GDT: Rangers at Capitals Game 2

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Carlson's stat line from today is pretty impressive:

27:07 (team high), 7 shots (team high), 4 blocked shots (team high)

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

I haven't caught Alzner's struggles. I think he's generally been assertive and good with his stick.

Hillen and Erskine have been abysmal on the puck, though Erskine redeems himself with his play otherwise.

Hillen would be another poor game away from a scratch, for me.

The rest of the defense has been good.

Maybe I'm being unfair to Alzner. He typically delivers perfection and he hasn't been a shutdown force. Callahan and Nash are getting their chances.

Wait, who's the second best then, Carlson? I dunno, for some reason the only time he's stood out to me was getting burned on that lone Ranger goal and then again getting burned on what was a goal post away from a probably Ranger GWG.. though I admit I haven't specifically tracked his body work so perhaps he's been the best at making sure Rags don't stay in our zone, or something -- which would be a huge deal if true. Not letting the Rags do the only thing they're decent at has rendered them completely toothless so far.

Carlson is having a solid series in my opinion. He is a physical matchup out there and his shot is getting through at a ridiculous rate. I'm fairly certain he's going to deliver an ESG soon based on simple probability alone.

 

[troyerlaw]

post is a miss. sorry. i bad luck on a post might be those that hit the inside of one post and slide across the goal line to hit the other post, but the rangers posts were not worse than the caps posts.

next game is key. caps win and its 3-0 and harder to blame on puck luck.

mcd being stuck on the ice for 3 minutes and then tossing the puck over the glass....that was not puck luck.

the rangers pp getting a 5 on 3 and getting nothing and getting a pp in the last 5 of the
third and first 5 of ot and not getting a shot while the caps pp gets one in game 1 and the winner in game 2 on the pp. that is just plain the caps are better than the rangers.

no luck

point taken, but here's another point. for a superior team, we are sure cutting it close. waiting to score till eight minutes into overtime is not a good habit to get in.

also, maybe i am wrong. i was not at the game. i watched on TV. but our sharpness and intensity seemed less than ideal in 1st and 2nd. we seemed scattered and soft, IMO. but again, i could be wrong, and the good news is, we are up 2-0 and can play much better than what we've shown so far.

 

[caps4cup]

point taken, but here's another point. for a superior team, we are sure cutting it close. waiting to score till eight minutes into overtime is not a good habit to get in.

also, maybe i am wrong. i was not at the game. i watched on TV. but our sharpness and intensity seemed less than ideal in 1st and 2nd. we seemed scattered and soft, IMO. but again, i could be wrong, and the good news is, we are up 2-0 and can play much better than what we've shown so far.

Even though they didn't have their best game, they won, and it shouldve been 4/5-0. We missed some empty nets we normally don't, and Lundqvist was absolutely incredible.

 

[troyerlaw]

Even though they didn't have their best game, they won, and it shouldve been 4/5-0. We missed some empty nets we normally don't, and Lundqvist was absolutely incredible.

yeah. i think that's fair.

Leader of Men needs to be the Burier of Breakaways, btw.

and speaking of Leaders of Men, here's a hypothetical: if 21 is healthy enough to play in a 2nd-round match-up, do we insert him as soon as he's ready?

is it a given that Laich, even rusty, is an improvement over other forwards in the lineup?

i guess the answer is probably yes, based on past performance. but i have seen so little of 21 this year, I don't even know anymore, esp. when you're dropping a guy right into playoff speed and intensity.

 

[FloridaCap]

All you hear when on the PK is "blocked down and then cleared by Carlson".

The dude is a MACHINE. Best defenseman by far, imo, on the team when you take into account his solid offensive play to go with his defense.

 

[Brad Tolliver]

yeah. i think that's fair.

Leader of Men needs to be the Burier of Breakaways, btw.

and speaking of Leaders of Men, here's a hypothetical: if 21 is healthy enough to play in a 2nd-round match-up, do we insert him as soon as he's ready?

is it a given that Laich, even rusty, is an improvement over other forwards in the lineup?

i guess the answer is probably yes, based on past performance. but i have seen so little of 21 this year, I don't even know anymore, esp. when you're dropping a guy right into playoff speed and intensity.

What past performance? Laich's more famous for changing a tire after choking away a playoff series than anything he has actually done during a playoff series.

 

[Brian23]

yeah. i think that's fair.

Leader of Men needs to be the Burier of Breakaways, btw.

and speaking of Leaders of Men, here's a hypothetical: if 21 is healthy enough to play in a 2nd-round match-up, do we insert him as soon as he's ready?

is it a given that Laich, even rusty, is an improvement over other forwards in the lineup?

i guess the answer is probably yes, based on past performance. but i have seen so little of 21 this year, I don't even know anymore, esp. when you're dropping a guy right into playoff speed and intensity.

Only if he ends up on the 4th line. The 3rd line is great as is. 2nd line's only weakness is Ribs, in my opinion but he picked it up considerably today, and you're obviously not gonna touch the top line. The weakest link on the 4th line would be a similar situation to Laich; Ward.

I'll be honest, unless you sit Perrault and complete change the dynamic of the third line, there's really not a place for Laich on this team anymore. Erat does just about everything he can do, but a little better as a playmaker which fits this teams MO more.

 

[caps4cup]

Laich needs a spot. Not sure who to put him in for though. Chimera, Beagle, Perreault, or Hendricks? Really all those guys have been playing really well so it's a tough call.

 

[Carlzner]

Laich needs a spot. Not sure who to put him in for though. Chimera, Beagle, Perreault, or Hendricks? Really all those guys have been playing really well so it's a tough call.

Backstrom.

8 - 90 - 16
10 - 9 - 20/21
25 - 85/21 - 20/85
83 - 26 - 42

 

[FloridaCap]

Backstrom.

8 - 90 - 16
10 - 9 - 20/21
25 - 85/21 - 20/85
83 - 26 - 42

 

[Brian23]

Laich needs a spot. Not sure who to put him in for though. Chimera, Beagle, Perreault, or Hendricks? Really all those guys have been playing really well so it's a tough call.

Seriously though, where does he fit?

90 - 19 - 8
10 - 9 - 20
25 - 85 - 16
83 - 26 - 42

Who gets sat for him? You're obviously not gonna touch the top line, they've been money for the last month. Second line has been really showing well, but is potentially weak. Maybe Erat? I'm personally of the opinion he's been playing really well. The only weak link on that line to me is Ribs lately, but Laich completely changes the dynamic of that line if he's on their instead of Ribs. Third line? Again, changes the dynamic of the entire line, and they've been -great- recently. Chimera could probably be sat, but his speed is something they have to account for and Mojo's just been playing too damn good to sit him.

As I said earlier, the only option to sit him is for someone on the bottom line. Joel Ward is about the only person I'd feel comfortable sitting, but we know Laich's a lefties so that's out of the question. I like what Beagle can do for you and Hendricks is great in the Dot so that that point its pick your poison. Maybe sit Beags, but I just feel Laich's wasted on the bottom line, he's a guy who needs minutes.k

He just doesn't fit anymore.

 

[fedfed]

Laich will fit:
26 - 21 - 83

 

[Wendy Clear]

It's a nice problem to have for once. Not worrying about Laich being relied on for top 6 scoring, instead we're trying to find a place for him. That said, Beagle's been close to invisible, and I don't think Ward's bringing more than Laich would, so I'd juggle that 4th line without hesitation to get Laich in there. Wasted? Maybe, I guess, but the top 3 lines are just fine IMO. Unless Laich goes to 3 and Chimmer down to 4, but whatever. I think it's important to recognise that we're up 2-0, and we've carried the play, but it could be a lot different, and the series is still a long way from over. We've got to keep the pressure on and get better, converting more zone time and chances into goals. Laich helps more in that regard than the likes of Beagle etc.

 

[stanleycaps18]

I suppose this gels the "dump Laich, Ward and Schultz to keep Ribs" argument?

Let's see what the balance of May yields.

I should add that unless the Rngers tie the series at 2, I hold Laich out to the next round.

 

[bonzaibondra12]

He's not, and he didn't.
But while he's not the best all of them, he's just as valuable. I can't see how Oleksy giving the team a huge boost can be denied, and his rugged style is just what the team missed all these years.
He's a reflection of what happened to the Capitals overall - they're not "nicer than you" anymore, now we have both class and toughness.

If the Rangers had a decent PP, he could have very well made this series 1-1 with his boneheaded play.

And MP sits for Laich.

 

[msrulo]

All you hear when on the PK is "blocked down and then cleared by Carlson".

The dude is a MACHINE. Best defenseman by far, imo, on the team when you take into account his solid offensive play to go with his defense.

I have no complaints about Carlson; except maybe for that Rick Nash slip, but no one is perfect.

 

[Roughing]

Not sure I get the stretch of replies banging all of our Dmen. We've given up one goal in 128 minutes, they've been a huge part of two goals themselves, and we've dominated possession. The hits and blocks have been good, too. No complaints other than the one I've had all season: Hillen over Orlov makes no sense. In Oates I trust though. He has the lines where most of us have wanted them and the team is hot.

 

[RandyHolt]

I think I figured out how the Oates plan protects our Dmen.

Instead of them being sitting ducks on the half wall, easy targets to get pummeled as the almost predictable pass comes over, he is moving them up to join the rush frequently.

Versus a 2 man forecheck, the free dman is often moving up as the forechecker is moving in for a potential kill shot. Our D are very active on the breakout, not sitting still. Its why you do not see Sarge in the lineup.

I often see a Dmen blending in with the crowd on the rush. How'd he get there?

Somewhere along the line a forward figures out he is covering and all the D men are our proverbial 4th forward lately. Oddly, Green seems least often our P4F. Oates has stated he does not want Green trying to score too often. Ironically, reverse psychology wins again.

 

[Roughing]

Laich will get a spot. I'd rather he didn't. Funny that, for many, the $7.5M Ward/Laich combo is not preferred over the $1.5M Patti/MP combo. I loved how the 4th was playing before Ward. I'd hate to sit anyone for Brooks. I might pick Beagle honestly.

MJ-NB-AO
ME-MR-TB
BL-MP-EF
JC-MH-JW
(Patti,Beags)

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

its likely someone will get hurt and make the who sits for brooks easy

but if fully healthy its prolly beagle

I would like to try Erat on line 1 and brooks line 2 move mojo down to 3rd

 

[895]

Someone tell me why Oates went with Backstrom-Brouwer and Johansson-Ovechkin for the 4 on 4s instead of Backstrom-Ovechkin.

 

[NoMoreChoking]

Are people really not happy with our defense? Like these guys always find something to be mad about it

 

[brs03]

Someone tell me why Oates went with Backstrom-Brouwer and Johansson-Ovechkin for the 4 on 4s instead of Backstrom-Ovechkin.

Probably to avoid a speed mismatch on either line? Maybe he figures that's more important 4-on-4, having both guys play at the same speed since there's more open ice to begin with.

 

[RandyHolt]

I wish that Oates had at least once in the regular season, tried Erat on 1.

If a scoring line can't score in the playoffs, is that the time to try for the first time, all the logical combos?

I know I know MJ had .75 points per game coming back from injury. But still, the team comes first and I get the sense Oates is afraid to move him off of 1 because.... he looked great 2 weeks ago. And no one else has even been tried there in a month.

I would stick Fehr at 1LW for the odd shift. Or even move him down to 4 for a few shifts, and bump up Ward who I think has more chemistry with MP and Chimera than Beagle and Hendy