Post-Game Talk: Capitals @ Lightning - 1/9/14 7:30 PM - Caps Win 4-3

[marcel snapshot]

Last night's win - a triumph of wrong-handedness. Fehr playing LW gets that first goal from the left side. MoJo playing down low on the right side, gets a goal. Fehr starts a flurry leading to the GWG goal w/a shot from the left side. And Ovie shows more chemistry in 1 game with a wrong-handed wing than he had all year with Marcus.

Maybe Greenie slipped Oatsie a couple of marijuana's and got him to loosen up his type A mind.

By the way, agree with those who saying MoJo looks much better at center. He has to cover more ice defensively, and his speed enables him to do it effectively.

 

[jsykes]

I agree, I'm really liking Grabs, F16 and Ovi. I thought they looked great together last night, even getting Ovi that rare ES assist that so many are complaining about.

I think Backstrom is great, but maybe its time to keep him and Ovi separated awhile so that he can use some of his others skills he hasnt been with Ovi, like shooting.

 

[RandyHolt]

MJ has so needed to be off the boards. Not only was he failing the eye test, the entire top line couldn't do dick at ES at anything more than on faceoff plays.

How about changing it up, and swapping Ovi and Fehr for a game?

 

[SlappaDaBass]

Lines should be

16 - 84 - 8
21 - 19 - 43
25 - 90 - 42
10 - 83 - 20

but I'm sure we'll never see it.

 

[SkinsFan09]

Brouwer and Laich are so bad they even bring down Backstrom. This might get ugly.

 

[Roughing]

Retaining Grabo is a must.

Of course MoJo looks better a C. It's because he's a C.

Lines should be
16 - 84 - 8
21 - 19 - 43
25 - 90 - 42
10 - 83 - 20

If 21 is a good top6 player we got in a trade for Laich/Neuvy then I'm with you.

If it's Laich that line still sucks. I can not wait for Kuz.

 

[Raikkonen]

I hope 25-90-42 could last some time and do some good things.

 

[artilector]

Brouwer and Laich are so bad they even bring down Backstrom. This might get ugly.

Yeah, it's a problem. That line didn't do anything. They might end up putting MJ back with Backstrom to get at least some chemistry, and then Laich down to the 3rd line. Choosing the lesser of evils, that sort of thing..

Of course, what's really needed is another scorer on the 2nd line, ideally instead of Laich. Brouwer has stone hands this year, Backstrom has not yet started shooting, they need another Fehr-type guy.

I was gonna say put in Erat for Laich, but even besides the fact that this won't happen, Erat himself is completely jinxed as a shooter right now. Would be nice to have that Forsberg guy!

Yeah, Kuz can't come over soon enough; although it's kind of too much to ask him to step in and save the top 6. On the other hand, if Caps were to make another semi-panic trade for a shooter, it might only complicate things if Kuz comes over. So maybe it's better to wait.. although McPhee might do something stupid anyway to save his job the season.

Just a poorly constructed team, with OCD coach.. What comes to mind in the end is -- unless Backstrom can go into beast mode, Caps will need a minor miracle for the "Leadership line" to start producing this year..

 

[swimmer77]

So the standouts last night to me (positive and negative):

Positives:

Fehr: a guy that Oates benched.
Grubauer: in the lineup because of injuries and struggles.
Johansson to center: because Oates now realizes he's that, a center.
Orlov: playing because his agent said he should.
Grabovski: with Ovi and not on the third line.

Negatives:
Brouwer: he deserves a demotion to the bottom six.
Erskine: somebody could do better. Urbom.......oh, wait.

Shots were deceiving. Combined SAG, shots blocked and MS were about even.

Put Erat with Grabs and Laich. Maybe he'll score a goal since Ovi got an ES assist because he'd be playing is natural position for the first time?

 

[DCRedhawk21]

Ideally, Brouwer doesn't really fit anywhere on the top 6 at ES. It's been proven over and over that he and Laich, when paired together, are a complete black hole for offense at ES.

Fehr - Grabo - Ovechkin
Laich - Backstrom - Erat
Chimera - MoJo - Ward
Brouwer - Latta - Wilson


**** it. Stash him on the fourth line and give him some PP time in the slot. Let him, Latta, and Wilson go bang people around for 5 minutes a game.

 

[RandyHolt]

Lets say we are stuck with Erat for 2 seasons.

Or, just admit that we are.

Do you think that if he were to go scoreless in 160 games playing basically every position other than his natural position, that a reporter would dare ask Oates about it?

Play him at RW, or scoreless forever. #ToughDecisions

 

[Acallabeth]

Put Erat with Grabs and Laich. Maybe he'll score a goal since Ovi got an ES assist because he'd be playing is natural position for the first time?

Put Erat with AO and tell him to crash the net at every opportunity. 5 goals by now, though it may not be the best line management

 

[SDBondra]

RE: Standouts from last night - I really think Ovi deserves some credit for showing he can be a good passer and that he has good vision when he's asked to play with other goal scorers. The Ovi/Fehr weave + Grabo drive to the net has a lot of potential for future success if last night was any indicator.

 

[RandyHolt]

Ovi with the 2 Swedish centers does limit his ES assist chances.

I am sure we have had numerous shoot first Swedish centers but I for one cannot recall one off the top of my head. Sjogren.... dominated Eakin in that one rookie game once.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Lets say we are stuck with Erat for 2 seasons.

Or, just admit that we are.

Do you think that if he were to go scoreless in 160 games playing basically every position other than his natural position, that a reporter would dare ask Oates about it?

Play him at RW, or scoreless forever. #ToughDecisions

I don't see a swap of wings improving his barely average shot. I'm a skeptic.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I'm sorry...what? What does a clear have to do with leadership?

I'll go opposite on this...he whiffed several shots on the PP tonight, opponents easily skated away from his defensive pressure, and he had a terrible giveaway with awful chase speed for Tampa's 1st goal.
Once again...leader? I think not.

He was clearly gassed on that breakaway. Dude just made a great shot to finish that play after avoiding the stick check. I want to know why he was the only one back there on that play, but I've been too lazy to go look at the video again.

 

[SDBondra]

He was clearly gassed on that breakaway. Dude just made a great shot to finish that play after avoiding the stick check. I want to know why he was the only one back there on that play, but I've been too lazy to go look at the video again.

Yeah you need to watch it again. Brouwer made the worst kind of turnover by trying to make a high-risk pass from high in his zone. It's nobody else's fault but his. The reason there were no other backcheckers is because nobody in their right mind would have expected Brouwer to make such a bad play.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Yeah you need to watch it again. Brouwer made the worst kind of turnover by trying to make a high-risk pass from high in his zone. It's nobody else's fault but his. The reason there were no other backcheckers is because nobody in their right mind would have expected Brouwer to make such a bad play.

F Me...wife deleted it from the DVR. I'll take your word for it. Must have been a strange buildup for no D and the RW the last man back.

 

[SDBondra]

F Me...wife deleted it from the DVR. I'll take your word for it. Must have been a strange buildup for no D and the RW the last man back.

It was totally Brouwer's fault and he knew it. That's why he was so demonstrative (smacking the boards with his stick) after the goal. Either he made a dumb play or he flubbed the puck and he knew it right away.

Basically the two D were split toward the boards and Brouwer was carrying the puck and curled in towards the middle from the boards near the blue line. He got pressured and instead of dumping the puck or making the safe play he tried to pass to someone along the boards. Johnson deflected his pass to a teammate and took off up the center. The two D-men were basically hung out to dry. Brouwer skated hard to make a play but Johnson is too fast.

 

[um]

Lines should be

16 - 84 - 8
21 - 19 - 43
25 - 90 - 42
10 - 83 - 20

but I'm sure we'll never see it.

what has wilson done to prove hes better than brouwer let alone get ice time with backstrom

 

[SDBondra]

what has wilson done to prove hes better than brouwer let alone get ice time with backstrom

I don't think Wilson has necessarily proved he's better than Brouwer in any way but I think it's fair to think Brouwer might be playing himself out of the top 6.

 

[g00n]

what has wilson done to prove hes better than brouwer let alone get ice time with backstrom

maybe he used the magic word

 

[artilector]

I'll give some credit to Oates for putting Fehr with Ovi and Grabs. I wanted 8 and 84 on the same line from day 1, but I was thinking that they'd need a more of an Erat to complement. However, it appears that having another shooter is a great way to utilize the chances and space that Ovi generates. What's important is that so far Fehr has done a great job of hounding the puck, so his shoot-first mentality has not interfered with puck possession/retrieval duties; he's always been one of the Caps' better forecheckers, but I wasn't sure if his speed would've been enough for the first line and the coverage that it draws. Well, he's been very good in that capacity so far, him and Grabo both.

So... very, very promising. These guys also seem to really feed off each other -- you can sense that they smell blood in the offensive zone

 

[Capsman]

I'll give some credit to Oates for putting Fehr with Ovi and Grabs. I wanted 8 and 84 on the same line from day 1, but I was thinking that they'd need a more of an Erat to complement. However, it appears that having another shooter is a great way to utilize the chances and space that Ovi generates. What's important is that so far Fehr has done a great job of hounding the puck, so his shoot-first mentality has not interfered with puck possession/retrieval duties; he's always been one of the Caps' better forecheckers, but I wasn't sure if his speed would've been enough for the first line and the coverage that it draws. Well, he's been very good in that capacity so far, him and Grabo both.

So... very, very promising. These guys also seem to really feed off each other -- you can sense that they smell blood in the offensive zone

Fehr has actually developed into a pretty good puck handler as well. This isn't just a guy on a streak of being in the right place at the right time, he really has some skills.

 

[Capsman]

I agree, I'm really liking Grabs, F16 and Ovi. I thought they looked great together last night, even getting Ovi that rare ES assist that so many are complaining about.

I think Backstrom is great, but maybe its time to keep him and Ovi separated awhile so that he can use some of his others skills he hasnt been with Ovi, like shooting.

I agree, but last night he was in prison with Brouwer and Laich. I think we are completely wasting his skills there. Switch Brouwer out with Erat and see what happens. I mean as it was last night Backstrom had nobody to set up and nobody to set him up. At least Erat can set him up.