SpinningEdge
Registered User
Well I'm 4-0 this year starting GDT's. No one else start one on Saturday. I'll make sure at 12:01 a.m. I'm posting!
Series Discussion: Round 2 (Caps vs Penguins) 2016 Playoffs (Pens fans, read note in OP) - Part II
- Thread starter spiny norman
- Start date
Ovie's Neighbor
Registered User
- Jan 23, 2007
- 4,870
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It really is remarkable. I don't think I have seen this team string more than three passes together. I know people think our issue is scoring but to me what this series highlights is that a major reason we don't score is because we can't consistently break the puck out of our zone. We need better PMD.
Tweedsuitcase
Registered User
- Sep 28, 2009
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Glad to commiserate with you folks. If anyone wants to be optimistic I won't shout you down, but please no telling us we're doom and gloom or whatever. There's just numbness or pain in here at the moment.
mrwarden
Nothing Witty
artilector
Registered User
- Jan 11, 2006
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That Caps team was dominant, but unfortunately never regained form after the midseason stoppage that occurred after the Flood.
Calicaps
NFA
Ovie's Neighbor
Registered User
- Jan 23, 2007
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I really don't get some of the Richards love. He has been terrible. And he has blown wide open scoring chances. That two on one in OT was such bad hockey. If you are gonna shoot it at least go low right pad so your teammate can get the rebound.
Holtbyisms
Matt Irwin is a legit talent
carlson alzner burakovsky orlov majo kuznetsov
Not saying they all need moved but they're core players as well. There are options.
OviTaughtMe
Registered User
Gotta start looking at Trotz. Offense has completely dried up for the second year in a row. Every chance seems like it took everyone every drop of effort they had.
And you cant say this team didnt feel the pressure of yesteryear. They damn sure did. I dont know where they go from here.
If you go to the 2nd round next year, you'll run into NYR or PIT again. They arent going anywhere
And you cant say this team didnt feel the pressure of yesteryear. They damn sure did. I dont know where they go from here.
If you go to the 2nd round next year, you'll run into NYR or PIT again. They arent going anywhere
John Price
Bet
- Sep 19, 2008
- 374,008
- 24,902
As i was driving through the rain of 495 after the loss, i had a thought come into my head.
This team has blown the most 3-1 leads in sports history. They've blown 3-1 leads at least 5 times if you count them. So already by default we know a 3-1 lead is not over. Ask last year's team if they thought a 3-1 series lead meant it was over.
After all the times this franchise has failed to win that fourth game, how fitting would it be if they were the ones doing the comeback, from 3-1 down, on the pens. Think about that. The hockey scriptwriters would go nuts. Arguably the most talented caps team of all time, coming from a 3-1 deficit which has so plagued the franchise, to win in 7. That would be the ****.
So it's not over as much as i don't like what i'm seeing with pittsburgh outplaying the caps and all. I'll be there game 5. If they lose they lose. I'll sit in my cheap seats and applaud their effort. I've put too much into this team this season to see them whimper out.
This team has blown the most 3-1 leads in sports history. They've blown 3-1 leads at least 5 times if you count them. So already by default we know a 3-1 lead is not over. Ask last year's team if they thought a 3-1 series lead meant it was over.
After all the times this franchise has failed to win that fourth game, how fitting would it be if they were the ones doing the comeback, from 3-1 down, on the pens. Think about that. The hockey scriptwriters would go nuts. Arguably the most talented caps team of all time, coming from a 3-1 deficit which has so plagued the franchise, to win in 7. That would be the ****.
So it's not over as much as i don't like what i'm seeing with pittsburgh outplaying the caps and all. I'll be there game 5. If they lose they lose. I'll sit in my cheap seats and applaud their effort. I've put too much into this team this season to see them whimper out.
artilector
Registered User
- Jan 11, 2006
- 8,351
- 1,187
So... Boudreau?
Look, "this" team has one year left, in terms of current personnel. Then you have a natural inflection point where you can come up with a new plan. But for next year, it would make 0 sense to sack Trotz, especially/unless you have some kind of "dream" coach available.
ALLCAPSALLTHETIME
Great Dane! Love that Eller feller.
I can see the Rangers missing the playoffs. They are getting worse and their future is bleak. Still, it'll be some other hot shot team in the second round that they'll face and the Caps will struggle.
troyerlaw
Life is party again
Do you really blow up a team which performed so well in regular season? Do you go out and make new changes which are supposedly designed with the playoffs in mind, such as bringing in Williams and Richards this year?
What leads you to believe those changes will be any more successful than these were? GMBM did everything correctly on paper, and Caps had a great regular season. Nothing is guaranteed in the playoffs. I say we try to come back from this 3-1 series deficit, and then if we don't do it, we role with much the same group next year, and just take our chances again in the playoffs. If we blow up current lineup, I think we will quickly be looking back with nostalgia on this Trotz era.
Am I disappointed in Trotz? Sure. I think he coaches way too tight, and uses similar coin-flip approach to Hunter. I think he certainly botched the Weber hunch tonight. Weber hadn't played a single playoff game. Tonight's gaffe was the gaffe of a guy who looked simultaneously gassed and panicky. He didn't need to do anything, other than look up to assess the situation. He had time. Him being in the game at that moment is on Trotz, and Trotz alone.
Well, and on Orpik.
Which leads me to my next point. Trotz talked a lot about the 'leadership group' all year. We saw glimpses of 14 starting to pull his act together tonight. But overall, he hasn't led the way. Same with Orpik. Him headhunting Maata was not a leadership move. Losing him for 3 games this series ended up being significant. It's part of why Weber was in lineup tonight. Orpik is certainly one of the players who has put us in the 3-1 hole.
Myself, I just feel like you've gone this far with Nick and Ovie and Holtby (and more recently with Carlson and Alzner); there's really no point in junking the whole thing. I'd ride it out another couple years, and see if one of these days, they actually pull it off.
Sharks didn't blow up their team. Sharks were coming off crushing collapses in the postseason themselves. They didn't ditch Marleau or Thornton or Pavelski or Burns. True, they did junk the coach. But McClellan had been there a damn sight longer than Trotz has been in DC.
Pens are just firing on all pistons these last two months, and they have finishers up and down their lineup. We don't have that.
The goaltending has surprised me. I thought we had the distinct edge there. So far, Murray has been better.
I haven't given up on this team. I'm certainly growing numb to the annual heartbreak. But I am also cognizant that playoff games are razor's edge affairs. We aren't getting blown away by Pens. A bounce here or there, and series is 2-2 or even 3-1 the other way.
Certainly a win on Saturday would make the whole thing more palatable.
At least we won't blow a 3-1 series lead in this round.
One last thing. It always bugged me to hear people crow about our achievement of not losing back-to-back regulation games all season. It just struck me as fundamentally irrelevant to the playoffs. And sure as ****, it has proved meaningless here. We have lost 3 games straight and are staring down the barrel of a possible 4th. If anything, not losing back-to-back games in regulation all season long just underscored what a tight, coin-flip mentality Trotz had. Cautious as hell in the regular season, and now even tighter and more tentative in postseason.
Sorry. One more 'last thing.'
Kuz.
Dude.
He disappeared from the face of the universe.
I know Tex says 'young players hit a wall, it happens.' And that's true, to an extent. But he already had significant pro hockey under his belt before he got here, and that was three years ago. So he's not THAT 'young.' He has been just totally AWOL from the score sheet these last two months. It's another issue Trotz needed to address or make adjustments around, such as trying him on an different line. Instead we rode that 2L right to where we are -- on the brink.
What leads you to believe those changes will be any more successful than these were? GMBM did everything correctly on paper, and Caps had a great regular season. Nothing is guaranteed in the playoffs. I say we try to come back from this 3-1 series deficit, and then if we don't do it, we role with much the same group next year, and just take our chances again in the playoffs. If we blow up current lineup, I think we will quickly be looking back with nostalgia on this Trotz era.
Am I disappointed in Trotz? Sure. I think he coaches way too tight, and uses similar coin-flip approach to Hunter. I think he certainly botched the Weber hunch tonight. Weber hadn't played a single playoff game. Tonight's gaffe was the gaffe of a guy who looked simultaneously gassed and panicky. He didn't need to do anything, other than look up to assess the situation. He had time. Him being in the game at that moment is on Trotz, and Trotz alone.
Well, and on Orpik.
Which leads me to my next point. Trotz talked a lot about the 'leadership group' all year. We saw glimpses of 14 starting to pull his act together tonight. But overall, he hasn't led the way. Same with Orpik. Him headhunting Maata was not a leadership move. Losing him for 3 games this series ended up being significant. It's part of why Weber was in lineup tonight. Orpik is certainly one of the players who has put us in the 3-1 hole.
Myself, I just feel like you've gone this far with Nick and Ovie and Holtby (and more recently with Carlson and Alzner); there's really no point in junking the whole thing. I'd ride it out another couple years, and see if one of these days, they actually pull it off.
Sharks didn't blow up their team. Sharks were coming off crushing collapses in the postseason themselves. They didn't ditch Marleau or Thornton or Pavelski or Burns. True, they did junk the coach. But McClellan had been there a damn sight longer than Trotz has been in DC.
Pens are just firing on all pistons these last two months, and they have finishers up and down their lineup. We don't have that.
The goaltending has surprised me. I thought we had the distinct edge there. So far, Murray has been better.
I haven't given up on this team. I'm certainly growing numb to the annual heartbreak. But I am also cognizant that playoff games are razor's edge affairs. We aren't getting blown away by Pens. A bounce here or there, and series is 2-2 or even 3-1 the other way.
Certainly a win on Saturday would make the whole thing more palatable.
At least we won't blow a 3-1 series lead in this round.
One last thing. It always bugged me to hear people crow about our achievement of not losing back-to-back regulation games all season. It just struck me as fundamentally irrelevant to the playoffs. And sure as ****, it has proved meaningless here. We have lost 3 games straight and are staring down the barrel of a possible 4th. If anything, not losing back-to-back games in regulation all season long just underscored what a tight, coin-flip mentality Trotz had. Cautious as hell in the regular season, and now even tighter and more tentative in postseason.
Sorry. One more 'last thing.'
Kuz.
Dude.
He disappeared from the face of the universe.
I know Tex says 'young players hit a wall, it happens.' And that's true, to an extent. But he already had significant pro hockey under his belt before he got here, and that was three years ago. So he's not THAT 'young.' He has been just totally AWOL from the score sheet these last two months. It's another issue Trotz needed to address or make adjustments around, such as trying him on an different line. Instead we rode that 2L right to where we are -- on the brink.
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artilector
Registered User
- Jan 11, 2006
- 8,351
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Yeah, man, gotta enjoy the experience!
Half the joy of watching sports is waiting for small miracles
CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
- Feb 27, 2002
- 64,724
- 19,589
If at first you don't succeed, fail over and over trying the same thing. Genius....the Leonsis plan.
Trotz should lose his job after this, but he won't. He's a good coach, but lots of good coaches never win a Cup.
Trotz should lose his job after this, but he won't. He's a good coach, but lots of good coaches never win a Cup.
ALLCAPSALLTHETIME
Great Dane! Love that Eller feller.
Tweedsuitcase
Registered User
- Sep 28, 2009
- 522
- 146
I just can't bring myself to believe they're going to take the next three. I'd be shocked if it goes seven. And if it did I'd be suckered into just enough hope to make it hurt again.
Capsman
Registered User
- Nov 21, 2008
- 10,340
- 3,197
Boudreau and Trotz are both limited coaches. Caps were terrible puck movers behind the blue line under Bruce. When they couldn't run and gun they struggled on the offensive end, which ultimately led to a "shift" to a defense-first team. Trot's issues are clear. How is it that Pittsburgh has twice pushed the right coaching buttons in the last few years, midseason? Good chance they win the SC this season. What exactly have you seen from Trotz that suggests he can coach any team to a SC final?
mrwarden
Nothing Witty
CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
- Feb 27, 2002
- 64,724
- 19,589
Verizon Center will be Pens South on Sat. Caps fans will be bailing and selling their tickets by the 1000's I bet.
Tweedsuitcase
Registered User
- Sep 28, 2009
- 522
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Asking one more time: have the Penguins looked unbeatable or even "great" in this series? Frustrating we can't take care of business.
Monsterrain
Registered User
OviTaughtMe
Registered User
