It's too simple to put it all on Holtby or GMGM or Oates. The entire team played like warmed-over dog crap for two periods. That's on the players themselves, as much as anyone.
The good news is, we came storming back in the third, and Brouwer and Laich continued their resurgence. As much as I hate GMGM, I don't think most people would have expected such a radical underperformance this year by Laich, Brouwer and Holtby. The only hope I hold out for rest of season is that 21 and 20 have finally woken up and have looked halfway decent recently. Had they been halfway decent for the rest of the year, too, we'd have a few more standings points.
Also in GMGM's defense, he did a good job at TDL this year. He dumped two malcontents and added an interesting Knuble-like piece in Penner. Good on him. I still want GMGM fired at the end of the year, incidentally, because I think he has been given long enough in the job, and hasn't produced a deep playoff run since the very beginning. But it's silly to blame each loss on him. Grabo's injury hasn't helped matters either. I don't know if they rushed him back, or the re-injury was just a fluke. But jesus, we need him back as soon as humanly possible.
As for Oates, yes, I did cringe when I watched the replay of F16 during Voracek's second goal. He looked like a guy unused to playing center, especially in his positioning against counterattack. Plus he got stripped of the puck in neutral zone, to start the whole sequence.
But on the positive side of the ledger for Oates, he has been an Ovi Whisperer during his time here, and that was drastically needed. He has shown that he understands Ovi and communicates well with him, and he has helped get #8 back on track. That was huge.
We have tried out a lot of rookies on D this year, and we all knew our team would be suspect on D. And we have been. On the other hand, we also gave much-needed experience to some promising young guys, including Orlov, Schmidt, and Carrick. I think all three have solid NHL careers ahead of them. Hillen's injury was bad luck. (I don't know what ever happened to Kundratek, I guess he got hurt too.) To me, when I look at D, I see a decent future for several of these guys, we're just green (with a lower-case 'g') at that position. I don't think Klesla was going to be any better back there. Fans in PHO were happy to be rid of him.
Mostly, I just wasn't expecting the dramatic decrease in Holtby's confidence and effectiveness this season. People can blame it on Kolzig's coaching, or on Oates and GMGM allowing 3-goalie circus or whatever. But at a certain point, the player just has to perform. Holtby hasn't.
Here, too, I think GMGM was effective at deadline. And I don't see why in the world Halak would NOT play tomorrow night. We are running out of time. Put him in there ASAP. He gives us a better chance right now than Holtby. As does Grubauer, btw.
Go, Caps. To the bitter end.
Maybe we grind one out in Beantown?