Post-Game Talk: Ducks out for maacoshark 10:07pm

[trick9]

Kuzy and the top line getting shelled again. Not really sure what to do about Kuzy at this point, he's obviously not the same player he was a couple seasons ago.

Top-line was even worse when Backstrom was centering it. That's why Backstrom and Ovechkin are -3 players whereas Kuznetsov is +9 on the season.

Good win. 6 points from California in a stretch of 3 games in 4 nights and where each of those 3 teams are actually playing well is very hard to do.

 

[txpd]

2 minutes for roughing for Kuznetsov? Really? Roughing with the ice or what?

I am pretty sure he thru a punch in the scrum. There was pretty good separation between getting crosschecked and throwing the punch. The replay stops before he gets to the scrum

 

[Corby78]

Islanders have 4 games in hand. All 4 are road games

And they can't catch us if they win all four.

 

[Coldplay619]

Ovi looks so off.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Points are a pretty poor way to evaluate how a player is doing on the ice. He gets crushed in possession and allows a ton of high danger chances during 5v5 play, just because he pots a PP goal doesnt mean that his terrible 5v5 play can be excused.

Pretty sure the 1st line has had a degree of suckage to their game for a while now. The only one noticeably positive has been Willy. If you were going to single out a player yesterday, why not Ovi? Anyway, I don't care about the minutiae of a single player's metrics for 1 game. Team game. 1 line sucks, the others pick up the slack. 1 person 'off '/ 1 person 'on'. Performance is not linear. I also heard the Caps actually play against competent hockey professionals who might be playing at a high-level? Gets-laugh appeared to be everywhere last night.

First time we swept the West coast trip in ages. Always someone not happy about something. haha

You know, there are fans of at least 10 teams who would sell their souls so they could watch their hockey team win 3 games in a row...on the road.

 

[Capsman]

This business of Gudbranson “having” to fight Hathaway is ridiculous. Like it’s some necessity, equivalent to eating and drinking.

Spitting may be an insult, but Hathaway already had a pretty hefty punishment. It didn’t injure Gudbranson and, more importantly, that piece of garbage already got his head shots in while Hathaway was being held by the ref.

I’m developing a pretty strong dislike of that team in Anaheim.

 

[hb12xchamps]

I have to give props for Hathaway respecting the code and going with Gudbranson though. You rarely see guys do this now a days.

Hathaway took some shots against a clearly bigger human being he shouldn’t have fought and of course Gudbranson head locks him at the bottom of the pile. Clearly Gudbranson likes to go after guys that are defenseless

 

[txpd]

And they can't catch us if they win all four.

Well, no but they would be 1pt back if they won all 4. The point is that if they win 2 out of the 4 those games in hand weren't an advantage at all.

 

[txpd]

Ovi looks so off.

The entire line looks stale. However, I watched him closely during the 5 on 6 at the end of the game and he was sharp.

 

[OviGreat8]

Ovi looks so off.

I agree, but the thing is with Ovi is he can change that quickly and go on a roll. He will get out of the funk in time.

 

[kicksavedave]

I see this time and time again on HF Boards, and I think it's the biggest load of bs (not aimed at you personally).

Points are the perfect way to evaluate a player when that player is your 1C or 2C. Or if he's your primary goal scorer (Ovechkin). Or if he's your best passer (Backstrom, assists).

Points are NOT a great way to evaluate a player if he's on your first PK unit. Or if he's on a checking line. Or if he's Jay Beagle (faceoffs, right?)

Kuzy is currently 20th in the league in points per game. Just under 1/3rd of his points are on the PP, which means his even strength points ratio is higher than quite a few of the guys in front of him.
To say he's "terrible at 5v5 play" and you're "not really sure what to do about him at this point" is....well let's just say I'm glad you're not on the Caps coaching staff.

If you're all about puck possession and great Corsi and all those other advanced metrics go and watch the Isles play. You'll be in 7th heaven. Over there points don't matter at all!

 

[txpd]

Points are the perfect way to evaluate a player when that player is your 1C or 2C. Or if he's your primary goal scorer (Ovechkin). Or if he's your best passer (Backstrom, assists).

I want to be sure I read you right. Kuznetsov was solid in points per game last season and was top 20 in the playoffs. Its widely agreed from MacLellan and Reirden on down to us that he was not very good.

MacLellan is wrong?

 

[kicksavedave]

I want to be sure I read you right. Kuznetsov was solid in points per game last season and was top 20 in the playoffs. Its widely agreed from MacLellan and Reirden on down to us that he was not very good.

MacLellan is wrong?

Wow, you really dig deep to find ways to pick arguments.

Kuzy was 1.05 ppg in the RS in 2017/18 then upped his PPG to 1.33 in the playoffs, near Conn Smythe level. This is what Kuzy is capable of.

In 2018/19, when we ALL agree he had a down year, he was .95 PPG in the RS and .86 PPG in the playoffs (small sample size but YOU brought it up). From any observer, his poor 2018/19 campaign mirrored his reduced PPG output and his playoff output was less than his RS output. So, neither TR, BMac, nor the posters here were wrong. Being "top 20" is a nonsense comparison to his peers over a small sample. The better metric is Kuzy vs himself over similar sample sizes, and his points reflected his poor play (compared only to his own capability) vs the prior year.

And then this year Kuzy is back to 1.04 ppg, and most everyone agrees he's playing better this year than he did last year, inconsistency not withstanding. He's back to playing up to HIS level of capability, and it is what it is. If its top 20, or top 50, what matters is how he performs compared to what he's capable of and last year he under performed.

There's no disagreements to be found, stop looking for them where they don't exist.

 

[tenken00]

Only got to catch a few minutes of the game, but this game just reaffirms the fact that we can play any style and still win. Each game on this 4 game road trip felt vastly different from each other and the results stay the same. Just versatile.

I doubt that the good times last all season, but this bodes well for the playoffs if they can adjust accordingly.

 

[Corby78]

This business of Gudbranson “having” to fight Hathaway is ridiculous. Like it’s some necessity, equivalent to eating and drinking.

Spitting may be an insult, but Hathaway already had a pretty hefty punishment. It didn’t injure Gudbranson and, more importantly, that piece of garbage already got his head shots in while Hathaway was being held by the ref.

I’m developing a pretty strong dislike of that team in Anaheim.

ive hated that team for years. Having said that I’m fine with the fight, they wanted to fight last game and the refs wouldn’t let them so they finished it. They can be proud they got the better of the fights if they want, we got the win.

 

[PuckBuddy]

Two non-surprises and one surprise:

• The Ducks' broadcast crew was really bad.
• Gudbranson sucker-punched Hathaway while he was tied up by the refs again.

• With two goals on the season, Travis Boyd is the finisher on the Caps' current 3rd line....

 

[JayBeagleFanAccount]

Wow, you really dig deep to find ways to pick arguments.

Kuzy was 1.05 ppg in the RS in 2017/18 then upped his PPG to 1.33 in the playoffs, near Conn Smythe level. This is what Kuzy is capable of.

In 2018/19, when we ALL agree he had a down year, he was .95 PPG in the RS and .86 PPG in the playoffs (small sample size but YOU brought it up). From any observer, his poor 2018/19 campaign mirrored his reduced PPG output and his playoff output was less than his RS output. So, neither TR, BMac, nor the posters here were wrong. Being "top 20" is a nonsense comparison to his peers over a small sample. The better metric is Kuzy vs himself over similar sample sizes, and his points reflected his poor play (compared only to his own capability) vs the prior year.

And then this year Kuzy is back to 1.04 ppg, and most everyone agrees he's playing better this year than he did last year, inconsistency not withstanding. He's back to playing up to HIS level of capability, and it is what it is. If its top 20, or top 50, what matters is how he performs compared to what he's capable of and last year he under performed.

There's no disagreements to be found, stop looking for them where they don't exist.

By all metrics the caps are worse 5v5 with Kuzy on the ice than without him, I think he brings a lot of value to our PP but hardly any at 5v5. Even with the eye test he looks lazy and disengaged, cherry picking his point totals is choosing to be ignorant.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Two non-surprises and one surprise:

• The Ducks' broadcast crew was really bad.
• Gudbranson sucker-punched Hathaway while he was tied up by the refs again.

• With two goals on the season, Travis Boyd is the finisher on the Caps' current 3rd line....

Yeah the Ducks broadcast crew was bad as usual. They allude to the fact that the Ducks players started this crap in the 1st meeting. I was so tempted to go online and watch the Caps feed with Joe B. and Locker, but since I live in LA I stuck with watching the Caps in HD with a crappy Ducks broadcast crew.

 

[SherVaughn30]

By all metrics the caps are worse 5v5 with Kuzy on the ice than without him, I think he brings a lot of value to our PP but hardly any at 5v5. Even with the eye test he looks lazy and disengaged, cherry picking his point totals is choosing to be ignorant. View attachment 287953 View attachment 287951 View attachment 287949

Metrics smetrics. Kuzy best defense is his puck possession, although he is Datsyuk like in picking the puck off an opposing player. I think you have to look at Kuzy like Malkin of the Pens, but not imposing in size. They both are very dangerous against opponents when they get really engaged into the game.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

By all metrics the caps are worse 5v5 with Kuzy on the ice than without him, I think he brings a lot of value to our PP but hardly any at 5v5. Even with the eye test he looks lazy and disengaged, cherry picking his point totals is choosing to be ignorant. View attachment 287953 View attachment 287951 View attachment 287949

you’re not wrong about the metrics, but you also undervalue his production.

Kuzy is what he is....a guy who plays hard when he feels like it, and that’s not very often sadly. So far it is manageable for the team as long as that production doesn’t wane. His positives still outweigh the negatives and we know he can turn it up. At some point he’ll mature and give a better effort more often, or he won’t and he’s another Alexei Kovalev, elite talent with questionable intangibles. Either way, not horrible.