Series Discussion: Round 2 (Caps vs Penguins) 2016 Playoffs (Pens fans, read note in OP)

[Slappy]

What's the deal with their young forwards - these dudes I've never heard of before this year. Rust. Kunackl or whatever. Some other dude. Good players or just good skaters?

Maybe the Caps won't have such a hard time scoring. I can't imagine the Pens packing it in like Philly did. Then again, it's the Caps.

 

[wolfgaze]

I didn't see an Injury thread on your forum.... Has there been any update on Orpik's condition?

Rooting for the Caps in Round 2 (Ranger fan here)... I'll also root for them in Round 3 if they make it there and are playing the Bolts or Islanders...

Really looking forward to the Round 2 match up against the Pens.... Should be a great series....

 

[Ogrezilla]

So, what do the Pens lines look like? I haven't followed them closely enough to know.

Assuming that Crosby and Malkin play on different lines, how would you match up with them? Strength on strength? I'm guessing that's the way Trotz is going to go matchup-wise.

We finished last series with

Sheary-Crosby-Hornqvist
Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel
Kunitz-Malkin-Fehr
Kuhnackl-Cullen-Rust

Maatta-Letang
Dumoulin-Daley
Cole-Lovejoy


The forwards have been great outside of Kunitz. The D is up and down. The top two pairs are great when we are being aggressive. Maatta has been slow all year though, and has come back from his injury even slower. Cole or Lovejoy would be fine as the 6D, but neither of them can move the puck worth a damn so I hate them together.

What's the deal with their young forwards - these dudes I've never heard of before this year. Rust. Kunackl or whatever. Some other dude. Good players or just good skaters?

Maybe the Caps won't have such a hard time scoring. I can't imagine the Pens packing it in like Philly did. Then again, it's the Caps.

Rust doesn't surprise me with what he's doing. He's a straight line player with a ton of speed and pretty much no hands. He will work his ass off every shift.

Kuhnhackl is quick, but less overall speed than Rust. He was drafted as a goal scorer and didn't pan out, but has turned himself into a great grinder. He shows glimpses of the hands that got him drafted in the first place, but he's here to play a safe bottom 6 type of game.

Sheary is the biggest surprise of the bunch though. He is very small. His first month or two up, he spent half the game on the ground. He's figuring out how to avoid or absorb hits though, and has been phenomenal controlling the puck with Sid and Horny. And he has very nice hands to go with it. The only reason he's a questionmark as an NHLer is lack of size. He has the rest of the tools.

Rust is a safe bet to keep doing what he's doing. The other two are playing great hockey, but I need to see them keep it up before I really trust that they are as good as they seem to be. Neither would have been listed in our top 10 prospects to start this season.

 

[CapsEersSkins]

How I feel living in Pittsburgh right now as a caps fan...

 

[AtNightWeFly]

I expect Kuzy to bounce back in this series since he wont have Amanda Bynes heckling him anymore. We NEED him to play outta his mind or else its a wrap.

 

[Privet]

Pens going down. Big time!

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I really wish Kunitz was still on Crosby's wing.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[RandyHolt]

Saturday afternoon....

 

[Calicaps]

Picked Caps in 6 in round 1. Sticking with what worked. Caps in 6 again!

 

[Fallschirmyager]

I expect Kuzy to bounce back in this series since he wont have Amanda Bynes heckling him anymore. We NEED him to play outta his mind or else its a wrap.

We need a lot more from the entire 2nd line if we're to advance.

 

[SpinningEdge]

What I love most about this series is Pitt thinks Caps are a slow team, a team that Pitt saw end of regular season (when caps literally were playing bored and didn't care). Pitt hasn't seen how this Caps team plays when they flip the switch. We went the entire regular season without losing 2 games in regulation in a row and we were better in goals for, against, pp, and PK than Pitt this year. Also, we have a major advantage in goalie. Holtby is currently the all time NHL leader in save percent in the playoffs.

Caps don't turn the puck over or give up open lanes etc like the Rangers did. We are also a very fast team which I love people don't think of. Oshie, Kuzy, Backstrom, Ovi, Carlson, and Johansson all have a lot of skill, Richards and Williams are playoff beasts, and Beagle, Chimera, Schmidt, etc are all speedsters.

Caps are just a better team overall. Pitt is going to get frustrated this series. It'll be pretty even first 3 or 4 games - but Caps will wear Pitt down. They basically wore them down in almost every regular season game this year - and that was with them not even really trying half the time.

Holtby will out duel whoever is in net for Pitt at least twice this series.... I don't see Pitt being able to beat the Caps in pretty even matchup games 4 of the other 5 times.

Again, Caps are the best third period team in the NHL and they dominated Philly in the third period this past series. Also, game 5 and 6 Caps outshot Philly like 72-35 or something..... Philly couldn't do anything and we dominated them in everything but the score.

Pitt will early on in the series do okay and they'll go up 1-0 or 2-1 or something.... But Pitt cannot beat the Caps if the series stays pretty even early on. End of series Caps will own.

 

[SpinningEdge]

Also, since January Pitt has won only 1 game that wasn't a shootout scoring 2 or less goals. This basically means if they don't score 3 goals - they lose. In fact, since Feb Pitt hasn't won a single game in regulation unless they scored 3 goals.

Caps aren't going to give up goals like that.... Holtby and the defense/PK is too good. Caps win low scoring games all the time.

If Holtby plays just average - huge advantage for the Caps. Pens can't win low scoring/grind it out games.... They're not built like that. This is why (again) when we wear them down, we will have a huge advantage in the series.

If Caps go up 2-1 or even come back home tied 2-2 in the series - caps end this series in dominating fashion. Pitt needs to start hot to have a shot.

 

[PucksInDeep]

Caps need to take advantage of Pittsburgh's defense. They have some nice puck movers but on the whole they don't impress me, defensively at least. They especially need to give Letang the "playoff Mike Green" treatment, and I'm confident the Caps' forecheck will do that.

The Penguins have impressive forward depth (on paper), and it seems like they might have found lines that work - for now, at least. However the Caps have a nice group of defensive centers and I think we match up nicely.

Murray may be a good goalie but he doesn't scare me. I'm just glad we don't have to play Lundqvist this year.

Is Penguins Speed the new Rangers Speed?

 

[EroCaps]

Didn't like Trotz postgame, "We expected it to be a long series".

Well, don't. You make what you visualize. No ****ing wonder they looked lost in Game 4. They were prepared to lose it.

 

[Calicaps]

Didn't like Trotz postgame, "We expected it to be a long series".

Well, don't. You make what you visualize. No ****ing wonder they looked lost in Game 4. They were prepared to lose it.

FWIW, I read that a bit differently. I think he's working on the message that this is the Stanley Cup ****ing Playoffs so it's not gonna be easy and if they aren't ready to work and fight, they're gonna lose.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I don't think Trotz has ever made it past round 2. He's a great coach, but his feet are as wet as the rest of the team.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Didn't like Trotz postgame, "We expected it to be a long series".

Well, don't. You make what you visualize. No ****ing wonder they looked lost in Game 4. They were prepared to lose it.

I think he was just being diplomatic.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I don't feel too good about this one. We're trending in the wrong direction, while the Pens are still the hottest team in the league. I expect us to battle hard but a lot of the chemistry from earlier this season is gone, especially for the 2nd line. We can't compete against them if they only have to focus on the first line, Kuzy needs to step it up.

I put Pens in 7, I really hope I'm wrong.

 

[PucksInDeep]

I don't feel too good about this one. We're trending in the wrong direction, while the Pens are still the hottest team in the league. I expect us to battle hard but a lot of the chemistry from earlier this season is gone, especially for the 2nd line. We can't compete against them if they only have to focus on the first line, Kuzy needs to step it up.

I put Pens in 7, I really hope I'm wrong.

Trending in the wrong direction?!

Caps are playing significantly better now than they were in the first couple of games against the Flyers

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Trending in the wrong direction?!

Caps are playing significantly better now than they were in the first couple of games against the Flyers

Our SH% is in the toilet. We used to be way more dynamic than that in transition. The thing is, if we want to beat the Pens, we need the 2nd line to exploit their 2nd pairing. The top line will be out against Letang, but the 2nd line will have a significantly easier matchup.

If the 2nd line burns them offensively, it might lead the Pens to adopt a more conservative approach and sit back a little bit more when the 2nd line is out on the ice.

We have a different identity than the Pens. The Caps are about team defense, strong play in the zone and puck possession (in terms of time spent controlling the puck, not Corsi). The Pens are about speed and plays on the rush.

They score a ridiculous quantity of goals on odd man rushes, we don't do that very often these days.

 

[Bananas]

If one day we eventually win the Cup, in my dreams we beat the Pens on the way there. Here's another chance hopefully the guys take advantage...

 

[WayneSid9987]

So, what do the Pens lines look like? I haven't followed them closely enough to know.

Assuming that Crosby and Malkin play on different lines, how would you match up with them? Strength on strength? I'm guessing that's the way Trotz is going to go matchup-wise.

They're different than before.

Sheary-Crosby-Hornqvist
Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel
Kunitz-Malkin-Fehr
Kuhnackl-Cullen-Rust

The new Crosby line is about 10x better with Sheary on it than the older one with Kunitz. Sheary was making things happen every time he was on the ice vs the Rangers.

The Malkin line is the worst of the bunch in terms of possession. Just key in on Geno and that line is totally ineffective.

Should be fun guys and gals.
If you guys find your next gear, i see you advancing.

 

[PucksInDeep]

Our SH% is in the toilet. We used to be way more dynamic than that in transition. The thing is, if we want to beat the Pens, we need the 2nd line to exploit their 2nd pairing. The top line will be out against Letang, but the 2nd line will have a significantly easier matchup.

If the 2nd line burns them offensively, it might lead the Pens to adopt a more conservative approach and sit back a little bit more when the 2nd line is out on the ice.

We have a different identity than the Pens. The Caps are about team defense, strong play in the zone and puck possession (in terms of time spent controlling the puck, not Corsi). The Pens are about speed and plays on the rush.

They score a ridiculous quantity of goals on odd man rushes, we don't do that very often these days.

The SH% will bounce back. It's not like the Caps are suddenly the worst team at shooting in the NHL (in fact I suspect they're one of the better teams). And the Pens won't keep shooting at 14% for long.

I'm thrilled that Trotz is using a systems-based approach, and I look forward to grinding down the Pens. Teams can only rely on scoring off the rush for so long before it stops working.

 

[Fallschirmyager]

I expect Kuzy to bounce back in this series since he wont have Amanda Bynes heckling him anymore. We NEED him to play outta his mind or else its a wrap.

If one day we eventually win the Cup, in my dreams we beat the Pens on the way there. Here's another chance hopefully the guys take advantage...

This team has a chance to defeat a lot of demons this year. Our next demon is the pens. Worrying too much about this player or that player is not going to help us. We need to worry about playing our game and keeping up the work ethic from the start with no absent games like game 4.