Post-Game Talk: Bruins @ Caps, 7:30PM

[ovikovy817]

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[NoLookPass]

Just shoot the damn puck.

 

[g00n]

Shoot. Go to the net. Hustle back on defense.

Just try that for a while.

 

[twabby]

Connolly and Burakovsky with fewer than 9 minutes of ice time last night. Not sure what they did wrong to warrant 4th line minutes, and not sure what the 4th line did right to earn third line minutes, but hopefully it doesn't continue tonight.

 

[maacoshark]

Connolly and Burakovsky with fewer than 9 minutes of ice time last night. Not sure what they did wrong to warrant 4th line minutes, and not sure what the 4th line did right to earn third line minutes, but hopefully it doesn't continue tonight.

It was a tight defensive game and Burakovsky and Connolly aren't great defensive players.

 

[maacoshark]

Shoot. Go to the net. Hustle back on defense.

Just try that for a while.

The big thing is shoot and get traffic in front of the net

 

[twabby]

It was a tight defensive game and Burakovsky and Connolly aren't great defensive players.

They also got shut out. Maybe they need to play the players who can put the puck in the net occasionally.

And I'd hardly call that a tight defensive game from the Capitals:

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Random thoughts: 4th line was terrible last night outside of Chiasson. Beagle has become a complete liability every time he's on the ice. Disheartening to see Trotz continue to put him out there... he should sit a game or two. Let Stephenson center the 4th line when he's healthy. Oshie has also looked bad since returning from injury but that's some what to be expected. Team needs to shoot. Orpik is really bad, and this is coming from a noted Orpik defender.

 

[maacoshark]

Random thoughts: 4th line was terrible last night outside of Chiasson. Beagle has become a complete liability every time he's on the ice. Disheartening to see Trotz continue to put him out there... he should sit a game or two. Let Stephenson center the 4th line when he's healthy. Oshie has also looked bad since returning from injury but that's some what to be expected. Team needs to shoot. Orpik is really bad, and this is coming from a noted Orpik defender.

I agree. Beagle hasnt been very good this year. He is good on faceoffs though. Another guy no one mentions that is struggling is Eller. He is a very streaky player. His biggest strength is his stick handling. He can maintain control for stretches but doesn't have a clue what to do with the puck other than hang onto it. It usually ends without a scoring opportunity because of a bad pass. I think Stephenson could step in for either of them. As for Orpik. It is what it is. We are stuck with him. He is decent defensively but his lack of speed and inability to move the puck get him in trouble.

 

[maacoshark]

They also got shut out. Maybe they need to play the players who can put the puck in the net occasionally.

And I'd hardly call that a tight defensive game from the Capitals:

It was tight defensively the first 2 periods then the Rangers took it to us. But the score was still close and that's why Burakovsky and Connolly didnt play much. Do you think that chart tells you everything? It doesn't.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I think there will be another shutout in today's game!

 

[twabby]

It was tight defensively the first 2 periods then the Rangers took it to us. But the score was still close and that's why Burakovsky and Connolly didnt play much. Do you think that chart tells you everything? It doesn't.

The Capitals were porous defensively all game and Grubauer saved them. I doubt Connolly and Burakovsky would have done any worse defensively and they certainly have more offensive ability than the 4th line.

Edit: More importantly Burakovsky is a streaky player and I hardly think giving him 8 minutes is going to build his confidence or get him going. They need him to perform well.

 

[maacoshark]

The Capitals were porous defensively all game and Grubauer saved them. I doubt Connolly and Burakovsky would have done any worse defensively and they certainly have more offensive ability than the 4th line.

Edit: More importantly Burakovsky is a streaky player and I hardly think giving him 8 minutes is going to build his confidence or get him going. They need him to perform well.

Obviously the coaching staff has no confidence in his game. Especially in his own end.
BTW if I didnt watch the game but looked at your chart. The first thing that would come to mind is the goaltender doesn't control his rebounds.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Obviously the coaching staff has no confidence in his game. Especially in his own end.
BTW if I didnt watch the game but looked at your chart. The first thing that would come to mind is the goaltender doesn't control his rebounds.

Grubauer is not as good as Holtby is in controlling rebounds. The other thing is pure butterfly goalies put their rebounds to the side, but since the Caps are on the slower side, fast teams can get to those rebounds that go in the corners before Caps players can reach them. Based on the chart, you could also interpret it that the Caps were allowing the Rangers to easily attack the front of the net.

 

[HTFN]

Obviously the coaching staff has no confidence in his game. Especially in his own end.
BTW if I didnt watch the game but looked at your chart. The first thing that would come to mind is the goaltender doesn't control his rebounds.

Or maybe that nobody is doing a good job of playing defense, clearing the crease, or making it particularly hard to reach high-scoring areas.

You can fit whatever narrative you want with a little massaging (except maybe if you were saying they did a great job at keeping chances to the outside). That's why watching the game also matters, and the fact that you had to add that caveat tells me you probably know just as well as the rest of us that the defense was bad.

Until goalies are actually allowed to put adhesive on their pads, it's going to be tougher to put rebounds where you want them when the shots are coming from inside the slot. That's action/reaction territory for a goaltender as often as not (as I understand it would have a little more to do with his positioning than anything else if he were fighting off bad rebounds from that area), and it's not like Grubauer was fumbling glove saves either (to my eyes, anyway, although I can't say it was something I was necessarily looking for either). Would I say he's got exceptional rebound control? Not really, but I don't think it was necessarily his problem in this instance.

 

[maacoshark]

Or maybe that nobody is doing a good job of playing defense, clearing the crease, or making it particularly hard to reach high-scoring areas.

You can fit whatever narrative you want with a little massaging (except maybe if you were saying they did a great job at keeping chances to the outside). That's why watching the game also matters, and the fact that you had to add that caveat tells me you probably know just as well as the rest of us that the defense was bad.

Until goalies are actually allowed to put adhesive on their pads, it's going to be tougher to put rebounds where you want them when the shots are coming from inside the slot. That's action/reaction territory for a goaltender as often as not (as I understand it would have a little more to do with his positioning than anything else if he were fighting off bad rebounds from that area), and it's not like Grubauer was fumbling glove saves either (to my eyes, anyway, although I can't say it was something I was necessarily looking for either). Would I say he's got exceptional rebound control? Not really, but I don't think it was necessarily his problem in this instance.

Holy crap. Read what I posted. I said if I hadnt seen the game my impression of that chart would be that the goalie doesn't control his rebounds well. I didnt say that was what happened. I'm saying that chart doesnt tell you everything.

 

[maacoshark]

Grubauer is not as good as Holtby is in controlling rebounds. The other thing is pure butterfly goalies put their rebounds to the side, but since the Caps are on the slower side, fast teams can get to those rebounds that go in the corners before Caps players can reach them. Based on the chart, you could also interpret it that the Caps were allowing the Rangers to easily attack the front of the net.

I agree. And that's why I am saying the chart doesn't tell you everything. Just like stats dont tell you everything.

 

[HTFN]

Holy crap. Read what I posted. I said if I hadnt seen the game my impression of that chart would be that the goalie doesn't control his rebounds well. I didnt say that was what happened. I'm saying that chart doesnt tell you everything.

Which implies that you had seen the game, and would have needed to miss it in order to draw that conclusion.

Which, in other words, means you were playing devil's advocate and obfuscating the point. There's nothing wrong with that, but there's really no point in taking that stance when we're all in agreement that that's not what happened.

Stats need context, yes, but we all had that context. We aren't drawing conclusions from the chart, we're drawing them from the game, plus the resultant chart.

 

[twabby]

Obviously the coaching staff has no confidence in his game. Especially in his own end.
BTW if I didnt watch the game but looked at your chart. The first thing that would come to mind is the goaltender doesn't control his rebounds.

If they don’t have confidence in Burakovsky on a third scoring line then honestly that’s on the coaching staff for making a poor decision. Say what you will about his consistency in terms of scoring goals but over the past 3 seasons he’s top 3 in terms of points/60 at even strength and he’s always been a solid possession player.

 

[maacoshark]

If they don’t have confidence in Burakovsky on a third scoring line then honestly that’s on the coaching staff for making a poor decision. Say what you will about his consistency in terms of scoring goals but over the past 3 seasons he’s top 3 in terms of points/60 at even strength and he’s always been a solid possession player.

Lmao at the stats. The stats dont tell you everything. His possession numbers might not be bad but that doesn't translate into being a good defensive player. Possession statscare very misleading. It doesn't take into account who your linemates are. It doesn't take into account what kind of players you are matched up against. It also doesn't take into account possession starts.

 

[Hivemind]

It doesn't take into account who your linemates are.

Yes they do. That's what "relative" stats are.

It doesn't take into account what kind of players you are matched up against.

That's what's measured by qualcomp/QoC. It also has a far lesser impact that the quality of linemates.

It also doesn't take into account possession starts.

Yes they do. That's what "zone start adjusted" stats are.

 

[HTFN]

Lmao at the stats. The stats dont tell you everything.

I think what bothers me about this is that it's such a main boards argument. That kind of thing might happen over there frequently, where failure to read stats correctly or interpret their worth might cause people who aren't fans of certain teams to develop opinions of certain players that may or may not be true.

We're all Caps fans in a Caps GDT, though. I'd assume 80-90% of the posters in these threads are watching the game, and it's more than a little bit dismissive to keep telling everyone that "stats don't tell the whole story" when for the most part they're the only thing we're missing from "the whole story", as it were.

"Stats aren't everything" shouldn't be the "it's a free country" of a hockey discussion, even if it is technically true.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Just like stats dont tell you everything.

Nobody is arguing that they do.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[Fenway]

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