Pittsburgh over the next 2 years is laughing - as long as they can secure a decent #3C. After that things will get a little interesting with Guentzel needing a new contract, as well as trying to keep their depth and whatnot. After 3 years Murray will need a raise on his 3.75m deal. But certainly over the next 2 years Pittsburgh is in great shape.
What do the Caps need in order to get to the next level?
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Pittsburgh over the next 2 years is laughing - as long as they can secure a decent #3C. After that things will get a little interesting with Guentzel needing a new contract, as well as trying to keep their depth and whatnot. After 3 years Murray will need a raise on his 3.75m deal. But certainly over the next 2 years Pittsburgh is in great shape.
That's wishful thinking on your part. This is likely the last best chance the Capitals have to win in the Ovechkin era.
KevinRedkey
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They check off all the boxes except for potting goals when it matters. The Caps are pretty much proof that there's no formula to winning a cup.
He's sixth in playoff points, only behind Getzlaf and the 4 Pittsburgh guys feeding off of each other. He's basically been as good as in the regular season.
Generally the top guys in Washington haven't been the problem, it's been the offense of the bottom six drying up, plus Holtby not playing up to standard. It's tempting for people to say the bottom six underperforms due to bad leadership, but that's frankly superficial ********. They're pros, they have to be better, clean and simple.
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hagelin1381
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CBJWerenski8
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Hank Plank
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pepperMonkey
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IMO, either someone pounds into Ovi's head that in the playoffs you leave nothing behind and sacrifice your body with every shift...or get a bunch of skilled guys like Radulov who leaves everything on the ice.
Caps are an amazing team and seemingly no holes this year, but it just seems as if, when other teams, better or worse, moves up to another gear and fight for every puck, the Caps just seems to...well, not have that extra gear.
I.e. Caps needs more playoffs Getzlaf's (not regular season Getzlaf) and less Pacioretty's.
Well, in my opinion anyhow. I'm sure that's not all they need but it would probably increase their odds of winning quite a bit.
Caps are an amazing team and seemingly no holes this year, but it just seems as if, when other teams, better or worse, moves up to another gear and fight for every puck, the Caps just seems to...well, not have that extra gear.
I.e. Caps needs more playoffs Getzlaf's (not regular season Getzlaf) and less Pacioretty's.
Well, in my opinion anyhow. I'm sure that's not all they need but it would probably increase their odds of winning quite a bit.
Sidney the Kidney
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How about we wait unless/until the Caps are actually eliminated before we conduct a postmortem on them?
This thread makes me think of one of those premature threads that ends up getting bumped a month later when the Caps win the Cup.
This thread makes me think of one of those premature threads that ends up getting bumped a month later when the Caps win the Cup.
Demandedace
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I don't think that's an issue. Ovechkin is probably injured and probably has been since Toronto. And I've thought he's looked off for a lot of this year, his skating hasn't been as explosive. Now it's completely flat.
Hank Plank
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Tell me about it. The Caps have not exactly been badly out played or anything, if Fleury comes back to earth I can easily see Washington push this to a game 7 then anything can happen.How about we wait unless/until the Caps are actually eliminated before we conduct a postmortem on them?
Sidney the Kidney
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Exactly.
It might be one thing if the Pens had the series advantage AND shot differential advantage in the series. But for most of the series it's been Fleury's stellar play and the Pens' offense burying pretty much all their Grade-A chances that's lead to the 3-1 lead.
I mean, obviously the Pens are in the driver's seat only needing to win one more game while the Caps have to win three straight. But it's not a lopsided series like the final score might suggest.
Demandedace
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I agree, I think the Kadri hit let more of a lasting impact than he may admit
KingsFan7824
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They need more of everyone being on the same page at the same time. Carlson had 12 points last year, this year he's got 2. Burakovsky is again not scoring. He's got 3 goals and 6 points in 33 career playoff games. Last year, Holtby put up great numbers, Kuznetsov didn't. This year, Kuznetsov is showing up, but Holtby's numbers are down. Not just from the regular season, but also his career playoff averages.
If one guy is going, the other isn't. They never seem to have enough guys in sync to get through the middle rounds. The top guys win you the Cup, but the depth gets you through the playoffs. Even back in 2010, Semin and Green combined for 59 goals and both averaged over a point per game in the regular season. Then they have 0 combined goals, and 5 combined points in 7 playoff games.
If one guy is going, the other isn't. They never seem to have enough guys in sync to get through the middle rounds. The top guys win you the Cup, but the depth gets you through the playoffs. Even back in 2010, Semin and Green combined for 59 goals and both averaged over a point per game in the regular season. Then they have 0 combined goals, and 5 combined points in 7 playoff games.
Grandma Bingo
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Ovechkin is 31 how is that past his prime?
He's an OLD 31.
Sport has taken a toll on him. Look at how gray his hair is.
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My hair was even grayer when I was 31 a year ago. It could just be his genes.
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Sure, they could have not re-signed their core and let them go via free agency. I remember when Buffalo had a core who couldn't quite finish. They changed up the core. I don't think that worked out very well for them.
You know what does work out well? Tanking. Seems to be the theme of cup-winning teams. That tells me the ELC system is too favorable to teams of the top 1-2 picks.
I think Washington is the 2nd best team in the league. Pittsburgh's just the best.
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True, but if your goal is to win the Cup it doesn't really matter when you play the best team.
