Series Discussion: (M1) Washington Capitals vs (WC1) Columbus Blue Jackets

[hockeykicker]

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

I didn't judge Ov based on last season. I wont judge Holtby based on this season.

Those comparisons don't make sense.

1. Ovechkin had an entire season to prove last year was an anomaly. We're supposed to allow Holtby to prove this in the playoffs?

2. There was a lack of continuity in the Ovechkin thing, it's always fair to say new season equals new opportunity. Holtby has looked bad this season, there is no lack of continuity since he performed poorly, he's better but not great, that brings me to...

3. Ovechkin has looked like a world beater since last season, he's clearly elite right now. At his best right now Holtby is "good", not elite. Which is important for the final point...

4. We've never had a comparable replacement for Ovechkin, the guy behind Holtby is playing better than him. If we had a guy losing ice time behind Ovechkin last year that was arguably a better top line winger then yes I would have loved to see what we had on our hands.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Why not? If the dynamic encourages better than usual performance out of either one then you've got both goaltenders playing well enough to win. The guy on the ice knows this is his game to go all out and he doesn't want to let his team down.


It's not simply "just because". That's the facetious side of the argument that makes light of the Caps legendary failures. Holtby is playing for his starting job. Grubauer is also playing for his future and possible a new contract or trade. Both are playing for the Cup. If just one guy is out there and he fails then anyone can say "yeah well it's the Caps in the playoffs, whattayagonnado?" and the goaltender is saddled with that. If they're both responsible for their own games and outcomes then there's more of a personal stake. Even if the Caps lose a series, one guy may come out looking better than the other, from a selfish perspective. From a team perspective it sends the message to the entire club that nobody is above sacrificing for the team.

So you are telling me, that the team should simply stick to a plan (that I can’t remember ever being used, in my 40yrs of following the NHL), because....why again? Some notion that it will bring the best out of each of them (a notion that’s never actually been proven to work)?

Routine based? So that every player can count on this? Not results based....routine based?

Goalie A dominates in game 1, Caps win handily
Goalie B flubs it in game 2, Caps lose
Goalie A dominates again in game 3, Caps win handily.

So game 4 goes to Goalie B, in this scenario? What if Goalie A also falls apart in game 3, due to his rythym being completely askew from 5 day lay off? Now we have 2 Goalies in trouble.

This is plain silly, g00n.

 

[Ridley Simon]

The middle six is going to need to have a good series in order to pull this one out. I imagine Jones and Werenski are going to be hard-matched against 8-92-43 so it’s going to be up to the Backstrom and Eller lines to dictate the play. I’m not too concerned about 65-19-77 but the third line is a genuine problem IMO. Trotz really blundered in not focusing on building a third scoring line down the stretch, instead opting for slower and grittier choices.

If it were my choice I’d go with:

18-20-13
63-83-10

in the bottom 6. Stephenson brings speed to match Vrana with perhaps a more defensive role, and Connolly could bring goal scoring and Gersich could bring more disruption and energy to the 4th line. DSP gets in if either 63 or 10 prove ineffective.

I just really hope Trotz plays to the team’s strengths instead of trying to play his heavy lineup because it’s Columbus. Pittsburgh played their usual fast brand of hockey last postseason and torched the Jackets in 5.

Good lines. I’d be down for those

 

[txpd]

Just looked over NHL.com staff picks for the first round. 9 Caps 5 Jackets. Pens 13 Flyers 1. So, that is where we are.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Flyers Pens....7 Games, ALL double OT or longer and Flyers set the NHL record for hits in a series....please.

 

[artilector]

I will just paste what I wrote in the Trotz thread. As I stated...I like them better. Read = I personally think they have a better chance to go farther. (And add to it, that the Pens are certainly worse than the last 2years)

“I like this team better than the previous 3. The youth and speed will make them unpredictable (assuming we get to see it). I think the Caps had too much predictability to them the last 2 years with their rosters. No one really brought anything “different” to the team. By “different”, I mean guys like Vrana, Chiasson, Gersich, Stephenson, Jerabek, Kempny, Djoos. All guys that can change a game from a lower level position than the guys before them.

Wilson , Orlov, Carlson, Grubauer (and Kuznetsov) are all much better. We didn’t have those elements either. No one filled those roles as well.

Backstrom, Ovechkin, Oshie, Niskanen, Orpik are all basically the same.

Burakovsky, Beagle and Holtby are all worse.

I think it makes for a better playoff team....assuming the goaltending holds up”

Hmm, ok... I'd be able to see things your way a whole lot more if I could expect the bolded assumption to be true.

IMO, to have a high chance of winning, (among other things) Caps must solve the bottom-6 puzzle. I just don't see Trotz solving it, other than by accident. And they gotta have it -- even if the stars play like stars, Holtbauer gets hot, defense holds up -- can't win if the top-6 has to carry the offense basically by virtue of individual heroics.

 

[ovikovy817]

Flyers Pens....7 Games, ALL double OT or longer and Flyers set the NHL record for hits in a series....please.

And ... win the series

 

[twabby]

Crossposting from the coaching thread:

I think Wilson is going to need to be a disruptive force this series. Not only should he be trying to wear down Werenski and Jones, but special teams play is a huge weakness of the Jackets and it might be beneficial to make the refs make calls. Even if it means Wilson is going to have to sit for some reputation calls. The longer this series is played at 5v5 the more it benefits the Jackets IMO. I'd rather see tons of PPs both ways since the Jackets are pretty weak both on the PP and PK.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Hmm, ok... I'd be able to see things your way a whole lot more if I could expect the bolded assumption to be true.

IMO, to have a high chance of winning, (among other things) Caps must solve the bottom-6 puzzle. I just don't see Trotz solving it, other than by accident. And they gotta have it -- even if the stars play like stars, Holtbauer gets hot, defense holds up -- can't win if the top-6 has to carry the offense basically by virtue of individual heroics.

I get it. It's certainly conceivable that the team falls short. Way short. Like 1st round out, short.

But I see the last Pens game as the watermark.
Bottom 6:
13-20-25
18-83-10

Then Beagle got hurt, and I'd insert Gersich,
13-20-25
63-18-10/39/25

If Beagle comes back, I'd probably do this:
13-20-10/39/25
83-18-83

Roll with it. 25/39 can play for 10 (or 83) based on injuries and results. I'd be very quick to insert 39 in for 10, if 10 is invisible like last year. 25 may be needed too.

Bottom pair was also Jerabek/Orpik vs Pens. Kempny w Carlson. Again, stick with that, IMO.

 

[g00n]

So you are telling me, that the team should simply stick to a plan (that I can’t remember ever being used, in my 40yrs of following the NHL), because....why again? Some notion that it will bring the best out of each of them (a notion that’s never actually been proven to work)?

Routine based? So that every player can count on this? Not results based....routine based?

Goalie A dominates in game 1, Caps win handily
Goalie B flubs it in game 2, Caps lose
Goalie A dominates again in game 3, Caps win handily.

So game 4 goes to Goalie B, in this scenario? What if Goalie A also falls apart in game 3, due to his rythym being completely askew from 5 day lay off? Now we have 2 Goalies in trouble.

This is plain silly, g00n.

Silly... or brilliant.

 

[hockeykicker]

flyers pens will already be on game 3 when we are at game 2

 

[HunterSThompson]

Most talented regular season teams.

They average around 2 goals per playoff game. Actually talented playoff teams rarely are below 3 goals per game. In terms of Cup -winners:

GF/GP:
2017: Penguins - 3.08
2016: Penguins - 3.04 (SJS actually more than that, 3.13)
2015: Blackhawks - 3.00
2014: Kings - 3.38

2017: Capitals - 2.77 in 13 GP. 5th among Playoff teams.
2016: Capitals - 2.42 in 12 GP. 9th among Playoff teams.
2015: Capitals - 2.00 in 14 GP. 2nd worst among Playoff teams.
2014: Capitals - Did not qualify.

Their numbers in terms of goalscoring are nowhere near what they should be for Cup -contenders. Last season they were a bit better (Blackhawks won in 2013 with similar numbers), but those numbers still require that the goaltender stand on their head and that just didn't happen year ago. But it's not like they were scoring goals everywhere and Holtby was bleeding goals against. That was just actually the first time he was actually given any kind of decent support.

Between that period (2015-2017), they have scored 3 goals in a Playoff game 8 out of 19 times. That seems somewhat average number, not actually terrible. That is just their numbers in the 1st rounds though (vs. PHI, NYI, TOR).

In the 2nd rounds they have scored 3 goals in 7 out of the 21 games. Overally that's 15 games out of 40 that they have scored atleast 3 goals. 25 out of 40 where they have scored 0-2 goals. That's awful lot of games that you are expecting your goalie to steal. Good teams don't have to rely on their goaltending nearly that much.

Caps playoff shooting percentage is abysmal.

 

[ovikovy817]

flyers pens will already be on game 3 when we are at game 2

Not surprised. It's the nhl

Pens were already the only team to rest on the last day of the regular season (I don't count Fla bos game)

 

[ovikovy817]

This thread has more pages than on the main board

BTW. Look at the BOS/TOR thread. In less than 20 hours, that thread (last thread created) is faaaaaar away from the others. Leafs fans are everywhere.
I wanted to say that I'm sorry for BOS fans but... I hate them too.

 

[Sam Spade]

Would it be so crazy to start Holtby against the Jackets and IF they win, Grubs against the Pens?

We could start a new trend in the NHL, like pulling your goalie with 2:30 to go. It worked for the Pens last year.

Also Bruins/Leafs thread on the main has to the best of example of "I wish both teams could lose". I want to like the Leafs, they really don't have any idiot players but their fans here make it tough. As Kendrik says, "Sit down bitch, be humble".

 

[RandyHolt]

Is this their expected lineup?

Columbus Lineup
Milano-Dubois-Atkinson
Panarin-Wennberg-Bjorkstrand
Jenner-Dubinsky-Vanek
Hannikainen-Letestu-Calvert

Werenski-Jones
Murray-Johnson
Cole-Savard

Bobrovsky
Korpisalo

Inactive
Broadhurst, Chorney, Harrington, Kukan, Robinson


Who is their lead punk? Dubinksy perhaps. I want to see the bottom pair hit up with speed. I am sure the plan is to grind em down thought.

 

[Langway]

I think it's...

Panarin-Dubois-Atkinson
Jenner-Wennberg-Vanek
Bjorkstrand-Foligno-Anderson
Calvert-Letestu-Dubinsky

Werenski-Jones
Cole-Savard
Murray-Nutivaara

Bob

Anderson's the main physical presence I think but Jenner & Dubinsky finish their checks, too.

 

[ovikovy817]

Nicky's or Kuzya's line against Panarin??

 

[RandyHolt]

I want to see players try and goad their dumb punks into giving us some PPs. I really think we are more than most teams a team that lives and die by the PP. Of course PKers will be ultra aggressive so we'll need some tricks up our sleeve.

Willy is a strong asset to our team so I wouldn't mind see him turn the other cheek should he get us a PP



I would also like to see offside Nutivaara targeted heavily but the whole Finn thing seems prone to backfire more often than not.

 

[shtorm2005]

is there some video preview of the matchup? Can't wait for puck drop...

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Calvert is dirty. He was ejected in the last game the Caps played against the Jackets when he hit Ovie in the face with the butt of his stick. At the end of the first period. This was what prompted the Tortorella/Ovechkin exchange at the beginning of the second. Just youtube Calvert and you'll see some examples of his handi-work.

 

[RandyHolt]

Add Calvert to the bullseye list lead punk list

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Why don't we stay in our lane and worry about our series. All you guys hoping for things in the Pens-Flyers series, how long you been watching this team? We've got an uphill battle of our own right now.

 

[Sam Spade]

Flyers Pens....7 Games, ALL double OT or longer and Flyers set the NHL record for hits in a series....please.

Unfortunately those are two of the softer teams in the league. The only real tough guys in the series are Gudas and I guess Oleksiak (?).

Our only enjoyment will be watching Hornqvist crash into Mrzak and seeing how the Flyers respond. Letang and/or Malkin going berserk will be an awesome bonus.

Why don't we stay in our lane and worry about our series. All you guys hoping for things in the Pens-Flyers series, how long you been watching this team? We've got an uphill battle of our own right now.

Our series is gonna be sleep inducing, at least the Pens/Flyers will have some offense.