Post-Game Talk: Preseason game 2 vs Blues 9/18 7pm

[Devil Dancer]

That Panik goal is encouraging. He's here to replace Cono, and that was a Cono-style goal.

 

[John Price]

Where?

Main team store

Can't miss em if you go from front to back they're on a rack. They were there Monday too

 

[Hivemind]

I wasn't able to watch the game. How did Leason and MF look?

Only saw the end of the game. MF was fast and super confident with the puck, but he also got beat pretty bad by a power move by Sanford.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Only saw the end of the game. MF was fast and super confident with the puck, but he also got beat pretty bad by a power move by Sanford.

Thanks! I'm always super excited for the young players.

 

[Silky mitts]

Where?

At the stadium

I

I’m not looking for the next Vezina, just a capable backup who also clears some cap room and breaks up a log jam in Hershey.


Copley has similar warts to his game

With Samsonov maybe he is a future Veaina winner and they’d be better served getting his beak wet (at the cost of having to trade Djooa)

 

[Sam Spade]

Blues radio announcers were really good. Didn't like the Blues player embellishment on the late Oshie penalty and swore Backstrom shot the puck the way he did on purpose. I agree.

I love it when announcers are unbiased.

 

[Hinterland]

I wasn't able to watch the game. How did Leason and MF look?

Leason was strong on the puck and along the boards. Didn't do much besides that but his linemates didn't do more themselves. In fact, from the vets I only liked Orlov, Gudas and Panik. The rest half assed it I guess.

I did not like Fehervary and Hobbs. They were trying but looked lost on the PK, got caught out of position several times and were lacking physicality. Hobbs tried to make up for it with a fight but I'm not sure that's what the Coaches were looking for. At least Fehervary looked confident with the puck but Geisser was the best of the younger defensemen. From a Swiss perspective that's a pleasant surprise. I was less impressed with Riat though. He wasn't bad but not good either. A few nice shifts but also a few turnovers in less than 10mins of icetime. I expected more after last game.

The best players of the game (besides Panik who was the real man of the match) were the same as last game. Protas played one heck of a game after a nervous first shift, Malenstyn and McMichael were even better. Very impressive.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

At the stadium

With Samsonov maybe he is a future Veaina winner and they’d be better served getting his beak wet (at the cost of having to trade Djooa)

That’s sort of the point though. If your eggs are in the Sammy bag then you need him to get decent 1G time in Hershey for a bit.

If that’s the case and Vanecek is practically the same entity as Copley but cheaper then the move is to trade/waive Copley and make Vitek 2G until Sammy is ready.


How you angled Djoos hate and trade into that post is odd... He literally is irrelevant to the goalie discussion. Some of you guys get like a dog with a bone when it comes to wanting to trade a guy

 

[Corby78]

Really liking a lot of the kids. McMichael is very confident and is showing drive and skill. I think he will be ready sooner than later. Protas was good, also liked panik. I also like both goalies, but want to see a couple more games before I’m ready to move Copley. I’m getting more confident in Gudas in the top 4, and not because of his goal. Fever got beat for both blues goals, but he kept driving and playing hard. He may need more time but he is going to be on the team eventually. The guy who has really stood out to me has been Orlov. Maybe because he is trying more than the other regulars, but he has looked good.

Getting excited for this years team.

 

[searle]

Really liking a lot of the kids. McMichael is very confident and is showing drive and skill. I think he will be ready sooner than later. Protas was good, also liked panik. I also like both goalies, but want to see a couple more games before I’m ready to move Copley. I’m getting more confident in Gudas in the top 4, and not because of his goal. Fever got beat for both blues goals, but he kept driving and playing hard. He may need more time but he is going to be on the team eventually. The guy who has really stood out to me has been Orlov. Maybe because he is trying more than the ready of the regulars, but he has looked good.

Getting excited for this years team.

I'm getting excited for next year's team

 

[HSHS]

Super impressed with the main 4 young skaters and both goalies.

MF - I've only seen in WJCs. But he's so impressive for a young dman. The skating, both forward and backwards was impressive at this level. We didn't get to see any real shooting so hard to comment. But he needs to get stronger (he's still a kid). Not just the PPG against but also on the play leading to goal 1 behind the net and a few other plays along the boards. Besides strength, he just needs to learn the NHL speed. He got taken wide 2x with speed. To me, that's easy as he has the backwards skating and pivots. What I love love love is that he is not afraid of the speed. He keeps such nice gap control and has such confidence. Strength over next 2 years plus a few weeks of learning NHL speed = quality 2 way dman.

Protas - I was excited to watch after reading the game 1 reports. In his limited time I just can't believe that big mans awareness and hands/puck control. Even if he doesn't get speed and agility he may be effective given these qualities. But damn if he gets that skating down.

McMichael - Vison, hands, puck control, and confidence... I think he actually makes squad next year (not counting his likely chance at 3 games in DC for Kuz). Strength all around as he grows will make him a homerun at that draft position. Especially since he considers himself a scorer. Strength will help him bring that CHL ability to the pros.

Leason - meh. You didn't get to see much except that he is no way ready to even practice with the top line. Good for giving him that taste. To me he looked the most lost at the pro level compared to his abilities and obviously 1 game. AHL will help him figure out when and how to use his size while developing his skating if he's going to reach his Wilson-eque ceiling.

Goalies - both seemed calm, confident, and quick

New guys... loved Panik's ability to play with speed in tight areas before the goal. Good to see him go to the big boy zone and succeed. Can't wait to see a full season of him and Haglin do to the pk numbers. Gudas was who we knew. Happy with him.

 

[HSHS]

The Caps PP is in regular season form...those zone entries.

My exact thoughts all night lol

 

[Silky mitts]

Panik who was the real man of the match

He really was, drew 2 penalties and got the GTG

 

[tenken00]

Pretty cool that Gudas and Panik got goals in the first real action game outing together. Just like how their BFF wives planned it.

 

[Silky mitts]

Pretty cool that Gudas and Panik got goals in the first real action game outing together. Just like how their BFF wives planned it.

I think Panik and Kempny's wives are BFFs

 

[txpd]

Cuts coming. I will be more interested to see what happens in the next two games where the opposing rosters are more like NHL teams. It was interesting to watch some of the new players. The kids just to see what they look like and the new veterans to see how they fit in to what we are used to seeing. Panik looked just like a Caps player. Gudas I just didn't see enough of to get a feeling.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I thought Gudas looked mistake prone a few times. I immediately FFWD in my head to some pending blunders that are likely to occur when the real games start. It is what it is. For what he brings, I’ll take some boneheaded penalties/mistakes.

 

[TheFountainhead]

Three quick takeaways for me:

1) Fehervary’s skating ability was not oversold by anyone on here. He has near elite speed for a defenseman.

2) McMichael has top six forward potential. He can skate, he has quality hands, you can see that he has multiple, tricky releases on the shot, he can play make and he has some panache.

3) Samsonov has elite physical ability. He obviously has the size, but the lateral agility and his twitchiness are very high end. If he continues to develop and can stay healthy over his career, he’ll be a star in the league.

 

[Cappy76]

Blues radio announcers were really good. Didn't like the Blues player embellishment on the late Oshie penalty and swore Backstrom shot the puck the way he did on purpose. I agree.

I love it when announcers are unbiased.

Agreed I was listening via the nhl app on my way home and thought they were a top notch crew. Very unbiased

 

[txpd]

I thought Gudas looked mistake prone a few times. I immediately FFWD in my head to some pending blunders that are likely to occur when the real games start. It is what it is. For what he brings, I’ll take some boneheaded penalties/mistakes.

This defense crew is entirely in flux and I am surprised more aren't nervous about it.

 

[Capsman]

This defense crew is entirely in flux and I am surprised more aren't nervous about it.

Maybe because Kempny is coming back I feel a little better? I feel the loss of 2 years ago Nisky, but I don't think we'll be any worse than last year. I think we'll see a better Djoos too.

 

[Capathetic]

Really liking a lot of the kids. McMichael is very confident and is showing drive and skill. I think he will be ready sooner than later. Protas was good, also liked panik. I also like both goalies, but want to see a couple more games before I’m ready to move Copley. I’m getting more confident in Gudas in the top 4, and not because of his goal. Fever got beat for both blues goals, but he kept driving and playing hard. He may need more time but he is going to be on the team eventually. The guy who has really stood out to me has been Orlov. Maybe because he is trying more than the other regulars, but he has looked good.

Getting excited for this years team.

I didn’t see the game (hoping for a replay after work today but will prob get that dumb talk show)

Gudas that good though? Top 4? I like Gudas too and was happier than most with his acquisition. He and Kempny will be a solid pairing imo. Gudas makes mistakes though and loses coverage often going for big hits which he’s baited into.

 

[ovikovy817]

That goal by Backy

 

[Langway]

This defense crew is entirely in flux and I am surprised more aren't nervous about it.

Little point in worrying about maybes you have no control over. I'm less concerned about the defense on paper than their overall system play and whether they'll get high level two-way output from 92/20 and a productive enough fourth-line.

Panik looked pretty good from what I saw. A promising debut, even if I remain somewhat bearish on the combo of Eller & Hagelin being enough overall. They really need those two middle six centers carrying play.

 

[Raikkonen]

Hagelin looked like he can maintain his Kings times goal scoring pace. Easily. Not shocked ofc.