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

[txpd]

well...ok. I didn't mean to get caught up in the usual conversation. I am returning to my no hockey game plan for the weekend. Tacos Arabes coming tonight

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Capitals sticking with Philipp Grubauer for Game 2 — NBC Sports

 

[IafrateOvie34]

The league is clearly looking at certain players and just waiting for the chance to send an early message. The Anderson ejection was a not so subtle signal to Wilson.

TW needs to continue to play with an edge, though. Cannot let the league and fear of PKs dictate how we play.

Let them do suspensions etc. Make this league a soft sport and a lot of folks will stop watching. It's one thing to cheap shot being suspension worthy, but good old hockey checks and aggressiveness needs to stay in the game. The league really is becoming a joke.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

They had 3 consecutive penalties. Pretty hard to generate offense when you are in the penalty box. BTW 3 penalties is a bit excessive.
And Columbus didn't score 3 goals in the 3rd period. They scored twice, both goals on the pp. So Id say it was penalties that killed us. The shots on goal in that 3rd period was 9 to 5 for Columbus which isn't surprising since we had 3 penalties and they didn't have any. In fact its surprising vwe didn't get out shot by more in that 3rd period. And speaking of the 3rd period the Caps scored the only 5 on 5 goal of the period. Doesn't look like turtling to me. Looks like a lack of discipline.

From my perspective it was discipline. Those were just dumb penalties to take. In the playoffs make them count like if someone runs over a team mate or a Kreider on Price type of play.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

If we lose by a big score, people are gonna throw **** on the ice. Tomorrow's giveaway is a rally towel. Don't want to see them hit the ice.

Can't say I blame them, but I am opportunistic the Caps will win. The problem is with that is Ted will panic and trade for a Jagr type trade in the off season. Looking at the practice lines kind of made me sad.

 

[trick9]

You are writing that as if the Caps were winning because of him rather than inspite of him. One more time. November 18 is the last time Holtby gave up less than 2 goals in a start. They are a President's Trophy team again if Holtby played like Grubauer has or like he himself has in previous seasons.

Instead they needed Grubauer to provide quality goaltending down the stretch to get in the playoffs

I honestly have no idea what point you are making. I'm a fan of this team, not a single individual. I couldn't care less if one of the goalies gave up 7 goals per game and still won 90% of their games. SV% and GAA are nice stats that will go long way in for goalies going for Vezina but i don't think backup with average stats has never won that.

Again, Grubauer had 2 wins through January 8th. Just saying that just like you can say Capitals win Presidents Trophy with regular Holtby i can say that Capitals finish right down the bottom with Grubauer as their starter.

I mean, what was Grubauer's record through early january? 2 wins i know but how many losses, i think he had 10. Savior? I doubt it.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

What point are you trying to make? Seems like you’re attacking Gruby to defend Holtby. For a poster who is “not a fan of an individual” you sure are defending an individual.....pretty vehemently in fact.

 

[trick9]

What point are you trying to make? Seems like you’re attacking Gruby to defend Holtby. For a poster who is “not a fan of an individual” you sure are defending an individual.....pretty vehemently in fact.

I would love nothing more than Grubauer going into god-mode and carrying this team into the finals.

Are you honestly surprised? Everything this team has accomplished through recent years has been with Holtby in net. Like i said, he's the one guy career-wise who has been better in the Playoffs than in the regular season.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I think it’s fair to say Holtby carried them early, Gruby late and more impressively. I’m not sure how anyone says Holtby against the Pens the last two years playoffs was better than his regular season performance overall. For his career, for a guy who had incredible postseason numbers early, he’s trending the wrong direction.

 

[Sam Spade]

You how when you are in love and the person breaks up with you and you tell yourself "I'm fine" even though you really aren't, until one day you wake up and you are over them and you are fine?

Today I woke up and didn't think about the Caps series at all until the Leafs game started. It was weird because in the past I would think about it a lot, not in a negative way, but just think about the game, be a little nervous, anticipating, etc. I guess I am finally "over" the Caps.

Apathy feels ok.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

You how when you are in love and the person breaks up with you and you tell yourself "I'm fine" even though you really aren't, until one day you wake up and you are over them and you are fine?

Today I woke up and didn't think about the Caps series at all until the Leafs game started. It was weird because in the past I would think about it a lot, not in a negative way, but just think about the game, be a little nervous, anticipating, etc. I guess I am finally "over" the Caps.

Apathy feels ok.

That's not a very good thing Sam...
It means you ran out of patience and no longer like the team.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

I've personally never been less affected by Washington losing in the playoffs than now. I feel kind of sad that I don't care nearly as much as I used to.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I can’t explain it, I was disappointed leaving the game one loss, but not mad like I used to get. I guess I expected to lose once it went to OT.

I was happier that it ended early than I was pissed we lost.

Go Go Monumental Empire!

 

[The Consiglieri]

That's not a very good thing Sam...
It means you ran out of patience and no longer like the team.

It's a little bit more complex than that. Although it's an ugly analogy, being a caps fan has been the sporting equivalent of being in an abusive relationship. All the passion, and all the love, and all the commitment, are repaid annually with a wildly divergent array of betrayals and crushing assaults on the senses and the heart. Whether it's the president's trophy years flushed down the toilet to an 8 seed, or in a 2 game lead vanquished, usually through some crushing OT or 2OT loss in combination with yet another game 7 choke, a visit to the house of horrors that is Pittsburgh for some new manifestation of hopefulness reduced to ashes in the mouth within a short 6-10 days, breaking the curses in 1994 and 1998 only to rediscover them immediately after in the form of a crushing defeat to the Rangers, or Esa Tikananen somehow missing an empty net and the squad choking away a 3 goal lead halfway through the third period of game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Fans can only be abused so much by their team before they either quit, become cynical and embittered , become dead inside or are some sort of offspring of pollyanna and the biggest homer ever. The Caps have mastered the art of abusing their fans to an extent that is both vastly more impressive than any other cursed franchise, and vastly less reported on, understood or even referenced. While the Cubs, Red Sox, Bills, Vikings and Browns have gotten all the press for their curses and ineptitude, it's really the caps that are well and truly cursed. What is it, 10 or 11 2 game leads choked away at this point? A sub .500 record in the playoffs when up two games in a playoff series and a sub .350 record in game 7's, 1 series win and like 8 losses to the Penguins despite having multigame series leads I believe four different times? This team has choked across literally 35 years of hockey and innumerable generations of players, coaches and management and the teams administering the beat downs have even evolved over time, from the Islanders in the mid-eighties, to the Rangers, to the Penguins, to the Rangers and Penguins again 15 years later to the Haps and even the Lightning.

They're lucky they get five people in the stands for playoff games, honestly, fans should show up to games in S&M "gimp" costumes at this point.

 

[GoCaps2004]

I've personally never been less affected by Washington losing in the playoffs than now. I feel kind of sad that I don't care nearly as much as I used to.

I feel kind of sad that I do still care as much as I used to.

 

[Sam Spade]

They're lucky they get five people in the stands for playoff games, honestly, fans should show up to games in S&M "gimp" costumes at this point.

I laughed for a few minutes. Great post by the way.

I remember crying like a baby in 2010, Ovie scored that damn goal, but noooooo, they had to take away him being the hero.

Last year I had some hope after the domination of game six but realized after the first ten minutes of game seven they weren’t winning and turned it off.

I do love this years team and fun this season but some teams are built to win it all, these guys are not.

 

[Capitals40]

It's simple..if our core players actually play hard like the rest of the league veterans (starting with 8) do in the playoffs we win this series..if not does not matter who is in goal.

 

[John Price]

Capitals look to bounce back against Blue Jackets
Capitals look to bounce back against Blue Jackets

WASHINGTON -- Conditioned by years of playoff failures, Washington Capitals fans are always prepared for the worst.

After Thursday's Game 1 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, some Capitals followers quickly progressed through the five stages of death and began planning for the offseason.

But the sun came up Friday, Beltway traffic was no worse than usual, and the Capitals can even the series Sunday night at Capital One Arena.

 

[trick9]

I think it’s fair to say Holtby carried them early, Gruby late and more impressively. I’m not sure how anyone says Holtby against the Pens the last two years playoffs was better than his regular season performance overall. For his career, for a guy who had incredible postseason numbers early, he’s trending the wrong direction.

Last two Playoffs? Holtby was fine 2 years ago against the Penguins. He had 3 great games, 2 average ones and 1 bad game. Even in that bad game he was not as bad as Grubauer was in G1 here.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Holt3 is the reason they are playing in the Playoffs right now. Grubauer had 2 wins through January 8th.

Grubauer sucked last night. Half of the Jackets chances ended up in their net. Not sure how you can say that he didn't suck and yet claim that Holtby did last Playoffs. Atleast Holtby was good through the Round 1. He was bad against the Penguins but they wrecked every other goalie they faced too.

Sorry. The reason they’re in the POs is because of individual offensive talent. Holt3 was below average all year. Grubi has losses early on in the season because he relieved Holt3’s stinker games.

There’s a myriad of reasons the Caps lost G1, but it wasn’t because of Grubi.

 

[StrikingDistance]

I know how Holtby's played this season, and I remember last year's playoffs, and I still wouldn't bet against him now.

There’s a reason why casinos make money off this mindset. I would avoid them if I were you.

 

[trick9]

Sorry. The reason they’re in the POs is because of individual offensive talent. Holt3 was below average all year. Grubi has losses early on in the season because he relieved Holt3’s stinker games.

There’s a myriad of reasons the Caps lost G1, but it wasn’t because of Grubi.

Well this is just blatantly false.

He came in relief 3 times, and only once played more than half of the game (so Holtby got the L unless i'm wrong). This is his stat sheet in starts:

OTL
L
L
L
L
L
W
W
OTL
OTL

2 wins in 10 attempts. Keep blaming on Holtby though. I'm sure he sabotaged Grubauer's gear too to prevent him from winning.

 

[OVrocks]

With Gruby in net, we have no chance in this series, he reminds me of Neuvirth. They OT goal was horrible.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Well this is just blatantly false.

He came in relief 3 times, and only once played more than half of the game (so Holtby got the L unless i'm wrong). This is his stat sheet in starts:

2 wins in 10 attempts. Keep blaming on Holtby though. I'm sure he sabotaged Grubauer's gear too to prevent him from winning.

Hi Holt3's agent. Grubi is in net tonight. If he lets in a couple of leaky goals in the 1st, then put in your savior who averages 3 GAs per game. If you're more concerned with goaltending thus far, you're missing the defense miscues leading to goals, the coaches staffing the wrong personnel. Vrana being scratched tonight should be of concern, not the team playing in front of the goalie.

 

[trick9]

Hi Holt3's agent. Grubi is in net tonight. If he lets in a couple of leaky goals in the 1st, then put in your savior who averages 3 GAs per game. If you're more concerned with goaltending thus far, you're missing the defense miscues leading to goals, the coaches staffing the wrong personnel. Vrana being scratched tonight should be of concern, not the team playing in front of the goalie.

I'm not his agent. Keep throwing him under the bus all you want but don't be surprised if someone calls out your bullshit.

Regular season doesn't really matter when the Playoffs starts, you of all people as a Caps fan should know that. Holtby has 4 career Playoffs games where his SV % is below 85. In 59 games. Grubauer's two Playoff starts are .857 and .852. But hey, Holtby is the reason they have never made it past the 2nd round and Grubauer has been fine and the team around him just sucks, right?

I never said Holtby is the savior. I just said that Grubauer isn't that either.