Post-Game Talk: Caps @ Habs | 4/2/15 | Caps Win 5-4 (SO) [MOD NOTE TO HABS FANS IN OP and #71]

[Corby78]

The more Ov piles it up the more ridiculous he makes the rest of the league look, the harder it is to not give him the vote.

he has 52 with Nash 2nd at 41. he scored more goals on Price than Price's gaa. that was on the road with Subban following him every where. Ov v Price and Subban and Ov gets two goals and the win.

52-41 is the stat that proves it for me. If he finishes double digits over the next guy to me its a no brainer.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

52-41 is the stat that proves it for me. If he finishes double digits over the next guy to me its a no brainer.

Yeah, he's almost 27% ahead of the #2 guy right now, and I'd bet on that margin growing.

That's mind boggling.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Kuznetsov with 11 points in his last 13 games. He was looking like a boss last night.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Kuznetsov with 11 points in his last 13 games. He was looking like a boss last night.

All the quotes coming out of the locker room about him are how much better he is defensively. He's definitely lost that tentativeness we saw earlier in the season (one wonders if it will come back early in the playoffs) and it's helped every facet of his game. He's an impact player right now.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Kuznetsov with 11 points in his last 13 games. He was looking like a boss last night.

With each passing game, he makes Johansson's progression and production look worse and worse.

What's Kuznetsov sitting at right now if he were in Johansson's PP1 slot all year? 55-60 points?

 

[RandyHolt]

Kuz is schooling guys at every chance with his deft stickhandling. He had a great steal before getting us that PP. Which could have been a double minor.

I think Nisky has 7 points in his last 9.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Kuznetsov developing into any where near Datsyuk makes this team scary good, especially if Willie and Burt can develop.

 

[tycoonheart]

That steal by Kuz was soooo sweet. He is the best puck handler on this team.

 

[RandyHolt]

Late in the game Kuz came from behind our net with a hab coming straight at him. He SH'd right and maybe dipped his shoulder then went back to the forehand and basically made the crab look like an idiot, peeling off even though Kuz skated straight ahead. Cool under pressure right in front of our own goal.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

It took Datsyuk five years to become an impact postseason player. Given Kuz's D and big game reputation, I'm very eager to see how he plays in the postseason.

I haven't seen a steal like Kuz's last night since Semin was here.

 

[RandyHolt]

If teams had half a brain they would test him physically come the playoffs.

You heard it here first - there is a 2nd guy on our team that will set Ovi off if he gets hit hard, if even a clean hit.

 

[tycoonheart]

Kid is super mature, love everything he says in post game interviews. Always gives credit to his teammates. Always says the two points are what matter the most. I know those seem like lip service, but I think the kid gets "it". I also like Trotz putting him with Ovi, you can see Ovi constantly talking to him on the bench. Wish it was done earlier.

 

[marcel snapshot]

Definition of a character win there. Ovie's will to win last night was very strong - and helped us overcome a very shaky Holtby performance.

Kuz looked great all night - in OT he made a move at the blue line where he basically did a 180 without really slowing down at all, and the Hab defender almost turned an ankle trying to adjust. Kuz has that slippery, jittery, hard-to-hit movement that offsets his physical under-development - but, yeah, if he gets popped by someone - even cleanly - gotta believe the popper will be on the receiving end of the Ovie freight train.

Seemed to me Latta and Wilson got sat because when they were out there, the Caps spent the whole time pinned in their own zone, and Trotz had enough of it. Their absence meant we didn't get to play a very heavy game against Montreal - so coming out with a win anyway is pretty good.

Sens are gonna come real hard at the start Saturday night - so whatever happy feelings the guys may have from last night better be quickly extinguished.

 

[tycoonheart]

More love from Canada:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-ovechkin-hating-2010/

 

[txpd]

With each passing game, he makes Johansson's progression and production look worse and worse.

What's Kuznetsov sitting at right now if he were in Johansson's PP1 slot all year? 55-60 points?

Kuznetsov has and always has been a all star level potential. Johansson has never been that. So, yea. Kuzy makes Johansson look bad. He should.

 

[g00n]

looks to me like Trotz gave Ovechkin those shifts that Wilson and Latta would have played. But maybe that's not it. I am going to say that Trotz was working on some playoff things along the lines of trying to get Ovechkin away from a matchup. It would explain why the personel that 8 skated with all night seemed to change. Glencross and Brouwer and Jojo skating with him. He skated with 92 and 19. It looked to me like when Willy and Latta did get on the 3rd player was different often.

In short. Wilson and Latta didn't play as a result of the line juggling to help Ov. It was not lack of trust in Willy or Latta that caused the line juggling.

I don't buy that. 5 or 6 different first line combos that early for a guy that already has 50 goals just to get a matchup of some kind? Experimenting with that in a huge game where they need points, and the coach is going for his 600th career win? Nah. Trotz's distrust for youth and quick hook is more likely, especially with Latta going 25% on faceoffs.

 

[ChibiPooky]

It's the refs last game. Let him screw us one last time.

Linesman actually

I figured it was because I took the over

Did you win?

That last goal is a prime example of the difference between this team and a team like the Habs. It was all about timing, something the Caps have precious little. Weiss was on the move when he touched that long lead pass, giving him momentum into our zone. With us, the Caps player would have been stationary at the blue line and never gotten to that puck ahead of the D-man. Very little fluidity to our game.

That seemed to be their only zone entry strategy.

With each passing game, he makes Johansson's progression and production look worse and worse.

What's Kuznetsov sitting at right now if he were in Johansson's PP1 slot all year? 55-60 points?

To be fair, we're not looking at a player progressing - Kuznetsov already had that ability. He just took some time to adapt to the smaller rink and tighter checking.

Kuznetsov already has 35 points this season and if memory serves it's almost all been in the second half. He needs one more assist to catch Johansson's 26 (but is 8 goals short of Johansson).

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

If Ovi-Kuznetsov-Wilson can become a competent line, the turnaround of the offense should be very easy to accomplish. It shouldn't be hard to build an above average 2nd line around Nicklas Backstrom.

For the love of god, please let those Ovi-Kuz leave no questions unanswered by the end of this season.

 

[Langway]

Seemed to me Latta and Wilson got sat because when they were out there, the Caps spent the whole time pinned in their own zone, and Trotz had enough of it. Their absence meant we didn't get to play a very heavy game against Montreal - so coming out with a win anyway is pretty good.

I thought Latta struggled to a greater extent in containing Montreal's speed down low when he did play. Still, Glencross managed to play more ES minutes than Laich so there should have been at least some opportunity to mix Wilson in.

 

[Raikkonen]

Kuz is a mix of Malkin, Datsyuk and Boris The Blade

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

To be fair, we're not looking at a player progressing - Kuznetsov already had that ability. He just took some time to adapt to the smaller rink and tighter checking.

Kuznetsov already has 35 points this season and if memory serves it's almost all been in the second half. He needs one more assist to catch Johansson's 26 (but is 8 goals short of Johansson).

We are looking at a player progressing, though. Plenty of players coming over from European leagues never progress their game to adapt to the NA style. Kuznetsov's made more significant NHL adjustments in 40 games than Johansson has in almost 400.

 

[RandyHolt]

Did you win?

Yeah but I had to reverse jinx the thing. After I posted that - the goals poured in. #CapsOverParlayWin

 

[RaindanceMaggie]

To me, Ovechkin sort of mentoring Kuznetsov reminds me of when the Caps brought in Fedorov and he mentored Ovechkin.

 

[EroCaps]

Kuzy has been playing great hockey against some legit teams lately. In both zones. If he can carry it into the postseason I will happily gobble crow.

 

[Holtbyisms]

I really think the almost instant(not really instant because he's been progressing all year) appearance of Kuz has a lot to do with the fact that he's not 19-20 years old. He's 22, married, has absolutely nothing to worry about financially, has played professionally for a number of years and can handle a men's game.

I really think it was only a matter of time before he adapted and began to understand a North American system given that his hockey IQ has always been praised as off the charts.

He's playing like a top six player right now and if it continues throughout the playoffs he's going to add a level of depth we've been missing for a good chunk of the season.