Post-Game Talk: 10/26/17 | Capitals 1 @ Canucks 6 | Alex Who?

[rune74]

I wonder what they are going to do with guance.....where do you put him in?

 

[tantalum]

Didn't see much of the game but as t sure is nice to have a guy on the PP that has a shot goaltenders find difficult to handle. It's been a long time since the team has had that.

 

[Catamarca Livin]

Well, our depth is certainly better than it was last year. But we're still only an injury or two away from seeing the the return of Megna and Chaput. {{shudder}}

Right now Ericksson and Gaunce are hurt. I think Goldobin Boucher Rodin and even Archibald should be called up before Chaput and Megna. I would rank them as our 17 and 18 forwards and even they are not terrible 4th line under 10 minutes. We are 9 deep for D with only Tanev not being replaceable. There is a couple in Utica that may be servicable. We have 2 nhl goalies one top prospect and a respectable 4th goalie. Have Gaudette OJ Dahlen and even Peterson who could end year in North America. We have more depth than most teams what we do not have is top players. Though the 3 B's are showing potential.

 

[David71]

hope gudbranson is alright. he's been stepping up on d as of late with edler/stecher out.

 

[Tatehamma]

I wonder what they are going to do with guance.....where do you put him in?

I'm sure he will be called upon once he finishes his stint in Utica, as we are bound to suffer an injury or 3 up front at some point.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Just wanted to stop by and share my congratulations on Sven. Hopefully this is the year he puts the consistency together. I was outraged at how things ended, but I’ll always have a soft spot for that kid (he’s not a kid anymore). Horvat was also one of my favourite players from his draft so I find myself oddly cheering and being excited for them now (please don’t tell my other board members). But Sven has always had the talent, when he came in the league most on our board thought he had 70-80pt potential but then the problems started between him the organization. I don’t know if he’ll ever be that player, but it’s great to see him doing his thing and thriving in the NHL.

Fwiw, the Flames are happy with Andersson. But Sven would sure look amazing in our lineup right now.

 

[mossey3535]

Was at the game. Really entertaining. I enjoyed the supporter's section in the upper bowl and they delivered. Still, I like being able to sit down and enjoy the game. There's already so much going on in the game live, especially if you want to watch some players without the puck.

Guddy is better than last year. But I still don't like how he is only 50/50 when he tries to be physical. For his size it's shocking how often he loses a physical battle, even in situations when he is the aggressor. Although I don't think he is worth the money to re-sign, even his inconsistent presence is something no other Canucks defenceman provides at the moment. Several times I mentioned to my brother that we missed Tryamkin.

I think sutter-granlund-dorsett started off strong but then tailed off. Good that the line is playing well right now but each of them is still the same player as last year (last healthy year for DD). All this production can't be sustained, and it is creating expectations that I don't think are fair. Granlund is good positionally but still disappears with contact. If this league was 4-v-4 he would be dominant (also, why wasn't he out for the 4-v-4 situations? I think Green missed the boat on that, Granlund should always be on the ice for those kinds of situation). Dorsett's skating is still meh, and honestly his hitting is excuse-me a lot of the time. He is tenacious on the forecheck and an agitator but his physicality is overstated at this point. He is better at puck retrieval than actually hitting people. Sutter is still sutter. At one point he and Granlund were crossing the blueline in a potential odd-man situation and he took the puck from Granlund. NO NO NO, Granlund is the one who should have the puck there. Predictably, the play died on Sutter's stick.

I think the PP has looked a lot better than last year and that continued this game. The issue is that the Sedins are not executing when they get their opportunity, and the coaching staff has gone back to them over and over. The exact same patterns are being used by PP2 but you see that those guys are just making more of their opportunities. Also, Hutton created the first goal by making three straight amazing saves to keep the puck in at the blueline on clears. A good sign was that after the first PP, Green gave the Sedins a chance on the next one, but quickly switched to the hot line after that. Boeser's shot really makes the whole second unit.

I know our blueline needs work but watching Bowey tonight was hilarious. At one point he had a sequence where he turned it over at his own blueline but luckily they got it back right away. Then he joined the rush but as soon as they got to our blueline, he made a stupid cross-ice backhand sauce pass that got intercepted. Then coming back he skated back on the same side that Orpik was already covering. Even when he struggled before the previous two games, Hutton has never been that brain-dead.

Nilsson was not good this game. Even though they generated almost nothing all game, you can see glimpses of where the Caps could create offence better than many of the teams we played recently. They made a lot of lateral plays, and this opened up Nilsson and to my eye exposed his movement. The fact that they got so few shots was probably very difficult for him as well. Still, the Caps hit at least five posts and cross bars to my count, and our D blocked a lot of attempts. Both goals basically went through him, and I think it's interesting that nobody has bothered to criticize him too harshly for them. I thought they were brutal.

Generally the team is a lot better than last year, and fun to watch. Kudos to Green, and I think things will get even better once some of the veterans aren't being given the long leash they have now. I'm not sure that is good for the long term fortunes of the team but it makes for good entertainment, which I appreciate.