitation to dance, but Gomez said today he had no intent one way or the other in choosing to fight and being forced to spend five minutes in the penalty box at a crucial point in the game.
"It happens," he said. "That's about it."
The fight with Poti came as a result of Gomez going after Ovechkin after the Caps captain punched Montreal's Brian Gionta in the face. It was one of several little tussles behind the play that Gomez and Ovechkin engaged in all game.
Again, Gomez downplayed it with a little humour.
"I don't think there's anything there. It's the playoffs," Gomez said. "It probably just looks different because I'm checking, so it looks like there's something going on there."
Ovechkin didn't only choose Halak as a target for his jabs.
He singled out Habs defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron following Game 2, saying "he's not that strong of a guy" in explaining why he laid a big hit on him on the opening shift of the game.
Bergeron hadn't heard the comment until this afternoon when a reporter told him.
"He's right, I'm quite a bit smaller than he is," Bergeron said with a sly grin on his face. "I'd better watch out."
Perhaps lost in all this juicy mudslinging is the fact that there's a pivotal Game 3 match-up coming up in Montreal on Monday, and that the Canadiens do have home ice advantage in what amounts to a best-of-five series against the league's top team.
Maybe, just maybe, that's the real reason behind Ovechkin's comments.
Maybe it's him, and not Halak, who is feeling the pressure.
