Series Discussion: ECQF: Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs. (LEAF FANS READ OP & POST 67)

[g00n]

Not yet caught up on the thread but regarding Holtby, I see him as playing for the flashy, "stabby", surgical precision save you might expect from a Vezina quality goaltender with a high playoff save percentage. It's the sexy, "I am skilled, just watch me" thing to do.

But that's not what he needs to be doing.

With the Leafs playing a screen/deflection/rebound game Holtby needs to focus more on positioning and "getting big" in certain areas...aka taking away as much of the net as possible.

THAT is why so many of these deflections and fluke goals are going in.

 

[RandyHolt]

Just for laughs.... if Barry decided all PMDs are best, or both Alzner and Orpik don't play for whatever reason, I wonder who would play.... a rusty Chorney, or Hershey's finest.

 

[Sam Spade]

Just for laughs.... if Barry decided all PMDs are best, or both Alzner and Orpik don't play for whatever reason, I wonder who would play.... a rusty Chorney, or Hershey's finest.

Hey McAvoy came straight in for the Bruins and is playing 25 min a game. Why couldn't the Caps give Djoos 12?

 

[g00n]

Was glad to see better team defense around the net but it can still improve greatly. Same goes for the offensive focus of screening and going to the net. The third period was a massive regression due to the turtling. And when they feel pressure from the other team they seem to revert to endless perimeter play.

Think about it this way. If you concentrate most of your attention on the middle third of the ice (lengthwise, goal to goal) then you can get up and down the length of the ice quicker and with less energy expended. You should have legs later in the game, and you're focusing on the higher traffic/scoring areas. You're also likely to be in better position defensively. Always be trying to get to that middle third of the ice, especially in front of the nets.

Common sense, imo, but we seem to want to deal with faster teams by spreading ourselves out and tiring ourselves out while giving up the middle.

 

[twabby]

I can go back and pull my posts and multiple posters here who want Schmidt in the lineup permantly. The way the game is played now DEMANDS a player like Schmidt is in the lineup.

When (if) Alzner comes back and they pull Schmidt out I will livid. I know it's hard to pull a veteran, I get it, but Trotz has to think about what is best for this team.

Against Leafs/Pens etc. speed is the biggest factor.

Based on Trotz's comments last night it seems like he's finally realized that Schmidt needs to be in the lineup.

Alzner should be in the lineup when he's healthy, but he should be replacing Orpik. Neither 27 nor 44 are inspiring in the neutral or offensive zones but Alzner seems to at least be able to defend the net reasonably well. For as much as Orpik is touted as having intangibles and being able to clear the crease, he sure makes some boneheaded moves and allows a lot of goals from basically in the blue paint (Matthews and Bozak last night).

 

[RandyHolt]

Hey McAvoy came straight in for the Bruins and is playing 25 min a game. Why couldn't the Caps give Djoos 12?

I saw him, and he looks damn good actually. I truly believe a kid can come up and hold his own when all signs point to failure. Living off adrenaline, they are good for 10 games or so. Karl's first playoff game was a game 7 and he looked fine. Carlson was not expected to play, but was called up after Alzner failed at RD, and looked great his first playoffs.

Djoos, we may need to load up with some wet towels or something. He would have to be the lightest player in the league. Hopefully the weight stats on him are dated.

 

[BobRouse]

10-12 of the Leafs 14 goals have been the result of wacky to comical pin ball bounces off random skates/boards/side of net/ref etc. All 4 of their goals last night were that way.

Some goalie interference shenanigans last night for sure.

This reminds me of the Tampa series from 2012 save for us being 2-2 instead of swept. We just cant catch a break it seems. But the good news is that the team is overcoming adversity to an extent at least.

Trotz really needs to learn to keep his foot on the pedal too. I have observed them playing prevent as all of you I'm sure have but in the first 3 games for our PPs the 2nd unit wouldn't include Ovechkin on the point as he'd put 2 D out there. For most of the season Ovie would play the majority of any PP but suddenly in the playoffs I noticed Trotz going more conservative.

He was outstanding last night yet somehow only got 16 minutes? Trotz really needs to stop playing "not to lose"

 

[OV Rocks]

Orpik -5, Shatty -4, Schmitty + 4 in this series

I wonder how much of Shattenkirk's -4 is because of Orpik. I called for him to sit down in February he is a traffic cone out there and is getting worse. He was terrible last post season and then got suspended on top of it. Gotta sit him down for the next game I would venture to say that Chorney would be more beneficial to this series than Orpik


Side note and a totally unrelated topic I wonder what Alzner's injury and weak play down the stretch does to his contract in the summer. His game is being left behind in today's NHL and certainly not worth $6M but if he can be downgraded on the market to $4M might be worth it still. Blessing and a curse

 

[txpd]

Shatty played 4 mins less than Orpik. I wouldn't be blaming 44

 

[BobRouse]

I don't really think Orpik or Shattenkirk have been all that bad.

Orpik was bringing the hammer last night and standing up that the blue line. That dumb penalty notwithstanding.

A lot of the goals against them have been some serious pin ball bounces and wacky shenanigans.

They've both had some offensive chances that just haven't found their way to the back of the net.

Plus minus is stupid

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Observations from the series so far:
- Caps have drawn two of the NHL's "CB Bucknor" referees so far for this series, Tim Peel and Chris Lee. That GI call on Backstrom last night was brutal and now eclipses the 2010 Game 7 mystery GI call on Knuble.
- The Leafs have had an extraordinary amount of puck luck in the series, just last night Leaf goals came off of change of directions from skates and linesman, I can't fault Holtby on those as they are hard to track. Understand it happens, but it seems that it has been occurring at a greater amount for the Leafs this series, again puck luck, but I don't see that trend continuing.
- Caps PP at 33% for the series, 4 goals on 12 chances, that's outstanding, just hope that does not factor in to a reluctance by the zebras in calling penalties on the Leafs in the remaining games.

 

[marcel snapshot]

So much of Holtby's edge over other goal-tenders is his mental game - his ability to be that half-second ahead of where the puck is going to be. And that asset just hasn't been very important here. It's gotta rattle him a bit. Maybe he's defaulting to his early career tendency of making the net bigger than it is, and over-playing and over-anticipating - instead of just making himself bigger. I think this where Mitch Korn really has to earn his money - right now.

 

[Fallschirmyager]

I wasn't able to watch game 3 and being we lost didn't bother. I did take opportunity to watch the replay from last night and the 1st period was fantastic. The 3rd was horrible. We can't turtle on this team. We need to keep up the offensive intensity as well. The 1st last night definitely gives me hope this team can put it together and make a run.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Was glad to see better team defense around the net but it can still improve greatly. Same goes for the offensive focus of screening and going to the net. The third period was a massive regression due to the turtling. And when they feel pressure from the other team they seem to revert to endless perimeter play.

I think the 5-on-3 to start the period played a large part in that. The Caps were on their heels while the Leafs were aggressive from the start. You typically need a big individual play -- a goal, a check, a save -- (or a penalty) to reverse the momentum flow, especially when Toronto is taking chances throwing guys forward. Babcock also pulled his goalie with something like 4:30 to go, I think? So the Caps played nearly 33% of the period down one or two men. Hard to be super aggressive when that's the case.

As for the bounces the Leafs are getting, some of it is puck luck and some of it is strategy. They're clearly looking for deflections in the mid to high slot.

 

[skillhockey]

So much of Holtby's edge over other goal-tenders is his mental game - his ability to be that half-second ahead of where the puck is going to be. And that asset just hasn't been very important here. It's gotta rattle him a bit. Maybe he's defaulting to his early career tendency of making the net bigger than it is, and over-playing and over-anticipating - instead of just making himself bigger. I think this where Mitch Korn really has to earn his money - right now.

Holtby has been real shaky, dunno why but he isn't what he used to be. They can win vs Leafs but for next round they need the old Holtby.

 

[BobRouse]

I think the 5-on-3 to start the period played a large part in that. The Caps were on their heels while the Leafs were aggressive from the start. You typically need a big individual play -- a goal, a check, a save -- (or a penalty) to reverse the momentum flow, especially when Toronto is taking chances throwing guys forward. Babcock also pulled his goalie with something like 4:30 to go, I think? So the Caps played nearly 33% of the period down one or two men. Hard to be super aggressive when that's the case.

As for the bounces the Leafs are getting, some of it is puck luck and some of it is strategy. They're clearly looking for deflections in the mid to high slot.

You can chuck a lot of pucks to the net and get guys there. The Caps have done that too. The difference is that the Leafs are getting a ton more puck luck. I don't expect this to continue for Toronto.

They got a lot of it last night along with some suspicious officiating and reviews and still lost (I never ever felt the Caps had lost control of that game)

 

[marcel snapshot]

You can't anticipate these fluky bounces. And you can't try to either, or else you're just abandoning the technique that got you here. But the sheer volume of un-anticipable (is that a word?) crap going by him has gotta be pretty unnerving for a goalie.

 

[skillhockey]

You can't anticipate these fluky bounces. And you can't try to either, or else you're just abandoning the technique that got you here. But the sheer volume of un-anticipable (is that a word?) crap going by him has gotta be pretty unnerving for a goalie.

Leafs had 2 fluke goals atleast, didn't see 3rd period, but Holtby has been sort of leaking shots 7-hole/6-hole and Losing pucks, he isn't like he used to be.

 

[OV Rocks]

You can't anticipate these fluky bounces. And you can't try to either, or else you're just abandoning the technique that got you here. But the sheer volume of un-anticipable (is that a word?) crap going by him has gotta be pretty unnerving for a goalie.

I think what is unnerving are the shots that are "trickling" through Holtby. The save by Wilson was one last night and I ca remember two others that went through him and missed the night. He seems to be playing a bit aggressive for my liking.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

You can chuck a lot of pucks to the net and get guys there. The Caps have done that too. The difference is that the Leafs are getting a ton more puck luck. I don't expect this to continue for Toronto.

They got a lot of it last night along with some suspicious officiating and reviews and still lost (I never ever felt the Caps had lost control of that game)

And the Caps had a good goal stolen from them on a garbage interference call. I agree that last night the Caps were clearly the stronger team. If there wasn't that 5-on-3 to start, maybe they don't turtle as much and the score is indicative of how the Caps controlled the game. But that's hockey.

Personally, I will never, ever count on puck luck running out for teams playing the Caps in the playoffs. It seems every year, every series, the puck luck is not with us. The Flyers made it a series last year in G5 when Ryan White scored after he blindly spun around and threw the puck at the crease and it went in off of Alzner. Caps outshot the Flyers 44-11 and lost 2-0. I absolutely will always expect puck luck to bounce the wrong way until it stops happening.

 

[RandyHolt]

I am not sure Holtby has ever faced an offense trying to score how TO is. He is likely on tilt a bit because they are not shooting at the goal.

I wish a lurker reporter here would ask Barry about the approach to offense TO is taking. Alan, at least talk about it for us next pregame.

I think we will hear the way to defend it is to tie up guys in front, but the more guys in front there are, the more likely a puck does its crazy thing. It's not a perfect solution. Holts has to be squared up as best he can.

 

[Devil Dancer]

- Caps PP at 33% for the series, 4 goals on 12 chances, that's outstanding, just hope that does not factor in to a reluctance by the zebras in calling penalties on the Leafs in the remaining games.

I thought the Leafs' PK was supposed to be decent, but they have done a terrible job covering Ovechkin. I can't remember the last time he was this consistently open on the PP.

I hope they don't switch up their coverage.

 

[BobRouse]

And the Caps had a good goal stolen from them on a garbage interference call. I agree that last night the Caps were clearly the stronger team. If there wasn't that 5-on-3 to start, maybe they don't turtle as much and the score is indicative of how the Caps controlled the game. But that's hockey.

Personally, I will never, ever count on puck luck running out for teams playing the Caps in the playoffs. It seems every year, every series, the puck luck is not with us. The Flyers made it a series last year in G5 when Ryan White scored after he blindly spun around and threw the puck at the crease and it went in off of Alzner. Caps outshot the Flyers 44-11 and lost 2-0. I absolutely will always expect puck luck to bounce the wrong way until it stops happening.

You make a strong point. Our puck luck has sucked in the playoffs since 1998.

But what the Leafs are doing here is staggering in terms of Puck Luck. This is eclipsing what Tampa had going in 2011.

 

[BobRouse]

I am not sure Holtby has ever faced an offense trying to score how TO is. He is likely on tilt a bit because they are not shooting at the goal.

I wish a lurker reporter here would ask Barry about the approach to offense TO is taking. Alan, at least talk about it for us next pregame.

I think we will hear the way to defend it is to tie up guys in front, but the more guys in front there are, the more likely a puck does its crazy thing. It's not a perfect solution. Holts has to be squared up as best he can.

Not always. Remember when the Rangers would play the 5 goalie system? Or when the Caps played Hunterhockey trap and collapse?

Rarely did the puck take crazy bounces like this. What is happening here is crazy really.

Sometimes a team just gets zany bounces and it doesn't mean what they are doing is promoting those bounces.

Caps just need to play their top players more and stick with it. You can't overcompensate your gameplan to try to account for these kinds of bounces.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

You make a strong point. Our puck luck has sucked in the playoffs since 1998.

But what the Leafs are doing here is staggering in terms of Puck Luck. This is eclipsing what Tampa had going in 2011.

But the fact that we can point so clearly to these examples proves my point! Every year we invent new ways to lose in a Shakespearean-tragicomical manner. Last night was no different, except we survived the hockey gods' best attempt to drive another stake in our collective heart. As THN wrote:

It may be an overstatement to say the Leafs poked the proverbial bear, but the Caps woke up in a big way. They found themselves in various moments that could’ve caused them to wilt, to find something or someone to blame, but they fought through them this time. The Leafs cut a 4-1 lead to 4-2. A potential 5-2 Washington lead got disallowed when Nicklas Backstrom was ruled to be interfering with Leaf goalie Frederik Andersen. Toronto opened the third period with a 5-on-3 power play and couldn’t convert. Even after Auston Matthews scored at 12:00 of the third to trim the lead to one, T.J. Oshie answered 59 seconds later on a horribly botched Toronto zone exit. The Leafs’ Tyler Bozak made it 5-4 with 27 seconds left on another goal reviewed for goalie interference that again got ruled in Toronto’s favor. See the pattern here? It was a collection of pivotal, potentially unlucky events, and this time Washington conquered them.