ECQF: (1) Washington Capitals vs. (WC1) Columbus Blue Jackets | Caps Lead Series 3-2

[Ace Card Bedard]

I heard that too and chuckled. He was entertaining an idea to play 4 on 4 and even 3 on 3 after a certain number of OTs. And by the fourth OT it would be 2 on 2, and finally, a goalie against a goalie in the fifth. ;-)

Sharp should have slapped him.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Man is Chicago ever dumb. Should have traded Kane for an absolute King's ransom instead.

Hawks would be in cup contention if they did.

Lol no

With that defense and goaltending?
They could have Gretzky and still miss the playoffs.

 

[Alexei Yashvalev]

Caps fans seem like a broken fanbase these days. They used to be so confident. Back around 2010.

 

[illpucks]

Caps fans seem like a broken fanbase these days. They used to be so confident. Back around 2010.

Because they keep pulling a chance card saying "Do not pass round 2"

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Caps fans seem like a broken fanbase these days. They used to be so confident. Back around 2010.

This has been the story of the past two years approximately. Take a peek on the Caps board and you'll see what I mean.

 

[vippe]

I'm really too old for this kind of punishment. Going up in the middle of the night to watch overtime games.

This time with a good ending though.. puh!

Holtby played well, played on par with Bob which is what is needed to win this series.

Now if Caps win the next game as well...

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Columbus just had bad puck luck. They have had many chances, but they couldn't capitalize for the third time.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

The Caps finally got elite goaltending. Great start for Holtby.

 

[Caps8112]

So I said this earlier imo knowing your team can come back from a deficit and being able to do it as many time as Columbus has in the last 20 or so games is a good thing but on the other hand having to do it every game is like playing with fire. The stats for teams who fall behind in a game have to be atleast a little more on the losing end. Columbus has trailed in all 3 games, while the caps had a fortunate bounce in OT they were definitely due.

 

[winnipegger]

I think Washington takes this they were pretty unlucky in first 2 games. Especially 2nd game.

 

[Sam Spade]

Every game has been a coin flip, just as this series was predicted to be.

Momentum can last from shift to shift and sometimes from period to period but it doesn’t exist game to game. I think the Caps will be hard pressed to win two in a row in CBus and even if they do they are almost have to win game five as well and winning three in a row seems impossible.

Losing those two home games really hurt their chances.

 

[Roshi]

Every game has been a coin flip, just as this series was predicted to be.

Momentum can last from shift to shift and sometimes from period to period but it doesn’t exist game to game. I think the Caps will be hard pressed to win two in a row in CBus and even if they do they are almost have to win game five as well and winning three in a row seems impossible.

Losing those two home games really hurt their chances.

They can do three in a row. Like you say, momentum doesnt move from game to game. Just win one at a time.

Holts roared back to burn your village. It was very much needed. Also few pipes and Ellers bouncy-goal was needed, thats rare for us. This one was a high pressure game so maybe it helps the team to relax a bit and not worry so much. But please not too much.

In all these games we have been in control for most of the time, but we have to find a cure for the panic mode desperation. It starts from one mistake or a call that doesnt go our way etc and is followed by a 3-5 minutes of pure choke-art-work performance when everyone is just running chasing the puck in D-zone (leaving guys open at net and blueline) and/or just turtling to our net (giving 85% of the ice for the Jackets for free). Good thing there is 3 timeouts handed out by NHL for every period, that normally calms things down a bit.

 

[g00n]

Well there you go. Better goaltending for the Caps as well as the PKs and PPs reverting to what we'd expect.

I didn't count wristers yet though so I'll get back to you on that.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Every game has been a coin flip, just as this series was predicted to be.

Momentum can last from shift to shift and sometimes from period to period but it doesn’t exist game to game. I think the Caps will be hard pressed to win two in a row in CBus and even if they do they are almost have to win game five as well and winning three in a row seems impossible.

Losing those two home games really hurt their chances.

Even down 3 games to 2, they would still have a fighting chance.

 

[Calderon]

I didn't watch the game, only the highlights. The announcers were clear on Ovi making a bad pass to Orlov in that equalizing Panarin goal. The pass looked fine to me but I only saw it from one angle. Were the announcers right?

 

[vippe]

I didn't watch the game, only the highlights. The announcers were clear on Ovi making a bad pass to Orlov in that equalizing Panarin goal. The pass looked fine to me but I only saw it from one angle. Were the announcers right?

Was it a good pass? No

With that said, Orlov did have two chances of getting the puck and especially on the second attempt of doing so he just missed it. I'd blame that more on Orlov than anything.. but in hindsight it's ok, cuz one helluva goal was scored and Caps won in the end so I'll take it

If there's ever a chance to put Ovy down you know it will be done.

 

[txpd]

Caps fans seem like a broken fanbase these days. They used to be so confident. Back around 2010.

Real Caps fans are never confident. Be serious. That said we also know how these things work. That 2 game series lead sucks. Look where CBJ is now. They cant lose g4. If they do, the Caps have the momentum and are going home. They certainly cant claim any superiority after 3 games as with one more good play per game or one less bad play one team could be up 3 zip.

I think the good news for Washington is that Holtby looked like is typical zen like self. With Ovechkin Backstrom and Carlson being their top producers and Holtby back to himself, there isn't someone to point the finger at.

Now, if the Caps win g4, they will have all the pressure to win g5 at home.

 

[AussieCapsFan]

Pretty good game overall. Both goalies played really well. Too bad it had to end on a garbage goal, but they all count so on to game 4.
Caps winning this game is not unexpected. The Jackets need to win the next game and go back to DC with a 3-1 lead. If it goes back 2-2 then I figure the Caps would take the series because they would have all of the momentum.

Nah - the Caps are in a scientific realm where momentum doesn't exist.
As a long suffering Caps fan nothing surprises me any more - I'm going to expect the worst and hope for the best.

The sad thing is, no matter who wins, the next round is probably against the Pens and that will be....no fun at all. Almost easier to just lose now and avoid the crushing humiliation, especially for Caps fans.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I didn't watch the game, only the highlights. The announcers were clear on Ovi making a bad pass to Orlov in that equalizing Panarin goal. The pass looked fine to me but I only saw it from one angle. Were the announcers right?

It was off target by a foot or two, but Orlov could've controlled it as it came back to him off the boards.

 

[MAHJ71]

Fluke goal - which sucked, but whatever - it happens.

Columbus was definitely the tired team in that 2nd OT. Caps were playing with more speed and confidence so as flukey of a goal as it was, it almost wasn't surprising.

 

[HunterSThompson]

Question for CBJ fans: does Bob bobble glove side shots often? I feel like I have seen four or five times in the series where he had shots go toward the glove and he didn't catch it on rather easy opportunities.

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Question for CBJ fans: does Bob bobble glove side shots often? I feel like I have seen four or five times in the series where he had shots go toward the glove and he didn't catch it on rather easy opportunities.

He's pretty good at glove control, but the first goal is really hard to block, because the deflection comes as the glove goes up, so the puck instantaneously changes direction to down.

 

[HunterSThompson]

He's pretty good at glove control, but the first goal is really hard to block, because the deflection comes as the glove goes up, so the puck instantaneously changes direction to down.

I mean dropping pucks that should be caught. The OT goal was a tough situation as he was moving, but there have been times in the series where he was square and the puck bounces off his glove instead of him catching it. I am wondering if this is common with him. Not an indictment for sure, stopping the puck is stopping the puck. None of the others that I have seen really affected the game all that much.

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

I mean dropping pucks that should be caught. The OT goal was a tough situation as he was moving, but there have been times in the series where he was square and the puck bounces off his glove instead of him catching it. I am wondering if this is common with him. Not an indictment for sure, stopping the puck is stopping the puck. None of the others that I have seen really affected the game all that much.

With shots coming from elite players like Ovechkin, it'd still be hard for a former Vezina winner to get the puck into his trapper all the time.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

lol he still sucks but atleast he sucked and had that go in off him. Almost found a way to make it not go in. If it landed on his stick he would have shot the boards.

I personally like Eller a lot and I think he's always played better in the playoffs. But yeah that was a freaking ugly goal.