SaucyJack

Canes had the savvy when it counted those last 2 games against the Preds. Tie it late in the 3rd, put ‘em away early in OT.

I don’t follow teams anywhere near as closely as many of you do, so I don’t know how much the Canes have changed in 2 years.  But they left an impression in those 2019 playoffs when they took 4 of the last 5 from the Cup-defending Caps (who were far better than now in 2021) including a game 7 OT winner...

...I recall that the Canes’ back-checking was often so uber-intense that frequently a Capital in puck possession couldn’t make an adequate shoulder turn to make an effective pass much less a shot.

So they then swept NYI before being swept by Brewskis, then mauled by Brewskis again in 2020...still this team  seems to have been a-brewin’ about a bit themselves, in recent years.  
 

Time for them to shine here, so they can revenge those Brewskis next round.

Started watching game 4 near end of regulation.  Seemed very even, got the feeling it would not have been a miracle for Edmonton to win and make a serious comeback in the series. 
 

Always great to listen to Caps radio guy John Walton when he announces a gig for NBCSN.  Too bad he only does the “Good Morning!  Good Afternoon!  And Good Night!” spiel for the Caps (been ages, though ) and not for that triple OT winner from the Jets’ Kyle Connor.

19 hours ago, SaucyJack said:

starting with the season they won the Cup (2018), then including the 3 following playoff seasons...they actually have a losing record!  Overall in these 4 playoff seasons, they are 19 wins, 20 losses

Not to ruin a good Caps Playoffs Futility story, but I forgot they lost to the Canes in 7, not 5, in 2019.  (They lost 4 of the last 5 making this yet another series they lost being up 2 games for which they are specialists.)

OK, they’re 21-20 in this period, not 19-20.  (5-12 since the Cup.) Give ‘em one more year to lose a first-rounder by 4-2 or worse to get them under .500 since and including 2018’s 16-8 run.  

Well shoot, I detect a wee tad of Schaudenfreude there.  It’s OK, all are free to think and feel as they like.

Here’s a fun fact that perhaps only the Capitals, with perhaps the most hapless playoff record of any consistently good regular season club over the decades, could possibly attain...

...starting with the season they won the Cup (2018), then including the 3 following playoff seasons...they actually have a losing record!  Overall in these 4 playoff seasons, they are 19 wins, 20 losses.  (I’m not counting the games they played in the 2020 bubble for seeding, where they went dead-even 1-1-1.)

Stated differently, 2018 seems a long time ago.

Caps may have some size and strength, but they lack hockey skills as compared to top clubs like Boston. Not great stickhandlers.  Their power play rushes through center ice are still fairly anemic.  
 

But they gave the effort tonight, can’t fault them on those grounds. 
 

On the first goal, when Pastrnak blew by Nic #1 (Dowd) then failed to be checked by Nic #2 (-k Jensen) to just skate right in front of the crease to bury it, I can imagine him thinking:

”Dude...let me slide right in, why dontcha, still counts; like, whatever, not taking it back. (Hosers.)”

Hope the Brewskis continue a good run.

How could any neutral be rooting for the Caps?  Neutrals want to see entertaining quality ice hockey.  This Caps power play is pathetic.  
 

I started noticing this in the 2nd half of game 2 with a couple of anemic man-advantage tries.  Now my assumption is that the coaching staff are at least semi-competent.  So when we see:

- a power play rush start with crossing their own blue line then consistently passing backwards before crossing center

- a dump and chase about 3/4 of the time instead of a controlled carry with possession

...that this is the PP plan.  This must be what the coaches have instructed them to do.

It’s a tacit admission that this team lacks the requisite offensive puck carrying skills normally seen in a genuine Cup-contending squad.  The coaches have largely given up trying to have them do anything better.

Count these boys out even if they eke out a game 5 win.  
 

I guess it shows, as many here pointed out, that their trading deadline decisions didn’t help, either.

1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

who he was directing his rage to?

The WaPo article (Samantha Pell) suggests it was towards Sammy.  
 

w/o Sammy it would’ve been a regulation loss, he played great except that last bonehead move.

I dunno maybe Putin give Ovie latitude criticize other Russkie shape their heads towards glorious Cup victory, da?

1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

My feelings exactly!  If I knew the OT would end on such an ‘Ilya-advised’ way (as you put it) I’d rather have seen Boston win in regulation.

With very few exceptions (1990, 1998,  2018) it is maddening to watch this team each spring.

Sammy and Kuzy back tonight for game 3?  Would Coach Laviolette tease us all?

Not to defend Tom Wilson’s overall play...but calling him for embellishment on this trip was a bad call from the officials, to my eye.

Game 2: Bruins had the moxie at the end of the 3rd; then took advantage of the failed clearance in the first minute of OT.  Hate to see it as a Caps fan but not surprised to see the Bruins being the team to respond in the clutch.  

Sticking with the Bruins in six prediction.  Hope I’m wrong.  Can’t get the head and heart in the same place on this.

Is it too much to ask that the Caps somehow win this series with each of four goaltenders getting a win?  Maybe tonite they pull Anderson after falling way behind, then comeback to get Pheonix Copley the win?  Then They lose twice then a game 5 win for Samsonov then Vanacek healed enough for a game 7?   Sorry I guess Letterman was wrong you can make this stuff up.

Watching these teams sends me back to when the Caps Cats and Canes battled ‘er out with Bolts and Thrashers in the old Southeast Division.  Sun Belt plus DC.  A memorable 2003 first-round disappointment when Peter Bondra and the lads took the first two in Tampa, only to have Vinnie Lecavalier and Martin St Louis dominate and lead the Bolts to 4 straight wins thereafter, 3 in DC.
 

I always thought they got the South Florida PR wrong when hockey expanded to the Sun Belt in the 90’s.   How can you NOT name them the Miami Ice ?!?  (Too late now.  Profiles of Crockett and Tubbs on the unis might’ve been even though the show had ended for a few years by the founding date.  Oh well...)

5 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

A bit of both.

Yes.  Palmieri hit that puck mid-air very quickly.   It takes some skill to hit it cleanly at all.  But lucky it went where it did.  But hockey is all about creating a 3% chance now, a 2% chance later, etc and eventually you’ll hit the jackpot.  

Good thing these aren’t single-game showdowns.

Seriously...luck or skill on Kyle Palmieri’s OT winner?  (Here you can see the puck grazing the goalie’s head; what a tiny target to shoot for.)

For most of the year, the debate on which young Caps goalie, Ilya Samsonov or Vitek Vanacek, would lead the team in the playoffs, remained unresolved.  The consensus was not to go out of the way to trade for yet another netminder.

So...if you had 39-years and 359-days old backup Craig Anderson being the winning goalie for playoff game 1...you are tonight’s big winner!

As former late-night talk show host David Letterman was frequently wont to say:  “You can’t make this stuff up.”

Nice to see Ovenchicken finally get some ice time practice against AHLers.  We’ll wait and see how he and Backs (and Osher and Kuzy?!?) do against NHL competition this weekend.

It is very strange, by the way, to see this Washington franchise offer its McDonald’s “Chicken McNugget Minute” contest, rewarding fans if the team scores in the final minute of regulation.  (Which occurred in both of the last two games)...

...I mean, duh, what the heck are they thinking, this team is built around Ovie, it’s all about OVEN BAKED chicken not that Mickey D deep-fat-fried poultry!  Sometimes ya gotta wonder if anybody’s in charge here...

Elsewhere I misspoke saying the Caps had not defeated the Bruins in regulation this year.   They did enjoy an 8-1 shellacking at Boston on April 11th.  Other than that, 4 regulation losses and 2 OT “wins” (if 3-on-3 can be considered real hockey.)  Advantage Bruins.

Of course they play Boston in a meaningless regular season finale tomorrow night.   Who would want to play, much less watch?  Can they let their AHL farm teams play?

Of course the bigger question is how many healthy COVID-Free Caps starters will be available once the real action starts.  Terrible time of year to be suffering in these regards.

(Well, Bayern Munich didn’t have Lewandowski and lost to Paris in the Champions League quarters...only to have Paris lose (might’ve anyway) to Man City in the semis with Mbappe out.  Stuff happens at the wrong time in lots of places.  Caps gotta figure out how to overcome, at least win 2 of the first 5 games, in time for healing to aid the cause.)

On 5/9/2021 at 12:56 AM, WordsOfWisdom said:

IF/WHEN Toronto wins it'll be...bigger than the Rangers victory.

In recent years when events at ScotiaBank Arena did not go to Leafs’ fans pleasure, did they ever burst out in unison with a rousing chorus of

”NIIIINE-teen-SIIIX-ti-SEVV-un!”

?

Also, four Cups since 1962 ain’t bad!  

It never fails...tell a wry ‘joke’ on the Interweb and you’ll get interpreted literally.  Thanks but I knew where The Whale ended up.

Buf I didn’t know about their merchandise still being sold.  Crap that makes this Isner Thing way less cool than I thought it was.  Shee-ittt...

America’s John Isner defeated Russia’s Andrey Rublev today at the Madrid Open.  This was his first defeat of a top ten tennis player in about 2 years.  Isner served great.  Now he has to play Dominic Thiem in a quarterfinal tomorrow.  Tough task.

But my concern lies elsewhere.  I can’t find the forum section for the Hartford Whalers.  Who can help ?!

January 13, 1978 - GOAL Magazine throws the then-woeful Washington Capitals franchise a bone, placing their Guy Charron on its cover.

Better would have been another photo from that era, if one exists, when the lowly Caps inexplicably defeated the then-dynastic Canadiens in Montreal.  This led to a post-game locker room celebration with the boys proudly taking turns lifting a big metal garbage can around as if it were the Stanley Cup.  Ah, good times...

Ignoring the results of gimmicks (3-on-3 OTs and shootouts), the Capitals are a dismal 0 wins, 5 losses, and 2 draws against The Bruins this season.
 

I gather that Zdeno Chara is not scaring his old mates a bit.

As far as odd-man breaks, when it is the Caps, they often look like an NBA point guard driving pell-mell down the middle but without good vision, or plan, or enough savvy, to make an effective decision.

I think it was the 5-3 Bruins goal where their 2-on-1 became a 3-on-2 where Carlson (who was with the 3rd attacker) went straight to net right next to the other defender and the goalie, all now close together, allowing that 3rd attacker a wide open shot for the goal.

If Washington draws Boston in the first round, feggedaboudit...

On 4/14/2021 at 6:18 AM, extra skater said:

The Athletic talking about this salary cap move for the Capitals, but it's paywall blocked

True, but I recently subscribed for one buck a month, for 6 months.  Pretty good deal.  More details than I need, but it’s worth it at this price.