Post-Game Talk: Caps @ Pens 8pm NBCSN

[troyerlaw]

They doubled the Penguins in shots and then some, they won 51% of faceoffs, and they doubled the Penguins in hits and then some but the Caps are doomed. Only on HF

A few things:

I'm frustrated that the all-out urgency doesnt seem to appear till we are trying to make miracle comebacks.

Strong finish tonight, but i am skeptical whether that carries over to next game. I just don't see a lot of carryover, from any team, from game to game. Each game has its own flow. I can easily see trotz going back to more patient, cautious game plan for game 4.

Trotz's coaching reminds me more and more of Hunter. Seems very comfortable trying to manage the games toward 1-goal final margin.

I am frustrated it took him so long (and maybe it was even't his choice, if 14 was indeed hurting) to break up that radically underperforming second line and try something else. The team was definitely more energetic and dynamic when Bura got moved up with 19 & 77, and when ovie took some shifts with Kuz.

Granted, the Pens ceded ground by going into such a radical turtle, but still, we started playing HOCKEY again once the lines got re-set.

Tanger might get 1 game. I don't expect anything more than that, esp. with MoJo returning to action.

MoJo ... man, i wish he had put that shot on net. He had murray beat.

Wednesday feels must-win-ish.

Good news is, we won't blow a 3-1 series lead this time!

 

[Brian23]

Look they were in front of the net a lot of the night. The problem is either their shots didn't get through or they missed the net. It's hard to get rebounds when you don't hit the goalie. I know they had a lot of shots but the times they had the most traffic they missed the net.

They had an easier track to the net because Pittsburg started turtling pretty quickly after their two lucky goals, and even harder after they got their third.

The Caps looked a lot better tonight but none of the stats matter besides the W.

 

[Red Dread]

Caps looked really good to me in general. Some adjustments are needed, but this is the first time I've seen the Caps actually outplay an opponent completely these playoffs. I hope they keep it up.

 

[bWo*]

We should start a go fund me so I can go do something else during game time since I've watched every pen goal go in but have only seen the Oshie OT goal

 

[Capsman]

sarcasm? you can't be serious lol

Dead serious. He has little idea of what it takes to win a cup. His approach leaves absolutely no room for error. Zilch. We've seen that for 2 or 3 months against pretty much every team we've played. No team with this talent should be struggling to score goals like this. Whatever strategy he espoused in the first 2 games (not even sure what that was) was idiotic, and he was blind lucky in game 1. Instead of thinking "phew, we lucked out, I need to change things up" he doubled down on what we were doing. One of the biggest differences in our attack tonight was much better angles entering the zone. Better dump ins, better entry passes on the rush. Should not have taken 2 games.

 

[strungout]

I'm not even stressing this. They lose they next game...yeah, maybe a little, but they are going to have to get that first goal and just steamroll these *******.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

MoJo ... man, i wish he had put that shot on net. He had murray beat

I also wish he would have taken that shot at the end there instead of passing it to Carlson. That was a dumb play.

 

[tycoonheart]

The Caps need to shoot earlier (especially from the points) or change the angle with crisp and quick puck movement. They've got a terrible habit of hold the puck stationary just long enough for the defender to get in the lane.

I think they're better at scoring when they hold the puck and are decisive about what they want to do. When they shoot the puck for the sake of shooting the puck, you get game 5 vs philly and game 3 vs pitt.

 

[troyerlaw]

Was it dumb of team to let MoJo come back and play? With the way league seems to hand out punishments, it really does seem as if severity of injury is taken into account, even if league doesn't say so. If MoJo had not returned to game, i think there would have been decent shot of letang sitting 2 games instead of 1 (or instead of a fine, if league really lets him off easy)

 

[SpinningEdge]

Issue with my caps is finishing. They dominated tonight with almost 50 shots and 60 hits. Game against Philly where caps had 44-11 shot lead was another dominating game.

Lost both.

Why did we lose? Lack of finishing and lack of getting dirty goals on offense - and mistakes that are costly on D.

If Caps just play normal defense without stupid AHL type mistakes they're up 2-1 or maybe even 3-0 right now.

 

[kimilol]

They need to somehow start scoring closer to the net. It seems to me a trend where caps shoot from far and goalies can read their shots, happened with neuvirth, happening with Murray. If they do this there should be a player there to rebound, but they have trouble doing simple passes, and bad puck prediction that they fail miserably at this. I know only saw proper rebound in the last goal in this game, otherwise there have been a lot of lazy plays from this team. If they can put the same effort in the first two periods as well, then effort will take them far, otherwise they need to start playing smart and strategically, because they were showing same problems with Philadelphia.

One thing I've noticed is that Pens don't let caps get in the centre offensive zone, but they manage to push caps to the perimeter. Perhaps fixing this. Main thing is they need to improve their passing and stick handling skills, because that's what's causing problems; they're way to slow on passing or they pass without thinking.

 

[txpd]

ok...so what did eddie o and pierre say about the letang hit? was milbury calling letang "this guy"?? the Canadian guys said letang was going to get suspended.

 

[strungout]

Was it dumb of team to let MoJo come back and play? With the way league seems to hand out punishments, it really does seem as if severity of injury is taken into account, even if league doesn't say so. If MoJo had not returned to game, i think there would have been decent shot of letang sitting 2 games instead of 1 (or instead of a fine, if league really lets him off easy)

Naw, **** that. If he's not hurt...he's not hurt.

 

[Acallabeth]

Why did we lose? Lack of finishing and lack of getting dirty goals on offense - and mistakes that are costly on D.

We didn't lack finishing, but actually creating hard moments and challenging their defence and goalie.
And yeah, those damn high risk clears!
The Pens outlucked us today. We've done a great job shutting down Crosby and Malkin, Letang isn't going to play next game, we're a better team. Play like this 3rd period again bext game. Hopefully this goal will help JDub to get out of his slump. AO should lead a way early next game, and Willy should beat the *****es down.

 

[Devil Dancer]

1/3 more of a bottle of good red and 2 episodes of Parks and Rec later, and I feel OK about this. Go take game 4!

Also, there's a small part of me that's still happy whenever Ovie gets 2 points.

 

[txpd]

not even going to the main board where the pen faithful must be saying they got screwed when Letang was called for a the minor penalty. that was a clean shot.

amazing to me that Letang didn't have the good sense to not go head hunting the game immediately after the Orpik hit.

 

[bWo*]

The 3rd gave me some confidence going into the next one. We're on to game 4

 

[Red Dread]

Other than occasional exploited defensive lapses, which ultimately Ied to all Pens goals (with some luck), I don't see too much wrong with tonight's game.

 

[Monsterrain]

A hair over .6 seconds, MJ seemingly uninjured, Pitt the darling of the league, I am thinking we are lucky for 1 game.

The only thing going for us is pressure to do something after the Orpik suspension on a similar play. And of course, Barry's comments about favoritism.

Thinking the same thing.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

Other than occasional exploited defensive lapses, which ultimately Ied to all Pens goals (with some luck), I don't see too much wrong with tonight's game.

Agree but a loss is a loss. We can only lose one more time. I really think game 4 is a must win and I hope they show the same level of desperation that they showed this game.

 

[mrwarden]

ESPN hockey coverage is a joke, but it was interesting listening to them try to cover the series today. Wilbon backed up Trotz and said Pens are known for being the crybabies of the league, while three of the four panelists on around the horn said Orpik's suspension wasn't long enough (because it was the first hockey play they'd ever seen).

 

[artilector]

Very good game overall by the Caps, clearly best game of the series, bodes well if they can sustain it.

Obvious adjustment -- more traffic in front of Murray, he is pretty solid against outside shots that he sees, volume does not really translate. Or shoot low and really crash the net, maybe they were trying this, but not too successfully.

This loss probably made me more optimistic about the series than Game 1 win

 

[Calicaps]

series thread.