Post-Game Talk: Winnipeg @ Washington | 2/25/20 | 7p ET

[Sam Spade]

We continue to be a 20 minute hockey team. I’m not sure if it’s conditioning or coaching at this point.

I feel like people forget there is actually another team on the ice and that maybe, just maybe, they have some say as to how the game goes as well.

 

[SDBondra]

I feel like people forget there is actually another team on the ice and that maybe, just maybe, they have some say as to how the game goes as well.

Absolutely. I came away with three impressions from last night’s game:

1. Caps are playing a lot better than they were last week.
2. Kempny is a problem - between losing his temper and costing us a game against Montreal and then blindly flipping the puck up the middle repeatedly; he should be on the bench and Siegenthaler should be in the lineup.
3. Holy shit Kyle Connor is good.

 

[Sam Spade]

Absolutely. I came away with three impressions from last night’s game:

3. Holy shit Kyle Connor is good.

Yep. There is a reason Connor got locked up for seven years and Laine got the bridge deal. Connor is a beast in all three zones.

 

[DCRedhawk21]

I thought Kovy looked okay overall. His turnover was bad, but it seemed more of a one off misread of the situation with a guy coming out of the box versus sustained bad play overall carelessness with the puck. I’m looking forward to watching more of that third line.

Other than that, kuz looked the best I’ve seen in awhile, Dillon is starting to look more comfortable, and Kempny had a really rough night.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

If I never have to hear the "Who cares?" or "It's all your fault" chant again it will be too soon.


Blast it into the moon please.

Best post of this GDT. I was screaming this exact same thing once the Caps went up 2-0 and heard the idiots with the "It's all your fault" chant.

Oh, and where have you been Evgeny Kuznetsov.

 

[McVechkin]

I thought Kovy looked okay overall. His turnover was bad, but it seemed more of a one off misread of the situation with a guy coming out of the box versus sustained bad play overall carelessness with the puck. I’m looking forward to watching more of that third line.

Other than that, kuz looked the best I’ve seen in awhile, Dillon is starting to look more comfortable, and Kempny had a really rough night.

Ya - Kovy looked good overall (good as in a middle 6er). He gets a pass on that giveaway.. misreads like that happen. If it becomes a recurring thing with him, thats another story for another day.

 

[McVechkin]

To be exact Holtby almost played that 1st goal right. He came out on the angle and absorbed the shot. The problem is his butterfly mechanics were a smidge off(top of his right pad overlapped the top of his left pad leaving just enough gap for the puck to roll out). He needed to seal the top of his leg pads. The puck hit him in the pants and rolled instead of the puck laying flat on the ice. Also Holtby didn't even look down at his knees. To say that it happens to all goalies, is not accurate. A lot of goalies who regularly play the butterfly have a perfect seal of the top of the leg pads.

I'm not gonna argue the mechanics of the goalie position because I just dont know it all that well. But Holtby doesnt seems to make that mistake pervasively.. every goalie in this league makes these types of mistakes on occasion.. no matter how perfectly they have the technique. A goal like that is normally just a blip in the radar.. but the optics of it just don't look good right now with his overall stats on the year.. which arent great.

 

[4thTierSport]

To be exact Holtby almost played that 1st goal right. He came out on the angle and absorbed the shot. The problem is his butterfly mechanics were a smidge off(top of his right pad overlapped the top of his left pad leaving just enough gap for the puck to roll out). He needed to seal the top of his leg pads. The puck hit him in the pants and rolled instead of the puck laying flat on the ice. Also Holtby didn't even look down at his knees. To say that it happens to all goalies, is not accurate. A lot of goalies who regularly play the butterfly have a perfect seal of the top of the leg pads.

It does happen to all goalies. Just more common for it to roll out behind them.

 

[Man Machine]

Why is the ice so bad at the arena? At least the second time Alan May has pointed it out this season. I realize there are other events like basketball but is it really impossible to make good ice in this day and age? They can put a man on the moon etc.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Why is the ice so bad at the arena? At least the second time Alan May has pointed it out this season. I realize there are other events like basketball but is it really impossible to make good ice in this day and age? They can put a man on the moon etc.

Multi-use arena + not willing to keep the arena cold = bad ice.

 

[shtorm2005]

We continue to be a 20 minute hockey team. I’m not sure if it’s conditioning or coaching at this point.

I don't think so, more like an inconsistent hockey team. Sometimes they make world class talented plays, sometimes they make beer league mistakes.

 

[Ridley Simon]

That’s not what the stat sheet said or what I saw in the extended highlights. They completely dominated through 40 minutes and should have had a bigger lead than they did.

This.

their goalie played far better than I expected. He stoned Hagelin and Kovalchuk 3 straight times there (believe it was in the 2nd period). Boys could’ve been up 5 or more by then

 

[Ridley Simon]

I feel like people forget there is actually another team on the ice and that maybe, just maybe, they have some say as to how the game goes as well.

Stop it Sam. It’s the Caps world, other teams just live in it.

it’s all about us. Our play. Our compete level. We allow teams to be in games. It’s always our “lack of something” that prevents us from dominating

 

[discobob]

I'm not gonna argue the mechanics of the goalie position because I just dont know it all that well. But Holtby doesnt seems to make that mistake pervasively.. every goalie in this league makes these types of mistakes on occasion.. no matter how perfectly they have the technique. A goal like that is normally just a blip in the radar.. but the optics of it just don't look good right now with his overall stats on the year.. which arent great.

That didn't stop Oatsy

 

[txpd]

Ya - Kovy looked good overall (good as in a middle 6er). He gets a pass on that giveaway.. misreads like that happen. If it becomes a recurring thing with him, thats another story for another day.

Or...It wasn't a misread. It was the wrong play. Deep in the 2nd period with a 2 goal lead, that pass shouldn't have been an option. He knows better than that. I expect he wont do that again

 

[SherVaughn30]

We continue to be a 20 minute hockey team. I’m not sure if it’s conditioning or coaching at this point.

It's both. Good coaches will condition their players in practice to prepared to play as close to a 60 min game.

 

[SherVaughn30]

remove that knucklehead Carlson from the point on PP1 and most of the SHG against go away.

I'm on somewhat agreement with that. He has a habit of playing a bit casual in certain moments of the game.

 

[kicksavedave]

It's both. Good coaches will condition their players in practice to prepared to play as close to a 60 min game.

Well the Caps routinely demolish teams in the 3rd period, they have a bunch of 2 goal or more comebacks in the 3rd period, so I don't think they are out of shape, which means its not coaching or conditioning.

The concern is their lack of focus at the beginning of games, but that appears to have receded a bit in the last few, certainly last night. I'll say it again, the Caps appear to play hard only when they need to, which I am still holding out hope that its to save gas for the playoffs. The only way to know for sure is to see if they can play all 60 minutes in the first round. Or maybe a handful of games down the stretch.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Absolutely. I came away with three impressions from last night’s game:

1. Caps are playing a lot better than they were last week.
2. Kempny is a problem - between losing his temper and costing us a game against Montreal and then blindly flipping the puck up the middle repeatedly; he should be on the bench and Siegenthaler should be in the lineup.
3. Holy shit Kyle Connor is good.

You don't put Siegs in over Kempny. Kempny is struggling but he's still a better option than Siegs. Siegs has digressed and he's not so good on the PK anymore.

 

[McVechkin]

That didn't stop Oatsy

hahaha.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

I didn't see the game, only the highlights but did Holtby lay down for one of those goals? He looked like he was on the sofa watching tv.

 

[kicksavedave]

I didn't see the game, only the highlights but did Holtby lay down for one of those goals? He looked like he was on the sofa watching tv.

He laid down, propped his head up with this arm, grabbed the remote to change the channel, and a puck slipped under his armpit.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Why is the ice so bad at the arena? At least the second time Alan May has pointed it out this season. I realize there are other events like basketball but is it really impossible to make good ice in this day and age? They can put a man on the moon etc.

Capital One has a lot of events going on and they cover the ice every time they have an event going on. That's one effect along with the ambient temperature(temperature above the ice) being too warm. The building structure is not designed well enough to allow proper ventilation of humidity build up. Another factor is the ice only uses 2 compressors. A lot of the other NHL arenas use 4 compressors for their ice! I think only having 2 compressors would be like an air conditioning unit that is not effective enough for the surface area of a house.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

He laid down, propped his head up with this arm, grabbed the remote to change the channel, and a puck slipped under his armpit.

I wonder what he was watching? He strikes me as a Discovery Channel type.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Well the Caps routinely demolish teams in the 3rd period, they have a bunch of 2 goal or more comebacks in the 3rd period, so I don't think they are out of shape, which means its not coaching or conditioning.

The concern is their lack of focus at the beginning of games, but that appears to have receded a bit in the last few, certainly last night. I'll say it again, the Caps appear to play hard only when they need to, which I am still holding out hope that its to save gas for the playoffs. The only way to know for sure is to see if they can play all 60 minutes in the first round. Or maybe a handful of games down the stretch.

There lies a continuing issue. Besides trying to win as many games in an 82 game schedule, you have 82 games to work on conditioning the team to play as close to a 60 min game(no team can play good for exactly 60 min so it's a bit of a cliche). The Caps usually play maybe up to 2/3 of game at best. They have mostly had 1 bad period in every game. Come playoff time when they will most likely play a lesser skilled team, they could be beat in a 7 game series because the lesser team is better conditioned in playing a 60 min game. If this team thinks they are going to flip a switch and play when they want to, then they are just fooling themselves for a 1st round exit again.