Post-Game Talk: Caps and Pens 7:30

[artilector]

Everybody looks pretty much like who we thought they are.. Tip of the hat for Juice.
8/10 on the pure regular season entertainment scale.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Burakovsky is the most disappointing player so far. He does f*** all on the ice.

 

[troyerlaw]

Do you even read what you post?

He wasn’t wrong. That was an awful 2 min of hockey by 8 at the end. Fumbling puck, whiffing on puck, giving it away while trying to bank it off boards to the forward down low.

I mean, I’m sure he was exhausted, but ... he was not effective. I’m glad he scored on the djoos dish, but he could have scored another 2 or 3 tonight.

Shame we waited till last 8 min of game to show urgency. So many passengers.

I think NJ will give us an even tougher time than TBL and PIT. Devils look great so far this year.

Exciting to see Djoos contribute right off the bat.

Eller looked good.

Kuz almost scored a GOTY candidate on the coast-to-coast rush.

Bura still on the milk carton.

I hope willy’s return gives us a boost. We do miss the hitting, and he has turned into smart, hardworking PKer, too.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

I don't think Vrana has been terrible but he has not been good enough for us to beat teams like Pittsburgh or Tampa. He still makes one bad play for every good play.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

I don't really care about the outcome.

Positives:
Another rookie steps up

Our big stars are looking good

Negatives:
We continue to draw penalties, it's not enough to whine about them. Stop putting yourself in that position

Defense is slooooooooooow and unreliable with the puck. There was a sequence late that summed it all up, Orpik misplayed a puck with no one around, got blown past by a Pen, almost tackles the guy trying to fix the issue.

 

[4thTierSport]

When is Trotz and/or GMBM going to nut up and call the league on their shit?

I don't really care about the outcome.

Positives:
Another rookie steps up

Our big stars are looking good

Negatives:
We continue to draw penalties, it's not enough to whine about them. Stop putting yourself in that position

Defense is slooooooooooow and unreliable with the puck. There was a sequence late that summed it all up, Orpik misplayed a puck with no one around, got blown past by a Pen, almost tackles the guy trying to fix the issue.

Whine? THE GOALIE TOOK A HEAD SHOT THAT WENT UNCALLED.

 

[troyerlaw]

Also, our PP sucked, and theirs was good.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Having a hard time building anger against the refs when Washington went 0/4 on the powerplay. Do better.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

I don't think Vrana has been terrible but he has not been good enough for us to beat teams like Pittsburgh or Tampa. He still makes one bad play for every good play.

He is 21 and last year he couldn't fart on the ice without getting sent back to the AHL. There will be growing pains, especially with his style of play.

Lots of posters here want to bemoan Trotz and his anti-youth movement, but I'm not sure people realize that when you embrace the youth you have to take the warts that come with it. If people are expecting Ovechkin and Kuznetsovs from every rookie they're gonna have a bad time. Most of our rookies will suuuuuuuuuuuuuck, but the valuable thing is the ice time they receive.

It's an 82 game season and basically half the league makes the playoffs. We have proven time and time again that regular season wins and losses short of making the playoffs is meaningless, so what we need to be doing is giving these kids time even if it is ugly.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

He wasn’t wrong. That was an awful 2 min of hockey by 8 at the end. Fumbling puck, whiffing on puck, giving it away while trying to bank it off boards to the forward down low.

I mean, I’m sure he was exhausted, but ... he was not effective. I’m glad he scored on the djoos dish, but he could have scored another 2 or 3 tonight.

Shame we waited till last 8 min of game to show urgency. So many passengers.

I think NJ will give us an even tougher time than TBL and PIT. Devils look great so far this year.

Exciting to see Djoos contribute right off the bat.

Eller looked good.

Kuz almost scored a GOTY candidate on the coast-to-coast rush.

Bura still on the milk carton.

I hope willy’s return gives us a boost. We do miss the hitting, and he has turned into smart, hardworking PKer, too.

Ovi screwing up on the 6vs5 doesn't mean he shouldn't be out there. If there's one guy who should be the extra forward when the goalie comes to the bench, it's him. He needs one or two clean shots to tie a game.

On another note, we should really stop complaining about penalties. We've had as many if not more PP opportunities than the Pens.

 

[GoCaps2004]

deserved to lose. Not really upset though. Djoos played well, but chorney needs to be in over ness. ness is absolutely useless and should be sent down, but alas he wont be

 

[StrikingDistance]

The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines were excrementally worse than the 1st. Yes, that's a new word.

 

[bur and 666 others]

Do you even read what you post?

I'm just excited about Djoos. When last time did we have such debut? against the arch-rivals? I hope he is our secret weapon, a young unknown player who came to this league and contributed significantly.

i know many won't like this, but Ovie on that 6on5 twice couldn't handle the puck on blue line and few times gave bad pass that didn't connect and went to a pits player.

anyway, i'm glad i didn't watch the whole game. seems it wasn't a great showing, but i saw ovie's goal and the Great and Powerful Mr. Djoos' pass

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

When is Trotz and/or GMBM going to nut up and call the league on their ****?


Whine? THE GOALIE TOOK A HEAD SHOT THAT WENT UNCALLED.

It's hockey. Shit happens. The narrative that we picked on by the league is lame and old. Championship teams don't point to the refs when shit falls apart.

 

[Capitals40]

I still don't like Ovi on the point ENG. Give me Orlov or... um I dunno. DJOOS.

I agree..post him up in front of net 6 on 5..put a dman back in his place on the blue line.

 

[troyerlaw]

What an unbelievable rush by Kuzy

That was spectacular

 

[4thTierSport]

It's hockey. **** happens. The narrative that we picked on by the league is lame and old. Championship teams don't point to the refs when **** falls apart.

Yeah, headshots on goalies is just shit happening in the NHL.

 

[troyerlaw]

It's hockey. **** happens. The narrative that we picked on by the league is lame and old. Championship teams don't point to the refs when **** falls apart.

This

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

He is 21 and last year he couldn't fart on the ice without getting sent back to the AHL. There will be growing pains, especially with his style of play.

Lots of posters here want to bemoan Trotz and his anti-youth movement, but I'm not sure people realize that when you embrace the youth you have to take the warts that come with it. If people are expecting Ovechkin and Kuznetsovs from every rookie they're gonna have a bad time. Most of our rookies will suuuuuuuuuuuuuck, but the valuable thing is the ice time they receive.

It's an 82 game season and basically half the league makes the playoffs. We have proven time and time again that regular season wins and losses short of making the playoffs is meaningless, so what we need to be doing is giving these kids time even if it is ugly.

Again, I am not saying he won't improve. Just that right now he is not playing good enough. And there is no guarantee he will improve either. Burakovsky certainly is still one dimensional and does not seem to be much of a different player from last year.

And I agree with others about Ness. He is really really bad. One of the worst defenseman I can recall us having in the lineup for a while.

 

[4thTierSport]

This

You're delusional if you think nothing happens if that was Murray and Ovie. God forbid Wilson, Matt Martin or other similar players did something like that…

 

[RandyHolt]

I agree..post him up in front of net 6 on 5..put a dman back in his place on the blue line.

I think someone alleged he may have been tired. Well of course, from having to chase all clears while Pitt is changing after each one.

I still contend opposition goalies prefer the leagues premier goal scorer to be as far away from the net as possible. We are making it happen. We finally have 2 offensive LDs and yet they won't get a sniff with an extra man. If Barry won't change after tonight, he won't for the rest of his tenure. He had a hot hand at LD yet shelved him. I remember many coaches in previous decades would make sure to get the guy with a hot hand out when needing a goal late.

 

[troyerlaw]

You're delusional if you think nothing happens if that was Murray and Ovie. God forbid Wilson, Matt Martin or other similar players did something like that…

No, i meant the whining about refs. I wasn’t commenting on the specific play.

87 always gets benefit of doubt, that’s nothing new. Last year he destroyed Methot finger with a slash. No repercussions.

Caps front office bitching to league or complaining publicly will have zero effect. Same as when Sens owner did it last year, or Torts did it five years ago. No one cares.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

I think someone alleged he may have been tired. Well of course, from having to chase all clears while Pitt is changing after each one.

I still contend opposition goalies prefer the leagues premier goal scorer to be as far away from the net as possible. We are making it happen. We finally have 2 offensive LDs and yet they won't get a sniff with an extra man. If Barry won't change after tonight, he won't for the rest of his tenure. He had a hot hand at LD yet shelved him. I remember many coaches in previous decades would make sure to get the guy with a hot hand out when needing a goal late.

He has definitely struggled in the past at the point position 6 v 5. Tonight wasn't great but there were two times where if the pass would have been on target he was ready for a one timer. I have noticed this on the PP as well but he is not getting good passes. I would like to see Orlov instead of Carlson on the #1 PP.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

We're back to complaining about Crosby...
Look, if the refs gave us the 2 min for Crosby shouldering Holtby in the face behind the net, would we even score on the PP? We had countless opportunities to score a PP goal and we didn't convert. They beat us clean, let's just admit it.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

You're delusional if you think nothing happens if that was Murray and Ovie. God forbid Wilson, Matt Martin or other similar players did something like that…

We have had players get mixed up with other teams goalies and get no penalties. I do believe Toronto was upset last year because they felt we kept running their goalie.

Like I said, shit happens. Did Holtby get hit? Yeah. Did he embellish? Yeah.

Every team in the league believes their team is under the microscope of the NHL.