Post-Game Talk: 21.r1.g1.

[RandyHolt]

Lou Fransciscetti?

Hilarious you said that, because I thought of him. We can just say players that did not need to hit, to have a job.

 

[HecticGlow]

I forgot how intense and fun Caps playoff hockey can be. Gripped the entire time. The entire team - on the ice, at least - was dialled in. VV looked collected until his unfortunate injury. Anderson looked good coming in cold. Dillon and Orlov played one of their best games all season. Willy and Oshie were working, Raffl and Ovi looked like bulls ready to knock down anything in their path...

Love it. Keep it going, guys.

 

[maacoshark]

What does that have to do with anything? The point we are talking about is playing without Backstrom and Kuznetsov. They did a good bit in the cup run and Eller was outstanding

You made it sound like we didn't need Backstrom or Kuzy.
To be honest I don't like Eller very much. Not sure why. Maybe it's the smug look on his face.
But I am having a tough time finding anything negative about his game. He is playing very well this season. And I agree he did have a very good playoff year during the cup run.

 

[maacoshark]

So since Kuzy is the one still on the list, he's the one who tested positive. Must have caught it a second time.

I don't think Kuzy tested positive before. Earlier in the year it was Samsonov that tested positive.

 

[maacoshark]

I forgot how intense and fun Caps playoff hockey can be. Gripped the entire time. The entire team - on the ice, at least - was dialled in. VV looked collected until his unfortunate injury. Anderson looked good coming in cold. Dillon and Orlov played one of their best games all season. Willy and Oshie were working, Raffl and Ovi looked like bulls ready to knock down anything in their path...

Love it. Keep it going, guys.

Not sure how you can say VV looked collected. He only faced 4 shots and one got by him. I'm not sure what VV was doing on that play. It seemed like he wasn't ready or expecting the shot.
Unfortunate about the injury.

 

[g00n]

I really like Mantha, and was very happy with the acquisition (even though it came at a major cost). So far, my only real issue is that, as was mentioned earlier, he does occasionally end up getting the same space as one of his line mates--as if he's used to being the guy in that position in that situation, where now he needs to get to a different spot in that situation.

Snipped your reply so the part I'm replying to is visible. I've noticed this as well and it's something he'll iron out as he gets to know the rest of the team. There was one zone entry where he and 2 other Caps were within poking distance along the boards, just inside the blueline, and he had to mostly get out of the way. Part of it was the flow of the play and part was likely simple learning curve with a new roster/system/etc.

I think he was scoring a lot early on as he was striving to take shots and prove himself, likely with simplified gameplanning. Then he shifted focus to working with the rest of the team and has since been looking to pass.

When he's fully integrated into a system and 1 or 2 stable lines, where he knows where to be and others know where to find him at all times, with those hands and that shot.....look out.

 

[g00n]

Not sure how you can say VV looked collected. He only faced 4 shots and one got by him. I'm not sure what VV was doing on that play. It seemed like he wasn't ready or expecting the shot.
Unfortunate about the injury.

He couldn't see the puck at all coming out of the faceoff. It was tied up in someone's skates or something. TBH I had to watch the replay several times to see it myself, as nobody was even acting like the puck was on their stick. As soon as the puck slid the tiniest bit clear DeBrusk put a shot on. VV was still squaring to the scrum from the faceoff and trying to find the puck, iirc, and couldn't adjust. So he threw out a desperation pad and hurt himself.

 

[Silky mitts]

He definitely did.

I didn't see it until intermission though, the broadcasters were more interested in replaying the scoring chance.

A lot of complaints about the NBC broadcast but not showing Orlov’s high stick on Pasta until the 4th time they tried to do so tops the list

 

[Calicaps]

Just looked at the box cars and found something interesting... not a single Caps player finished with a minus in +/- for the game. The Bruins had 10 guys who were minus for the game. Pretty big disparity for a 3-2 game. The vaunted Hall-Krecji-Smith line finished at -2, worst among all skaters.

This is delightful.