PGT: 9/14 - Exhibition: Canada 3 Russia 2 (OT)

[Canuckistani]

How the hell does a 46-save performance not result in the #1 star?

 

[Macman]

How the hell does a 46-save performance not result in the #1 star?

He was No. 1 on the Sportsnet broadcast. Was it different in the building?

 

[JaegerDice]

Canada's top two lines were both strong in their primary matchups (and secondary...and tertiary).

 

[Sam Spade]

Stamkos/Toews/Giroux have been invisible. I also agree with lack of speed. Letang on the backend and Hall up front would be two additions. Can't do anything about Keith/Seguin/Benn... As for defense, I agree. It's definitely not Olympics 2014 level. Weber looks sloooow. But then again, remember how Canada started the Olympics? It wasn't pretty.

Doughty-Vlasic
Pietrangelo-Bouwmeester
Weber-Letang

This is how the defense should have been in the tournament with Keith injured having one really, really mobile D on each pair. Instead, the pairings are all mixed up.

I agree with this assessment. I still think Canada wins this tourney easily though. They only need one goal a game with that defense and goaltending.

That said, outside of 5 or so minutes, Canada really dominated.

First two periods sure, third was pretty even.

Whats weird to me is that people fail to mention how much Ovie has slowed down. I know he scored, and his shot is still somewhat a threat (hard to be a threat when he barely moves or creates anything else), but he is really not that good of a hockey player anymore. Reminds me of Sheldon Souray on the Habs offensively. Outside of his canon shot, there isnt much to write home about.
Very disappointed, what an exciting player he used to be.

Not speaking about this game, but you clearly don't watch the Capitals much if you think Ovechkin has 'slowed down'.

 

[Canuckistani]

He was No. 1 on the Sportsnet broadcast. Was it different in the building?

NHL.com has Getzlaf, Marchand and Panarin.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Not speaking about this game, but you clearly don't watch the Capitals much if you think Ovechkin has 'slowed down'.

Ovechkin once again had Drew Doughty matching-up against him in many situations. He seems to get tentative in his play when facing a defenseman that can both shut down his offense and match his physical play; probably because he is not used to it happening.

 

[EliteGoaltending]

Is it me or Toews is totally invisible for Canada in this pre-tournament? I know he's shut down center and all, but I can't remember one play he made or announcers mentioning his name. At all.

 

[Sky04]

NHL.com has Getzlaf, Marchand and Panarin.

yeah that's stupid, sportsnet had him as 1st

 

[TLeafsFan]

Except for Canada's revolving penalty box door, they totally dominated all but 4-5 minutes of even strength play in the game.

Zaitsev really impressed me as Russia's top defender.

Gonna be a great tournament!

 

[Alwalys]

... did couture actually outpossess datsyuk?
and did crosby lose his primary matchup (vs malkin)?

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Weber not being used properly by Babcock,he needs to be on the PP with his cannon of a shot in Montreal this year Weber will easily get between 25-30 goals.

I think he easily gets between 15 and 20, and there is very little chance he gets between 25 and 20.

 

[Little Psycho]

Carter's speed and shot is missing.

 

[Yakushev72]

How the hell does a 46-save performance not result in the #1 star?

All but a few were routine saves that any goalie would be expected to make. Most of the Canadian shots were low percentage from the blue line, hoping for a screen. I thought he had a really good game, but the first goal could be attributed to his being down before the shot, and we really needed him to make a save on the breakaway in OT. I thought Panarin was the No. 1 Russian player.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

As a forward in my playing days I always tend to be drawn towards forwards but man do I love watching Drew Doughty play hockey. He's unreal.

On another note I was skeptical of the WCH to begin with as I saw it as just another way for Bettman to make boat loads of money. But since I've been paying more attention to it, it's starting to grow on me. The players seem to genuinely be engaged in it and I like how they've had a few weeks to come together as a team and find chemistry unlike to Olympics where it's such a short tournament and they have basically no time leading up to it.

 

[CrypTic]

`quote: Stamkos/Toews/Giroux have been invisible.

Not sure what you expect from him being given 12th forward minutes and playing 6 minutes a game at evens. The other two get twice his ice time and with better players. He does look like he has some rust at times, given his major hip surgery this offseason (plus he usually starts slowly anyway), but him being given line-mates with which he has no chemistry and given no ice time is probably not going to help the visibility department. Giroux is an excellent 2-way center who thrives controlling play....so they make him wing and give him other playmaking line-mates who turn him into more of an off-puck forechecking player. You can see how awkward it is for a dynamic puck carrier to never have the puck. And Babcock has shown basically no willingness to experiment much in these exhibition games.

Babcock did move Giroux in the second game. It started off with Giroux centering Duchene and Thornton but switched Giroux (pretty early IIRC) with Seguin on Bergeron's line. I assumed that the coaches wanted to try to get Giroux going. I was glad that he did that bc it seemed to work for the bottom line (though Seguin is no longer available so that came to nothing probably). I wish he'd do it for the Toews line bc IMO Toews has been invisible and Stamkos inconsistent (usually invisible with some bad stretches and some very good). Maybe they should move Toews to wing and try letting Stamkos or Couture center the line. Maybe that would help both Toews and Stamkos. But that line seems to be winning their matchups if you look at charts so maybe that's why Babcock hasn't done anything.

 

[JaegerDice]

Stamkos/Toews/Giroux have been invisible.

They've been hard-matching against the other team's top lines (Datsyuk/Ovie last night) and are the second best possession team behind the Crosby line. They spent pretty much the entire game in the other team's end.

I think we'd all like them to generate more chances, but they've been solid.

 

[CrypTic]

They've been hard-matching against the other team's top lines (Datsyuk/Ovie last night) and are the second best possession team behind the Crosby line. They spent pretty much the entire game in the other team's end.

I think we'd all like them to generate more chances, but they've been solid.

I was quoting someone else to provide context but didn't make that clear, though I generally agree.

That's why I talked about the Toews line later in my post. They have seem to do well in their matchups. Giroux isn't on that line, though. It's Couture - Toews - Stamkos. The only time I've noticed a change was when Couture was out for some of the 1st game after Oshie ran him.

 

[Macman]

As a forward in my playing days I always tend to be drawn towards forwards but man do I love watching Drew Doughty play hockey. He's unreal.

He's the best defenceman in the world and has been probably since 2010. He proves it at every event like this. He should be a multiple Norris winner but that's the downside of playing on the West coast.

 

[Gm0ney]

Bob was really sharp.

As entertaining an exhibition game as I'll ever see, for sure. Bring on the real ones now...

 

[AgentBrodeur]

so i guess the big game is going to be russia vs usa? unless Quick and the rest of USA can really prove the grind hitting game is going to handle canada's stars. IMO in the long run it will not work, skating is foremost important, and its not just speed I am talking about

 

[BackToTheBasics]

Ovechkin once again had Drew Doughty matching-up against him in many situations. He seems to get tentative in his play when facing a defenseman that can both shut down his offense and match his physical play; probably because he is not used to it happening.

You're claiming that he's tentative when playing against physical players after a meaningless exhibition game? I'm not sure if this is a joke or not. After being in the league for 11 years, I'm sure he's used to it. He's not going to throw his body around in an exhibition game. Why would he put himself in a position where he could potentially injure himself in a meaningless game? I don't remember him being tentative when facing the likes of Chara and Johnny Boychuk. Those guys are just soft though, right? Not even close to the beast that is Drew Doughty.

 

[Sensinitis]

I agree with this assessment. I still think Canada wins this tourney easily though. They only need one goal a game with that defense and goaltending.



First two periods sure, third was pretty even.



Not speaking about this game, but you clearly don't watch the Capitals much if you think Ovechkin has 'slowed down'.

"Much" is a subjective term, I think the term you're looking for "enough". I think I've watched Ovechkin quite enough to judge. From the beginning of his career to this day, and I do think he has slowed down.

I can't even respond to you because you don't offer me any points to further discuss. Just the regular condescending statement without substance that one can come across quite often on HF boards.

 

[BackToTheBasics]

Whats weird to me is that people fail to mention how much Ovie has slowed down. I know he scored, and his shot is still somewhat a threat (hard to be a threat when he barely moves or creates anything else), but he is really not that good of a hockey player anymore. Reminds me of Sheldon Souray on the Habs offensively. Outside of his canon shot, there isnt much to write home about.
Very disappointed, what an exciting player he used to be.

Let me get this straight, you're claiming that he's "slowing down" based on this game alone? Ovechkin isn't 22 anymore, he's 31 years old now. His game has changed for the better. He's not going to fly down the wing and score a highlight reel goal every game. It's like some people forget that he has scored 50+ goals in each of the past 3 seasons. Surely, he had to move his feet for at least a few of them.

 

[Frank the Tank]

You're claiming that he's tentative when playing against physical players after a meaningless exhibition game? I'm not sure if this is a joke or not. After being in the league for 11 years, I'm sure he's used to it. He's not going to throw his body around in an exhibition game. Why would he put himself in a position where he could potentially injure himself in a meaningless game? I don't remember him being tentative when facing the likes of Chara and Johnny Boychuk. Those guys are just soft though, right? Not even close to the beast that is Drew Doughty.

Doughty's had Ovechkin's number across the years. It's a match-up I follow closely. Ovechkin has had his moments, but for the most part Doughty has won the majority of head-to-head battles (RD vs. LW) since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where a 20 year old Canadian defenseman made the reigning MVP a complete non-factor in an elimination game.

It seems like last night was not completely meaningless because they were running each other a bit.

 

[BackToTheBasics]

Doughty's had Ovechkin's number across the years. It's a match-up I follow closely. Ovechkin has had his moments, but for the most part Doughty has won the majority of head-to-head battles (RD vs. LW) since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where a 20 year old Canadian defenseman made the reigning MVP a complete non-factor in an elimination game.

It seems like last night was not completely meaningless because they were running each other a bit.

I agree that he's often struggled when he's gone head-to-head with Doughty. I'm sure most elite players do. I thought you were generally claiming that he's tentative against physical defenseman which isn't true. Also, yesterday was meaningless in the grand scheme of things but they're both competitive players so they're obviously going to be somewhat physical. Regardless, basing the notion that Ovechkin is tentative on this game would be false.