Post-Game Talk: Caps vs Panthers 5:00 PM EST

[IafrateOvie34]

It's still relatively early in the season. Only thing I'm worried about is that our top guys would burn out before the playoffs. There is still a lot of hockey to play and they are relied upon heavily.

I say this every year, except for 2016, 17, and 18. I feel this year is one of those, hopefully 2018. Lots of hockey or not, this team had no chance the past few years. There was no hunger, nothing. They have it going now.

 

[ClevelandCapsfan]

Something is wrong. There is no intent to injure thread on the mains about Tom Wilson after running over Bob. I dont understand.

Watched replay and it appeared Bob took an on-contact dive that would make an NFL punter proud.

 

[twabby]

What a pleasure it is to watch Ovechkin!

I want to give a shout out to John Carlson as well. He’s been playing some excellent hockey as of late. On top of his points, he and Fehervary have been the best pairing on the team in terms of driving play (not that the other pairs have been bad).

This is a winning formula, moreso than they have had since their Cup win. There’s not a team in the league where I’d say Washington isn’t at least even against. It should be a great game against Carolina on Sunday!

 

[txpd]

Watched replay and it appeared Bob took an on-contact dive that would make an NFL punter proud.

I dont think there was anything on Wilson in that contact and even if it was a dive in the past there would be a thread. In this case, though, the guy was yanked off the ice for concussion protocols, so, if it was a dive, the joke was on him

 

[twabby]

Someone let @Raikkonen know that I have removed my shaky avatar. I’m not sure you can receive PMs from ignored users, otherwise I’d just PM him.

I wasn’t thinking of issues that type of avatar would cause and I apologize for it.

 

[Capsman]

By the way, giving Kuzy some PK time is a fantastic decision by Lavi.

Let’s not forget they Reirdan tried this once and it failed spectacularly. A lot of the credit goes to Kuzy for working harder and improving his game.

 

[Carlzner]

3 point night for NHL superstar Tom Wilson

 

[um]

Let’s not forget they Reirdan tried this once and it failed spectacularly. A lot of the credit goes to Kuzy for working harder and improving his game.

Maybe it’s also because our coaching staff are better teachers.

I think it’s a bit of both.

 

[um]

Watched replay and it appeared Bob took an on-contact dive that would make an NFL punter proud.

I don’t think it was a dive. Goalies are never prepared for collisions and they always look awkward going down with those big pads.

 

[Firsov99]

Let’s not forget they Reirdan tried this once and it failed spectacularly. A lot of the credit goes to Kuzy for working harder and improving his game.

Both Lavi and Kuzy should share the credit then. The team benefits from this immensely.

 

[amjay13]

Special time to be a Caps fan. The Ovi goal chase and a top 5 team despite numerous injuries. Enjoy it, we have been lucky as a fan base to watch this all unfold the last 15 years.

 

[Kg810]

What are the chances of Protas sticking on the top line and top pp? He looked good and made some nice passes.

Backstrom practicing in a non contact indicates he should be right around the corner.

Do we know how severe Oshie's new injury is?

 

[txpd]

What are the chances of Protas sticking on the top line and top pp? He looked good and made some nice passes.

Backstrom practicing in a non contact indicates he should be right around the corner.

Do we know how severe Oshie's new injury is?

Sticking on the first line? Wilson goes back as soon as Sheary or Oshie return. He is off pp1 as soon as currently injured pp1 players return.
This is the NHL. We have no idea when players will return and how severe their injury might be.

 

[txpd]

Special time to be a Caps fan. The Ovi goal chase and a top 5 team despite numerous injuries. Enjoy it, we have been lucky as a fan base to watch this all unfold the last 15 years.

We keep expecting it to crash and burn. Every season is going to be the one. It never happens. The more people are convinced the better they turn out to be.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

I don’t think it was a dive. Goalies are never prepared for collisions and they always look awkward going down with those big pads.

I don't think it was either. We've seen many men bounce off Willy just like he did.

 

[Bananas]

Animals. Love these guys. Always have. Always will.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Watched replay and it appeared Bob took an on-contact dive that would make an NFL punter proud.

totally tried to sell that didn’t he? Don’t get me wrong, there was contact, but he tried to help the spill.

 

[um]

totally tried to sell that didn’t he? Don’t get me wrong, there was contact, but he tried to help the spill.

It’s hard to take a hit with goalie gear on, and it always looks awkward when they fall.

 

[um]

Sticking on the first line? Wilson goes back as soon as Sheary or Oshie return. He is off pp1 as soon as currently injured pp1 players return.
This is the NHL. We have no idea when players will return and how severe their injury might be.

It’s hard to believe that Sheary has his spot locked on PP1. He’s only had it for 15ish games and our PP sucked the whole time.

 

[IvanMalison]

Wilson at #23 in points league wide. Tied for #7 (8 ways With Kuzy) in even strength points.

Our top line is hands down the best in the NHL, save for maybe McDrai (but they aren't really actually together for most of the game). Funnily enough, they didn't even play together tonight...

Wilson's passing this year has been insanely good. He's a legitimate top line talent.

 

[Midnight Judges]

What a pleasure it is to watch Ovechkin!

I want to give a shout out to John Carlson as well. He’s been playing some excellent hockey as of late. On top of his points, he and Fehervary have been the best pairing on the team in terms of driving play (not that the other pairs have been bad).

This is a winning formula, moreso than they have had since their Cup win. There’s not a team in the league where I’d say Washington isn’t at least even against. It should be a great game against Carolina on Sunday!

Carlson has had a couple le bad plays in the past several games, but yeah overall quite good.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Extremely unfair to Protas IMO. Any old warm body wouldn’t look good.

Let’s give the kid some credit.

Watch Protas closely - dude is winning board battles through hard work and big body strength. He's not nearly as good as Wilson but he's a good fit on that line, and it frees up Wilson to help out on another line that needs it.

But yeah when this team is somewhat healthy you can put Wilson on the top line and it's among the best lines in the NHL.

 

[usiel]

I know its early and could come back and haunt me but I think Protas is just a bit better at the board battles/puck possession in the viewings so far, imho. Plus he's a better passer/hockey sense than Wilson. Always bugged me how often Willy just falls down in those board battles. Protas's average speed is surprisingly not that big a deal. Carolina will be interesting on Sunday that top line is really fast.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Wilson at #23 in points league wide. Tied for #7 (8 ways With Kuzy) in even strength points.

Our top line is hands down the best in the NHL, save for maybe McDrai (but they aren't really actually together for most of the game). Funnily enough, they didn't even play together tonight...

Wilson's passing this year has been insanely good. He's a legitimate top line talent.

I’m not sure we can say they’re hands down the best top line in the NHL but they are playing some terrific hockey. Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen or Marchand-Bergeron-Pasta are two of the top lines in the NHL for me, plus you have Point-Kucherov and normally Palat or throw on Stamkos in Tampa. Regardless, yes, our top line is playing dominant hockey.

I can’t say enough good things about Kuznetsov. He is terrific. Some of the plays he made on the PK tonight made it look like he’s been doing it for years. Really fun watching him enjoy playing the game again, I honestly think he’s one of the 10-15 most dominant players in the league when he’s at his best. Very few guys can play the game at the pace they want to play it at whenever they get the puck and time seems to slow down when Kuzy has it.

 

[max21]

Wild day for us yesterday got in a pretty decent accident otw to the game. Some idiot slammed on the brakes in front of us on the HRBT because some caution lights came on signaling an over height truck. But all in all made it to the game and witnessed an Ovi hat trick, it was epic. Also first time seeing the new Jumbotron, that thing is massive.