Post-Game Talk: Wilsonton Capitals vs Parallaxed Penguins - Game 2

[g00n]

It's one loss. The season isn't over. No sweeps yet this year. There were two all of last year. One the previous year. Two the year before that. Etc.

Yeah, I know. This is trending and that is troubling and possession stats etc. But they've found a way to win all year. Trotz may not adjust QUICKLY, but he does seem to adjust eventually.

I think we at least split in Pitt, then it's a 3 game series with home ice to us. If Trotz gets outcoached by a rookie HC in that situation then we will have issues.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I was at the game last night. The refs weren't great but the Caps were far worse so let's stop blaming the zebras. That was some of the ugliest hockey I've seen in a long time. They couldn't string together a pass, they had zero energy, no physicality, no semblance of urgency, zero sustained pressure in the offensive zone, no forechecking, nothing. The two goals were a result of puck watching, poor coverage, and failure to pressure the puck carrier. It was utterly craptastic. I never thought the Pens were particularly threatening but the Caps were just plain bad. Even with all of that, the Caps could have won and they should have buried two prime scoring chances in the 3rd (Bura and Richards).

Williams has been truly awful. I honestly would put him on the 4th or sit him to send a message. He's been the worst player on the ice. Chimera is worthless. Did Wilson play last night? Frustrating performance. They need to get their **** together.

 

[Red Dread]

They need to get their **** together.

It'd be nice if they could while the Pens stay sloppy.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Justin Williams... Man, he's been even more useless for us than Brouwer in the playoffs.
What a huge disappointment, so much for being clutch and a monster in the playoffs. No hustle, poor decision making. He needs to be demoted to the bottom 6, bring up Bura to the second line.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Justin Williams... Man, he's been even more useless for us than Brouwer in the playoffs.
What a huge disappointment, so much for being clutch and a monster in the playoffs. No hustle, poor decision making. He needs to be demoted to the bottom 6, bring up Bura to the second line.

I agree.

Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Johansson
Chimera-Richards-Williams

 

[artilector]

Faster teams lose in the playoffs all the time. I see a couple problems. One, the passing game is atrocious. Passes are late, passes are off target, passes are too soft. This has been a pattern for months and THAT is why I don't see how this series can be won, not because of a speed disparity, which as I said isn't as bad as it looks. When you have purposeful movement and quick decisions you look faster. Our faster skaters look slow out there. This all gets us pinned in and then we line change on half our rushes.

They need to stop playing like a major underdog.

Well, if we're talking about fixing things, how do you fix passing at this stage? You can't get to another level in a day on something that you've been doing your entire career. Same with shooting, etc. There's only so much you can do in terms of increasing focus/effort at this stage... if there's a big disadvantage there, then it's something really only GM can work on in the off-season (and Williams' example so far is showing that it's not an easy task, either).

So... if Caps are capable of far greater effort but are not already using it in playoffs, why would one expect it to all of a sudden appear?

I mean, I am seeing the flaws, but to me they are the kinds of flaws that would be fixed already if they could/knew how.

They can emphasize physicality more, they can tinker with lines.... I don't really see the potential for big adjustments (would gladly be proven wrong).

And I don't mean it in a pessimistic way. Series is 1-1, by all indications most games are going to be close, so their chances are decent.

 

[Raikkonen]

It's tough to watch games this series.

Even tougher to wait for the next one.

****ing Williams.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

It's one loss. The season isn't over. No sweeps yet this year. There were two all of last year. One the previous year. Two the year before that. Etc.

Yeah, I know. This is trending and that is troubling and possession stats etc. But they've found a way to win all year. Trotz may not adjust QUICKLY, but he does seem to adjust eventually.

I think we at least split in Pitt, then it's a 3 game series with home ice to us. If Trotz gets outcoached by a rookie HC in that situation then we will have issues.

Completely agree. Even last night had Richards pot that one before Fehr's it would be a lot different going into Pittsburgh. Pens got a 21 year old rookie goalie with less than 20 games total experience, shoot pucks at the net and get in his grill, it shouldn't be hard to rattle the inexperienced.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

That sounds too much like an empty slogan.

I didn't see a lack of effort, I saw a faster team get to pucks... faster. Even to hit them, Caps need to catch them first.

I don't really see obvious solutions. Yes, try (even) harder, hope physicality will pay dividends later in the series, but until then, it's basically survival mode, Holtby, and hoping for some individual/line brilliance.

You didn't see a lack of effort?! I saw the Caps losing board battles from the start of the game and all night long. Extreme lack of effort when you're out worked.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I noticed that players would not go for a loose puck because they thought someone else would get it. That should be fixed.

All damn night long Caps players were skating AWAY from loose pucks and giving them away. Embarrassing.

 

[tycoonheart]

More so than lack of effort, I think from a system perspective, they want to play defense first and wait for something to happen so they can make an offensive move.

When they get down, that's when they start to get aggressive and actually make things happen offensively.

This has been going on for way too long for me to say it's a effort thing. It's a system thing.

 

[artilector]

You didn't see a lack of effort?! I saw the Caps losing board battles from the start of the game and all night long. Extreme lack of effort when you're out worked.

Mostly I saw Pens get to pucks faster. Because they are faster. And they have good quick passing to move pucks out of battle areas to start transition to offense. Basically, the way Pens "win" those board battles, is they get to the puck first, and then they have a good outlet option (again, because speed allows the outlet guy to be in good position consistently), and they execute the pass crisply. That often has nothing to do with Caps "lack of effort", though maybe it looks that way.

The analogy is something like what Wings did to Flyers back in ~'98. It wasn't that the Flyers weren't putting the effort. The Wings just moved the puck too crisply for the Flyers to get a foothold. Legion of Doom was ready to kill, it just couldn't chase down the target.

Maybe the Caps can tilt the odds somewhat if they more aggressively send in the 3rd forward to help on the boards instead of hovering up high to defend against transition. Then probably you'll force Pens to cough up more pucks (and it will look like suddenly Caps are winning more battles). But then also you'll have a lot more Crosby and Malkin in 3-on-2 situations, when your forwards get caught. It's a bit of pick your poison thing. You'll "lose fewer board battles", but the failures will be more catastrophic. Maybe something to try if you're desperate, but IMO something that can easily blow up in their face, too.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

This team has had a slow start problem since 2005. It isn't a system thing IMO.

 

[artilector]

More so than lack of effort, I think from a system perspective, they want to play defense first and wait for something to happen so they can make an offensive move.

When they get down, that's when they start to get aggressive and actually make things happen offensively.

This has been going on for way too long for me to say it's a effort thing. It's a system thing.

Yeah, exactly. I would also say system+roster thing.

Caps roster is not really built to play at frenetic pace. They have to somehow neutralize speed with size & skill, but when it's not working, it doesn't look good.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Mostly I saw Pens get to pucks faster. Because they are faster. And they have good quick passing to move pucks out of battle areas to start transition to offense. Basically, the way Pens "win" those board battles, is they get to the puck first, and then they have a good outlet option (again, because speed allows the outlet guy to be in good position consistently), and they execute the pass crisply. That often has nothing to do with Caps "lack of effort", though maybe it looks that way.

The analogy is something like what Wings did to Flyers back in ~'98. It wasn't that the Flyers weren't putting the effort. The Wings just moved the puck too crisply for the Flyers to get a foothold. Legion of Doom was ready to kill, it just couldn't chase down the target.

Maybe the Caps can tilt the odds somewhat if they more aggressively send in the 3rd forward to help on the boards instead of hovering up high to defend against transition. Then probably you'll force Pens to cough up more pucks (and it will look like suddenly Caps are winning more battles). But then also you'll have a lot more Crosby and Malkin in 3-on-2 situations, when your forwards get caught. It's a bit of pick your poison thing. You'll "lose fewer board battles", but the failures will be more catastrophic. Maybe something to try if you're desperate, but IMO something that can easily blow up in their face, too.

I'm sorry I didn't see a team losing foot races all night. I saw a team losing some foot races, a team losing most 50/50 board battles and a team unwilling to go to the dirty areas and emerge with possession. Add to that guys who repeatedly refuse to do the simple thing, put pucks on net and crash for rebounds and you have a terrible effort. Only Holtby kept that from being a 6-1 loss. Caps lost a one goal game but it should have been much much worse. They were essentially laughed off the ice for 38 mins.

 

[g00n]

Let's move it back over to the series thread....