Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens stops the puck on a shot by Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals.Richard Wolowicz
As befits a top NHL team, the Washington Capitals won't be entirely satisfied that the engine is running smoothly until they can sort out a power play that has yet to register a goal in three games against the Montreal Canadiens.
So Tuesday, the Caps spent a good portion of their optional skate - all but two players turned up - working on the man advantage, which was the NHL's best this past season.
That is, until they discovered they were being watched by prying eyes.
Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said after practice that he cut short the power-play drills because "I saw one of the head coaches on the other side" at the Bell Centre.
Presumably Boudreau was referring to opposite number Jacques Martin - the Canadiens' offices are adjacent to the locker rooms under the stands - who was seen wandering around in the players' tunnel.
"I don't know if he was watching, but you want to do that when you're amongst your own guys," said Boudreau, who didn't specifically identify who it was.
In any event, the Washington coaches decided more discretion was warranted.
"It was brought to my attention that he was there and I stopped," Boudreau told a news conference after is team's workout.
Asked if the Habs were transgressing an unwritten playoff convention by looking in on practice - in the regular season the home team's staff members routinely watch the opponents skate - Boudreau quickly brushed the question aside and played down his decision.
"You are looking for stories . . . I haven't talked to Jacques about it, I'm sure he was out there talking to someone else, not paying much attention to us at all," Boudreau said.
Maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact Boudreau clearly didn't feel comfortable working on tweaks and improvements in the Habs' home rink.
Thought the Capitals seized a 2-1 series lead in emphatic fashion on Monday night, spanking the Canadiens 5-1, they are taking nothing for granted, having slogged through a pair of nip-and-tuck overtime games before their game three breakthrough.
"I think I'll be more ready to say we have it back when the power play starts producing," said winger Mike Knuble.
If the Capitals are a more relaxed group, they are also determined not to waste their opportunity to put Montreal into a 3-1 hole when the teams meet again on Wednesday.
"We know Montreal is going to come out hard, it's probably the most crucial game of the series, and we'll be ready to answer the call," said centre Eric Belanger.