Post-Game Talk: G10: Bs @ Caps | 2/1/21 | 7p ET

[Ovie's Neighbor]

It was at the end of a 50 second shift, and McAvoy is their best defenseman. I noticed recently that he has longer shifts than other players. He really needs to cut down his shift duration to remain effective.

It’s always been that way and it annoys the f*** out of me. Trying to stay on that one extra rush to score but then getting caught out too long.

 

[marcel snapshot]

OV has to play, but his minutes need to be limited, Wilson has to be out there with him to counter his immobility (Ovi took that tired slash penalty in the 3rd when Willy was in the box), his shifts have to be short, and his two minute PP shifts have to be forever thrown on the ash heap.

Saw him take one of those saunter around the ice for nearly 2 minutes stroll on our first PP and couldn’t believe it. You can’t maintain zone time on the PP w/o all 5 guys committed to exploiting the man advantage to retrieve pucks and win board battles. Ovi’s commitment on that was marginal. Yes he was tired after 10 days off - so then get off the ice after a minute until you’re at some baseline level of ballpark NHL stamina

 

[Roshi]

So we lost one. Finally some fuel for the doomsday legion in the board. Great..

okok, thats a bad loss, the way it came. It was all Caps for the first half of the game and could had been more than just 3-0 at that point. And the rest of the game wasnt actually that bad either, just lazy enough to let one slip.. But hey, we were due one.

Im not even going to torture myself by reading this game thread through. Im sure the nega-group has already decided that Ovie and the rest of the Russians should get the DeAngelo-tretament, that Vanecek is ECHL goalie, that Lavi cant coach a team to hold their lead, that we suck and propably wont make it to playoffs. And that corona is propably ending the league anyways.

Im fine losing one. Boston is a good team. Just dont make it a habit. Thanks.

Yours Sincerely;
trying to stay positive this year.

 

[ynotcaps]

It’s always been that way and it annoys the f*** out of me. Trying to stay on that one extra rush to score but then getting caught out too long.

At the beginning of the 2nd, announce team said Ovi had most ice team of anyone in the first -- 9.5 minutes! At 35, and second game in 3 nights after 10 days off ice, that was a recipe for disaster by game's end. There was no chance he wouldn't be totally spent by the 3rd.
Lavi's got to be conscious of that, but more importantly, Ovi's got to be disciplined about keeping his shifts "normal."

 

[Midnight Judges]

This team needs to learn how to turtle.

 

[caps4cup]

I don’t think anyone is going to claim Ovie is a great defender, but if you’re suggesting 5’9” falls-over-on-his-own Conor Sheary and Daniel “my defensive lapses got me sent to the AHL” Sprong are harder competitors who make the team tougher to play against than Ovie....


One regulation loss and this place loses its damn mind

I love Ovi, but in the regular season he is not hard to play against at all. Yeah he hits, but if you’re non-existent on the forecheck, not hard on pucks, and struggle getting the puck out, that’s not hard to play against. Physicality is great, but that doesn’t make you hard to play against by itself.

Sheary might be 5’9 and Sprong might not be good defensively either, but they move their feet constantly and hustle. They’re not nearly as strong as Ovi, but they’re constantly putting pressure on other teams by moving their feet on the forecheck, moving their feet through checks, and being a lot more tenacious with their work ethic.

I’m not even trying to bash Ovi. But he clearly holds back more now and doesn’t expend the same amount of effort he used to on a shift to shift basis, which is completely fine. I meant it more as a testament to the guys that stepped in and played well and performed hard. I’m also not overreacting to one loss. I would’ve said this anytime the past few years and if you look at my posts last night, I was not overreacting at all.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Oshie -3 I think he got exposed at center

 

[Coldplay619]

I don't even think we've been playing that well overall.

We've been winning against some ass teams in the Sabres and Islanders.

We also have the third highest PDO in the league with horrid underlying numbers, against a team like Boston that gets exposed.

I'll be interested to see how we hold up over the next few games, should be fun!

 

[Hivemind]

He's better than anyone we currently have.

No, he’s not. Not anymore. There’s a reason he spent the end of last season as a third string goalie for the Rangers, and the Rangers were willing to buy out a franchise legend.

 

[tenken00]

I'm just tired of moving away from what's been working. Up 3-0 midway through the 2nd? Keep on doing what got you to that point. Roll 4 lines to keep everyone fresh. Keep on pressing into their zone. Don't just start trying crazy passes. You have them on the ropes, don't let them off the ropes. A team as offensively dangerous as Boston, Pittsburgh and Buffalo will come back if you let them.

f*** the Miyagi dojo. The best defense that we have right now is our offense. They can't attack us if we are attacking them. All about the Cobra Kai.

 

[koalabear9301]

I feel like our problems so far this season are a lot more fixable than last year's issues were.

 

[caps4cup]

I don't even think we've been playing that well overall.

We've been winning against some ass teams in the Sabres and Islanders.

We also have the third highest PDO in the league with horrid underlying numbers, against a team like Boston that gets exposed.

I'll be interested to see how we hold up over the next few games, should be fun!

Yeah I mean realistically, they haven’t been playing as well as their record indicates but they’ve also dealt with a ton of injuries (and the COVID situation) and have showed great resilience dealing with that. Their structure has also been a lot better than it was under TR, although they’ve had problems with holding leads. Unlikely to hold this current pace they’re at now but I suspect they’ll be playing better hockey as they get healthier and get used to the system a little bit more.

 

[txpd]

I think all the hockey has been sloppy based on what it is. I dont think its exclusive to the Caps for sure. Boston is supposed to be good. So good they got lit up by a team playing like ass for 3-0 leads two games in a row. Thats pretty ass too.

The Caps are barely past preseason game level playing almost split squad games. They have lost 1 game in regulation to the maybe the best team with a goalie that had never played an NHL game before now.

 

[Calicaps]

I don't know (nor am I willing to figure out) the number of guys who've gotten a sweater at least once already this year. Nor do I know the number of games they've played with the full starting roster. But I'm certain the former is large and the latter small.

I am certain we don't know a whole hell of a lot about what this team even really looks like and we won't until guys get healthy and have some time to acclimate to Lavi's system and gel as a stable group. For now I'm just grateful we have the leadership group we do or this team would be dumpster fire after all the injuries and Covid nonsense and not a top point-getter. I am not worried. Not yet, anyway.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don't even think we've been playing that well overall.

We've been winning against some ass teams in the Sabres and Islanders.

We also have the third highest PDO in the league with horrid underlying numbers, against a team like Boston that gets exposed.

I'll be interested to see how we hold up over the next few games, should be fun!

Im curious....up 3-0 were you saying to yourself, “yep we’re getting exposed”? Lol....

popcorn indeed...

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Watching the game right now. Some tips:
- it's funny but txpd will still come out one of these days and say that Jensen is a serviceable defenseman at the NHL level. What's even more funny: there were like 10-15 people just the other day liking posts about how he's been good for this team after a slow start in his Caps tenure. The guy barely can hold his equilibrium the moment someone touches him. I want to see the face of a man who told Maclellan it's a good idea trading for this guy and giving him a 10M bucks contract. Whoever that is he should be a janitor.
- Sprong needs minutes. I don't care about inconsistency, his defense and all this shit, people put up with it from Vrana and Kuzy, nobody gonna die if they'll give Sprong a chance to show what he got in top-6. The guy clearly has some serious skill and balls to pull some creative stuff off. How many of this typa young guys Caps have signed recently?
- Ovechkin needs to not be the highest paid player on this team for it to be relevant. I'll die on this hill.
- Vanecek has some technical deficiencies. Clearly the talent is there but there's obviously a work to be done there and he needs a good goalie coach, not that charlatan they have right now.
- Man I'm a fan of Carlo. B's sure know how to draft the D. If only they'd had that good an eye for forwards they would've already won the cup.
- The defense on all goals has been an absolute abomination. Pastrnak on his second goal could have also called his mom and asked what's for the dinner and still would be all alone in a deadly spot.

This team is like this nice and shiny carriage that turns into a pumpkin once everyone's convinced they're for real.

so to summarize...

Jensen blows....

Sprong doesn’t....

they need a higher paid star than Ovechkin to matter...

More goalie coach blame games...

Caps are a fraud....

 

[Melkor]

so to summarize...

Jensen blows....

Sprong doesn’t....

they need a higher paid star than Ovechkin to matter...

More goalie coach blame games...

Caps are a fraud....

I'm okay with Backstrom being the highest paid player if they reduce Ovechkin's minutes and role and give his current role to someone with legs, hands and hunger.

 

[hb12xchamps]

I'm okay with Backstrom being the highest paid player if they reduce Ovechkin's minutes and role and give his current role to someone with legs, hands and hunger.

Judging by his current fitness level, I’d say his hunger has been more than satisfied...

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

I'm okay with Backstrom being the highest paid player if they reduce Ovechkin's minutes and role and give his current role to someone with legs, hands and hunger.

Ovechkin for $15M x 4 years in Seattle. Every franchise in the Leage will make him an offer. Many offers will be to the north from $12M per year.

 

[ovikovy817]

This is what I meant when I said I want the stars back but they gotta keep up the effort. OV has been so f***ing lazy this whole game.

This guy won the game 3 days ago.

Really dumb fight by Wilson.

Also, Oshie isn't a center.

This. I love Oshie, but he isn't a center. Hopes Kuzya come back asap.


__________

Wilson should never ever fight again in the NHL. Caps lose a 1st line player for 5+ minutes.

You can't blow a 3-0 lead for 2nd time in 3 days.

- for the exagerating fake crowd on TV (nbcsnwa).
fake crowd noise > no fake crowd noise but c'mon . It's not a G7 in the SCF. Too much "reaction" just for a simple shot.

- for the refs too. It's seems offside but by the rules they can't overturn this goal. And Bruins' first goal should never happen.

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

Next time someone scores three goals in a game, do they have a fake machine to throw hats to the ice? It will be nice if they have one. fake throwing machine > no hats on the ice

 

[Melkor]

Judging by his current fitness level, I’d say his hunger has been more than satisfied...

I mean people treat him like a God. The guy feels invincible as far as his status in the lineup and the franchise overall goes. Why wouldn't he be a fat lazy old fart he is right now? I sure would, I don't blame him. It's team management's obligation to keep everyone in check regardless of status.

 

[Roshi]

I mean people treat him like a God. The guy feels invincible as far as his status in the lineup and the franchise overall goes. Why wouldn't he be a fat lazy old fart he is right now? I sure would, I don't blame him. It's team management's obligation to keep everyone in check regardless of status.

Ovie will be fine. He has his slumps every year. He is going to show up when we need him to.

 

[AussieCapsFan]

AHL backup guy is back to his normal mode. No joke can last forewer.

I don't know - you seem to have been around for quite a while....

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don't know - you seem to have been around for quite a while....

That layup was sitting there for sooooo long....