Series Discussion: Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins

[RandyHolt]

Btw, but when you have a broken jaw, normally you shouldn't play like nothing happened less than 48 hours later. Could have predicted the full visor on zar's mask

Wait I thought he was concussed. Why is he skating? Sounds very rushed to me.

Dare I play physicsIAN and say the jaw took the brunt of that hit.

 

[marcel snapshot]

Appropos of nothing. But seemingly essential

 

[maacoshark]

They're basically playing 11 forwards, do what the Pens did in 2009 and dress Jerabek and have someone alternate on the 4th line.

Or if you still go with 12 forwards put Vrana up top and make Ovechkin-Kuz-Vrana be the sheltered OZ line, both 2nd and 3rd line have had pretty good synergy. Boyd-Beagle-Chiasson as the 4th line

Its hard to shelter a line when you are the road team. In Pittsburgh the Pens have matched Crosby against the Kuzy line. Add Vrana and you have a recipe for disaster.

 

[RandyHolt]

I wonder if Barry is better on the road in the loffs, and why if so. 4-1 this year. Sure being at home has his players making extra passes but BFD home wins should be more dominant if we are talking about true line match tacticians.

Who wins a wrestling match of Vrana vs Djoos. Vrana had a breakaway and a D just pitchforked and spun him like it was nothing. He should have embellished at the end or at minimum do the home town heros neck snap. It should have been a penalty shot dammit.

 

[maacoshark]

I wonder if Barry is better on the road in the loffs, and why if so. 4-1 this year. Sure being at home has his players making extra passes but BFD home wins should be more dominant if we are talking about true line match tacticians.

Who wins a wrestling match of Vrana vs Djoos. Vrana had a breakaway and a D just pitchforked and spun him like it was nothing. He should have embellished at the end or at minimum do the home town heros neck snap. It should have been a penalty shot dammit.

Why should we dominate at home? You guys do realize their is another team on the ice. A good team. Its not like we are playing a bottom feeder in the regular season.

 

[RandyHolt]

Why should we dominate at home? You guys do realize their is another team on the ice. A good team. Its not like we are playing a bottom feeder in the regular season.

Line matching is minimzed by all the players looking and playing the same style, I will give you that. Ovi the Robot. We are a good team and Pitt close to dominated us. We only had 3 shots in the 3rd that says all you need to know.

Teams play for home ice advantage. Faceoffs are less a factor than ever before. You are basically saying line matching doesn't really matter as there is no chance of dominating a game. I keep hearing thus far Pitt is really all about 1 line right now. Shutting down a potent line can make your team dominate. You know this.

It's the game within the game that never really materializes in the regular season. I want Barry studying advanced stats tonight and figure out where he is getting killed. We shouldn't have to hear he wants to assign Nick to Sid. I'd like to hear he was getting crafty on the road doing the same.

 

[Calicaps]

Appropos of nothing. But seemingly essential

This may be the only reason I’m disappointed about missing tomorrow’s game.

 

[RandyHolt]

This all requires volume....

If I see him hanging in the pens locker room mid game yeeeesh that is full on guzzle. I am wondering how peNBC can top that one. Why not just put a Pens jersey on him and have him wave a pennant.

 

[Revelation]

Its hard to shelter a line when you are the road team. In Pittsburgh the Pens have matched Crosby against the Kuzy line. Add Vrana and you have a recipe for disaster.

At least they'll get offense out of it, with DSP they get neither offense nor defense

Or

Ovechkin Eller Oshie
Stephenson Kuznetsov Connolly
Vrana Backstrom DSP

 

[Ridley Simon]

Wait...is ZAR hurt, or not?

He didn’t play GM 4, so I assume the broken jaw thing is real? Right?

 

[Scotty Pucks]

Wait...is ZAR hurt, or not?

He didn’t play GM 4, so I assume the broken jaw thing is real? Right?

Surely Mike Sullivan was being completely honest. I mean he is never transparent about his players’ injuries...

 

[txpd]

At least they'll get offense out of it, with DSP they get neither offense nor defense

Or

Ovechkin Eller Oshie
Stephenson Kuznetsov Connolly
Vrana Backstrom DSP

at least they would get offense? its pretty well known that its harder to score a goal than it is to give one up with rookie like turnovers. So, at least they'll get offense means you are starting from behind and trying to catch up

 

[GoCaps2004]

trotz keeping the same lines for game 4 is every single f***ing thing that's wrong with him. he's a f***ing idiot and i can't wait til he gets canned. he deserves it.

 

[txpd]

We are a good team and Pitt close to dominated us. We only had 3 shots in the 3rd that says all you need to know.

What does it say? It says they successfully sat on a lead at home. Nothing more

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

trotz keeping the same lines for game 4 is every single ****ing thing that's wrong with him. he's a ****ing idiot and i can't wait til he gets canned. he deserves it.

Those lines had won them 6 of 7 playoff games before Wilson got suspended. They were on a roll. Not mixing them up after it was clear that top line DSP wasn't working was a bad decision but those lines were working very well and had no reason to be broken up. In fact, those lines he rolled out in G4 were almost exactly what most people here wanted to see... they just didn't work. Trotz is certainly not without his warts but you're looking to confirm your own narrative here, in my opinion.

 

[GoCaps2004]

Those lines had won them 6 of 7 playoff games before Wilson got suspended. They were on a roll. Not mixing them up after it was clear that top line DSP wasn't working was a bad decision but those lines were working very well and had no reason to be broken up. In fact, those lines he rolled out in G4 were almost exactly what most people here wanted to see... they just didn't work. Trotz is certainly not without his warts but you're looking to confirm your own narrative here, in my opinion.

so, if they clearly didn't work... why is he keeping the same? the top line was on the ice for no high danger scoring chances for, and 7 against. Ovechkin, our most dangerous shooter, had 0 shots on goal. but yeah, i'm totally just pushing a narrative here. You're right. let's just have a useless first line again for game 5.

the fact that he's not adapting at all is incredible.

also, you're right that a fair amount of people wanted to try him on the first line. operative word there is 'try.' it became pretty evident after a few shifts that he did not belong.

 

[Lindemann]

trotz keeping the same lines for game 4 is every single ****ing thing that's wrong with him. he's a ****ing idiot and i can't wait til he gets canned. he deserves it.

I don’t like Trotz and even this is crazy

 

[SpinningEdge]

Keep DSP on the line he was on - move Vrana up - and replace Vrana with Gersuch as they’re similar players. Regardless, two lines are different with Wilson out.

In terms of Trotz - he’s only moving DSP to top line because he only trusts vets - even if they have freaking career high 17 points in a decade. He just cannot let our young players make a difference - and that’s what will emd up costing him again.

Even Trotz supporters were saying he isn’t that bad/stubborn and will switch up the lines for today. Well, nope. He’s dumber than you think.

DSP has the worst plus/minus on the team (of forwards) and Trotz decides to move him to the line that has been the Caps best all playoffs. Truly idiotic.

 

[RandyHolt]

What does it say? It says they successfully sat on a lead at home. Nothing more

Hey I know some fans conceded the game but you know as well as me it is an internet forum rule, to NEVER credit the opposition. Its always our fault.

Hindsight maybe Barry should have kept 3 lines intact and put Gersich on 1. Just for the first period whatevs, as a curve ball to Pitt. I predicted Shane would catch a D napping and he did. I also predicted he would get us PP (fail) but I will settle for a breakaway.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Sgreed....maybe would have simply made sense to just put Gersich w Ovy and Kuz. Left the other 3 lines alone.

8-92-63
18-19-77
10-20-25
13-83-39

Flip flop Gersich and Vrana is things aren’t playing out. Honestly...Ovechkin and Kuznetsov should be able to carry someone. Long as they are defensively responsible.

Same could be said for Backstrom and Oshie. Could also do

8-92-18
63-19-77

Leave the rest the same. Lots of options.

 

[GoCaps2004]

Sgreed....maybe would have simply made sense to just put Gersich w Ovy and Kuz. Left the other 3 lines alone.

8-92-63
18-19-77
10-20-25
13-83-39

Flip flop Gersich and Vrana is things aren’t playing out. Honestly...Ovechkin and Kuznetsov should be able to carry someone. Long as they are defensively responsible.

Same could be said for Backstrom and Oshie. Could also do

8-92-18
63-19-77

Leave the rest the same. Lots of options.

i would love to see 18 on the first line. im simply not sure gersich is NHL ready

 

[maacoshark]

trotz keeping the same lines for game 4 is every single ****ing thing that's wrong with him. he's a ****ing idiot and i can't wait til he gets canned. he deserves it.

Well his options are a bit limited. I'm not as hard as most people here on DSP. But its clear as day he isn't a top line player. He is better suited for the 4th line.
Oshie is about the best option on that line. Vrana could probably play with Backstrom and Stephenson.

 

[txpd]

I predicted Shane would catch a D napping and he did. I also predicted he would get us PP (fail) but I will settle for a breakaway.

He/they caught a 3rd pair d napping. Not the first pair d that matches with Ovechkin.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[maacoshark]

Keep DSP on the line he was on - move Vrana up - and replace Vrana with Gersuch as they’re similar players. Regardless, two lines are different with Wilson out.

In terms of Trotz - he’s only moving DSP to top line because he only trusts vets - even if they have freaking career high 17 points in a decade. He just cannot let our young players make a difference - and that’s what will emd up costing him again.

Even Trotz supporters were saying he isn’t that bad/stubborn and will switch up the lines for today. Well, nope. He’s dumber than you think.

DSP has the worst plus/minus on the team (of forwards) and Trotz decides to move him to the line that has been the Caps best all playoffs. Truly idiotic.

He doesn't only trust vets. Right now he trust a Stephenson as much as anyone. He puts him on the ice against the other top lines. He also puts him out there in crucial situations. Like defensive zone starts and on the pk.
He obviously has trust issues with Vrana. And Gersich shouldn't really be in the conversation. He just isn't ready yet.