Post-Game Talk: Caps @ Flyers 7:00pm

[Alexander the Gr8]

I was struck by how passionately James van Riemsdyk stood up for Joel Farabee when Zdeno Chara took Farabee down to the ice. Sometimes, you just have to get involved in a sideshow to set the tone.

Sure, it led to a goal for the Washington Capitals and Nick Jensen, and sure it pretty much ended the Flyers' hope of winning the game, and sure 2 points could be the difference between making and missing the playoffs this season, but sticking up for your teammates like that is why van Riemsdyk is so respected by his team. Chara will think twice the next time he wants to hit a Flyer.

Next time Chara should plant JVR into the boards and see what happens

 

[twabby]

Another solid game for Evgeny Kuznetsov without getting a point. +1 in 5v5 goal differential, 59% of the expected goals, 68% of the scoring chances, and he won the key faceoff leading to the Dmitry Orlov goal.

 

[txpd]

Another solid game for Evgeny Kuznetsov without getting a point. +1 in 5v5 goal differential, 59% of the expected goals, 68% of the scoring chances, and he won the key faceoff leading to the Dmitry Orlov goal.

Bang the drum slowly. Did you notice that Kuzy got 4th line TOI last night?

 

[caps4cup]

Another solid game for Evgeny Kuznetsov without getting a point. +1 in 5v5 goal differential, 59% of the expected goals, 68% of the scoring chances, and he won the key faceoff leading to the Dmitry Orlov goal.

At 5v5, his secondary assists are way down (0) as is his shooting percentage. His xG/60 is actually the 2nd highest of his career. His defense is also improved dramatically, back into the 14/15-16-17 range, except even better. He’ll be fine going forwards once he starts getting some bounces.

 

[twabby]

Bang the drum slowly. Did you notice that Kuzy got 4th line TOI last night?

He got 9 seconds less than Alex Ovechkin at 5v5, and 9 seconds more than TJ Oshie and Lars Eller. That's a lot of 4th liners!

 

[Midnight Judges]

This is a nice win. Team is playing well overall.

I remember when Trotz first came on it took about 25 games to get rolling (14 losses in the first 24 games). Hopefully this is a reflection of the team getting accustomed to a new system.

 

[txpd]

He got 9 seconds less than Alex Ovechkin at 5v5, and 9 seconds more than TJ Oshie and Lars Eller. That's a lot of 4th liners!

Good to know. I didnt know that hockey was only a 5 on 5 game. I did notice though, that 92 only has 3 even strenth points. This would included even strenth non 5 on 5 time and maybe its irrelevant. You would know better than me.

Meanwhile even with a minute of pp toi only 1 forward played less than Kuznetsov. Has this been the case for him in the past? I dont remember it being that way

 

[HecticGlow]

At 5v5, his secondary assists are way down (0) as is his shooting percentage. His xG/60 is actually the 2nd highest of his career. His defense is also improved dramatically, back into the 14/15-16-17 range, except even better. He’ll be fine going forwards once he starts getting some bounces.

Does anyone know how his usage is looking? Just looking at xG/xGA, or actual points for that matter, doesn't tell a lot about how a player's performing without knowing what he's going up against. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I doubt a Vrana-Kuzy-Sprong line was getting many minutes against top units?

 

[HecticGlow]

Meanwhile even with a minute of pp toi only 1 forward played less than Kuznetsov. Has this been the case for him in the past? I dont remember it being that way

I think the only times Kuzy has played meaningful top-6 minutes regularly this season has been when he's been with Ovechkin. In the 2017-2019 span it was commonplace for him to play even minutes more per game than Backstrom, but under Laviolette he's being treated similarly to Vrana in that regard. Eller's been pretty consistently in the 15-19 minute mark all season, even when not on the PP.

 

[twabby]

Good to know. I didnt know that hockey was only a 5 on 5 game. I did notice though, that 92 only has 3 even strenth points. This would included even strenth non 5 on 5 time and maybe its irrelevant. You would know better than me.

Meanwhile even with a minute of pp toi only 1 forward played less than Kuznetsov. Has this been the case for him in the past? I dont remember it being that way

I urge you again to disregard points, and look at on-ice impact in terms of team goal-differential. Wins and losses are not judged on individual points, but rather team goal-differential. Thus, it would make sense to see how a player is impacting his team's goal differential. Again, I would point to his on-ice expected goal differential, which is currently at +1.03 goals per 60 minutes at 5v5, best on the team by quite a bit (Lars Eller is at +0.63). He also leads the team in expected goals for per 60 at 2.91, and unlike in prior years he isn't sacrificing defense in order to drive goal-scoring: his expected goals against per 60 is 1.88, 6th best on the team.

Also Kuznetsov is skating a similar amount this year as he did under Todd Rierden at 5v5. The difference is mostly in power play TOI:

Season	5v5 TOI	PP TOI	Total TOI
2018-19	13:46	3:39	18:47
2019-20	13:19	3:11	17:50
2021	13:47	1:57	16:22

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

For ~$8 mil per, only a blind man or a fool ignores/disregards real production.


I think his play is noticeably improved.....but the production MUST also come with trying harder.


Zero chance I’m buying the spin that he’s suddenly sacrificing offense to play killer defensive hockey lol....

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

If Kuz continues to play the right way, the points will come.

Not worried at all.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Vrana had quite a few fly-bys relative to the puck. He's gotta break that habit.

 

[zappa4ever]

Does anyone know how his usage is looking? Just looking at xG/xGA, or actual points for that matter, doesn't tell a lot about how a player's performing without knowing what he's going up against. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I doubt a Vrana-Kuzy-Sprong line was getting many minutes against top units?

Kuz/V/Sprong had 85.7% Offensive Zone Starts (no other fwd lines had over 50% OZS)
PHI mostly matched them up with Koneckny/Laughton/Hayes
K/V/S had 3 reg. shifts in 3rd pd until 12:41 into pd, then 1 short 8 second shift the rest of the game

 

[twabby]

Does anyone know how his usage is looking? Just looking at xG/xGA, or actual points for that matter, doesn't tell a lot about how a player's performing without knowing what he's going up against. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I doubt a Vrana-Kuzy-Sprong line was getting many minutes against top units?

As has been mentioned before, he gets the highest ratio of offensive to defensive zone starts in the NHL out of 363 forwards. Of course, Alex Ovechkin is 2nd, TJ Oshie is 14th, Jakub Vrana is 16th, Tom Wilson is 37nd, Nicklas Backstrom is 43rd. This could be read as Laviolette not trusting Kuznetsov, or it could be read as Laviolette using Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway, and Carl Hagelin in defensive zone starts to allow offensive zone starts for the rest of the team. Indeed out of 363 forwards Hagelin, Hathaway, and Dowd are 360th, 361st, and 362nd respectively in zone start ratios.

Kuznetsov's competition isn't the toughest:

But he's killing the competition:

And for comparison's sake here's Backstrom's competition:

And Backstrom's on-ice results:

I don't think context is accounting for all of Kuznetsov's fantastic numbers. He's legitimately playing much better than he has in a few years.

 

[kicksavedave]

Its almost as if PL is starting to figure out what some of his players do well and what they don't do well at and he's trying to put them all in a position to succeed. Kuzy and Vrana are gifted offensively but no one will ever call them Selke candidates. The 4th line are robust defensively but no one will ever confuse them for talented scoring threats (specially not Hags).

Its nice to see a coach not trying to put square pegs into round holes, but also limiting ice time of players who are more one dimensional or not playing a full two way game well. I'm OK with PL's ice time decisions.

Also Kuzy's points will come... the small sample size has a lot of variance in it. Not every offensive contribution includes a point... just ask Thomas Holstrom or Mike Knuble. Don't @ me to tell me Kuzy isn't parking in front of the net like those guys, I know that already, juts making a point that Kuzy is doing things to help the team that aren't showing up on the scoresheet yet, but they will eventually.

 

[Neil Racki]

Samsonov - how did he look? I had to stop watching after the Flyers scored.

There is a chance for a real redemption story for him. Off ice injury last year, covid this year ... there is a chance he could come in and play lights out.

I like our D core a lot, am amazed weve given up 76 goals. I know we gave up like 4 ENs a few weeks ago during that rut but still.

This team, if we get good goaltending and continue playing good hockey ... we have all the pieces (if we get good goaltending).

 

[EroCaps]

Samsonov - how did he look? I had to stop watching after the Flyers scored.

There is a chance for a real redemption story for him. Off ice injury last year, covid this year ... there is a chance he could come in and play lights out.

I like our D core a lot, am amazed weve given up 76 goals. I know we gave up like 4 ENs a few weeks ago during that rut but still.

This team, if we get good goaltending and continue playing good hockey ... we have all the pieces (if we get good goaltending).

The first #1 goaltender performance I've seen from him in over a year. Hope it continues.

 

[txpd]

Samsonov - how did he look? I had to stop watching after the Flyers scored.

There is a chance for a real redemption story for him. Off ice injury last year, covid this year ... there is a chance he could come in and play lights out.

I like our D core a lot, am amazed weve given up 76 goals. I know we gave up like 4 ENs a few weeks ago during that rut but still.

This team, if we get good goaltending and continue playing good hockey ... we have all the pieces (if we get good goaltending).

Soft goal against but only 1 goal against. He was good

 

[chilimac]

I thought Sami looked 'Ok', last night. One goal, and it was a softy. And yeah, he frequently looked a little out of control(what my wife calls 'floppity') in net which I'm going to file for now, under the 'rust' category.
That said, I try to be a 'big picture' kinda guy. You tell me you have a racehorse thats won 5 in a row, and I'm going to say "yeah, but who did he beat?". In that regard, Philly looked 'tired' in this game almost from the get go and had reason to. They were not a crisp skating team I expect to see the next time around. But, we shall see.

Sami needs work, I'm sure he'll get it.

 

[Neil Racki]

Soft goal against but only 1 goal against. He was good

That 2 on 1 where Schultz let a goal scorer like Farabee basically skate right to the net bc Schultz was undecided and decided to cover the pass at the last moment?

Horrible defense from Schultz. Didnt really take away anything and keep sinking in letting Farabee walk right to the net.

 

[Corby78]

Yeah May called it soft, I don’t agree. Stopable yes, but not a softy IMO

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

If Kuz continues to play the right way, the points will come.

Not worried at all.

that’s what we’re all hoping!

 

[txpd]

That 2 on 1 where Schultz basically let a goal scorer like Farabee basically skate right to the net bc Schultz was undecided and decided to cover the pass at the last moment?

Horrible defense from Schultz. Didnt really take away anything and keep sinking in letting Farabee walk right to the net.

The job of the defenseman in a 2 on 1 is to take the pass away and with that allow the goalie to both concentrate on the puck carrier and not have to worry about big lateral movement. In this case Schultz took away the layup. He cant do both. The goal was from a goalie friendly angle and leaked thru because his pads were uneven. It was soft.

Now had Schultz allow the pass and that player dunk the puck into the empty side of the net, that would have been a hard goal and bad defenseman play

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I thought Sami looked 'Ok', last night. One goal, and it was a softy. And yeah, he frequently looked a little out of control(what my wife calls 'floppity') in net which I'm going to file for now, under the 'rust' category.
That said, I try to be a 'big picture' kinda guy. You tell me you have a racehorse thats won 5 in a row, and I'm going to say "yeah, but who did he beat?". In that regard, Philly looked 'tired' in this game almost from the get go and had reason to. They were not a crisp skating team I expect to see the next time around. But, we shall see.

Sami needs work, I'm sure he'll get it.

after the softy....I thought it was a very good performance.

certainly the direction you want him headed in IMO....