GDT: Caps @ Flyers. 9/22/14. Wells Fargo Center. 7pm

[SimplySensational]

2 guys alone in front of the net.

 

[BackToTheBasics]

2 guys alone in front of the net.

That's Caps hockey for ya. Trotz needs to fix these guys quick, especially Carly. Guy needs to learn how to box out.

 

[Vladiator16*]

Love Locker, but enough with this dreaded 2 goal lead, ****...

 

[Vladiator16*]

Nice job Brown...
6 PP goals, preseason...

 

[capitalsrock]

Brown's starting to look like a better option on the 4th line than Latta but obviously there is Latta's contract situation.

 

[BackToTheBasics]

Brown's starting to look like a better option on the 4th line than Latta but obviously there is Latta's contract situation.

They can both play. Waive Patti and put Brown at RW.

 

[tycoonheart]

Latta. Nice shot.

 

[itsjustsurvival]

That was a nice shot.

 

[BackToTheBasics]

Nice job Latta.

 

[KevinM]

That goal was filthy, who knew Latta had that in him

 

[HunterSThompson]

I don't know if it's just me or not, but Erskine looks thinner and much quicker.

 

[KevinM]

Woah, Johansson just took a puck the length of the ice and hit the post on a shot!

 

[BackToTheBasics]

Woah, Johansson just took a puck the length of the ice and hit the post on a shot!

I'm surprised his stick didn't break in the process.

 

[Acallabeth]

Only caught up the last 15 mins of the game. Johansson looks like an entirely different player when he makes those rushes and shoots, but he's still terrible along the boards. Hopefully they won't get paired with Kuznetsov.
The entire thing looked much more like the game than yeatsreday's.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Woah, Johansson just took a puck the length of the ice and hit the post on a shot!

Yeah, who knew he could actually shoot the puck ?
Still, he's softer than jelly. This game was just another example. If NHL stood for No Hit League, Johansson would be the MVP

Now Backstrom needs to start shooting again. Can't have Ovi putting all of them in for him.

 

[BobRouse]

Caps looked very good at ES and had a strong edge in play in the 1st and 3rd.

The lack of discipline was only exceeded in awfulness by the PK. The refs had some issues but still.

MJ and Brouwer looked good as did Fehr. Latta too.

Schenn is an idiot. I think thats his patented move...sees he's about to get checked and turns his back into the boards at last second. Mitchell hit him from the side and the ref got it wrong but Schenn is lucky. He's going to hurt himself if he keeps that up. Nu NHL strategy it seems.

Carlson didn't have his best game but Erskine and Hillen didn't suck and in fact looked good overall. Hillen got his quota of getting crushed in. Every game this guy takes a HUGE hit.

Kuznetsov has some serious skill but does take Semin-level risks. A few times it worked and looked amazing. Once it didn't work and he had to take a penalty as a result. I don't think that will float with Trotz. Still that one and the one on Erskine were light calls. I don't even know why Fehr got a penalty to put us down 5-3. The puck was there and he hit the guy with his shoulder on his chest. 2 minutes for hitting.

Grubauer looked rusty. Peeters looked good.

Vrana has obvious skill but is very raw.

I liked some of the grit on display from the destined Hershey guys.

 

[Hivemind]

Thoughts from section 214 on last night.

Kuznetsov was the best Capital, by a decent margin. Very optimistic about his ability to play center (aside of the faceoffs). He was reading plays well, and seemed to force more turnovers than anyone else. Strong with the puck, and good ability to read the play when the Flyers had the puck. 2nd best player on the ice behind Voracek.

Fehr and Latta also looked good. Vrana had a good opportunity on the powerplay early, but was invisible afterwards. Brown and Mitchell had some spunk, but weren't big contributing factors. O'Brien plays like really wants to be noticed, but simply isn't anywhere close to an NHL player. Johansson looked good when against the Flyers younger defensemen or on the powerplay, but the MacDonald/Coburn pairing did a decent job at shutting his line down (even though Coburn looked pretty shaky, especially along the boards).

Defense looked shaky. Schmidt made some bad reads. Aside of the goal, Erskine looked bad. Got beat wide a couple of times, and took a bad penalty against Voracek when he had succesfully driven him behind the net. He had what should have been an easy breakaway after he came out of the box, but his complete lack of speed allowed the Flyers to close. Kundratek still looks like a powerplay specialist, and doesn't have the bulk to deal with bigger forwards. Oleksy didn't look like the NHL version of himself.

Peters wasn't tested a whole lot, but looked pretty good. Grubauer was tested frequently, and failed pretty poorly. He should have saved at least a couple of those. Allowing a five hole goal when hugging the post is not something that should happen.

 

[txpd]

did you hear/see Trotz post game comments visa vie Johansson and Kuznetsov? He said that it was obvious that Johansson has been in the league and his experience showed. He said that Kuz is new and his inexperience showed.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Johansson has valuable experience in losing battles, avoiding contact and scoring two goals on a line with two former 100 point players.

 

[BobRouse]

Johansson has valuable experience in losing battles, avoiding contact and scoring two goals on a line with two former 100 point players.

He's also been a top 5 scorer on this team since he first came on the scene too.

He's not perfect. He has flaws for sure. But he has good assets that are overlooked far too often and is still learning.

Maybe he's not optimal but he's the best we got as of now so you're going to have to live with it or start a FIRE GMBM thread.

 

[BobRouse]

Thoughts from section 214 on last night.

Kuznetsov was the best Capital, by a decent margin. Very optimistic about his ability to play center (aside of the faceoffs). He was reading plays well, and seemed to force more turnovers than anyone else. Strong with the puck, and good ability to read the play when the Flyers had the puck. 2nd best player on the ice behind Voracek.

Fehr and Latta also looked good. Vrana had a good opportunity on the powerplay early, but was invisible afterwards. Brown and Mitchell had some spunk, but weren't big contributing factors. O'Brien plays like really wants to be noticed, but simply isn't anywhere close to an NHL player. Johansson looked good when against the Flyers younger defensemen or on the powerplay, but the MacDonald/Coburn pairing did a decent job at shutting his line down (even though Coburn looked pretty shaky, especially along the boards).

Defense looked shaky. Schmidt made some bad reads. Aside of the goal, Erskine looked bad. Got beat wide a couple of times, and took a bad penalty against Voracek when he had succesfully driven him behind the net. He had what should have been an easy breakaway after he came out of the box, but his complete lack of speed allowed the Flyers to close. Kundratek still looks like a powerplay specialist, and doesn't have the bulk to deal with bigger forwards. Oleksy didn't look like the NHL version of himself.

Peters wasn't tested a whole lot, but looked pretty good. Grubauer was tested frequently, and failed pretty poorly. He should have saved at least a couple of those. Allowing a five hole goal when hugging the post is not something that should happen.

I didn't see it this way and CERTAINLY Trotz didn't see it this way. What you just stated runs exactly counter to what Trotz expanded on and thought..... Kuznetsov had good flashes and a couple real bad ones. MJ looked like the much better center last night altho I'd agree that Kuznetsov has potential that MJ can't touch.

 

[Hivemind]

I didn't see it this way and CERTAINLY Trotz didn't see it this way. What you just stated runs exactly counter to what Trotz expanded on and thought..... Kuznetsov had good flashes and a couple real bad ones. MJ looked like the much better center last night altho I'd agree that Kuznetsov has potential that MJ can't touch.

Trotz and I clealry have different perspectives then. I don't know Trotz's system, so perhaps Kuznetsov's aggressive attempts to intercept passes or his tendency to hold onto the puck aren't what Trotz wants from his centers. I liked what I saw from Kuznetsov.

As for Johansson's line against MacDonald/Coburn, I think that's a pretty objective fact. Brouwer and Fehr each got goals on the powerplay, but that line didn't do a whole lot at even strength when matched against NHL defensemen.

 

[BobRouse]

Trotz and I clealry have different perspectives then. I don't know Trotz's system, so perhaps Kuznetsov's aggressive attempts to intercept passes or his tendency to hold onto the puck aren't what Trotz wants from his centers. I liked what I saw from Kuznetsov.

As for Johansson's line against MacDonald/Coburn, I think that's a pretty objective fact. Brouwer and Fehr each got goals on the powerplay, but that line didn't do a whole lot at even strength when matched against NHL defensemen.

I liked what I saw from Kuznetsov but he did have a couple turnovers where he tried to do far too much and one led directly to a penalty by him trying to atone. That was Semin-esque and something Semin would have been SKEWERED for here. Since Kuz is the shiny new toy everyone will give him a pass I guess.

Caps looked good at ES all around. The only times the Flyers threatened were on the PP and if Grubauer stops that easy shot by Gordon then we would have allowed 0 ES goals.

I thought Brouwer, Fehr and MJ all had good games at ES along with the rest of the team.

His comments after the game about penalties and Kuznetsov vs MJ led me to believe he was none too pleased with Kuznetsov's Semin impersonation. Just my take.

 

[tycoonheart]

C
Kuznetsov has some serious skill but does take Semin-level risks.

The play he got that plenty on was a typical Semin play. For a minute there I thought I was watching Sasha. Kid is young, and hopefully he learns. But I like that fact that he is very active.

 

[txpd]

Johansson has valuable experience in losing battles, avoiding contact and scoring two goals on a line with two former 100 point players.

that was my read on what Trotz was saying aswell. I am sure that is what he meant.