Dowds been playing 3c time wise all year hes been fine
Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines/etc) | 2024-25 Summer Edition
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CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
- Feb 27, 2002
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SherVaughn30
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Wait, that was Clay Stevenson?! So Shep was sent back to Hershey and Stevenson will backup Lindgren?
SherVaughn30
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I'm living under a rock currently, so you have to excuse me!
895
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43sfriends
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SherVaughn30
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Just a hypothetical ? If LT is not quite ready to play Tuesday or Thursday to get a game in, do you give Clay Stevenson a start in one of these 2 remaining games?
It’s interesting, because if LT isn’t ready they might want to give Charlie a day off, although if you’re trying to regain your momentum in these last games do you risk a young goalie struggling and taking the wind out of your sails. If they have a strong game tomorrow I could see him being put in for the last game of the year.
Likely no. Lindgren should start the Islanders game anyways, and last game of RS is either Thompson getting in or Lindgren keeping in.
Sucks for Shepard they basically shot him down after the breakdown. I would have given Shepard the Pens game if LT isnt ready, just to make amends. He had terrible game but his team also killed him. Thats a bad little side taste just before the playoffs, after having that "great locker room vibes" all season long.
Anyhow, we should take a break this week and not watch the games or even the scores. Should have done it last week already. The team has clocked out for RS and its painful to watch, gives creeps for the playoffs. Just tune it out and get back next week, lol. Better for mental health.
TheSmokingMan
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Don't know if anyone has seen this interview. I think it was filmed a while back in Russian, but they released an English dubbed version. It's a pretty interesting tour of the practice facility given by Protas. The British accent dubbed in is pretty funny. I've also included the original Russian.
SherVaughn30
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Sorry, but you do not seem to realize how Shep has been this season for the Bears. He's been awful throughout the season. The only reason he was called up was because he has played some NHL games in the past and they probably wanted to get Stevenson in rhythm of possibly being the go to guy for the playoffs. Shep has a somewhat an unorthodox butterfly style, but he's also playing way too deep in his net at the AHL level. I feel Shep never could translate his game to the NHL level, because he's a goalie that relies too much on a structured defense playing in front of him, which the Bears haven't been doing so well this season with the multitude of injuries they have had to their D group. The fact is Shep is only age 29. It's not like he was reaching close to his mid 30's. He's career AHL goalie and that is the end of the story.
SherVaughn30
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Hypothetical. With how awful Shep played despite the team playing badly, the Caps obviously thought that was an alarm that Shep shouldn't be trusted to backup Lindgren. Until there is some indication that LT can jump back into action, you might have to go with the mindset that Lindgren is the playoff starter with Stevenson being the backup. I would think if that were the case, then it would be smart to get Stevenson in to start one of the two final games.
I have followed how Bears are doing enough to know this havent been Shepards year. Also have seen enough to know his composure isnt NHL level, he just looks weird.
Still, one of our own was struggling and the team just didnt care. Shepard has been a loyal warrior, he deserved more than being murdered in front of our eyes in a non-meaningful game.
As far as we know they are waiting LT to be back for playoffs. Maybe not the first game or second? But untill he is back the plan will definately be that Charlie plays every game against the Habs (or Jackets). If he goes down and LT still not back, it doesnt really matter if Stevenson played a game or not, we are screwed. It would actually be even more catastrophic if the team keeps snoozing and also Stevenson gets smoked just before the playoffs, we’ll have two unplayable thirds at that point. Its better to let him get in there out of cold imo, if he has to jump in. Less pressure, opportunistic situation for him. So, just give Lindgren the nod.
And if they wanted to rest Charlie, id would have rather gave Shepard a chance to rebound and not have that game as his last NHL performance. He is very likely not playing for Caps again.
And a big part of their game, when they care, is physicality. They’re not exactly playing their heavy game right now just coasting.
But, in the Canes game last week, Ovi starting hitting guys, and the game turned on a dime. As guys like Willy, Dewey, and Fever followed suit, and we took control of the game.
If it’s the Habs, they have a hard time against bigger, physical teams. I saw them play the Sens on Fri, and the Pinto line caved them in all night. They banged Hutson down low repeatedly, and it lead to turnovers and goals. Habs are kind of a 1 line team - we can throw the PLD and Dowd lines at that Suzuki line. With Protas back, we should be able to bully them.
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TheSmokingMan
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Eller was acquired to stabilize the 3rd line which was giving up goals like a sieve and was dragging the whole team down. He was able to stabilize the line defensively, but the offense never materialized. So while they aren't a net negative like before, they aren't adding anything offensively either.
When we sent Lappy and Miro back to Hershey and acquired Beauvilier and added Leonard, it became pretty glaring that every other line was contributing offensively and the Eller line was an offensive black hole, even though they weren't playing poorly. They just couldn't finish their chances.
Eller is responsible defensively, can take faceoffs, skates well, and plays a physical big body game along the walls. He just can't score anymore. Those are all very useful traits in the playoffs, as long as you are careful not to over utilize him and aren't putting players on his line that need to score to be effective (Aka Ryan Leonard).
IMO, Leonard needs to play with Dowd and Duhaime. I think that could be a game changing line for us.
TheSmokingMan
Registered User
Yeah, that didn't sit well with me either. After he let in the softies, it looked like the team had no confidence in him and stopped trying.
Shep isn't in the future plans for the Caps, but I would like to have seen them throw him a life line when he was looking so shell-shocked.
I was curious about actual data in the Eller/Dowd ice-time, so I went to the ESPN boxscores and extracted their ES ice-times for the 25 games since the 4 Nations break. If the averages are correct, Eller is at 11:49 and Dowd at 11:28. Eller has received more ice-time in 14 of the 25 games, Dowd the other 11.
Eller's highest TOI is 16:38 in the Pittsburgh game first back, next highest 14:09, then 4 games between 13:21 and 13:34, and on the flip side, 3 games under 10 minutes (and another at exactly 10 minutes). Dowd's highest TOI is 16:23 against Philly on 3/20, then 15:41 against Carolina 4/10, along with 5 other 13 minute+ TOI. On his other side, he has 5 games under 10 minutes, and another at exactly 10, like Eller.
If you break it down by month, it is 2 vs 2 in February, 9 vs 5 in March (including the longest streak of 5 for Eller between 3/1 and 3/9), and 3 vs 4 in April (Eller listed first in all comparisons, Dowd listed second). The Caps have 14 wins and 11 losses in these games, and they are tied at 7 at who has more ice-time, whereas Eller leads 7 to 4 in losses.
Despite being listed at 3C/4C, only 2 of the 25 games has them within 30 seconds of each other's ice time, and that number is just 7 if you increase that to 1 minute. I'd kinda like to see how the numbers stack up if you exclude the final 5 minutes of the game, because I feel like a bunch of discrepancy occurs during empty-net time with Washington leading/trailing. I also think OT ice-time might also be affecting it, but that's unclear because the 4 OT games breakdown to 2 apiece.
So in conclusion, I think I know less than I did when I started looking at the numbers, and now have a bunch of data that can be massaged to support any hypothesis.
Eller's highest TOI is 16:38 in the Pittsburgh game first back, next highest 14:09, then 4 games between 13:21 and 13:34, and on the flip side, 3 games under 10 minutes (and another at exactly 10 minutes). Dowd's highest TOI is 16:23 against Philly on 3/20, then 15:41 against Carolina 4/10, along with 5 other 13 minute+ TOI. On his other side, he has 5 games under 10 minutes, and another at exactly 10, like Eller.
If you break it down by month, it is 2 vs 2 in February, 9 vs 5 in March (including the longest streak of 5 for Eller between 3/1 and 3/9), and 3 vs 4 in April (Eller listed first in all comparisons, Dowd listed second). The Caps have 14 wins and 11 losses in these games, and they are tied at 7 at who has more ice-time, whereas Eller leads 7 to 4 in losses.
Despite being listed at 3C/4C, only 2 of the 25 games has them within 30 seconds of each other's ice time, and that number is just 7 if you increase that to 1 minute. I'd kinda like to see how the numbers stack up if you exclude the final 5 minutes of the game, because I feel like a bunch of discrepancy occurs during empty-net time with Washington leading/trailing. I also think OT ice-time might also be affecting it, but that's unclear because the 4 OT games breakdown to 2 apiece.
So in conclusion, I think I know less than I did when I started looking at the numbers, and now have a bunch of data that can be massaged to support any hypothesis.
I'm curious about how a Mango - Dowd - Leonard line would do. Feels like Duhaime - Eller - Raddysh/Beauvillier would be quite effective as basically a Duhaime-Dowd replacement and you might get a bit of offense (while still being reliable) out of M-D-L.
Re: Eller - He has been on the ice (5 on 5) for 21 goals for and 24 goals against. His job is basically to make sure that nothing happens while he is on ice. If the Caps are winning the other matchups (which they have mostly done over the course of the season), then that is a successful strategy.
Todos a la Calle
Registered User
This, completely. They turned the hitting back on in the 2nd vs Canes and went from 0-2 to 4-2 in a flash. Then they coasted into the 3rd and OT and eked out a shootout win. But the point was not lost on me at least, they know what the switch looks like and they can turn it on when they want to. The only real question is, how long can they sustain the "Power On" position?
wickedwitch
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- Mar 21, 2010
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Eller and Leonard are wearing different color jerseys at practice, which could mean they'll be on different lines tonight:
SherVaughn30
Registered User
Your saying it wouldn't matter for Stevenson to get a game in before the playoffs started if he had to be the backup?! You are completely wrong on that! Since I have had actually played goalie against different skill levels(at pickup hockey I have played against far better players than my adult league level), I can attest to getting your feet wet against a higher skill level can make difference the next time around. The next time I played against those higher skilled level players, I was more comfortable doing it.
Hypothetical in point. Let us say Stevenson would have to backup Lindgren in the playoffs, Lindgren goes down and Stevenson has to come in the game or even finish the series. Stevenson just practicing with team is not enough. You get him in an NHL game rhythm like the last game against the Pens, then the shell shock possibility gets diminished. Unbeknownst to most people(fans), the mental aspect of goaltending is more important than the physical aspect. Stevenson getting an NHL start makes him mentally better prepared for a playoff game start or coming in for Lindgren in a game, if it comes to that situation.
