Series Discussion: ECQF: Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs. (LEAF FANS READ OP & POST 67)

[Calicaps]

I'm with you man. Only official jersey i have is a 92-93 bondra jersey. That said laid to rest my mom this past saturday so even that montreal series seems like nothing.

Oh man. I'm so so sorry.

I hope the Caps can give you a tiny reason to smile tonight.

Wishing comfort for you and yours.

 

[TorMapleJays]

Report out of Toronto is holtby was run over in practice and left early. Any updates?

 

[FloridaCap]

Report out of Toronto is holtby was run over in practice and left early. Any updates?

LeBrun said Holtby laughed about it afterwards and said he was fine.

 

[trick9]

I would have agreed with you after the first game when he was largely invisible, but after a game in which our first line frequently stuck the Leafs in their own zone for minutes at a time?

Regardless, he's your captain and best player. Win or lose with him playing, not sitting on the bench. And I'm actually kind of on-board with not playing him at 4on4 on the road.

Early in the game, sure.

Good 5 minutes is hardly enough to win these series. After that good 5-minute stretch they were often hemmed in their own zone. They were also the line that was on the ice when Matthews scored and got the Leafs the momentum in the 1st period. They lost the momentum again when they fumbled that 5-on-3 chance and then afterwards that 5-on-4 chance to take the momentum back. Ovechkin, Backstrom and Oshie all played 3 of those 4 minutes with nothing to show for it. To top it all of, after resting from those PP shifts we all know what happened right in their next shift. Hemmed in the D zone for a long shift, failed to clear the puck and another goal against.

That's hardly enough from the line that has our 3 best forwards in it.

 

[FloridaCap]

Early in the game, sure.

Good 5 minutes is hardly enough to win these series. After that good 5-minute stretch they were often hemmed in their own zone. They were also the line that was on the ice when Matthews scored and got the Leafs the momentum in the 1st period. They lost the momentum again when they fumbled that 5-on-3 chance and then afterwards that 5-on-4 chance to take the momentum back. Ovechkin, Backstrom and Oshie all played 3 of those 4 minutes with nothing to show for it. To top it all of, after resting from those PP shifts we all know what happened right in their next shift. Hemmed in the D zone for a long shift, failed to clear the puck and another goal against.

That's hardly enough from the line that has our 3 best forwards in it.

Let's be honest with the Matthews goal, it was a complete fluke. A blocked shot off the side of Schmidt's head right back onto Matthews' tape like 3ft from the goal.

But while I can agree with you about some of that, even if they aren't playing well it's never a good idea to sit them in favor of FAR inferior players. Win with your best, lose with your best.

 

[jsykes]

No one is playing up to their standards. The entire Toronto team is outplaying the Caps right now. They want it more and obviously have no pressure on them to win since they werent supposed to in the first place.

They are capitalizing on their chances we arent. In both the OT loses we had several chances to win the game. In a few Anderson made the huge save (which Holtby isnt making) and in a few others, we simply blew it. Kuzy, waiting for Anderson to get out of position and then hitting the post is a prime example.

Anderson is playing a great game, keeping his team in it until they get an opportunity, then they're making it happen. We're not doing any of that.

Anderson has been great, Hotlby has been good.

Their forechecking has been great and created chances, ours has not.

Their forwards are hitting the net when they need to, ours are not.

Its that simple. Any team lesser than the Caps would be being rolled over by now, the mere fact they have the talent they do is keeping them in the games. Now they need to pick it up. Hopefully being down a game gets their heads out of their butts and wakes them up.

 

[RandyHolt]

LeBrun said Holtby laughed about it afterwards and said he was fine.

Didn't he say the same thing a year ago, after a practice collision?

He smiled at a reporter or some ****, and so we all thought he was fine. In Philly with Hive our beat reporter MIA.

And then we found out he was injured after we were eliminated.

 

[Demandedace]

Let's be honest with the Matthews goal, it was a complete fluke. A blocked shot off the side of Schmidt's head right back onto Matthews' tape like 3ft from the goal.

But while I can agree with you about some of that, even if they aren't playing well it's never a good idea to sit them in favor of FAR inferior players. Win with your best, lose with your best.

Agreed, we have been on the wrong side of some weird luck (that goal is the first thing that comes to mind). Seems like we usually are on the bad side of this kind of thing, maybe that means we are due for a change??

 

[trick9]

Let's be honest with the Matthews goal, it was a complete fluke. A blocked shot off the side of Schmidt's head right back onto Matthews' tape like 3ft from the goal.

But while I can agree with you about some of that, even if they aren't playing well it's never a good idea to sit them in favor of FAR inferior players. Win with your best, lose with your best.

Most of the Leafs have goals have been fluke ones. That one. Goal of Orpik's ass. JvR's shot that bounced off of several guys. Puck bouncing from 2 different skates right to Kapanen in game 2. Crazy bounce from the side of the net right to Marner in G1. Insanely bad luck on the Capitals, on top of the chances they've had that somehow didn't go in.

No real reason to lose hope for me to be honest. Leafs are bound to run out of luck eventually, and that's when the Capitals should take over. If the worst happens and Leafs continue to get all the lucky bounces and win the series, then that's just yet another reason to believe that this team is just cursed. Hard to be that mad that one team just gets 90% of the lucky bounces and goals. The case of that Rangers -series again where they scored propably over half of their goals from crazy bounces by shots from behind the net.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Most of the Leafs have goals have been fluke ones. That one. Goal of Orpik's ass. JvR's shot that bounced off of several guys. Puck bouncing from 2 different skates right to Kapanen in game 2. Crazy bounce from the side of the net right to Marner in G1. Insanely bad luck on the Capitals, on top of the chances they've had that somehow didn't go in.

No real reason to lose hope for me to be honest. Leafs are bound to run out of luck eventually, and that's when the Capitals should take over. If the worst happens and Leafs continue to get all the lucky bounces and win the series, then that's just yet another reason to believe that this team is just cursed. Hard to be that mad that one team just gets 90% of the lucky bounces and goals. The case of that Rangers -series again where they scored propably over half of their goals from crazy bounces by shots from behind the net.

Our luck isn't the best. I'll always remember the Kuhnhackl goal last year where a pass was deflected up by Backstrom, off Kuhnhackl's back and in the net. That or innocent looking plays like Weber mishandling a soft pass by Sheary and putting it straight on Hornqvist's tape for the OT winner.

We can ask ourselves: How come the teams we're facing score fluky goals like that all the time against us in the playoffs and we don't? I think it's a sign we need to get to the front of the net and score goals like Williams' goal on the 5vs3 in game 1, where Shattenkirk's shot became a perfect pass for Oshie due to the stick breaking.

 

[FloridaCap]

Our luck isn't the best. I'll always remember the Kuhnhackl goal last year where a pass was deflected up by Backstrom, off Kuhnhackl's back and in the net. That or innocent looking plays like Weber mishandling a soft pass by Sheary and putting it straight on Hornqvist's tape for the OT winner.

We can ask ourselves: How come the teams we're facing score fluky goals like that all the time against us in the playoffs and we don't? I think it's a sign we need to get to the front of the net and score goals like Williams' goal on the 5vs3 in game 1, where Shattenkirk's shot became a perfect pass for Oshie due to the stick breaking.

That goal is forever burned into my brain. I still laugh hysterically about it like twice a week.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Most of the Leafs have goals have been fluke ones. That one. Goal of Orpik's ass. JvR's shot that bounced off of several guys. Puck bouncing from 2 different skates right to Kapanen in game 2. Crazy bounce from the side of the net right to Marner in G1. Insanely bad luck on the Capitals, on top of the chances they've had that somehow didn't go in.

No real reason to lose hope for me to be honest. Leafs are bound to run out of luck eventually, and that's when the Capitals should take over. If the worst happens and Leafs continue to get all the lucky bounces and win the series, then that's just yet another reason to believe that this team is just cursed. Hard to be that mad that one team just gets 90% of the lucky bounces and goals. The case of that Rangers -series again where they scored propably over half of their goals from crazy bounces by shots from behind the net.

Doesn't this **** always happen to the Caps in the playoffs, though? Last year Daley had a deciding goal that hit off of Alzner's shinpad and dribbled through Holtby's legs. The Kuhnhackl goal. Also the goal where Weber deflected the puck right to a waiting Hornqvist for the OT game winer. Kreider's goal in G5 with a minute left two years ago that deflected off of Orpik to tie it. The Stepan G7 winner on a point shot that was aimed at Holtby's glove side and caromed to the opposite circle to a wide open Stepan. I remember a goal against the Rangers in G7 one year that banked off of Green's skate and went through Holtby's legs. Every year it's the same, "well, the other team can't keep getting these lucky bounces." Maybe it's not luck? Maybe that's how you win in the playoffs, by just throwing everything and everyone at the net, and the Caps, for whatever reason, are incapable of and/or unwilling to put themselves in position to be that "lucky."

 

[RandyHolt]

You create those chances by not prioritize cycling in the corner, and feebly trying to tire out defensemen (somehow, while not tiring ourselves out).

Funnel everything to the net, players and pucks, and then the luck may turn.

Like the OT winner - high slot tip. Don't always blindly throw pucks at the net, throw it at the guy crashing the net, too.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Doesn't this **** always happen to the Caps in the playoffs, though? Last year Daley had a deciding goal that hit off of Alzner's shinpad and dribbled through Holtby's legs. The Kuhnhackl goal. Also the goal where Weber deflected the puck right to a waiting Hornqvist for the OT game winer. Kreider's goal in G5 with a minute left two years ago that deflected off of Orpik to tie it. I remember a goal against the Rangers in G7 one year that banked off of Green's skate and went through Holtby's legs. Every year it's the same, "well, the other team can't keep getting these lucky bounces." Maybe it's not luck? Maybe that's how you win in the playoffs, by just throwing everything and everyone at the net, and the Caps, for whatever reason, are incapable of and/or unwilling to put themselves in position to be that "lucky."

We had one guy who has a reputation as a playoff beast and I believe he has never scored a playoff goal for us outside the blue paint. He went to the net, kept collecting rebounds, deflecting shots in and getting weird bounces. I'm talking about Joel Ward.

We need at least one guy on each line to crash the net hard and cash in on rebounds. The Leafs' D doesn't have a lot of muscle, we can get to the loose change in the blue paint. Have either Oshie or Ovechkin crash the net on the first, Williams on the second, Wilson on the 3rd and all the 4th liners have to play around the net.

There's only one guy on this team who can snipe goals in the playoffs, and even he needs to crash the net if he wants to score more.

 

[kicksavedave]

Our luck isn't the best. I'll always remember the Kuhnhackl goal last year where a pass was deflected up by Backstrom, off Kuhnhackl's back and in the net. That or innocent looking plays like Weber mishandling a soft pass by Sheary and putting it straight on Hornqvist's tape for the OT winner.

We can ask ourselves: How come the teams we're facing score fluky goals like that all the time against us in the playoffs and we don't? I think it's a sign we need to get to the front of the net and score goals like Williams' goal on the 5vs3 in game 1, where Shattenkirk's shot became a perfect pass for Oshie due to the stick breaking.

Vince Lombardi once said "Luck is the residue of hard work".

The Leafs are flat outworking the Caps, they deserve and are earning the lucky bounces. They're making more effort to be around the puck in the right places. If the Caps were outworking the Leafs instead, then those bounces would be evening out for the Caps.

As long as the Caps continue to think that their problem is just bad luck, they'll never make their own luck.

 

[Langway]

http://www.japersrink.com/2017/4/19...er-pressure-fives-hole-and-mindset-adjustment

Over the course of the regular season, no team allowed fewer five-on-five goals than the Caps (112, per Corsica.hockey). In fact, since Barry Trotz took over behind the Caps’ bench, no team has surrendered fewer in a season (the closest was L.A.’s 121 in 2015-16).

In the playoffs so far, however, it’s been a different story, as none of the teams that has played just three game has surrendered more tallies at fives than the Caps (8). Part of that is random variance (a.k.a. “luckâ€), especially in the small second-season sample. Then again, their score- and venue-adjusted shots-against rate (CA60) is up a whopping 32 percent, from the circuit’s third-best regular season mark of 51.5 to a League-worst 68.1 in the playoffs. And that’s not just the worst rate in this year’s playoffs, it’s the worst since the start of the 2013-14 season. (All of those numbers via Corsica.)

 

[Midnight Judges]

I respect data and all that, but this isn't luck. The defense has played like total crapola and Trotz has been severely out-schemed. Again.

 

[Portable Mink]

bush league officiating and more clover luck. we won, but it didnt feel very much like a win.

Hope we hurricane the crap out of them next game.

 

[Ridley Simon]

It felt exactly like a win.

Caps are playing a lot of demons here. They beat a lot of them. Lead by Oshie and Wilson. Feels good....let it flow.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

It wasn't pretty but they got the job done.

Series is now 2-2. Best of 3. Two of them are in Washington.

Just come at them hard in game 5 and pound them. Toronto will break.

Let's go Caps!!!

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

It wasn't pretty but they got the job done.

Series is now 2-2. Best of 3. Two of them are in Washington.

Just come at them hard in game 5 and pound them. Toronto will break.

Let's go Caps!!!

If we win game 5, we win game 6 as well IMO. Can't imagine what the pressure would be on these young Leafs returning home on the brink of elimination.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Have to imagine the Leafs will begin to wear down and the Caps, hopefully, will get stronger. That's why tonight was so vital. Continue to wear down the young kids and hopefully they stop getting three or four deflections every game.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

I'm with you man. Only official jersey i have is a 92-93 bondra jersey. That said laid to rest my mom this past saturday so even that montreal series seems like nothing.

My condolences to you and your family for your loss. I lost my father during the Winter Olympics of 2010 and suddenly that and the rest of the hockey reason didn't mean anything.

May you find peace, strength and comfort in this troublesome time.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Have to imagine the Leafs will begin to wear down and the Caps, hopefully, will get stronger. That's why tonight was so vital. Continue to wear down the young kids and hopefully they stop getting three or four deflections every game.

If we clear the front of the net and let Holtby deal with the point shots, that will take a lot of the Leafs' offense away. Nobody on that Leafs blue line has a cannon slap shot from the point that Holtby couldn't handle. If we clean that up, we're good. I felt our transition was back tonight, and so was the forecheck.

Ovi had a great game, did all the little things on the forecheck, defensively and scored a big PP goal early.

 

[Bananas]

Who-weeeeeeee!!

Anyone care to argue with me that Eller is more important to protect than Wilson?