Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

He had a couple down years in the Oates era. But that was all Oates fault.

I legit think this year he was at 50% speed and giving a fuck in the regular season. He took a LOT less shots and played less. Maybe that was the plan from Trotz all along?

I don't necessarily think though he'll have another 50 year. The shots he takes are low % shots these days. Still the best shot in the NHL


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The Philly Phaithful ITT are


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We're not really either. We just love getting you all riled up because it's easy and you have an awful opinion on hockey.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

let's get back to what's most important:

the penns are going to smoke the caps

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I know I'm not the most knowledgeable here, its all good.

I've actually learned more about the game in 8 years of youth hockey than watching I think.

The Caps need to stay out of the box, work hard and draw their own penalties, and not turn the puck over in their own zone. If they do these I like their chances.

The last one is what killed them last year imo and they turned it over too much vs. the leafs I thought. Pittsburgh will make them pay more if they don't fix that.

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Can't we talk about the draft lottery this weekend? I mean that's much more important.

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I believe both Mac and Trotz have said this was the case. It came to light again after Ovie only played 15 minutes in game 3.

I would add that the Caps are gonna have to be a lot better on faceoffs too. I'm not sure if the Pens are particularly good at that or not but the Caps were straight up bad in round one. They also can't wait until game 4 to establish a net front presence against whoever the goalie is. That's another consistent flaw of theirs. They play soft in the first part of the series. That can't happen.

And of course, they'll need some puck luck. Which can be hard to come by for our guys, unfortunately.

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Beagle was not good on faceoffs in the first series. I was very unimpressed with The 4th Line in that series. They need to show up and contribute a solid 10-12 in this series.

Schmitty needs to be on the ice for this series with the Penns as well


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I forgot about the circle. Losing defensive zone face offs is a real killer esp, vs these dudes.

Then we chase and bad things happen.

Edit: oh, and protect the high slot. (That's what she said)

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Yeah I was fairly disappointed in the fourth line as well. They're weren't glaringly awful all the time but their impact was certainly minimal and at times they were absolutely a liability.

Agree on Schmidt. God help us if Alzner is ready to go. I like Karl, I do. And I don't hate Orpik. But Schmidt can't sit. He had as deep an impact if not more than any of the Caps d men in round one.

Yeah Toronto went for that high tip all series. That's how you gotta do it though in the playoffs, fire from the points and the tops of the circles and look for short rebound type goals and tips. It ain't pretty.

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And I truly can't emphasize the net front thing enough. For as long as I've been watching this team they've never been very consistent in that. It'll come after it's not there for a few games and then it'll go away again as the series flip. They can't do that. It's gotta be in Fleury's or Murray's face all the time.

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I'm not sure how visible it would be, but bringing up Jakub Vrana for this series might be in the Caps favor

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I'm curious to see the Penguins plan to try and stop Tom Wilson.

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Pens dont adjust their game for players. They play fast hockey heavy on the forecheck. Thats what they will be doing.

Not gonna adjust anything for Ovie other than keeping an eye on him at all times in the O zone they way every team does, sure arent changing anything for Tom Wilson.

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Yeah I feel this way too. Tom isn't really worth worrying about. The Pens are gonna do what they do. Unless the Caps can find a way to impose their will. That's the ultimate question I guess. Can the Caps actually dictate play over a whole series against Pittsburgh. Last year they chased all series and were still good enough to make it interesting.

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It was a trick question - you can't stop him, only hope to contain him. And, he'll be pretty hard not to notice is my prediction. He really gave the third line a spark I thought.

Agreed on your points though. It does seem the games will hinge on the Caps moving the puck cleanly out of the zone and protecting the puck. I thought the Caps were way too cute at times with passes in front of their own goal and had some terrible turnovers at the Toronto blue line too that led to rushes.

Edit: the game planning though was a joke though going back to the Toronto series. Of course you don't game plan Tom Wilson.

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I think this series is going to swing wildly back and forth in momentum. Pens had pretty bad starts in 4/5 games against CBJ so im sure thats something theyre focusing on. Pens will come hot out of the gate game 1, especially after a week of rest, Caps will have to try to manage it.

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What's clear though when it comes to Washington unfortunately is that no lead (should they get one) will be safe.

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I would really like to think the Caps will come out hard as well, I know the Pens have extra days off but three days is a break of some kind at least at the Caps do get the benefit of starting at home. I would hope they are past the nervous thing that we saw in game 1 of the first series and can use the fact that they are at home to energize themselves. The Caps can't forget that they are a good team too and if they get lost in the "how will we be able to handle the Pens" mentality then they are doing themselves a great disservice. They have to try to approach this as if it's "how will the Pens be able to handle us". The killer instinct, that has lacked some in the past, has to be there. I know a talk a lot about the mental edge but I did like what I saw in game 6 after that ugly Matthews goal. They've gotta find a way to work that in against the Pens. As mentally terrifying as they are.

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Not that I am counting out the Rangers ability to lose to Ottawa....but it must be somewhat interesting of a feeling for Caps fans to know that to get the Stanley Cup Finals this year they may need to beat the Penguins and Rangers. Two teams that have been the thorn in their side during the Ovie years.

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If the Caps are anything but thankful they have a chance to exorcise their demons they don't deserve to take the ice.

How many chances in life to you get to correct all the wrongs the universe has sent your way? This is a gift.

Re: The NHL Thread (where the Presidents Trophy matters!)
 

I hope you hold on your Caps optimism for a long time bud

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It'd be nice if the Caps could repay the Penguins for one of the four times they've beaten them on the way to winning the Stanley Cup. :BANG

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I didn't care for Babcock's response about TW43, but you don't really plan to stop and scheme against a player like TW. You scheme against the Caps top line and PP, but TW is far from the Penns mind.

But in the end that that's what's great about the Caps. They're deep in the fact that you can scheme and take away the things the Caps do well, but they'll just hit you with everything else.

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This. I'm sure the Penns will try and stop the Caps top line like the Leafs did, but what pulled the Caps to victory in the first round was their depth, specifically the second and third lines, AND with Schmidt on D. Schmidt was a healthy scratch when Alzner was healthy. Having a player like Schmitty being the 7th Dman is HUGE.

Honesty I think the Caps having home advantage will be able to control the pace for the most part.

Like i said 2 weeks ago, having the Leafs as a warmup for the Penns was perfect for the Caps. The Leafs style of play is very similar to Penns and I think the Caps are prepared for whatever the Penns bring.

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I think the Caps *should* be able to dictate the pace at home. When the Leafs when super fast in Game 4 against the Caps, the Caps responded with 4 goals in the first period. I think Trotz got them ready for that style of play.

It will also be beneficial of the Caps that they face MAF instead of Andersen. Andersen was the reason the Leafs were in the at series in the first place

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FWIW, I think the week of rest for the Penns might benefit the Caps. This team does so much better when their grinding 24/7. But at what point, or will the Caps be a little tired. Hopefully this is where Trotz resting his key players throughout the season might benefit

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I belive in this team holding a lead more than any other Caps team in years past. Hopefully experience and rest will help them out

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The bolded is perfect. I think the way the Caps came out in Game 4 and took care of business and handling the bad bounces are defining what the team is.

I remember you being critical of the players after Game 3 when none of them aside form Niskanen wanted to admit the playoff mental part they needed to overcome. Not sure if they admitted it to themselves but the way the Caps responded in Game 4 was HUGE. That Game 4 could have been the turning point for this team going forward...

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For sure. I have thought for the past couple of years all the Caps needed was to get over that mental hump of making to the ECF and they could bring a championship to DC.

I'm not sure if you remember this but the Caps were a goal being called back from Joel Ward in Game 5 against the Rags in 2015 from making it to the ECF.

But to win the Cup the Caps will have to probably stave off the Penns and then beat the Rags in the ECF. Def not an easy task