GDT: Was @ Ana 7pm

[Magnus the Duck]

Yes, the first shift, when he lost his check and the Caps scored.

Yeah he lost his guy there.

It could have been a close offside though. Burakowsky did not bring the puck in with control, and when the puck crosses the blue line, his right skate is over the line and the left almost over.

 

[Ducks Nation*]

Kesler deserves much better than Silf and Cogs for how good he plays every night.

That's all I am going to say.

 

[Kalv]

Awesome game. Would much rather see you guys in the finals instead of Chicago or LA. If my Caps get knocked out of the playoffs this year I'll be joining the Ducks bandwagon so look out for me

That would require us to be still around

I`d love to have Ducks-Caps final! Hope it will happen!

 

[mighty Stanley Duck]

Both teams played well. Not disappointed with the loss whatsoever.

I'm because we didnt look good. This game + game vs LA shows that our biggest minus is BB. He aint puck possesion system coach, overall we have better players(much better than LA) but we cant utilize them...we have burst of domination, but no continuity, some of that also goes to players, like Ritchie, Thompson, Cogliano.
For two games in a row, against top teams we had problem with stopping puck transition game...

And yeah, Cogliano, i mean, he is fighter and all, but how inefficient that guy is, wow.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Kesler deserves much better than Silf and Cogs for how good he plays every night.

That's all I am going to say.

That is so not all you're going to say.

Anyway that line bottled up the caps top line all night, they did a hell of a job, as they usually do. Cogs and Silf are what they are at this point, and I'm 100% against yet another line combo shakeup to turn the Kesler line into a scoring line this late in the year.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I'm because we didnt look good. This game + game vs LA shows that our biggest minus is BB. He aint puck possesion system coach, overall we have better players(much better than LA) but we cant utilize them...we have burst of domination, but no continuity, some of that also goes to players, like Ritchie, Thompson, Cogliano.
For two games in a row, against top teams we had problem with stopping puck transition game...

And yeah, Cogliano, i mean, he is fighter and all, but how inefficient that guy is, wow.

They're top teams for a reason. They had trouble with our transition as well.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

5 on 5 scoring chances were 20 for each side, ducks had their chances just didn't bury them. they locked down ovechkin and backstrom 5 on 5. we will be better when ritchie is replaced by stewart or pirri on the roster here soon

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Kesler deserves much better than Silf and Cogs for how good he plays every night.

That's all I am going to say.

Every coach in the league would love to have that line.

 

[mytduxfan*]

I'm because we didnt look good. This game + game vs LA shows that our biggest minus is BB. He aint puck possesion system coach, overall we have better players(much better than LA) but we cant utilize them...we have burst of domination, but no continuity, some of that also goes to players, like Ritchie, Thompson, Cogliano.
For two games in a row, against top teams we had problem with stopping puck transition game...

And yeah, Cogliano, i mean, he is fighter and all, but how inefficient that guy is, wow.

If you're expecting ANA to dominate top teams like WSH, LA and CHI you're in for disappointment. Those teams are at the top of the standings for a reason. We just need to capitalise on the chances we get and make it as difficult as we can for them to capitalise on their scoring chances. However, they will get their scoring chances, nothing we can do about that.

 

[Arthuros]

Holtby's glove was ridiculous.

 

[Ducks Nation*]

Every coach in the league would love to have that line.

I hope so when it's time to move one of them in the off season

 

[caliamad]

I knew they were talented/skilled, but I was surprised with how physical they were. There was no room out there and they backcheck HARD.

Overall, I thought Washington was the better team. We had our chances and by no means I'm not saying were on a tier below them, but I thought they were the slightly better last night and deserved the win.

 

[Ducksforcup]

Ritchie has been brutal no way to sugarcoat it.

Fantastic game. I thought the Caps deserved the win (better chances and more of them overall in my view) but that's not to say Anaheim played badly.

 

[NEWFowler]

Yeah, based on what I seen last night, I don't see anybody beating the Caps in a 7 game series. Too fast, too skilled, too strong.

 

[Getzmonster]

Holtby's glove was ridiculous.

Sure was. I keep watching that shootout save on Silfverberg, it's mesmerizing.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Sure was. I keep watching that shootout save on Silfverberg, it's mesmerizing.

It shows you why most goalies can't stop it. They know what's coming and where it's going, but not when, and Silf's release is so ridiculous they can't react. But Holtby can.

 

[Duck Off]

great game. Washington was better though. I made the comment after the deadline that I didn't think we could beat Washington or Chicago in a 7 game series, and Washington showed why tonight. We didn't even play bad. Both teams played well. Their team is just a little bit better. Ritchie stood out as the weak spot in the roster.

Cogs/Silfverberg continue to show why one of them is probably going to have to be moved in the off-season.

 

[ScarTroy]

great game. Washington was better though. I made the comment after the deadline that I didn't think we could beat Washington or Chicago in a 7 game series, and Washington showed why tonight. We didn't even play bad. Both teams played well. Their team is just a little bit better. Ritchie stood out as the weak spot in the roster.

Cogs/Silfverberg continue to show why one of them is probably going to have to be moved in the off-season.

I'd like to see how we do with Stewart back, and Pirri in the lineup before I make that assumption. With that said, the Caps are definitely a complete team and you'd have to be at the top of your game every game to take a series from them.

 

[camshaft]

Ritchie has been brutal no way to sugarcoat it.

Fantastic game. I thought the Caps deserved the win (better chances and more of them overall in my view) but that's not to say Anaheim played badly.

We need to cut Ritchie some slack. He is only 20 years old, getting a taste of the league, and gaining experience. Look at how many games the Ducks have lost since he has been with the Ducks, and then you realize that he is not hurting the team. Ritchie is not ready right now, but he is fulfilling a role, until our injured players get back. The experience Ritchie gains right now, can be invaluable for his future development. Many of the same posters who are criticizing Ritchie now, are the same people criticizing Raks in the playoffs last season, and how we needed to get Bones back to be our 3rd line center. Raks learned from the experience, and he has blossomed, where we can't yet determine where his ceiling is at. But, we know his ceiling his way beyond Bone's ceiling. Young players will make mistakes and at time flounde, but it is a necessary part of their develpment. Look at how badly our star players floundered, and now the team is better off for it, since they are now a much sounder defensive team. So let's give our young players some slack. We will be better off in the long run.

 

[Goose of Reason]

We need to cut Ritchie some slack. He is only 20 years old, getting a taste of the league, and gaining experience. Look at how many games the Ducks have lost since he has been with the Ducks, and then you realize that he is not hurting the team. Ritchie is not ready right now, but he is fulfilling a role, until our injured players get back. The experience Ritchie gains right now, can be invaluable for his future development. Many of the same posters who are criticizing Ritchie now, are the same people criticizing Raks in the playoffs last season, and how we needed to get Bones back to be our 3rd line center. Raks learned from the experience, and he has blossomed, where we can't yet determine where his ceiling is at. But, we know his ceiling his way beyond Bone's ceiling. Young players will make mistakes and at time flounde, but it is a necessary part of their develpment. Look at how badly our star players floundered, and now the team is better off for it, since they are now a much sounder defensive team. So let's give our young players some slack. We will be better off in the long run.

Ritchie's not there yet obviously, but I think in terms of raw tools and ability he's shown more than Rakell did in his first stints with the team, before getting demoted in favour of Wild Bill. Power forwards are projects, and I think Ritchie will be a good one. However, I can't wait for him to go back to the AHL and start scoring again. He has a taste and now he knows where he's lacking and will hopefully have the drive to work extra hard to get back there. Brett Ritchie is a beast for Dallas and Nick's ceiling is higher, I'm excited for him in the future.

Conditioning really is the biggest issue with him, he's been flying in first periods lately but then going invisible.

 

[xxreact9]

great game. Washington was better though. I made the comment after the deadline that I didn't think we could beat Washington or Chicago in a 7 game series, and Washington showed why tonight. We didn't even play bad. Both teams played well. Their team is just a little bit better. Ritchie stood out as the weak spot in the roster.

Cogs/Silfverberg continue to show why one of them is probably going to have to be moved in the off-season.

I really don't know how you can say this, when Anaheim has been playing better hockey than Washington in every metric (stats, results) for a very long time. The margin is slight, but the ducks have been a better team for months now.

Washington played a slightly better game last night, but in no way does that warrant such a overwhelmingly strong conclusion based on 1 game, such as "we can't beat them in a series". They hadn't played a team like Washington before. The speed, skill, constant fore-check, the whole way they play. That was the tightest game I've seen all season, there was no room at all. In a 7 game series there would be adjustments made to counter it, and I like Anaheim's chances. If you're using this game as logic to say we can't beat Washington... well, we just beat Chicago and LA (twice), so doesn't that mean they can't hang with us in the playoffs, by your own logic? Nope... you proceed to say Chicago would beat us too. That is some really inconsistent and pessimistic reasoning.

This game means absolutely nothing to who would win the series. Not a single thing. It's a sample size of 1 game. Move on.

 

[xxreact9]

To the posters defending Ritchie. No one is criticizing Ritchie saying he's a bad player, he has no future in this leauge, he's a bad person, or anything of that nature. We are simply saying HE IS NOT READY TO PLAY IN THE NHL! Garbutt is a more effective player by far at this stage in his career.

And he isn't ready. That is abundantly clear. As soon as Pirri is back, Ritchie will be sent where he belongs to the AHL. This doesn't mean we don't think he will become a great player, he just isn't ready to play in the NHL yet. And that is perfectly okay.

 

[Getzmonster]

"I don't think skill for skill we can match those guys in the middle of the ice," Boudreau said, according to Agence France-Presse's Greg Heakes.

http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/970788

 

[Jack Bauer DAMNIT]

Someone needs to ban Ritchie from In-N-Out, maybe force the Stewart liquid diet among him.

But seriously, you guys are right. He has got the fire, but he is just not ready. I think that it will be HUGE for his confidence going forward if he can pot his 1st before being sent back down.

 

[Frosted Tips]

For a while in the second period it just seemed like they couldn't connect with the right passes and they were always behind or not in the direction the player receiving was going. In the third I thought they just got outplayed. Goalies were fantastic and I'm still in awe with Holtby's ridiculous glove hand. Loosing sucks, but at least it's out of the way now and they can continue winning again for the next streak.

On a side note, Scott Cullen just moved us up 12 spots in his power rankings! Second only to Caps. Didn't see that coming

Also, I'd love to see a game 7 in the Stanley Cup finals between these two teams. I mean, they couldn't both lose, could they?