GDT: Brass Bonanza - Caps at Whalers

[marcel snapshot]

Nice win boys. Just wait for the Ovie didnt score hes done posts.

More like Ovie didn’t move, and he didn’t score. He was especially immobile tonight, which is not surprising from a 38 year old who could drop a few playing a back to back. But we’re paying a guy $13 million who’s tied for around 150th in points with Chandler Stephenson, Ryan Strome, Marco Rossi, and others.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Two good games in a row for Kuemper, this one was great. I think the most important thing for me was that he didn’t look scrambly at all, he looked calm and confident. Hopefully he builds off of it.

Yup. He had some kind of nagging injury earlier in the season and it was effecting him. Kuemper against the Hawks and tonight, he was really sharp, good on his angles and using his big frame well. I hope this is a game he can build on, as Chucky shouldn't be carrying the team.

 

[marcel snapshot]

Glad to get the 2 but that game was putting me to sleep!

Islanders game Wednesday should be riveting

 

[SherVaughn30]

A needed 2 points, but I don't look at it as a win. A win to me is getting it in regulation and a bit less so of a win in OT. Shootout comes down to goaltending and what skills the shooters have to gain the 2nd point.

I think most would agree that the Game Puck goes to DARCY KUEMPER!

 

[SherVaughn30]

Regarding OV, he just aint gonna blast pucks past the goalie anymore from the office. He has to let Wilson/Strome carry the play and work on his timing scoring goals from underneath the circles and on rebounds, tips and redirects. It goes back to the Caps d-men have to generate a lot more point shots and the forwards need to crash the net.

 

[SherVaughn30]

It eluded me that the Canes were 8-2-2 @ home coming into this game. So bigger 2 points picked up after a somewhat disappointing loss last night against the Preds.

Islanders game Wednesday should be riveting

A bit ironic the Caps are the New Boring and the Isles are a more exciting team to watch bcuz Trotz is gone.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Ovi has to get to the net more. He’s a giant and has the ability to have a few more good years if he makes his living below the hashmarks. He had a really nice deflection yesterday and he had a few good shots from in close tonight. He’s too slow to play in space anymore.

 

[twabby]

My game puck once again goes to Martin Fehervary. A goal and a D-corps leading 65% xG share? Yeah that'll earn a game puck most nights!

Honorable mentions to Darcy Kuemper for slamming the door shut, and to Dylan Strome and even Alex Ovechkin tonight for controlling play against tough opposition.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Good win!

 

[DWGie26]

OV definitely needs to change his game and move down low. Not only does it give him a better chance to score at 38, it also moves him off the blue line and allows the puck handlers to mess around up there. Much safer. Much more dangerous.

 

[Monsterrain]

Nice win boys. Just wait for the Ovie didnt score hes done posts.

He’s awful and you know it.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Good win!

Your Avatar showing OV scoring close to the net in the '18 Cup Final against Vegas is exactly how he has to score goals now. In tight and not from the dots!

 

[SherVaughn30]

He’s awful and you know it.

I personally think he's playing banged up, he shouldn't be playing games consecutive days anymore(to keep him more fresh), and he was never a fast skater to begin with, so now he's chasing the game too much. And here's something else to ponder, why does OV continue to play the 1st line? Put him on a line where he would face less skilled players, he might score goals again.

 

[DWGie26]

https://hscimages.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/20232024/2023020475.png

Interesting that Orlov scored highest for Canes. Didn’t think he looked that good.

 

[zappa4ever]

Kuemper was a beast! He earned that W and stole that 2 pts

5-0-0 on the back end of b2b's all on the road is dang impressive

 

[YippieKaey]

First game this season i didn't watch. Was expecting Ovi to score a hatty. But, still happy about the 2 points and very happy for Fever who is a favourite of mine.

 

[Kuz]

Kuemper was a beast! He earned that W and stole that 2 pts

5-0-0 on the back end of b2b's all on the road is dang impressive

Need those points as the Caps have the second most b2b this year with 15. 1 behind NJD, but they have 4 times where they play both at home. Caps have 0, so Caps probably have the hardest schedule for b2b’s.

 

[TheSmokingMan]

I personally think he's playing banged up, he shouldn't be playing games consecutive days anymore(to keep him more fresh), and he was never a fast skater to begin with, so now he's chasing the game too much. And here's something else to ponder, why does OV continue to play the 1st line? Put him on a line where he would face less skilled players, he might score goals again.

Actually, Ovie was pretty fast in his early days and he could handle the puck at speed. He regularly blew by defenders and scored goals off the rush. When the league started getting faster and his speed started to decline he began relying more on his shot and physicality.

He's still a physical freak of nature and even though his talents have declined, he still has plenty to work with, but he'll have to adapt his game once again to stay effective. I don't see a reason to limit his ice-time or rest him on back-to-backs and I still think he can play about 18 minutes a game without issue. The one change I would like to see the coaching staff make is to be more selective about how he's deployed. Chasing after the other teams 20 year old first liners isn't putting him in a position to succeed.

 

[YippieKaey]

Ovi today is carrying and handling more of the puck than he should. Would like to see him deployed with a great puck mover (like Kuzy could be) and a grinding guy (like Wilson).

But that line didn't work so not sure what to do now.

 

[trick9]

Kuemper bouncing back is great to see.

It's actually pretty funny that this roster could really well just make the Playoffs after all. They defend really well and some of their competition have fallen into hilariously bad -territory. Penguins are enjoying basement right now, Devils are employing 2 of the worst goalies in the league still and the Canes are... well, just not what they used to be. They used to have brilliant forecheck and while you could see that from time to time in this one, it just wasn't anything it used to be. They used to blow teams up on their 2nd of back-to-back games. They did carry the play much of the time too here but a lot of that was hanging on the outside. Goaltending wise this was propably one of their better games this season, as all 3 of their goalies have been horrendous this season and Andersen is out for a while still.

54 games to go... even a point-per-game pace puts us at 88 points, which might very well be enough for Playoffs.

 

[twabby]

Kuznetsov moved down to 3C makes the team a whole lot more competent. We're not seeing the top line hemmed in for entire games, and indeed the 8-17-43 line carried the play and generated the only goal last night. Ovechkin certainly needs to be better but at least Strome can work with him.

 

[tycoonheart]

Kuemper bouncing back is great to see.

It's actually pretty funny that this roster could really well just make the Playoffs after all. They defend really well and some of their competition have fallen into hilariously bad -territory. Penguins are enjoying basement right now, Devils are employing 2 of the worst goalies in the league still and the Canes are... well, just not what they used to be. They used to have brilliant forecheck and while you could see that from time to time in this one, it just wasn't anything it used to be. They used to blow teams up on their 2nd of back-to-back games. They did carry the play much of the time too here but a lot of that was hanging on the outside. Goaltending wise this was propably one of their better games this season, as all 3 of their goalies have been horrendous this season and Andersen is out for a while still.

54 games to go... even a point-per-game pace puts us at 88 points, which might very well be enough for Playoffs.

And as the season progresses, as our players get more comfortable with what Carberry is trying to do, they could very well start playing better than they are right now. I said this before - even IF they manage to get the PP to be reasonable, they probably make the playoffs comfortably. The best thing so far is that they have, for the most part, competed pretty well against everyone they have played against.

 

[HeyMattyB]

Aw, look at that. Willy and Fever right at the top. Phillips... not so much

 

[StrikingDistance]

Fell asleep after the first only to wake up to the beginning of OT and fall asleep again. LOL I like a good game of keep-a-way, but I feel the NHL is going to do something about this. Like, if you enter the OZ a 2nd time, there has to be a shot attempt or there's a play stoppage and a faceoff in your own zone.

Ovi looked good in the first. At some point those high-danger chances go in. One thing is for certain, his days of carrying the puck successfully through ANY zone are over.

Who do we replace Osh and Phillips with?