Post-Game Talk: Boston Brooms @ Caps 8PM

[RandyHolt]

Kuz had an almost Orr like end to end rush down RW... the door closed on him in the RW dot, but I am sure I am not the only one that remembers that.

That Connolly goal was one of my favorites this year. Dynamic passing offense > grinding offense was on full display there. That right there is how you beat great playoff goaltending. Throwing a hundred pucks at the net because one eventually has to go in, and dumping and grinding, just hasn't worked for us at the big dance for 30 years now.

I am still laughing at the Oshie breakaway goal. Milbury blaming Rask last night was laughable as well.

 

[BobRouse]

Marcus Johansson is secretly becoming our best net front presence. The guy is excellent at screening goalies yet not getting in the way of his teammates shots.

He does a lot of little things (carrying the puck into the zone with speed) and is most always on the "right side of the puck". He's a streaky scorer but most scorers are streaky to a good extent.


RE: Milbury

Well he played for the Bruins, was assistant GM of the Bruins and coached the Bruins. He hated Dale Hunter and hated the Caps (especially after the 1990 ECF after Hunter cold cocked Janney (it was a pretty vicious hit and a cheapshot I recall)

He was GM of the Isles when the Caps owned them for a stretch of years.

Its not surprising that his commentary is a biased against the Caps last night.

That said Milbury has come a long way on the Caps. He was BRUTAL on them in the heart of the Ovechkin/Crosby years of 07-10 and even worse when Ovie had those two inexplicable down years that followed.

I think he's been pretty fair and balanced since Trotz took over.

 

[txpd]

In the last month. Since Jan 1. 15 Caps games. Johansson has 1g 6a. 7pts

 

[BobRouse]

Yet he's not being rewarded for that much in terms of actual production. He has seven points in 15 games in 2017, which I guess is decent but given how well his ES linemates have played he's left some points on the board. He also sports a 5-on-5 point rate lower than Beagle and Winnik (the lowest in the top six). So while he may do some things well re: possession it's been a bit limited lately.

I'm not sure Landeskog is ideal in the short-term for a variety of reasons but there's a decent case to be made that they will need more physicality in the top six come playoff time. Johansson has scored some net front PP goals but it's been a while and it's not his game overall. In general I'm not sure I expect their more recent free-flowing style to hold up in the playoffs. The first directive from any opposition staff should be to play just as patient a game in terms of structured discipline. If teams keep it close to the vest and stay patient they ought to be able to limit their space. It's a bit easier said than done but the Islanders have come pretty close to having the book as things stand IMO. It's going to be on them to be more willing and able to go through teams at times as well.

Landeskog has seen his production slowly decline in each of the last 4 years and his shot rates are concerning. He's only 24 tho and he is physical.

BUT...I thought we WERE physical last year and not as FAST as Pitt??? I thought that was the heart of our problems?

Why would we want to trade away one of our top 3 fastest skaters for an average skating grinder type?

 

[ovikovy817]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=127611707&postcount=12

A post from Bruins, GDT. Love it.

 

[Stewie G]

Marcus Johansson is secretly becoming our best net front presence. The guy is excellent at screening goalies yet not getting in the way of his teammates shots.

He does a lot of little things (carrying the puck into the zone with speed) and is most always on the "right side of the puck". He's a streaky scorer but most scorers are streaky to a good extent.

I'm a Mojo apologist, but I've said this a couple times lately. His name might not be showing up on the score sheet as much, but he's been responsible for several goals from his work in front. I thought he was going to eat one the other night on Ovechkin's late goal.

It's almost like some contributions don't show up in boxcar stats.

 

[Hivemind]

I like Landeskog a lot, but as a stylistic fit, he would have fit much better on the Joel Ward Capitals than the Evgeny Kuznetsov Capitals.

Marcus Johansson is secretly becoming our best net front presence. The guy is excellent at screening goalies yet not getting in the way of his teammates shots.

Johansson has been a good net front presence for years. This isn't really a new trend, but it doesn't gel with the general narrative around the player, so people ignore it.
Here's some articles regarding Johansson crashing the net in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

 

[Langway]

Why would we want to trade away one of our top 3 fastest skaters for an average skating grinder type?

Because they're now playing faster and that was the root of the problem? It's more about passing, hockey IQ and puck support than just skating fast. Not that Johansson is a dumb player. He's pretty good defensively, supports the puck alright and does provide screens. But he hasn't really gelled with 92/14 lately from an attacking standpoint despite them both playing really strong hockey. And in general he doesn't often enough use that speed to get to the interior with the puck.

90 also drew a few penalties in this game but he's still the spot in the top six I think you've got to wonder about the most in terms of upside. He's a solid player but I've always found his offensive skill/hockey IQ to be rather average and if I'm looking to beef up the top six a bit it's still him I'm swapping out first.

Again, though, it's not going to happen. I just think that's how you beat this team and it's going to take total team efforts + quality depth to match theirs. Boston doesn't have it on either end of the rink IMO.

 

[BobRouse]

MJ has always been underappreciated by Caps fans tho I think that trend has been turning around Post-Oates era

He's a good all around player (he crushed some bruin behind the net in the 3rd with authority) that's reliable for 15-20 goals and 25-30 assists year in year out.

It really is surprising that some people still feel the need to want to move on from him.

 

[RandyHolt]

I wonder why MJ hasn't partaken more in our offensive outburst where we are averaging close to ~4.75 per game the past month.

He could be injured and playing through it, something that I think happens far more than any of us realize. Alzner IIRC alluded to it one time. Think about a team with no cap room, trying to bank space.

Speaking of goals, how many more 5 goal games do we see before books adjust the Over/Under up to 6.

 

[Hivemind]

Johansson not only skates fast, but he's capable of playing with speed (as opposed to Jason Chimera). He doesn't always wow when carrying the puck, but he can gain the zone with possession (both at even-strength and on the powerplay) and both dish and receive passes at speed. He's not going to be a superstar, but he's part of the reason this team is capable of playing faster paced hockey.

 

[billcook]

I wonder why MJ hasn't partaken more in our offensive outburst where we are averaging close to ~4.75 per game the past month.

He could be injured and playing through it, something that I think happens far more than any of us realize. Alzner IIRC alluded to it one time. Think about a team with no cap room, trying to bank space.

Speaking of goals, how many more 5 goal games do we see before books adjust the Over/Under up to 6.

As long as D-pairings stay the same. Not as much over longer period obviously.

 

[Hivemind]

I wonder why MJ hasn't partaken more in our offensive outburst where we are averaging close to ~4.75 per game the past month.

He could be injured and playing through it, something that I think happens far more than any of us realize. Alzner IIRC alluded to it one time. Think about a team with no cap room, trying to bank space.

His shots/game rate is definitely down, which is definitely a factor. But he's still participating. His point totals haven't totally dried up (like Burakovsky's or Kuznetsov's did at the beginning of the season), and he's still making some plays that don't show up on the scoresheet (occupying space in the crease and screen goaltenders). He hasn't had a deflection goal in a bit, but those are rather hard to come by on a consistent basis (they're a rather "lucky" type of goal). If gets a deflection or two, his numbers start to look rather normal.

 

[BobRouse]

Johansson not only skates fast, but he's capable of playing with speed (as opposed to Jason Chimera). He doesn't always wow when carrying the puck, but he can gain the zone with possession (both at even-strength and on the powerplay) and both dish and receive passes at speed. He's not going to be a superstar, but he's part of the reason this team is capable of playing faster paced hockey.

Yep. 100% true.

At the time, in 2013, it did seem that only TX and I defended the guy. He def has won over a lot of the guys who were luke warm on him. The haters are waiting in the weeds to pounce however

 

[txpd]

Lets not forget that the best of Kuzy the last couple of years has come with 90 as his running partner.

 

[BobRouse]

His shots/game rate is definitely down, which is definitely a factor. But he's still participating. His point totals haven't totally dried up (like Burakovsky's or Kuznetsov's did at the beginning of the season), and he's still making some plays that don't show up on the scoresheet (occupying space in the crease and screen goaltenders). He hasn't had a deflection goal in a bit, but those are rather hard to come by on a consistent basis (they're a rather "lucky" type of goal). If gets a deflection or two, his numbers start to look rather normal.

He's been good for one huge shank on a high end scoring chance per game the entirety of the last month it seems.

He's a tad snakebit on those high end chances to the point where he isn't even getting a shot attempt. Explodes off stick, miss pass, miss defelection....he had a missed deflection on the doorstep vs the isles, got a beauty of a Orlov pass for an open net a few games back etc

 

[g00n]

Mojo has been taking a beating. I'm not surprised he's a little off at times.

 

[billcook]

Lets not forget that the best of Kuzy the last couple of years has come with 90 as his running partner.

No really. Williams is his Robin. You could argue 8/77 over JoJo as well.

 

[trick9]

Pierre: ''When the Capitals score on the power-play, they are tough to beat. When they don't, not so much.''

> Scored most ES goals in the NHL. Allowed 14 less ES goals than any other team in the league.

Good win. Bruins were lucky that they lost by just 2.

 

[BobRouse]

Pierre: ''When the Capitals score on the power-play, they are tough to beat. When they don't, not so much.''

> Scored most ES goals in the NHL. Allowed 14 less ES goals than any other team in the league.

Good win. Bruins were lucky that they lost by just 2.

Dude did he really say that???

He's regurgitating stuff from the Adam Oates years. So both Mibury and Pierre went full ****** huh? NEVER GO FULL ******!

 

[trick9]

Dude did he really say that???

He's regurgitating stuff from the Adam Oates years. So both Mibury and Pierre went full ****** huh? NEVER GO FULL ******!

He said that during a stretch where one of them mentioned that the Capitals were combined 0-for-7 in their 2 recent losses (Senators and Islanders). I think Doc just quickly changed the subject when he said that.

 

[BobRouse]

He said that during a stretch where one of them mentioned that the Capitals were combined 0-for-7 in their 2 recent losses (Senators and Islanders). I think Doc just quickly changed the subject when he said that.

The irony was that we were playing a team in Boston that was struggling to score at ES and has been riding a red hot PP. They probably hadn't scored an their lone trash time ES goal against us last night at the time he made that comment.

Boston's ES goal ratio is .89

Caps leading the league at 1.69

Nearly double Boston's totals...but Pierre digs at the Caps. Nice job

 

[AtNightWeFly]

I only brought up Landeskog because someone else brought up a Duchene trade and that has a snowballs chance in hell of happening. Landy is actually somewhat doable. I see him same as I saw Oshie with the Blues and Oshie ended up playing the best hockey of his career with the Caps.

 

[HTFN]

I feel like I've said it a million times, but I'll say it again:

Nobody on this team is better suited to learn from Justin Williams than Marcus Johansson. If that's the case, he'll be an indispensable veteran for a long time, and if he ever leaves Washington and gets more exposure, his reputation will skyrocket.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I only brought up Landeskog because someone else brought up a Duchene trade and that has a snowballs chance in hell of happening. Landy is actually somewhat doable. I see him same as I saw Oshie with the Blues and Oshie ended up playing the best hockey of his career with the Caps.

I must say I watched the Avs get pasted 5-0 last night and I paid close attention to Landeskog. Giant meh on him being a guy that puts us over the top. Then again nobody looked good.

Pretty wild he's only 24, has 3 straight 20g seasons with a peak of 26 and 65 points 3 seasons ago.

Trading for him forces the Caps to jettison another core roster player I would think. 5 years, 5.8 per for the next 4 years. Could end up being a bargain, but it's an offseason move if anything IMO.