Post-Game Talk: "I guarantee a win tonight vs the Avs: 9:07PM"

[troyerlaw]

Avs fan here, curious what separates this Caps team from the dominant one that got Halak'd seasons ago? Asking in terms to see what The Avs need to change to get this good. Obviously a lot of you will say Roy, but this teams problems run much deeper than him. He's been a problem, but so has everyone else as well. Everyone deserves blame, it's so frustrating to see your team so close, but yet so far away.

Just defense. Seems like they need to add two legit D-men. They have loads of talent up front and between pipes (Varlamov). They don't actually seem that far away. On paper anyway. But it doesn't help to be in Western Conference. Lots of strong teams there this year.

 

[pezpunk]

Avs fan here, curious what separates this Caps team from the dominant one that got Halak'd seasons ago?

the short answer is defense.
2009-2010:
- 1st in goals for,
- 1st in power play scoring
- 16th in goals against
- 27th in penalty kill

2015-2016:
- 2nd in goals for
- 1st in power play scoring
- 1st in goals against
- 4th in penalty kill

that 09/10 team was all about scoring buttloads of goals. just scoring faster than the other team could. there wasn't much defense or systemic discipline, and personnel-wise there was a severe lack of depth, especially on the defense. several players who had no business playing in the NHL. those caps were also not very big and tough.

this year's team is really well balanced. they score at a good pace, but they also have a serious, disciplined, deep defense. they play a much more responsible style. they are also a lot bigger and tougher than that team.

 

[ovikovy817]

Before the first goal, I was like "yeah of course it's against us, the former goalie Varly has to go on a beast mode"
5 posts? really?
What a CLEAN, LEGAL hit by #43

Congrats everyone with the franchise record
And finally, I hope Holtby can get 2 more W, but I hope he will not play tonight and against Ducks. So 2 W vs Isles, Pens, Blues.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

The Wilson hit made my year and this has been one ride so far. I can't wait for the playoffs.

Go Caps!

 

[HecticGlow]

I asked a few weeks ago about who would take top-6 Center in the terrifying scenario that Kuzy or Backs went down - I'm comfortable we now have an answer. Despite not scoring, MJ's been a strong player of late, strong on C and LW and at least competent on RW. I was surprised Trotz went 8-90-77 instead of 8-92-77, given Kuzy was centering the first line the previous game and had a good spell with Ovi and Oshie at the start of the season, but I think JoJo did a good job. Trotz and GMBM have talked a lot about the need for depth - for me, JoJo, Richards and Beags give this team serious flexibility and versatility.

I really hope Trotz considers something like flipping Backstrom and JoJo mid-game if Backs is having a bad/uninspired night. I think we're going to see a lot of mid-game line switching going on during the playoffs even in good games, just like last night with Carlson regularly playing with both Schmidt and Orpik.

Is it just me, or is Schmidt finding his groove again?

It's really good to see Bura holding his own in the top six, too. Remember how he was skating around aimlessly at the start of the season? Not any more. And Galiev's looking stronger with every rep he gets.

Good game, let's just hope they all spend a little longer working on shot accuracy in training for a couple of weeks.

 

[Blades of Steel]

mojo did well because the Avs gave him space, they were very soft and collapsing. backstrom is still superior of a choice over mojo.

also on holts,
if he wins 1 more he should own the record anyway for doing it in far less games.

 

[txpd]

on vacation. no chance to see the game. can someone post the Wilson hit. Please

 

[arlcapsfan]

http://kuklaskorner.com/hockey/comm...zadorov?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Blades of Steel]

on vacation. no chance to see the game. can someone post the Wilson hit. Please

http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2016/04/01/tom-wilsons-giant-hit-on-nikita-zadorov/


also here, better video
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/gotta-see-wilsons-lays-huge-hit-zadorov/


one could say wilson gave payback, go to 2:43

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4OsRqZnFNI

 

[Raikkonen]

The sense of urgency!

I mean, playing with much better teams lately made them playing better indeed. Once they had an easy opponent (Avs) the difference was obvious.

I won't jump to conclusions too. Next.

PS: Holtby has 3 days for the rest after Ari. I think he will play. The only thing concerning me about Holtby is that he's run by the opponents too much last weeks.

 

[NoMoreChoking]

One thing that I will say about this years team compared to the others that have choked in the past is that even when Ovi doesn't score, we still win

In the past, if we scored 4 goals, there is a good chance that Ovi had 2 of them.

Now, there have been many games we score 3-4 goals and Ovi has not scored

That's huge. Also might be a difference maker come playoff time

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

]Avs fan here, curious what separates this Caps team from the dominant one that got Halak'd seasons ago?[/B] Asking in terms to see what The Avs need to change to get this good. Obviously a lot of you will say Roy, but this teams problems run much deeper than him. He's been a problem, but so has everyone else as well. Everyone deserves blame, it's so frustrating to see your team so close, but yet so far away.

1. Defense:

The 2016 Caps are 1st in GA in the league, while the 2010 Caps were 16th in the league.

Defensemen used in 2010: John Carlson (rookie), Tom Poti, Mike Green, Joe Corvo, Jeff Schultz, Shaone Morrisonn

Defensemen used in 2016: John Carlson, Brooks Orpik, Karl Alzner, Matt Niskanen, Dmitry Orlov, Nate Schmidt

The current defense corps is top 5 in the league, and infinitely better than the one used in 2010.

2. Goaltending:
Starting oaltenders used in 2010: Jose Theodore, Semyon Varlamov (rookie), Michal Neuvirth (rookie)
Starting goaltender used in 2016: Braden Holtby, likely the Vezina winner this year.

Varly was good but he wasn't quite ready yet, ditto for Neuvirth. Theodore choked in game 2, allowing 2 goals on the first 2 shots of the game.

The Caps also employ the best goalie coach in the business, Mitch Korn.

3. Coaching and system:
Boudreau was a good coach, but not as experienced as Trotz. The 2010 Capitals played run and gun, while the current iteration of the Caps are a defense first team.

4. Experience:
Ovi was named captain in 2010 at the age of 25. Since then, he's matured a lot, and while he's not as explosive as he used to be, he's a smarter player today than his younger self.

The leadership core of the current Caps is very experienced, with 3 players who won the Cup at least once and played a significant role in those Cup wins (Orpik, Williams, Richards).

Backstrom matured a lot too, he's one of the best two-way forwards in the game and should get some consideration for the Selke. In 2010, he wasn't that good defensively.

The 2016 Caps don't have a single rookie. The least experienced player on the team is Burakovsky, playing in his 2nd NHL season.


Now, regarding the Avs, I made a paragraph on the coaching issues I spotted yesterday. I think you guys need to upgrade your blue line.
Too many bottom pairing D, and Beauchemin needs to be replaced eventually. Barrie, Johnson and Zadorov are the three pieces I would hold on to no matter what, the rest can be moved.
I don't know what your prospect pool looks like, perhaps you already have a good D on the way.

Best of luck to your team.

 

[RandyHolt]

I would like to see Holts cross check proper the next guy that skates into him

I feel like Trotz needs to address it one way or another. Holts has largely been left to defend for himself and that is not a recipe to win a cup.

 

[hockeykicker]

Don't understand the main board about the Wilson hit. Where are people getting the impression that he wanted to hurt him?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I would like to see Holts cross check proper the next guy that skates into him

I feel like Trotz needs to address it one way or another. Holts has largely been left to defend for himself and that is not a recipe to win a cup.

I agree he was plowed into, right in front of the refs and nothing.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Don't understand the main board about the Wilson hit. Where are people getting the impression that he wanted to hurt him?

From their anger and hate....

 

[RandyHolt]

I agree he was plowed into, right in front of the refs and nothing.

Come the playoffs I want to see Trotz do what Monty did to us in 2010, plant the seed in the head of the ref to watch for it. I think Martin did it right before game 7 IIRC. Without much fanfare, and sure enough... no goal.

If Holtby gets run every game now, we have to start immediately running the other direction, if nothing else. While I wouldn't mind if Trotz speaks out sooner, I feel like he can only cry wolf once per year and should save it at this point. Blow a fuse at the next presser if it happens again.

Maybe its happening in every game now. But the low scoring league will lead to goalies getting plowed, plain and simple.

 

[artilector]

Don't understand the main board about the Wilson hit. Where are people getting the impression that he wanted to hurt him?

Maybe he did, what's wrong with that? If the principal point of contact is the shoulder, the rest shouldn't matter... The whole business of trying to deduce "intent" is stupid...

 

[amjay13]

Wasn't exactly a heavy workload for Holtby last night. Start him today.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Don't understand the main board about the Wilson hit. Where are people getting the impression that he wanted to hurt him?

They hate Tom Wilson with a passion, that's why.

 

[hb12xchamps]

They hate Tom Wilson with a passion, that's why.

Pretty much this. They think Wilson is still an 18/19 year old face puncher and probably haven't watched anything Wilson related since the Visnovsky hit last year

 

[txpd]

Don't understand the main board about the Wilson hit. Where are people getting the impression that he wanted to hurt him?

Tom Wilson's image around the league. People thought his hit on Lubo last year was intent to injure. if they thought that then they would think that here. Fans that hate Wilson think of him like they think of Matt Cooke. That he is a full on career threatening dirty player.

We know otherwise, but for him a big clean hit is as bad as any of Cooke's famous head hunting hits. There was a time many of the same type fans thought the same of Ovechkin. That he was among the most dirty players in the league

 

[Devil Dancer]

I really don't care what HF thinks about Wilson. If anything, I like the fact that he gets people's panties all bunched.

What's less amusing is the league's view of him, but credit to the refs last night for not calling anything on his big hit. All they did was separate him from the Avs and escorted him to the bench. That's good work.

 

[Calicaps]

FWIW, most on the mains seem to see the hit for what it is. A beautiful if unfortunately devastating hockey hit.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

It's funny. Other fanbases generally agree that Wilson is scum and/or a dirty player, yet whenever there's a thread on the main boards about one of his hits, most people think that it's a clean hit.