Post-Game Talk: team that will win cup playing against team that will be eliminated in 2nd round 7pm

[895]

Carlson out

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[CapitalsCupReality]

5-1 good guys.

 

[trick9]

Stay out of the box and this is going to be a W.

4-1 Capitals.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

They'll benefit from having Letang out. He was horribad last time.

 

[twabby]

I don't like the sound of this. The Orlov-Niskanen pairing has been one of the best in the entire NHL and shouldn't be broken up. 27-2 is such an uninspiring top pairing and 44-9 haven't shown good chemistry at all.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Capitals have a lot of trouble tonight. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I don't like the sound of this. The Orlov-Niskanen pairing has been one of the best in the entire NHL and shouldn't be broken up. 27-2 is such an uninspiring top pairing and 44-9 haven't shown good chemistry at all.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Capitals have a lot of trouble tonight. I hope I'm wrong.

Agreed. I would keep 9-2 together -- and give them the most minutes -- bump up Schmidt to play with Alzner, and let Chorney and Orpik man the 3rd pairing, with the 2nd and 3rd pairing receiving almost equal TOI.

 

[SpinningEdge]

I don't like the sound of this. The Orlov-Niskanen pairing has been one of the best in the entire NHL and shouldn't be broken up. 27-2 is such an uninspiring top pairing and 44-9 haven't shown good chemistry at all.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Capitals have a lot of trouble tonight. I hope I'm wrong.

I have the opposite view on this.

Last year in regular season caps were on cruise control and we made hardly any adjustments.

In playoffs after the first couple games - it was obvious Pitts gameplan was the one controlling the series. Caps didn't ever adjust or do anything different. It was the mentality "this got us here so we will stick with it".

So now that the pairing you mentioned is killing it - and arguably best in NHL - I think we try other things too.

Nothing wrong with trying different things. The more lineup switch around they do and find some things that might work - the more options and successful different looks Caps can give opponents if needed later on.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

This shows you where the coaching staff's trust level is with 9 sadly.

 

[RandyHolt]

Agree, switching D pairs is fine, and even wise.

What is not fine, is ignoring a solid sample size of positive data, and never going back to it. Or, only going back to it at the 11th hour out of desperation.

This is a solid test for Twabby's theory that the new D pairs has a big hand in our recent demolishing, dismantling, decimating, and destruction of opponents.

 

[twabby]

I have the opposite view on this.

Last year in regular season caps were on cruise control and we made hardly any adjustments.

In playoffs after the first couple games - it was obvious Pitts gameplan was the one controlling the series. Caps didn't ever adjust or do anything different. It was the mentality "this got us here so we will stick with it".

So now that the pairing you mentioned is killing it - and arguably best in NHL - I think we try other things too.

Nothing wrong with trying different things. The more lineup switch around they do and find some things that might work - the more options and successful different looks Caps can give opponents if needed later on.

The difference here is that 27-2 was a pairing earlier in the year and for 2+ seasons now. It's nothing new, even if they haven't been together for about a month or so now. They'll likely get the job done defensively but at the cost of any sort of offense. In addition, the team isn't on cruise control right now like they were last season. They have their foot on the gas looking to demolish the competition and have been successful. This is completely different than last season where they were on the defensive for much of the season, despite winning. Trying something new would be 27-88 as the second pairing, and if anybody has earned more ice time right now it is Nate Schmidt. He has been excellent all season but especially recently.

Agree, switching D pairs is fine, and even wise.

What is not fine, is ignoring a solid sample size of positive data, and never going back to it. Or, only going back to it at the 11th hour out of desperation.

This is a solid test for Twabby's theory that the new D pairs has a big hand in our recent demolishing, dismantling, decimating, and destruction of opponents.

The bolded is what worries me. Supposing Carlson is out for a few games, will Trotz go back to the current D configuration once he comes back? I sure hope so, but I'm not convinced given his reluctance to change things. These pairings have been to my eye and certainly statistically the best that this team has had in ages, and it would be a catastrophic mistake to not return to them (unless of course an even better configuration is created).

I'm convinced that there was a major tactical shift last month, but I think it was also heavily intertwined with the new defensive pairings being able to execute it. I don't believe that 27-2 and 44-9 will be able to execute at as high of a level. Orlov, despite being a right D for much of his youth, is much better at left D IMO. He's had trouble at RD in his own zone so I don't really understand why he's going to return to RD tonight, especially alongside Orpik. They were not very good together last season.

We'll see, maybe I'm completely wrong.

 

[HecticGlow]

Given how little difference there is in the D pairs' ES TOI, I'd keep the two existing pairs together (9-2 and 44-88) and put Chorney on with Alzner. You can still throw Alzner out there with Nisky, Orpik or Schmidt for some shifts if you want to, and it's a good test of how Orlov, Schmidt and Chorney can perform in different/shutdown roles.

 

[Revelation]

This shows you where the coaching staff's trust level is with 9 sadly.

More like reaffirms that the coaching staff will torpedo yet another year of Ovechkin's career when the playoffs roll around.

 

[Revelation]

Given how little difference there is in the D pairs' ES TOI, I'd keep the two existing pairs together (9-2 and 44-88) and put Chorney on with Alzner. You can still throw Alzner out there with Nisky, Orpik or Schmidt for some shifts if you want to, and it's a good test of how Orlov, Schmidt and Chorney can perform in different/shutdown roles.

That would be the correct solution but Trotz would rather screw with the chemistry for each pairing

 

[ovikovy817]

It is an "@" or a "VS" between the teams names in the title ?

 

[36kap36]

Keep in mind that is ideally only one game without Carlson, too. If things go well, then we know we have some other options to mix things up with that might work. If things don't work so well, maybe we go back to normal, or maybe we try even more new combinations to see what would let us be at our best. Either way, I'm not too worried by this one.

 

[hockeykicker]

Jeez Carlson is gonna only miss one game and it's already the end of the world and the coaches know nothing? Sheesh

 

[Revelation]

So you have 2 excellent pairings playing great hockey and one pairing unspectacular but holding their own. One player from the unspectacular pairing holding their own goes down. Do you

A) Keep the 2 excellent pairings together, put another player on the unspectacular pairing, then give it easier minutes.

Orlov-Niskanen = Orlov Niskanen
Orpik-Schmidt = Orpik-Schmidt
Alzner-Chorney <<< Alzner Carlson

or

B) Rip up all 3 pairings and mash them up so they all suck

Alzner Niskanen << Orlov Niskanen
Orpik Orlov << Orpik Schmidt
Schmidt Chorney < Alzner Chorney

Yeah it's 1 game in January... whatever... they've done this crap in the playoffs before and it's just another indication that they haven't learned anything and the moment something happens come spring they'll sabotage their own roster

 

[36kap36]

So you have 2 excellent pairings playing great hockey and one pairing unspectacular but holding their own. One player from the unspectacular pairing holding their own goes down. Do you

A) Keep the 2 excellent pairings together, put another player on the unspectacular pairing, then give it easier minutes.

Orlov-Niskanen = Orlov Niskanen
Orpik-Schmidt = Orpik-Schmidt
Alzner-Chorney <<< Alzner Carlson

or

B) Rip up all 3 pairings and mash them up so they all suck

Alzner Niskanen << Orlov Niskanen
Orpik Orlov << Orpik Schmidt
Schmidt Chorney < Alzner Chorney

Yeah it's 1 game in January... whatever... they've done this crap in the playoffs before and it's just another indication that they haven't learned anything and the moment something happens come spring they'll sabotage their own roster

But what are you judging the pairings in these comparisons off of? Your personal opinion? A small data set worth of advanced/non-advanced tools? Or is it all just assumption?

We don't know what's going to happen tonight, so why is everyone freaking out? Let me consult the 76ers playbook and tell everyone to trust the process for a little bit.

 

[notDkristich]

keep the streak alive

the refs/league will continue to manage our games with 1 or 2 PP

 

[Revelation]

But what are you judging the pairings in these comparisons off of? Your personal opinion? A small data set worth of advanced/non-advanced tools? Or is it all just assumption?

We don't know what's going to happen tonight, so why is everyone freaking out? Let me consult the 76ers playbook and tell everyone to trust the process for a little bit.

We've had plenty of exposure to 27-2 and 44-9. 27-2 is decent but Alzner not being a PMD visibly hampers it compared to Orlov, who may not be as much of a rock defensively but who takes advantage of Niskanen's smooth two way style and generates a ton of chances rushing the puck.

44-9 has never not sucked, even when they played as a 3rd pairing. It's 2 guys who both aggressively defend by taking themselves out of the play, plus Orlov is scrambled by being forced to play his off side where he is not as good defensively. Schmidt and Orpik are a natural compliment just like Orlov and Niskanen since Schmidt is the passive fast skating D making up for Orpik's aggressiveness and lack of mobility while Orpik makes up for Schmidt's lack of strength.

 

[txpd]

Alzner is the Caps best defender. There is no chance that Trotz drops Alzner to the 3rd pair and there is no way that Chorney is paired with Alzner to play against Crosby or Malkin tonight. Come on

 

[AtNightWeFly]

No sassy questions from Pierre tonight. Strange.

 

[Brian23]

Alzner is the Caps best defender. There is no chance that Trotz drops Alzner to the 3rd pair and there is no way that Chorney is paired with Alzner to play against Crosby or Malkin tonight. Come on

No. No he is not.

 

[g00n]

hahaha Malkin MADD!!!!1

He'll be laying cheap shots before it's over

 

[twabby]

zone entry wrinkles! Oshie and Williams looping back at the blue line as another optin