Post-Game Talk: Caps vs. Flyers

[ChibiPooky]

Am I the only one who thought Niskanen's penalty was legit?

Wilson wasn't aggressive at all tonight. He may have passed concussion protocol, but he's clearly rattled. I'd sit him for a game in favor of Latta.

 

[Dream Big]

Am I the only one who thought Niskanen's penalty was legit?

Wilson wasn't aggressive at all tonight. He may have passed concussion protocol, but he's clearly rattled. I'd sit him for a game in favor of Latta.

Niskanen's skate hooked/tapped/pushed whatever you call it, the Philly player's skate. Whether intentional or not it did cause the other player to fall. Sometime it gets called and sometimes it doesn't.

 

[trick9]

Am I the only one who thought Niskanen's penalty was legit?

Wilson wasn't aggressive at all tonight. He may have passed concussion protocol, but he's clearly rattled. I'd sit him for a game in favor of Latta.

I wouldn't say that he wasn't aggressive but he didn't have a good game, but then again very few players did. 4th line seemed to be held on their own zone alot and Wilson is much more effective on the forecheck.

He did have 2 big hits and pretty good tip-in attempt while playing only ~6 minutes.

At the start of the 3rd period Wilson was actually playing at times on the 3rd line while Ward got demoted to the 4th line. That didn't last long though as Wilson (and Bura?) got benched again late in the game.

Ward needs to start playing again. He has 1+1 in the last 13 games and he looks like a completely different player from last season (or early this season). Disinterested, makes bad decisions on the own zone and can't keep up with the tempo.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Didn't see the 2nd or 3rd. Sounds like I didn't miss much. 3/4 points on the road in back to backs is nothing to complain about, but I like Trotz saying he didn't like how we played the last two games. We're not nearly good enough to think we can just show up and win. Hoping for a better effort on Saturday. Every game is a big game from here on out.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Didn't see the 2nd or 3rd. Sounds like I didn't miss much. 3/4 points on the road in back to backs is nothing to complain about, but I like Trotz saying he didn't like how we played the last two games. We're not nearly good enough to think we can just show up and win. Hoping for a better effort on Saturday. Every game is a big game from here on out.

2nd might have been the worst period of the season. 3rd was much better.

 

[g00n]

Am I the only one who thought Niskanen's penalty was legit?

Wilson wasn't aggressive at all tonight. He may have passed concussion protocol, but he's clearly rattled. I'd sit him for a game in favor of Latta.

I thought it was a penalty and an uncalled dive. Seeing a lot of that.

 

[BobRouse]

Tough game. Bad first 2 periods but the 3rd was much better.

The guy did embellish pretty good in OT but is you have your stick where Niskanen's was positioned you're going to get called.

4th straight OT loss on a PP goal. ughhh

Can't win them all.

Must let Burakovsky, Wilson, and Kuznetsov go through the growing pains. Stick with them as they are going to be inconsistent. Hallmark of young players.

 

[HunterSThompson]

Am I the only one who thought Niskanen's penalty was legit?

Wilson wasn't aggressive at all tonight. He may have passed concussion protocol, but he's clearly rattled. I'd sit him for a game in favor of Latta.

It wasn't a clear cut call, but I don't prescribe to the thought that they should change the way they call penalties at the end of games, in OT, if penalties are lopsided, or if they made a bad call.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Regarding the referees last night, thought they took the easy low hanging fruit approach through out the game:
- Too many men on the ice - easy call
- player falls after contact with an opponent - must be a penalty-tripping
- delay of game - puck goes over glass
While ignoring the interference calls and the impact such infractions were having on the game's flow.

Still though, the Caps were just out muscled and out hustled last night.

 

[amjay13]

Alzner goal changed to Backstrom from Alzner and Green.

Green is starting to rack up some points, 23 in 32 games I think.

 

[BobRouse]

Alzner goal changed to Backstrom from Alzner and Green.

Green is starting to rack up some points, 23 in 32 games I think.

That sweet move before the Alzner goal. Wow! The whole crowed gasped and so did Joe B. No other NHL dman could have done that. Keeping that puck in the zone led directly to the Alzner goal a few seconds later. Also sweet pass to Ovie.

Got it taken away by that lead to Flyers first goal however. He was our best dman last night. Orpik and Carlson were way off their games as was Niskanen.


Also I'm with BiPolar. Caps just got outhustled and outmuscled.

The Refs missed the slash on Johansson and one on Burakovsky. But they also missed an obvious too many men on us too.

They weren't perfect but they weren't bad and by no means were they a factor in why we lost.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Alzner goal changed to Backstrom from Alzner and Green.

Green is starting to rack up some points, 23 in 32 games I think.

It's definitely Backstrom's goal. I actually don't think it was a good goal because physically it was just under the crossbar. To get that downward trajectory, it would have had to been hit from above.

But whatevs. Call on the ice was a goal and there's not enough evidence to turn it over.

 

[HunterSThompson]

Alzner goal changed to Backstrom from Alzner and Green.

Green is starting to rack up some points, 23 in 32 games I think.

Interesting what happens when you have offensive defensemen engage in the offensive zone.

 

[BobRouse]

Interesting what happens when you have offensive defensemen engage in the offensive zone.

Or allowed to cross the red line with the puck on his stick and not have to pass it within 2 strides. Hunterhockey and Oates for you.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Must let Burakovsky, Wilson, and Kuznetsov go through the growing pains. Stick with them as they are going to be inconsistent. Hallmark of young players.

You're probably right but Wilson is really flailing around out there right now. He's taking some big hits.

 

[BobRouse]

You're probably right but Wilson is really flailing around out there right now. He's taking some big hits.

At the beginning of the season Kuznetsov "sucked", Bura was awesome and Wilson meh.

Then Wilson fit like a "glove" on the first line, Bura should be playing over Kuz and Kuz was still lost.

Now Bura "sucks", Wilson is "Rinaldo" and Kuznetsov has "figured it out!"


Expect more peaks and valleys from each of these guys. Wilson will be fine. Power forwards can take a long time to develop and on a deep team with playoff aspirations it could take much longer since he won't be afforded the ice time he needs.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

At the beginning of the season Kuznetsov "sucked", Bura was awesome and Wilson meh.

Then Wilson fit like a "glove" on the first line, Bura should be playing over Kuz and Kuz was still lost.

Now Bura "sucks", Wilson is "Rinaldo" and Kuznetsov has "figured it out!"


Expect more peaks and valleys from each of these guys. Wilson will be fine. Power forwards can take a long time to develop and on a deep team with playoff aspirations it could take much longer since he won't be afforded the ice time he needs.

It's amazing how Laviolette has been able to coax steady production and improvement out of Forsberg by not doing things like moving him around the lineup, benching him when he's playing well and playing him out of position.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

It's amazing how Laviolette has been able to coax steady production and improvement out of Forsberg by not doing things like moving him around the lineup, benching him when he's playing well and playing him out of position.

I wanted Lavi here, and think he has a better development track record than Trotz, but you have to take into account that Forsberg already had a much more mature game than any of our young players and spent that valuable year in the AHL. He's a more consistent player by nature.

 

[Hivemind]

Wanted Laviolette here as well (I even went so far as to suggest getting him when he fired, which was while Oates was still the popular Ovechkin-whisperer). I also agree that claiming Lavi developed Forsberg into the player he is now is disingenuous.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

I wanted Lavi here, and think he has a better development track record than Trotz, but you have to take into account that Forsberg already had a much more mature game than any of our young players and spent that valuable year in the AHL. He's a more consistent player by nature.

Wilson had a full NHL season.
Kuznetsov had an NHL cup of coffee plus a couple years as a pro.

Burakovsky almost looks like he's being intentionally mismanaged.

Maybe Forsberg is more mature (read Swedish) but a large part of the difference is the huge contrast in how these young players are being managed by their coaches.

Wanted Laviolette here as well (I even went so far as to suggest getting him when he fired, which was while Oates was still the popular Ovechkin-whisperer). I also agree that claiming Lavi developed Forsberg into the player he is now is disingenuous.

I'm not saying Lavi turned him into the player he is today, but he's been playing with the same linemates, at his natural position and his icetime has been rigidly managed...not too much, not too little. I think that's had a tremendous effect on his performance and especially his consistency.

 

[BobRouse]

It's amazing how Laviolette has been able to coax steady production and improvement out of Forsberg by not doing things like moving him around the lineup, benching him when he's playing well and playing him out of position.

I agree. The knock on Trotz was his handling of young players and so far that reputation seems well earned. He's a quality coach but he's not perfect.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Wilson had a full NHL season.
Kuznetsov had an NHL cup of coffee plus a couple years as a pro.

Burakovsky almost looks like he's being intentionally mismanaged.

Maybe Forsberg is more mature (read Swedish) but a large part of the difference is the huge contrast in how these young players are being managed by their coaches.

Wilson had a full NHL season under a head coach who caused just about every player to regress and played like 5 minutes a game.

NHL cup of coffee + KHL is far different (and inferior, IMO) from NHL cup of coffee + AHL. It's also looking right now like Kuznetsov's development approach is working.

I'm not crazy about what they're doing with Burakovsky, but not because I think he should be higher in the lineup. I think he should be in Hershey.

I think the maturity of Forsberg's game has more to do with how he was coached prior to his NA pro stint. Playing professionally in Sweden gives a player that more mature game than playing in the KHL or Canadian juniors.

 

[troyerlaw]

Must let Burakovsky, Wilson, and Kuznetsov go through the growing pains. Stick with them as they are going to be inconsistent. Hallmark of young players.

This

 

[BobRouse]

I'm not saying Lavi turned him into the player he is today, but he's been playing with the same linemates, at his natural position and his icetime has been rigidly managed...not too much, not too little. I think that's had a tremendous effect on his performance and especially his consistency.

I thought Forberg played a dozen games or so last year and was rather unspectacular under Trotz? Lots of factors with that tho so who knows.

What I do know is lets look at Green and Backstrom under Hanlon. Both were giving limited ice time in limited situations.

Boudreau took over an both went on a tear. I don't think that was a coincidence.

Boudreau always had a mindset of let the youngsters play and learn from their mistakes. Trotz is more traditional and conservative. He doesn't seem to have much tolerance for growing pains.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Wilson had a full NHL season under a head coach who caused just about every player to regress and played like 5 minutes a game.

NHL cup of coffee + KHL is far different (and inferior, IMO) from NHL cup of coffee + AHL. It's also looking right now like Kuznetsov's development approach is working.

I'm not crazy about what they're doing with Burakovsky, but not because I think he should be higher in the lineup. I think he should be in Hershey.

I think the maturity of Forsberg's game has more to do with how he was coached prior to his NA pro stint. Playing professionally in Sweden gives a player that more mature game than playing in the KHL or Canadian juniors.

He also apparently worked out and studied like a maniac this offseason, so that speaks to a maturity that can't really be taught. Pity our pro-scouting wasn't able to see all this while he was under team control.