GDT: Capitals vs. Canucks 9:30

[Alexander the Gr8]

Who can replace Fehr on the first line? He's just bringing down that line.

Kuzya ?

 

[Hivemind]

Fehr has been fine on line #1. That stupid pass at the end is not indicative of his play as a whole.

 

[troyerlaw]

Kuzya?

Maybe. I worry we'll go back Line 1 spending entire shift trying to get puck out of D zone. But man, Line 1 looks kinda dead the last few games. I know Nicky scored a nice goal last night, but it was more of an individual effort. Overall, 1L not creating many chances at ES.

 

[Langway]

Langway was right to not be this optimistic just yet. Still a lot of things to be worked out.

Meh. It is what is.

When baseline level of play isn't tremendously high to begin with there will be nights like this when fatigue makes the game a real struggle. Credit Vancouver's speed but the Caps puck handling and passing did themselves no favors.

I don't think there are any easy lineup construction answers for maximizing the forwards overall.

 

[Mickstix]

Did Oates sneak back into the building?? They look just like last year all of a sudden.. Dump and chase, no offense, turnover machines.. Now that the honey moon is over and they're back to being The Caps, Trotz better get a sponge out and start soaking up some of this slop!!

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Maybe. I worry we'll go back Line 1 spending entire shift trying to get puck out of D zone. But man, Line 1 looks kinda dead the last few games. I know Nicky scored a nice goal last night, but it was more of an individual effort. Overall, 1L not creating many chances at ES.

I think they're tired/hurt, especially Ovi. You can tell that the shot he blocked with his left wrist yesterday is slowing him down.

At least they will have some rest, before we take on the Red Wings Wednesday.

 

[um]

Fehr has been fine on line #1. That stupid pass at the end is not indicative of his play as a whole.

what game were you watching? he threw the puck away constantly in the offensive zone with his signature skate to the corner and lose/throw away the puck move.

 

[um]

The only wing that is close to Ovi is Kuz.

Everyone else isn't good enough to play that role on that top line.

Might be time to bring back the 8-19-90 line.

Johansson really does look better this year, its not a bad idea. i still prefer ward though, his board play is undeniable and its something the top line needs.

 

[Abstract]

You shouldn't read into this game too much, back to back on a Western swing is tough. I was there tonight, there really wasn't a lot going on either way, really only 1 breakdown on the second goal.

The positives as an outside observer living in Vancouver, who watches a ton of Caps games are as follows.

Green looks awesome again. Couple flubs but that's hockey. Jumping into plays being dangerous.

The D corps is not the keystone cops of old. Penguins and Flyers can fight for that title.

Andre and Kuz both look great. Kuz does a lot of good with the minutes he gets I have thought. He and Andre working the wall on PP is nice to watch.

Something is missing from the first line not quite sure what yet, but it'll happen.

 

[RaindanceMaggie]

Well, went to the game and had fun, but not a great game from the guys tonight. I thought that Fehr & Chimera were really bad tonight, lots of bad turnovers and some pointless plays. Peters stood on his head and it could've been worse. OV had a few good looks late, but Miller played good. Honestly Wilson needs to get healed up and tired on the top line. If that doesn't work than we need to trade for somebody who isn't a blackhole on that line.

 

[Dream Big]

Not impressed with the linesmen today.

Called Washington tight for offsides and then don't call Kassian for being offside on the 2nd Vancouver goal.

That no touch icing that wasn't called and nearly killed Carlson was another example of a linesman brain fart.

There was one or two instances that the linesman got in the way basically blocking a Caps player. Don't recall exactly when but not their finest officiating.:shake head

Just remembered another one…the Burakowsky penalty I thought was "really you're calling that a penalty?"

Who am I kidding? Caps got outshot and the PP looked anaemic.

 

[sycamore]

Well, went to the game and had fun, but not a great game from the guys tonight. I thought that Fehr & Chimera were really bad tonight, lots of bad turnovers and some pointless plays. Peters stood on his head and it could've been worse. OV had a few good looks late, but Miller played good. Honestly Wilson needs to get healed up and tired on the top line. If that doesn't work than we need to trade for somebody who isn't a blackhole on that line.

Wilson, a rookie, on the top line. How is that supposed to work? I could see Wilson on the second line for sure, but on the top line is just rushing things.

 

[Dream Big]

The only wing that is close to Ovi is Kuz.

Everyone else isn't good enough to play that role on that top line.

Might be time to bring back the 8-19-90 line.

OV could do a bit more of the heavy lifting on that line. Being in position would be a start. Think back to where he was when he blocked the shot. Where's OV? Way over on the right side.

Even if a d had the puck there is no one to pass it to on the left. It boxes in and reduces options of how to get out of the zone. It's like playing short. Four guys playing a system plus an outlier.

 

[trick9]

Stop blaming the referees for this loss. The Canucks were easily the better team and for most of the game Caps just looked very tired and in the defensive zone they made it easy for Canucks to create chances. Peters was the only reason this game wasn't over after 20 minutes.

Terrible game from Carlson and Alzner.

 

[g00n]

Stop playing the referees for this loss. The Canucks were easily the better team and for most of the game Caps just looked very tired and in the defensive zone they made it easy for Canucks to create chances. Peters was the only reason this game wasn't over after 20 minutes.

Terrible game from Carlson and Alzner.

The Caps were in the box for 10 minutes out of 60. That has a ripple effect on all your lines, nevermind the 2 goals against it produced which ended up being the margin of victory after an empty netter. The officiating definitely impacted the outcome of this game, even though a few players (mostly Carlson and Kuz) did not play well.

There were two standards for what a penalty was, with ticky tack borderline calls going only one way. The only reason the Caps even got any PP time at all was because anyone can look at film and count the men on the ice, and the interference behind the play on Burrows was so blatant it couldn't be ignored. The refs didn't even want to call it at first, then looked at each other and decided they had to blow the whistle.

Nobody is saying the refs are the only reason the Caps lost. But they sure did make winning much, much harder than it needed to be.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Who can replace Fehr on the first line? He's just bringing down that line.

Forsberg

Wish I had been able to stay up past 1-0. Everytime I miss a game or look away, everyone goes on a goalscoring bonanza.

 

[txpd]

as a general rule the visiting team loses one of the two games in a tampa bay/florida panthers back to back. the game to be disappointed with was the Edmonton game. The caps were going to have an uphill battle trying to win in Calgary and Vancouver on a back to back regardless of how good those teams are.

The Caps are seeing a little of the reep what you sow. Ov is probably hurt from the blocked shot. If you want the best goal scorer in the league standing in the shooting lanes below the hashmarks, he is going to get hit with shots.

The 1st line has not been as dynamic with Fehr this time around as last time and neither was Chimera and Ward with him. It would be easy to blame him. If he were Laich. He's Fehr. So....I am not sure where the blame lies.

Peters was really good to keep them in the game but all three of those goals he did give up were not necessary. A big save in their or a save on the 3rd goal would have been helpful. But he is the backup and I am not going to lose sleep over that. There is a reason he is a backup goalie. The backup goalie thing is another reason why teams don't often win both games in a Calgary Vancouver back to back.

 

[MrGone]

The only wing that is close to Ovi is Kuz.

Everyone else isn't good enough to play that role on that top line.

Might be time to bring back the 8-19-90 line.

Johansson really does look better this year, its not a bad idea. i still prefer ward though, his board play is undeniable and its something the top line needs.

I think it is a bad idea. Mojo finely has a good thing going with working Bura. And not only is he playing better but I think it will help make him a better player down the road. He lost out on a lot of development feeling like he always had to get OV the puck. He is playing free now.

 

[trick9]

The Caps were in the box for 10 minutes out of 60. That has a ripple effect on all your lines, nevermind the 2 goals against it produced which ended up being the margin of victory after an empty netter. The officiating definitely impacted the outcome of this game, even though a few players (mostly Carlson and Kuz) did not play well.

There were two standards for what a penalty was, with ticky tack borderline calls going only one way. The only reason the Caps even got any PP time at all was because anyone can look at film and count the men on the ice, and the interference behind the play on Burrows was so blatant it couldn't be ignored. The refs didn't even want to call it at first, then looked at each other and decided they had to blow the whistle.

Nobody is saying the refs are the only reason the Caps lost. But they sure did make winning much, much harder than it needed to be.

Yeah the refs were pretty bad, but that wasn't my point.

I'm just not giving them free pass because of that. These kinds of games happen (especially in the West) where the refs are against you, but that was overally bad performance from them. Reminded me alot of Oates with all the defensive breakdowns and seemingly just waiting for PP to even it up while your goalie constantly bails you out.

 

[HunterSThompson]

To me this game looked like two teams playing a similar style, trading punches. One team was a little fresher, played a little more disciplined, had a few extra PPs, played at home and won. Nothing really to be upset about.

 

[SkinsFan09]

What is with the panic? We lost on a back to back on the road in western Canada. Get a grip.

 

[Blades of Steel]

We're going to be ok guys.. just remember.. look how far we've come from Oates in this minimal amount of time. Things are looking good for us still, give it more time. I understand the frustration with bad officiating (ticky tack calls) but good teams fight through those losses and it will make us better.

 

[strungout]

What is with the panic? We lost on a back to back on the road in western Canada. Get a grip.

That was my reaction as well.

Even though they were outplayed in the back end of the back to back...they were still within a goal, with less than 3 minutes to play, with the back up goalie playing.

Still work to do...but not Oates so its all good from here.

 

[BobRouse]

What is with the panic? We lost on a back to back on the road in western Canada. Get a grip.

I missed the game last night and seems like I picked the correct one to sleep through.

But...I fully endorse HF meltdown. Its fun watching people be all reactionary. They generally like the view point of "Burn it to the ground! Leave none alive!"

 

[tycoonheart]

My issue with the team is that we're trending down. Through out the Canada trip, they almost entirely never played the way we saw them play against Montreal in the first game of the season. I kind of wish it was the opposite, that we had started off slow then picked it up.

I dunno, maybe I'm being too harsh but I didn't like the way they played last night. I'm not even mad about the loss, its that they didn't know what to do against Vancouver's aggressive forecheck. We also need some offensive creativity. We've become very generic with the puck. Miller really wasn't in duress through out the entire game.