GDT: Vegas strip vs Washington's 14th Street - 7:08pm

[ClevelandCapsfan]

Despite the injuries, we still suck and it is okay. Has been quite a ride the last decade-and-a-half. Get Ovi to 895 and develop our young players.

Ovi’s not getting to 895 if he cannot get 30 goals per season (he’s on pace for under that this season).

 

[filinski77]

Ovi’s not getting to 895 if he cannot get 30 goals per season (he’s on pace for under that this season).

Bad math

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Pretty surprised how negative this thread is. This was a scheduled loss and they got a point out of it. They’re down four top six forwards and their 1RD and they lost Malenstyn in the first period. They also got a point last night against a good Carolina team. It’s all about banking points at the moment.

I thought Strome played his best game as a Cap. Lindgren was and is terrific. They played a good game against a good team and came up short. I wager if I told you before the games were played that the Caps would get two points playing Carolina and Vegas back to back most people would have been happy with that.

 

[marcel snapshot]

Hard to know who was more invisible tonight - Phil Kessel or Anthony Mantha

 

[pman25]

Team can’t do 3v3 very well. Fehervary immediately fumbled it away in the corner on the opening face off and Orlov kinda skated out of room. Two lost possessions and that type of stuff doesn’t lead to wins at 3v3

It’s fine, it’s gimmicky, but man we do suck at it

 

[ClevelandCapsfan]

Bad math

I thought he had four goals which would indeed put him under 30 this season. Turns out he has five goals so my math was slightly off. But if you believe this season’s version of Ovie going forward will make it to 895, you will be sorely disappointed. I know, this is heresy to state on this forum.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I thought he had four goals which would indeed put him under 30 this season. Turns out he has five goals so my math was slightly off. But if you believe this season’s version of Ovie going forward will make it to 895, you will be sorely disappointed. I know, this is heresy to state on this forum.

I will respectfully offer my point of view on it.

Is there any reason to doubt it anymore? He has 5 goals but he could've had 8 or 9 with a bit more luck from the posts.

He's comfortably on pace for 35+ goals, which still has him about 20 goals ahead of the pace he needed to maintain after signing his new contract. I'd be more surprised if it didn't happen than the contrary TBH.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

They played the game they needed to against a team that is playing well Can’t be upset with that effort.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Team can’t do 3v3 very well. Fehervary immediately fumbled it away in the corner on the opening face off and Orlov kinda skated out of room. Two lost possessions and that type of stuff doesn’t lead to wins at 3v3

It’s fine, it’s gimmicky, but man we do suck at it

3v3 is about speed and this team doesn’t have it. They’re about structure, discipline, and making it tough for opponents to find space… none of which are really possible with so much ice. And of course, injuries. All the guys hurt save Malenstyn are guys they’d use in OT.

That said, thought Orlov made some particularly bad choices with the puck in OT and Ovi didn’t track well against his man on the goal.

 

[max21]

I’m overall happy with the effort last night but I’m getting over Kuznetsov, he’s not nearly worth his contract now

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I’m overall happy with the effort last night but I’m getting over Kuznetsov, he’s not nearly worth his contract now

No goals this season, 6 points, bumped off PP1. He’s been ass. Not sure what’s going on with him but they’re sunk if he continues to play like this.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Alan May’s eyebrows. Scary.

Romulan….

 

[g00n]

Weird that the biggest doomers are not upset but everyone else is.

Anyway, watch that OT goal again. Eichel peels off with the puck and immediately finds the guy at the point and gives him a "go" sign with a nod of his head toward the net. That's when the backdoor run starts and Ovie is left flatfooted.

The implication there is Eichel recognized that Ovie was the defender, and was playing high enough (and likely looking to cherrypick the other way) so he called the play to the net. Correctly.

Meaning, the book is out on Ovie in OT and Lavi had better be ready to bench him or only deploy him in the offensive zone when possible. Or else Ovie will have to sit back and play soft shot-blocking tactics when in the d-zone, because this will happen again.

 

[Langway]

They put in admirable efforts both games but I hesitate to give them too much credit due to injuries. It's not like Carlson & Oshie were tearing it up or that Malenstyn was more than a depth player. It's an increasingly long list of course and stinks but it's really the blueline minus Carlson that's had to step up their game pretty. We don't really see much of any comparable elevation happening up front, though. Part of it's maybe being tasked with playing more compact and responsible in support but within that there are opportunities to execute sharper and be opportunistic. I come away more convinced key players like Kuznetsov & Mantha have little remaining elevation and for that ultimately it's hard to be too bullish about their chances.

Wilson's return can help imbibe more energy but fundamentally I don't know if they've got the substance offensively to be formidable no matter how you realistically slice it. Maybe in absolutely ideal conditions their offensive production is passable but the fundamentals often don't seem to be there.

 

[marcel snapshot]

Weird that the biggest doomers are not upset but everyone else is.

Anyway, watch that OT goal again. Eichel peels off with the puck and immediately finds the guy at the point and gives him a "go" sign with a nod of his head toward the net. That's when the backdoor run starts and Ovie is left flatfooted.

The implication there is Eichel recognized that Ovie was the defender, and was playing high enough (and likely looking to cherrypick the other way) so he called the play to the net. Correctly.

Meaning, the book is out on Ovie in OT and Lavi had better be ready to bench him or only deploy him in the offensive zone when possible. Or else Ovie will have to sit back and play soft shot-blocking tactics when in the d-zone, because this will happen again.

All true - teams know to exploit Ovie’s lack of defensive awareness and responsibility. But Eichel had the puck for a ton of time even before signaled go without any hint of defensive pressure. It was obvious he had no fear of being dispossessed of the puck, whereas like 45 seconds earlier a Cap playing 3v3 unilaterally coughed up the puck as a result of being steered into the corner by the VGK D structure

 

[Brian23]

Wilson's return can help imbibe more energy but fundamentally I don't know if they've got the substance offensively to be formidable no matter how you realistically slice it.

This has kinda been my issue with Lavi's whole stint here. Specifically around how they systemically attack the game.

Maybe I/we were spoiled by Trotz super regimented defensive structure, but at the very least it always seemed pretty apparent what those teams was trying to do. If the puck got back to one of the defenders you basically always knew exactly which way they were going to cycle the puck back around to get on the attack. When they attained control in the offensive zone, while I would still lament their actual attacking of the goalie, there was an obvious plan and focus on maintaining control and cycling the puck. It was all fairly simple but it was purposeful.

With Lavi, what is the plan? They suck at passing, though the majority of the team has always seemed to struggle at that to varying degrees, I don't see a consistent thought in their cycle game, their possession abilities generally seem lacking, and defensively it feels like they're just chickens with their head cut off running around.

I just don't see Wilson's tone setting and energy really fixing that, even if it's sorely missed.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

Just some random questions:
1. Snively, a career AHLer, plays over CMM again. Why?

2. Snively also gets over 12 minutes (does nothing) while CMM gets 6 minutes and is expected to do something?

I’m confused

 

[Hivemind]

Right now the plan in the offensive zone seems to basically be "hope a defender blows a coverage near the crease." But there's nothing in place to try and force that blown coverage to happen.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

They put in admirable efforts both games but I hesitate to give them too much credit due to injuries. It's not like Carlson & Oshie were tearing it up or that Malenstyn was more than a depth player. It's an increasingly long list of course and stinks but it's really the blueline minus Carlson that's had to step up their game pretty. We don't really see much of any comparable elevation happening up front, though. Part of it's maybe being tasked with playing more compact and responsible in support but within that there are opportunities to execute sharper and be opportunistic. I come away more convinced key players like Kuznetsov & Mantha have little remaining elevation and for that ultimately it's hard to be too bullish about their chances.

Wilson's return can help imbibe more energy but fundamentally I don't know if they've got the substance offensively to be formidable no matter how you realistically slice it. Maybe in absolutely ideal conditions their offensive production is passable but the fundamentals often don't seem to be there.

They’re 21st in GF/G and 11th in GA/G. They struggle to generate sustained offense which I don’t think changes much even when Wilson returns. Backstrom and Oshie can’t be counted on at all this year. Brown would have been a nice player but his addition was geared more towards being hard to play against than it was improving scoring.

The depth scoring is nice and needed but they really need a more dynamic and threatening top six if they’re going to compete. Luckily the goaltending has been superb. The blueprint to their success is there and their structure works well… they just need more guys who can create offense consistently.

 

[g00n]

We just took one top 3 team in the league to OT and should've probably won, a night after going to a shootout vs another top 3 team, with half of our "core" missing, and people are nitpicking vague nothing shit like "offensive substance".

Mr. T was right.

 

[HTFN]

We just took one top 3 team in the league to OT and should've probably won, a night after going to a shootout vs another top 3 team, with half of our "core" missing, and people are nitpicking vague nothing shit like "offensive substance".

Mr. T was right.

So it’s really just all complaining then, isn’t it. Maybe you need a break.

 

[g00n]

So it’s really just all complaining then, isn’t it. Maybe you need a break.

If people are having trouble enjoying hockey games I'm not the one who needs a break.

I'm sorry you all are upset about CMM and are never happy. But that's really not my problem.

 

[Brian23]

Apparently we're just supposed to clap and chant and not have any questions or discussion about the team. Expectations be damned, if you're not cheering you're just a curmudgeon!

 

[Langway]

Puck go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[HTFN]

If people are having trouble enjoying hockey games I'm not the one who needs a break.

I'm sorry you all are upset about CMM and are never happy. But that's really not my problem.

Isn't it though? Kind of seems like it.