Post-Game Talk: Caps and Rangers 12:30 PM

[Calicaps]

Not too bad.

Lack of sharpness, good goalies, afternoon games... Caps started to look like themselves in the last two periods.

Just need to build the game back up.

My take as well.

And FFS, yeah Ovie looks off. Maybe he's hurt. I don't give a **** if he scores another goal all RS so long as he's ready to go in the playoffs.

 

[Bladerunner]

3 goals

.
Yea I caught it.

2, 2, 2 had a "good" sound to it

 

[Capitals40]

Transition game is nonexistent...hope they find it or they will continue to score 1 and 2 goals.

 

[EroCaps]

Lame effort from the top two lines.

Ovechkin and Kuznetsov in particular.

Don't get Kuzy's "skate around three guys effortlessly and the blindly throw the puck away schtick".

 

[bur and 666 others]

Started looking crips in the 3rd. Passing, forecheck started looking like it was before the break (though we still don't look scary, sleepy giant again). Orlov is finding his game will be huge for us. Kuznetsov needs to shoot the puck. He just can't waste opportunities like that against this good opponent. Hope we haven't run out of our luck for this season, cross the fingers

 

[Carlzner]

Meh. We out played them in the last 40 but Hank was great. Still a bit rusty but I bet we destroy the Flyers on Wednesday.

 

[Bladerunner]

As others are pointing out, they did play much better in the 2nd & 3rd.

And yes it's a small sample. However after seeing them have so many 4, 5, 6G games, watching a 2 & 1 pair makes you start to think about last season. All we can to do is hope for a better outcome this coming playoffs

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Can those of you who aren't worried about Alzner please tell me why?

 

[aonb]

the only thing I really don't like.. no points for Backstrom

of course only Cup matter but I want him so bad to be in conversation for Art Ross as long as possible

 

[artilector]

1st line had some decent shifts in the Rangers zone late in the 3rd. Maybe at this point my expectations for them are low, but if they can continue to do that in playoffs, that'll be pretty good.

Lately, Mojo & Williams have been missing a lot of grade A chances from Kuznetsov's passes. Their overall body of work is still good, and maybe the recent stuff is due to rust... but, maybe a bit more food for thought for BM going into the trade deadline.

Schmidt has also been bad in these two games. But I figure it's more of a blip.

Carlson and Alzner... think about it, it's crazy that not (too) long ago, Green & Schultz were the top D. Then we got Carlson and Alzner who made that pairing look more like a #3 pair. And now, Niskanen & Orlov are kind of making Carlson & Alzner look like #3 pair -- at times. Anyway, for their current cap hit Carlson & Alzner are still a good pair for the Caps -- and Carlson (at least) should be able to pick it up.

 

[artilector]

Lame effort from the top two lines.

Ovechkin and Kuznetsov in particular.

Don't get Kuzy's "skate around three guys effortlessly and the blindly throw the puck away schtick".

Meh, Kuznetsov is still generating some prime scoring chances for linemates. There's plenty of room for improvement, but he's definitely been net-positive in his contributions, IMO.

 

[artilector]

Can those of you who aren't worried about Alzner please tell me why?

In the context of playoffs, I'm not too worried because his "survival defense" is strong, and "the system", once up to speed, should be able to shield him from getting burned in transition, which seems to be his biggest problem.

I'd be more worried about the prospect of re-signing him to a big contract... but in a way, the recent relative trajectories of Orlov and Alzner are kind of making the choice easy for BMac. Ofc, that's still contingent on what happens in playoffs...

 

[Sam Spade]

They played well yesterday and today in the 2nd and 3rd periods, got shut down by Mrazek and Lundqvist. It happens.

If they lose on Wed I'll be worried, because it will mean the offense has officially dried up.

 

[Bladerunner]

the only thing I really don't like.. no points for Backstrom

of course only Cup matter but I want him so bad to be in conversation for Art Ross as long as possible

And if Ovi heats up re scoring goals he'll have a shot at another RR trophy.

Hope he reaches 40+ although at this point something else is pretty much all that matters !

 

[Midnight Judges]

Wake me when the Caps come back from vacation.

There were times in this game where it looked like allstar game levels of effort.

 

[g00n]

Had to miss this one. Based on the GDT gonna just delete the tivo recording and move on.

 

[artilector]

Had to miss this one. Based on the GDT gonna just delete the tivo recording and move on.

Nah, you can watch the 2nd and 3rd. Plenty of good shifts.

 

[Calicaps]

Had to miss this one. Based on the GDT gonna just delete the tivo recording and move on.

Worth watching.

 

[Valhuen]

As of right now all I care about is the Caps maintaining 1st place in the division. That is our best route to the ECF IMO. If we end up 2 or 3 all bets are off. Metro will be a dogfight come playoff time this year, and this is probably our last chance at a cup with the current lineup (given the expansion draft and FA situation).

Barring any shocking deadline deals (which I don't expect to see).

 

[Valhuen]

They played well yesterday and today in the 2nd and 3rd periods, got shut down by Mrazek and Lundqvist. It happens.

If they lose on Wed I'll be worried, because it will mean the offense has officially dried up.

Philly will be the barometer for me as well, Caps will have a few days off to re-group and practice, this would be tough for any team (afternoon road back to backs) coming off an extended break. We'll see what Caps team shows up wed.

 

[notDkristich]

1st line had some decent shifts in the Rangers zone late in the 3rd. Maybe at this point my expectations for them are low, but if they can continue to do that in playoffs, that'll be pretty good.

Lately, Mojo & Williams have been missing a lot of grade A chances from Kuznetsov's passes. Their overall body of work is still good, and maybe the recent stuff is due to rust... but, maybe a bit more food for thought for BM going into the trade deadline.

Schmidt has also been bad in these two games. But I figure it's more of a blip.

Carlson and Alzner... think about it, it's crazy that not (too) long ago, Green & Schultz were the top D. Then we got Carlson and Alzner who made that pairing look more like a #3 pair. And now, Niskanen & Orlov are kind of making Carlson & Alzner look like #3 pair -- at times. Anyway, for their current cap hit Carlson & Alzner are still a good pair for the Caps -- and Carlson (at least) should be able to pick it up.

Carlson is playing like a 3rd pair defender. 5v5 he is always stuck between plays, get's caught watching, holds the puck too long, doesn't have inside position around the blue paint.

Between him and OV...ugh

 

[ovikovy817]

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday!

Thank you to both of you.

Man, I hate those ******* blue shirts. They had like one chance and a half in the last 40 minutes, but still won this game.

And Lundqvist who is horrible since the beggining of the year, decided to play well today.

 

[Irishguy42]

Thank you to both of you.

Man, I hate those ******* blue shirts. They had like one chance and a half in the last 40 minutes, but still won this game.

And Lundqvist who is horrible since the beggining of the year, decided to play well today.

Might want to look that one over again.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

Might want to look that one over again.

Well, he did keep getting pulled and we all had to hear about it. Analysts were all like "Oh no the King is losing it."

He's obviously fine.

 

[Irishguy42]

Well, he did keep getting pulled and we all had to hear about it. Analysts were all like "Oh no the King is losing it."

He's obviously fine.

He's been fine for almost 20 games now. That was my point. It's not like he's been awful all season long.