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Pre-Game Talk: (3) Washington Capitals VS (6) New York Rangers (Schedule in Post #1)

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This is a reason why I don't like the realignment. It's already boring now to always play the Caps and it will only get worse meeting always the same teams in the playoffs. And frankly, even though we are meeting them the fourth time in five years, I don't think there's a real rivalry.
 
n8 said:
LGR! the reason I didn't want to play Boston was because it is inevitable that Chara will injure someone via slapshot and that Wade Redden will score a hat trick against us, an embarrassment I cannot live through.
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Well Wolski will probably get a hat trick now.
 
Pizza said:
Well any opponent was going to be very tough. This gonna be one tough series.
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This... it didn't really matter what place NYR ended up in, because all of them have strengths...

PIT is a powerhouse
MTL shuts us out every damn game
BOS knows how to shut down Nash completely
WSH has white-hot Ovi
TOR has great offense
OTT has Anderson

All, however, have their weaknesses:

- Carey Price has been the equivalent of jello between the pipes
- Boston has lost it's groove (and I don't know why, they've been solid all year until the last month)
- Washington mainly has Ovi... shut him down, and you only have one other line to worry about
- Pittsburgh does NOT have a grind out team... They work great with open ice, but that doesn't happen in the Post Season
- Toronto running Reimer in the pipes is a surefire screw up for their playoff chances
- Ottawa is just getting their chemistry back, and quite frankly it's a little too late for that to JUST start happening
 
kenjets36 said:
Honest series synopsis:

Washington has been hot. We have been hot. We've played slightly easier opponents, but we'd be ranked far higher had we played the Canadian teams when they began to slump and we were peaking... as opposed to playing them when we were slumping and they were peaking.

Ovechkin is gonna be a match up nightmare. Even with Staal. Theres no guarantee he's in playoff shape, or even if he's in shape to play. After his dramatic come back against the Flyers in the WC last year i'm not ruling out a comeback in the 1st game of the playoffs... If he can come back, and be dominant, our defense becomes scary. Anyway, back to Ovechkin. He'll be a nightmare against Girardi and McDonough together, he'll be double and triple shifted every game too. He has really elevated his game.

But this series won't be won by him. It'll be won in the trenches and by the tenders. Players like Chimaera and Hagelin are gonna be key. The goalies are going to be huge. Holtby has not looked as dominant as he did last year. He stole 3 games for them last year. Lately, he's been rather meh. Our offense is clicking at the right time, and most importantly Henrik is clicking at the right time.

Washington isn't the best match up for us, but we're also not the best match up for them. I think Holtby is going to be BARRAGED with shots from this Rangers team. The way the defense has been chipping in lately, my lord, this series is all going to come down to how well the goalies play. The top 2 lines are going to stay the same heading into this series. Clowe and Dorsett (yes I think both will be back by game 1) returning will mean our 3rd line is going to be a solid checking line, and so will our 4th. Additionally, the main reason we're not a good match up for them... We've now played them 4/5 years with the same coach. He knows what works best 5/5. Why they've been so successful this year... their powerplay. Its downright unreal. Stay out of the box, this series is a cake walk. Go in the box... it'll be short and we'll be golfing before May 10.

Hope that Staal is able to come back, purely for pairing purposes. Can't rely on Girardi to play 30+ minutes like he did in Carolina. Otherwise, the keys to this series: 1) STAY OUT OF THE BOX 2) Win the trenches 3) Henrik has to be exponentially better than Holtby.

It's a winnable series. Its a losable series. This isn't like when we played the Thrashers as a 6 seed years ago. We'll lose if we're not focused and allowing power play chances and crazy odd man rushes. We'll win if we play like we did against the Penguins and Maple Leafs to begin this streak we've had going into the playoffs.
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I love when people **** on Girardi (and I catch myself doing it sometimes too), but then I remember that the guy can hit, shoot (not at the net), and rack in TONS of minutes, and still just keep going... he's nearly unstoppable
 
Girardi is unstoppable? Eh... he has kinda been all over the place this season and not nearly as effective as he was last year but he's definitely a warrior in the playoffs so hopefully he steps his game up. Both him and McD have looked better as the season went on.
 
Kershaw said:
Best PP in the NHL.

Top 5 offense

Ovechkin is currently the best healthy player in the world.

Backstrom is a top 10 center.

Brouwer has 2nd most goals after Ovie the past month IIRC.

Riberiro is a PPG elite playmaking center

Erskine crease clearing D-man.

Much better depth: Erat, Laich, Johansson, etc.

Their defense is far better than ours without Staal. Green, Carlson, Alzner > McDonagh, Girardi, Del Zotto.

Holtby has .930+ sv percetange past 2 months.

25-10-2 their last 37

It'll be a series only because of Lundqvist, otherwise they'd probably sweep us.

They were only mediocre early the year because Oates new coach and he implemented the same system the Devils had. The same system last year that ousted our team in the playoffs. The same system that wore out all our players. Same system that got Torts heavily outcoached.
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Yes, Ovechkin has heated up but he's mostly banging in 1-timers and picking up points on a white hot PP. Granted a PP with Ovi, Green, Bäckström, and Ribeiro is to be feared - but we take very few penalties, and playoff reffing will limit the amount of PPs even more. Add the fact that the Rangers are likely to dominate the 5v5 play, which would lead to taking even less penalties, and Washington's greatest strength couldn't be diminished more.

Brouwer - hot streak, and he is currently cooling down.

Riberio is a PP specialist, worst possession numbers on their entire team.

Erskine is a pylon.

Better depth? If their depth is Erat, Laich, and Johansson - that would make our depth Zuccarello, Hagelin, and Brassard. Not a big difference, and I'd take our group based on the fact that Zucc is the best player out of all 6.

D could be argued either way; Carlson is a terribly overrated D-man, but so is MDZ. Top to bottom our core is better than theirs even W/O Staal IMO.

Holtby is hot, good for him. But Hank can sustain such percentages for seasons while it is unlikely Holtby can keep this going for much longer.

Washington couldn't be more dissimilar to the Devils IMO. The Devils are a fantastic possession team, Washington are mediocre to bad. The Devils have a terrible PP, Washington lives and dies by theirs.

All in all, Rangers in 6.
 
Can't wait! But damn, i'm so sick of playing the Caps in the playoffs. Boston would've been fun. Could still happen.
 
mooskating said:
goodbye world and all who inhabit it!
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To true my Bruins have depth up the (_!_) but Luci and Horton have been god awful in this half season. Losing leads in 3rd period is not them and I am scared how there season will end.
 
Blue Blooded said:
Yes, Ovechkin has heated up but he's mostly banging in 1-timers and picking up points on a white hot PP. Granted a PP with Ovi, Green, Bäckström, and Ribeiro is to be feared - but we take very few penalties, and playoff reffing will limit the amount of PPs even more. Add the fact that the Rangers are likely to dominate the 5v5 play, which would lead to taking even less penalties, and Washington's greatest strength couldn't be diminished more.

Brouwer - hot streak, and he is currently cooling down.

Riberio is a PP specialist, worst possession numbers on their entire team.

Erskine is a pylon.

Better depth? If their depth is Erat, Laich, and Johansson - that would make our depth Zuccarello, Hagelin, and Brassard. Not a big difference, and I'd take our group based on the fact that Zucc is the best player out of all 6.

D could be argued either way; Carlson is a terribly overrated D-man, but so is MDZ. Top to bottom our core is better than theirs even W/O Staal IMO.

Holtby is hot, good for him. But Hank can sustain such percentages for seasons while it is unlikely Holtby can keep this going for much longer.

Washington couldn't be more dissimilar to the Devils IMO. The Devils are a fantastic possession team, Washington are mediocre to bad. The Devils have a terrible PP, Washington lives and dies by theirs.

All in all, Rangers in 6.
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I agree with the prediction, but saying Zuccarello is better than Erat, Hagelin, Laich, and Brassard is laughable. They have a defenseman who can score more goals and points than our top pairing combined. They are very dangerous offensively.
 
This will be tough. Have to exploit their bottom defense-pairing. Good thing we're now able to roll 3 potent lines. If we split the first 2 games, I'm slightly optimistic.

I think Girardi will play a huge role this series: If he sucks, OV is gonna feast on his mistakes. If he finds his game, our defense looks dominant, especially if Staal comes back. Of course we also need Hank at his best, because goals aren't going to come easily.
 
The Rangers should win this in 6.

I'm not all that concerned about Ovechkin. He'll score his goals, but I'm pretty confident the Rangers can outscore him, as well as limit his output.

My fear is Chimera, Carlson, and someone like Jay Beagle turning into John Druce. It always seems to be that one of their no-talent idiots turns into Maurice Richard against the Rangers.
 
On an other note, how many times a game will we get to see Holtby's mom? Over/under 9000?
 
You know, the last 3 series we've had against these Caps, one of the two teams have always been mediocre. The first two of the last 3 have seen us in 8th and in really poor form while the Capitals were rolling on V1.0 Ovechkin along with effective Green, Backstrom, Semin etc. Last year, the tables were turned. We were the favorite and played to our strength against a team that barely made it. This year though... Both teams are playing well and out of the eight teams, I have no doubt the Rangers and Caps are in the top four alongside with PIT and one other team. This is the same **** again this year... another round against the Capitals but in different sense, this will be the first clash between the two teams where both teams believe they're the favorite and are correct with that belief.
 
I believe it will take at least 6 games

NYR - WSH 4-2

Washington will struggle more to win in MSG than NYR will struggle to
win in Washington. It will be 1-1 after 2 games. Then NYR win 2 homegames.
Washington reduce to 2-3 (home) before NYR again win at home.

Just stop Ovetchkin. Lundqvist will hopefully save his longdistance wristshots
 
Great...at least two times we get to hear the creative D.C. crowd yell "red" during the anthem and six times we get the "OV" countdown at eight minutes...thirty years ago that would have been me to the fridge six times for an Old Vienna! LGR!
 
I think we are banged up a bit too much to handle a long series . If we can get the first one in DC...we have a shot at it in 5 but if we lose...it becomes a short series .

Caps are rolling and they have a great PP..ours...well...who knows...as is the status of our team on too many nights IMO . Some nights we play...and some nights we go through the motions . Without Boyle/Clowe/Dorsett and Staal we lack a lot of size/animosity needed for crease play at both ends .

Kreider has to get more into the games with that big body of his...can't just rely on speed...he should be throwing the odd hit along the boards/corners to give himself some more room and to make the opposition D hurry their passes just a bit ...it all helps .

Pyatt also has to get some kind of mean streak going... he is just taking up space most nights and hopefully replaced by Newbury/Dorsett/Haley at some point in the series . I also hope that Moore continues his fine play as he grows into our system .

Finally...Nash has to come to play every night and every shift and Torts has to use Moore on the opening unit of the PP at every chance and certainly not Girardi .

I am not feeling very optomistic at this point...however if we have Staal back at 80 % along with Dorsett and one of Clowe or Boyle...I feel somewhat better...but in reality...none of the above may be back and that makes us a very thin and soft team to play against and possibly easy picking for Ovie & crew .
 
Too bad my employer letting me go by the end of this month.

Rangers in a close seven game series.
 
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