GDT: 2/12/13 "Wash It Away" - Capitals VS Panthers

[FlaPnthrsPunk]

Pretty much all of you said everything that I could have said about this game in detail. Absolutely pathetic. This completely reminded me of a game from our horrible years where we couldn't hold the lead. Maybe this will be a kick in the ass and wake us up because the next few games are going to be a lot tougher than tonight. Just no excuse to blow a two goal lead and lose in that fashion

 

[CanadianPantherFan]

Lemonssen' aside... other game notes:

-Matthias looked awesome early, then Skille started to take over as the game went along. If those two can play like that every second or third game we will be sitting well with our forward depth.

-I have had no issues at all this year with Shore. Looks a LOT better in the faceoff circle and stronger on the puck than our #1 centre (Flash only guy playing really solid on that 1st line). That second line really carried us tonight. Shore has probably been better than Huberdeau overall (besides a few soft turnovers by Hubs tonight, he seemed to be on his game and had multiple chances where guys just could not find him on those cross ice passes on the PP which was a little frustrating). Mueller has been a pleasant surprise for me this season, his skating is better than advertised which I was really concerned about coming into the season.

-Our Dmen need to continue to push the play in the offensive zone by pinching in along the boards and reversing the puck along the boards to wingers in deep. I have not noticed that as much this season... but when Kuba did it tonight it resulted in a goal (Flash's goal I believe?).

-Campbell has been ok this season, but waiting for him to elevate his play a bit. I don't think he is that far off.

-This team lacks finishers. Ton of playmakers though (Weiss,Goc,Campbell, Huberdeau etc...). Bergie should fit in nicely as a go to scorer/net presence guy when he returns whenever that may be???

 

[flapanthersfan]

On a soft goal in which he just threw the puck on net and it happened to go in. That line is doing absolutely nothing right now.

i think Fleishmann's playing fine, it's hard to play as an individual with two struggling linemates.

Weiss was a ghost and Versteeg is a turnover machine/offensive black-hole. he doesn't have alot to work with.

when on the PP/or a rare shift in the offensive zone, i feel Fleishmann has been doing fine. he leads our team in points for a reason IMO.

Skille and Matthias were great tonight, thought that should be mentioned and not lost in the Clemmensen garbage.

 

[RainingRats]

I'd be for trading Versteeg and something else for Ryan O'Reilly. That could be this year's Booth trade. I know, I know, he's Tallon's guy but there's no way Tallon isn't frustrated with his play like we all are. It also gives us some insurance towards a Weiss departure so we could have another second line center playing first line minutes, lol.

 

[RainingRats]

i think Fleishmann's playing fine, it's hard to play as an individual with two struggling linemates.

Weiss was a ghost and Versteeg is a turnover machine/offensive black-hole. he doesn't have alot to work with.

when on the PP/or a rare shift in the offensive zone, i feel Fleishmann has been doing fine. he leads our team in points for a reason IMO.

Skille and Matthias were great tonight, thought that should be mentioned and not lost in the Clemmensen garbage.

Agree about Weiss and Versteeg. Flash sucks defensively but is contributing offensively. With a better center, Flash could score more goals.

 

[flapanthersfan]

I'd be for trading Versteeg and something else for Ryan O'Reilly. That could be this year's Booth trade. I know, I know, he's Tallon's guy but there's no way Tallon isn't frustrated with his play like we all are. It also gives us some insurance towards a Weiss departure so we could have another second line center playing first line minutes, lol.

i'd love, love, love, LOVE to get Ryan O'Reilly. he's the type of player winning teams are filled with. he's a Weiss clone (when Weiss is playing well)

that being said, they're not going to want Versteeg. they're not paying O'Reilly for a reason (they're cheap)

Best case scenario: a young, cheap, roster forward (Matthias), a very good prospect (Howden?) and a small salary dump (Santorelli), maybe with some picks added both ways

Matthias, Howden, Santorelli and a 3rd for ROR and a 5th. other teams can probably offer a better roster forward than Matthias, though, which would probably be our undoing.

 

[RainingRats]

i'd love, love, love, LOVE to get Ryan O'Reilly. he's the type of player winning teams are filled with. he's a Weiss clone (when Weiss is playing well)

that being said, they're not going to want Versteeg. they're not paying O'Reilly for a reason (they're cheap)

Best case scenario: a young, cheap, roster forward (Matthias), a very good prospect (Howden?) and a small salary dump (Santorelli), maybe with some picks added both ways

Matthias, Howden, Santorelli and a 3rd for ROR and a 5th. other teams can probably offer a better roster forward than Matthias, though, which would probably be our undoing.

FWIW, Dregger said they want a roster player and a top prospect

 

[flapanthersfan]

FWIW, Dregger said they want a roster player and a top prospect

i read that. that's why i structured the offer that way

i get the feeling they'd want more (aka Bjugstad). matthias doesn't offer much upside as a roster player.

and i wouldn't deal Bjugstad for ROR.

EDIT: they also might want Shore as the "roster player" and I wouldn't deal him either for ROR. 3 years of cheap productivity >>>>ROR. Shore's a very similar player and I expect him to reach that level shortly.

 

[RainingRats]

i read that. that's why i structured the offer that way

i get the feeling they'd want more (aka Bjugstad). matthias doesn't offer much upside as a roster player.

and i wouldn't deal Bjugstad for ROR.

Bjugstad is a no go. Is Howden a top prospect? I think we're spoiled because we have such a great pool of talent so our perspective is a bit off. He's definitely a good prospect, not sure if he's a top prospect.

 

[flapanthersfan]

Bjugstad is a no go. Is Howden a top prospect? I think we're spoiled because we have such a great pool of talent so our perspective is a bit off. He's definitely a good prospect, not sure if he's a top prospect.

agreed. don't think he is a "top prospect" - but i also don't think any team out there is going to deal a "top prospect" for Ryan O'Reilly. he's a good player, but not a great one.

i think most teams would rather see if they can hit a home run and hope their "top prospect" pays dividends like a Tarasenko has than deal him off for ROR and pay him $4mil+ in the process.

so they may not get what they wish for and have to settle for a guy like Howden. we'll see though.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Of course he's not content. But really, what can he do at this point? His hands are tied. By going on tv and trashing 'his' goalies would only do more harm than good. He's going to play the PR card for as long as he can so that the organization can continue to get butts into seats, regardless of the product on the ice.

Exactly. You could even tell by his facial expressions. As soon as Goldie said the name Markstrom Tallon's like shut up you bald prairie dog.

 

[Drugs Delaney]

FWIW, Dregger said they want a roster player and a top prospect

It's funny how that works isn't it? Sherman doesn't think ROR is worth paying but thinks he's worth a roster player and top prospect in return.


Ridiculous if you ask me.

 

[Drugs Delaney]

A 21 year old 60pt Center that plays smothering defense sounds nice though.

 

[Laus723]

Weiss isn't himself, seems like he's already gone.

 

[Panteras]

Weiss isn't himself, seems like he's already gone.

agreed, he's also part of the old era, I think it would be mutually beneficial to just part ways

 

[Laus723]

Love him, but if this is all we're gonna get, seeya.

 

[ProjectPanthers]

You know, it's really sad because I was watching the game late on GameCenter and I paused it at the 8:53 break when we were up 5-3 to go for a smoke. I felt confident. ......

Then I came inside and I suddenly felt worried. Classic Pantherfan syndrome. Even a two goal lead will never be safe in my mind until that buzzer goes. Sure enough, Caps hit us with a ton of pressure, we couldn't handle it. Before you know it, they tied it. Then OT is a blur because I think they scored 2 seconds in.

Our top line is non-existent. Say what you will about Flash, but after last season we know the kind of guy he is. Shows up in the offensive zone from time to time and can't finish a breakaway for his life. But he scores. So I give him a pass because he consistently puts points up on the board and despite being a -9, is not that big of a defensive liability (especially in comparison to others).

Versteeg and Weiss are just off. I'm tired of talking about the same old garbage play with them. They sadly have been two of our worst forwards to start the season and our record reflects that.

Isn't it hilarious that after so many glorious chances, Shore scores one off of such a fluke play (Billy was talking about it). Good for him though I'm happy for the kid. The JDP line was on fire tonight and these guys are really the bright spot on the team. I did recommend sending Shore down in the other thread but I think this goal may have got a big monkey off his back in terms of finishing. I really want to see him become an integral part of this franchise. He's been such a nice surprise this season.

Hubs continues to light it up. His confidence is growing with every game and you can see it so clearly. Plus he just looks like he's having a ton of fun out there.

Matthias and Skille continue along the same path they've been treading since the start of the season, and now they're hitting the scoresheet a little more. I love the hustle they're showing and Matthias seemed to have little rockets in his skates tonight.

Defense was average as usual tonight. Our core just doesn't have proper foot speed imo. We have the same problem Philly does. Not enough movement on the backend. The only good skaters we have back there are Kulikov and Campbell. The other one we had was Ellerby but now he's in LA (I don't care that much just pointing it out). Everyone else is a below average skater in terms of speed. It's alright to have a couple of guys like that but 4 of 6? THAT is a big problem. They can't recover from mistakes quick enough. Guds' skating has improved quite a bit from the start of last season but he'll never be a quick skater. Not to mention when you have a guy like Weaver who ruins a 4-on-1 with a shot that was headed for Key West, what can you really expect from the group?

Now for Clemmer. He had a pretty rough game. I've never seen a goaltender (in 20 years of following and being heavily involved in the game) fight the puck as much as he does. He just struggles to keep control of it. He plays like a soccer goalie. Instead of catching the puck/absorbing it, he just does whatever he can to get in front of it. Unfortunately he's not Dominik Hasek so he can't really get away with that. He also has the WORST, and I mean, THE WORST, glove hand in the NHL. I think he catches 1/5 shots. I don't even know why he started tonight's game. Theo's been inconsistent so I guess Dineen wanted to give Clemmer one more shot. I can't imagine him going back to him anytime soon.

His play really disappointed me because although his unorthodox style was the same last year, it seemed to work. This year it's just not working for him and we can't afford to wait around for his game to improve. If Tallon doesn't give Marky a shot in the next week or so I will be pissed off. We have the worst GAA in the league and it's time to infuse some life into the position again. Neither of our guys are getting it done. What's that about accountability again Dale?

 

[Vilam]

Sigh...

The effort on the ice really didn't look like it should generate the final result on the scoreboard. Very disappointing and a bitter taste to go to sleep with after watching the game on my DVR

 

[adam graves]

Pretty much all of you said everything that I could have said about this game in detail. Absolutely pathetic. This completely reminded me of a game from our horrible years where we couldn't hold the lead. Maybe this will be a kick in the ass and wake us up because the next few games are going to be a lot tougher than tonight. Just no excuse to blow a two goal lead and lose in that fashion

The difference is the team didn't choke like in past years. The team played more than well enough to win. The kid line was a pleasure. The game was lost between the pipes with3 goals in 6 minutes.

 

[PBPantherfan]

The difference is the team didn't choke like in past years. The team played more than well enough to win. The kid line was a pleasure. The game was lost between the pipes with3 goals in 6 minutes.

Being at that game was fun for a while but as you like to call it the walk of shame ruined it. Seriously how many people flinch anytime any shot is sent towards Clemmer? I almost expect every single point shot to go in just because he lets in so many bad goals. For every great save he makes he makes routine easy saves look extremely hard its almost like he thinks about it too much and fights the puck. Both of our goalies have been subparthis year, and I was wrong losing 6-5 sucks just as much as losing 2-1 even though it was a little more entertaining. It's so like this team to finally score some goals and their freakin goalies go in the tank.

Also can Guds get some time with the first power play unit? He at least hits the net once in awhile where Kuli is lucky to keep the puck in the rink. Kulikov looks completely afraid to shoot the puck when he comes into the zone. He brings it up the ice well skates into the zone and then looks like a deer in headlights and just wants the puck to be anywhere but on his stick.

 

[PanthersHockey1]

Being at that game was fun for a while but as you like to call it the walk of shame ruined it. Seriously how many people flinch anytime any shot is sent towards Clemmer? I almost expect every single point shot to go in just because he lets in so many bad goals. For every great save he makes he makes routine easy saves look extremely hard its almost like he thinks about it too much and fights the puck. Both of our goalies have been subparthis year, and I was wrong losing 6-5 sucks just as much as losing 2-1 even though it was a little more entertaining. It's so like this team to finally score some goals and their freakin goalies go in the tank.

Also can Guds get some time with the first power play unit? He at least hits the net once in awhile where Kuli is lucky to keep the puck in the rink. Kulikov looks completely afraid to shoot the puck when he comes into the zone. He brings it up the ice well skates into the zone and then looks like a deer in headlights and just wants the puck to be anywhere but on his stick.

Definitely agree with the bottom paragraph. Get kulikov off the PP-He is not, nor ever will be an offensive defensemen.

On a positive note, we scored 5 even strength goals yesterday.

 

[Android 16]

Meanwhile, Craig Anderson with a 42 game SO

Ugh, don't remind me. I felt like I was alone in feeling bad when we didn't keep Andy around.

 

[Ghoste]

Ugh, don't remind me. I felt like I was alone in feeling bad when we didn't keep Andy around.

You definitely weren't alone.

-ghoste

 

[Ghoste]

Flash has been fine. It's too bad he isn't a breakaway scorer but even still, he has 10 points in 12 games. Nothing wrong with him.

Good to see Huby get into it a little with Green. I don't ever expect him to fight but to definitely stick up for himself.

-ghoste

 

[Android 16]

Flash has been fine. It's too bad he isn't a breakaway scorer but even still, he has 10 points in 12 games. Nothing wrong with him.

Good to see Huby get into it a little with Green. I don't ever expect him to fight but to definitely stick up for himself.

-ghoste

Weiss and Versteeg need to get it together. They were owned by Washington's veteran forwards all night. Out hit. Out played. Out - you name it. Started with that hit Steeg took from Ovie. That set the tone.

I know the Caps have been bad this season by they looked pretty great the past two. The addition of Ribeiro has been paying off. He's been better than Backstrom. Ribs looks like the number-one center out there.