Post-Game Talk: Preseason Game #86: Caps @ Blooj | 4/19/18 | 7:30pm EST

[RandyHolt]

Kempny has been very good. Smart decisions with the puck, really good skater and able to use that to get the puck out of the zone effectively. Whatever problem pivoting he had a few weeks ago is gone, I thought he stayed in front of his man beautifully.

Thanks for sharing. I thought something happened last night (missed a lot of the game). Like pulled a sarge and was an invisible +4, or he threw a monster hit, or pulled a puck off the goal line.

I think he has clearly trended up since getting here, for sure. My biggest and maybe only gripe was him getting worked over down low. Maybe he just needed some time to learn "the system".

He seems very much a prototypical PMD. What BMac has done different from George, is that he has targeted and utilized PMDs on the left side, also #MindBlown

 

[maacoshark]

I see the usual suspects ****ting on Vrana but he was dangerous when he was on the ice, he's just not given the chance.

They really do need to find a way to keep Vrana and Burakovsky in sweaters when they're healthy. I'd much rather keep the current lines and swap 65 for 10 then to put Vrana down for Burakovsky. To me, short of Dre being a little stronger on the puck, they're the same player and those are the kind of guys you need to have. I also think Dre and Eller could rekindle their dominate grind game again, something Connoly seriously lacks.

Not really sure what you think they should do with Vrana. Stephenson was bumped up to the 2nd line and it worked. There are obviously trust issues when it comes to Vrana. Which is why his minutes are limited. He also doesn't get many defensive zone starts.

 

[RandyHolt]

3Fers

Good

• Willy being physical and scoring goals. Trucking punks getting ill deserved penalties. Dare I say: Power Forward. He was my Druce on the loose prediction.
• Scorers scoring, plumbers plumbing, PMDs moving pucks up and out. At speed on the tape.
  
• Holts! Wow 5 months. Maybe rest and competition are good things.
  
• Oh f*** it, 4 - DJOOS!

Bad

• DSP ate a puck
  
• We gave up a goal, dammit. Vrana must pay.
  
• No proper OT party with Sam and others.

Randoms

• If we set out to shutdown Panarin via special assignments (whoever is out shadow him) - that's actually f***ing excellent. Dare I think Stephenson had a hand in all this.
  
• We didn't dominate quite enough, to get a full blown Torts meltdown. Our cup, many years. But I also consider it a turning point in our playoff history with him. When he loses it, his team loses it.
  
• We may be better on the road than at home esp. if Trotz is not bothering with line matching. Maybe, being on the road forces him to adjust, since the other coach dictates? Not sure about that... but its plain to see home ice advantage doesn't mean dick. Foligno got crushed on FOs, while Beagle dominated.

 

[txpd]

Or, they might be right. Fans are not always automatically wrong.

The disconnect for me is that the Caps are older. Almost all of their best players are older. You would think they would be more vulnerable to FAT-E-Gay than the younger Jackets. That is mainly my point

 

[Ridley Simon]

Exactly. It was the right call to start Grubauer and I think the point it made gets in the locker room as well. Sure, Gruby blew his chance, but it’s the right message to send to the entire team. The players who earn the right to play will be played. Holtby had to keep focused and was probably chomping at the bit to get in there. He’s been dialed in so far and we’re gonna need him.

Also, I still think the bottom six should be fluid moving forward. Not game by game per se, but Trotz shouldn’t think that any specific combination is one-size-fits all. That’ll be even moreso the case when Bura returns. The entire team needs to stay on their toes and I think not having the bottom six set in stone helps accomplish that.

I believe it will be matchup related (right or wrong). If the Caps are able to play the Pens *again*, they bring a very different set of matchup problems vis a vis the Jackets.

Someone like Gersich brings a more vs them than say Chiasson. They need his speed on the back check and breakout. Play him ...as well as Vrana...assuming Burakovky is still hurt.

Again *IF* those 2teams were to play each other.

 

[g00n]

The disconnect for me is that the Caps are older. Almost all of their best players are older. You would think they would be more vulnerable to FAT-E-Gay than the younger Jackets. That is mainly my point

I haven't looked at TOI but some have stated CBJ are rolling 3 lines vs our 4. That would explain the difference especially after 3 games that went OT (essentially 10+ periods in minutes).

I noted a game or so ago that Panarin never seemed to leave the ice. Torts is putting whip marks on his stars. This is something we used to see some Caps coaches do and it rarely worked out in the long run.

Meanwhile, to BT's credit, he made the right goalie move eventually and he got the team focused on getting the puck deep and applying pressure, maybe even increasing it as the game went on as CBJ had been doing in g1 and g2. I think he may have focused a bit on tightening up the line changes that CBJ was clearly targeting for exploitation with stretch passes.

The team played much more cohesively as a unit both defensively and in transition. That merits some credit to the coach (and probably the Captain who predicted the wins, and the playoff stud goaltender that returned from the dead).

That said they are ripe for a let down game on Saturday as CBJ will be looking to surge, having blown their cushion. BT can shoulder some blame if that's allowed to happen.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I haven't looked at TOI but some have stated CBJ are rolling 3 lines vs our 4. That would explain the difference especially after 3 games that went OT (essentially 10+ periods in minutes).

I noted a game or so ago that Panarin never seemed to leave the ice. Torts is putting whip marks on his stars. This is something we used to see some Caps coaches do and it rarely worked out in the long run.

Meanwhile, to BT's credit, he made the right goalie move eventually and he got the team focused on getting the puck deep and applying pressure, maybe even increasing it as the game went on as CBJ had been doing in g1 and g2. I think he may have focused a bit on tightening up the line changes that CBJ was clearly targeting for exploitation with stretch passes.

The team played much more cohesively as a unit both defensively and in transition. That merits some credit to the coach (and probably the Captain who predicted the wins, and the playoff stud goaltender that returned from the dead).

That said they are ripe for a let down game on Saturday as CBJ will be looking to surge, having blown their cushion. BT can shoulder some blame if that's allowed to happen.

It will be a typical “first 10 minutes” surge from the home team, I’d wager. If the Cape can score first (again), they will be in very good shape, IMO.

We’ve seen this movie before. Many many times, on both sides. The GM 3 grease goal to win it was the hammer that broke the Jackets vase.

It’s up to Tortorella to change the dynamic. He can do it, but he’s not Sullivan. Candidly, I’d like to see Trotz continue to tinker as well. As good as they looked for most of the game, there are areas he can work on with the team.

No Laurel Resting.

 

[txpd]

Checked the sheet. The entire CBJ bottom six played under 12 minutes. Caps had 4 forwards under that. Columbus had 4 forwards at 19 minutes plus. The Caps had the same 4 forwards over 19.

 

[txpd]

The NHL game rewind on the website uses the CBJ broadcast. Jeff Rimer sounded so terribly butt hurt by the whole thing

 

[RandyHolt]

LOL @ Rimer

Check the TOI for rolling 4 vs 3 lines. Maybe CBuses 3 and 4 got lowered TOI from picking up big fat minuses.

Event Summary

About being tired, younger vs older.... don't write off the old timers. They are in bed by 9pm.

 

[g00n]

Checked the sheet. The entire CBJ bottom six played under 12 minutes. Caps had 4 forwards under that. Columbus had 4 forwards at 19 minutes plus. The Caps had the same 4 forwards over 19.

Look at the previous game, too. CBJ had guys in single digit minutes despite 2OT. Caps did not. Letestu played less than 6min at ES.

 

[twabby]

Kuzy gets another assist, Carlson gets one taken away.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Can I also say how impressed I've been with DSP? He's been terrific.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Can I also say how impressed I've been with DSP? He's been terrific.

Get him out of the lineup!

 

[Hivemind]

Can I also say how impressed I've been with DSP? He's been terrific.

I still think he'd be better in a more limited role. He has his moments each game (some of which do involve participating on goals!), but he often seems to be the last forward arriving to the play. I think they'd benefit from a more uptempo winger on Eller's line, and then playing DSP with Beagle on 4.

Bench Chiasson, get Gersich into the action. Shuffle around Vrana, Gersich, and Stephenson as appropriate to achieve the proper blend of speed and chemistry on the 2nd/3rd/4th lines.

 

[usiel]

Definitely was impressed with Stephenson up there on the 2nd line. And the team just overall played with a team playoff intensity that is great to see.

 

[Lindemann]

The past 2 games, the only person I can really think that is playing kind of stupid is Orlov. I don't get what is going on with him but he was the only one that has been playing really off his game lately

- Chaisson has quietly been playing extremely well.
- Stephenson looks awesome on the 2nd line
- 3rd line doing everything right past 2 games
- Holtby looks like 2011 against Boston Holtby
- Kempny needs to be resigned ASAP
- Carlson has some bone head defensive plays but his offensive capabilities are getting better and better. $$$$$$
- Djoos looks decent for a young d-man, his speed is useful

 

[Sam Spade]

Get him out of the lineup!

The main thing I have been wrong about, my bad.

I did say to start Holtby though, so I should get points for that.

Also, do the Hawks really have six defensmen better than Kempney?

 

[ovikovy817]

Kuzy gets another assist, Carlson gets one taken away.

Don't understand why they didn't change it during the game. It was so obvious

 

[StephenPeat]

May I bring up the 2 minutes for being Tom Wilson for a bit? He full on blew that guy up clean. The national broadcast was using the St Louis Blues broadcast team and they both said WHOA when that happened. It was a significant play even if he got a penalty for hitting too hard

I was really wondering if someone else was going to chime in on this. Fortunately it turned out to be trivial (of sorts) but man that was as bad a call as I've seen on a routine play in the POs for a while. Wilson does have a tendency to invite some of that stuff but that call in a game against that team is ludicrous.

Also here's a daily reminder for anyone who needed it that Tom Wilson is a pretty good hockey player.

 

[RandyHolt]

4 points in 1 playoff game - for us truly a playoff rarity. Fantastic.

Kuzy on the Lucy.... oh never mind.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[RandyHolt]

Tex - what happened to Bura. Minor surgery requiring say minimum a week....

Channeling Binging the inner tex..... knee scoped.

 

[Calicaps]

This is pretty funny.

 

[Calicaps]

May I bring up the 2 minutes for being Tom Wilson for a bit? He full on blew that guy up clean. The national broadcast was using the St Louis Blues broadcast team and they both said WHOA when that happened. It was a significant play even if he got a penalty for hitting too hard

The penalty was beyond egregious, especially because that was a stellar hit. So exciting. If the league is gonna let that kinda stuff result in penalties, they will take all the fun out of hockey. They should be encouraging great, hard, clean checks like that one, not punishing them.

In related news, my Wilson Stadium Series jersey arrived today!