Series Discussion: Caps vs Hurricanes

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Lenny and CMM is going to be a fast line. What took so long...

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Fehervary is our 2019 Kempny, except better. Fever’s game would be perfect against Carolina. Had a sinking feeling when they said Fever was out for the playoffs, just like when they said Kempny was out. Ah well, such is life.

 

[um]

Have any heads exploded yet?
At least home ice offers chances for moderate sheltering.

My head nearly exploded. I'm proud of Carbs for doing it.

And please, no more sheltering. Win by committee.

 

[um]

They gonna give AA more than 4-5 mins?

I hope so. Old man Carlson needs his rest.

 

[Blades of Steel]

Coincidentally, I have a crow I befriended. Took a month. Now we chill on the balcony eating blueberries and dried cranberries. His name is Harold and he's smarter than most. Don't touch Harold or his friends.

Thanks.

Dammit man!

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

 

[Blades of Steel]

It was obvious we went into this series with a plan to play against carolinas game, and not play our game. Well, that was a mistake, I think Carbs was over coaching/thinking it and adjusted too much of our game. I would've much rather have seen a fast, hard hitting, couple of scraps, barn burning hockey game 1, with a loss, than the turtle method we tried to deploy. We've now waited until we are cornered with our backs are against the wall, but that's the most dangerous kind of animal. Get this next win, gain confidence and anything is possible.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

At least shift Protas down there to give that line a chance….sigh…

 

[StrikingDistance]

Well, there were major changes done by the coaching staff in 2018 so maybe this turns it around? I'm not optimistic, but anything is better than watching that 3rd line swatting their sticks at the puck like they were being attacked by imaginary hornets. Maybe Eller has been taking doses of psilocybin before games?

 

[illicit]

At least shift Protas down there to give that line a chance….sigh…

Yeah I would have preferred to see Pro at 3C instead of Mikey too, but Mikey can't possibly be worse than Eller...can he?

 

[RandyHolt]

At least shift Protas down there to give that line a chance….sigh…

We are at home so no fear for now, as we just need to win 1 game right now. Getting Eller out of the lineup was a priority to Carbs and fans here for quite some time.

We need goals... Mikey is scrappy and it was time for a shakeup.

 

[kicksavedave]

Well, cant fault Carbs for trying something new. Maybe too little too late, but its almost exactly what most everyone here has been asking for. If Mikey prospers it will bode really well for our future, and if not then our off season needs will be clear. Too bad its only one game, but if he prospers maybe we get 2 more games?

 

[crab]

Didn’t expect Eller to be scratched but makes sense. Once he gets into the offensive zone he has to be one of the worst players in the league. Holds onto the puck for way too long and then turns it over or forces a teammate into a bad situation.

 

[marcel snapshot]

Would like to see PLD on PP1 in place of Carlson or Chycrun. Good possession guy, good wall work, and only functioning zone entry guy on the team.

 

[Blades of Steel]

Would like to see PLD on PP1 in place of Carlson or Chycrun. Good possession guy, good wall work, and only functioning zone entry guy on the team.

hell i'd put protas in for one of them too

protas can probably be a hell of a defenseman now that i think about it

 

[Lou Sassole]

Well, there were major changes done by the coaching staff in 2018 so maybe this turns it around? I'm not optimistic, but anything is better than watching that 3rd line swatting their sticks at the puck like they were being attacked by imaginary hornets. Maybe Eller has been taking doses of psilocybin before games?

Or whatever Carlson has been dosing.

 

[Lou Sassole]

Yeah I would have preferred to see Pro at 3C instead of Mikey too, but Mikey can't possibly be worse than Eller...can he?

I think they want to give that heavy line a chance to cook, they were f***ing dominant earlier in the year. That's 700 pounds of dudes that can play heavy, skate, hit, and score.

 

[g00n]

Carlson has been the heaviest part of a boat anchor in the playoffs for like 5 years or more. I wanted him traded after 2021 along with Eller.

Here we are 4 years later, making the same mistakes and scratching our heads about it instead of scratching these players (Carlson, at least, with Eller now scratched).

JC74 has a good regular season skillset but is nowhere close to what you need in a top 4 Dman in the playoffs. He should be playing sheltered minutes and limited PP duty on the 3rd pair.

 

[Blades of Steel]

Carlson has been the heaviest part of a boat anchor in the playoffs for like 5 years or more. I wanted him traded after 2021 along with Eller.

Here we are 4 years later, making the same mistakes and scratching our heads about it instead of scratching these players (Carlson, at least, with Eller now scratched).

JC74 has a good regular season skillset but is nowhere close to what you need in a top 4 Dman in the playoffs. He should be playing sheltered minutes and limited PP duty on the 3rd pair.

again, how quickly can Protas learn/switch to D

 

[tenken00]

Drastic times calls for drastic measures. We can no longer afford to just tinker a little bit here and there and hope things work out.

We lose and we are out and done.

Have to go all out balls to the wall in switching things up. McMichael going to C is a good start. But that only affects one line.

 

[tenken00]

Caps record this series with me making the GDT: 1-0

Caps record this series with you hooligans making the GDT: 0-3

I’ll be on my game for Thursday. Feeling a three game heater coming up.

Good! May you lead us to victory for at least another day!

Me after that utter failure of a GDT:

 

[RandyHolt]

Well, there were major changes done by the coaching staff in 2018 so maybe this turns it around? I'm not optimistic, but anything is better than watching that 3rd line swatting their sticks at the puck like they were being attacked by imaginary hornets. Maybe Eller has been taking doses of psilocybin before games?

Do you think he has any he can spare, now that he won't need them for games? Asking for... my friend Homer.

 

[Jags]

Also, why resign McIlrath if he is not going to play when Fever gets hurt? He played much more than AA in the regular season.

He's a righty. Bad enough having to start a spare D in the playoffs without adding insult to injury by having him play his weak side and expecting him to chew comparable minutes at evens.

My head nearly exploded. I'm proud of Carbs for doing it.

The writing's been on the wall all series long, so let's not wear ourselves out patting him on the back for an adjustment that should have been made before we were facing elimination.

Pulling the ripcord on our gameplan before personnel is bass ackwards. Things like this should have been done BEFORE changing the way we play the game. If you can't stay on-system normally, you tweak matchups. If that fails, tweak personnel. If everything fails, tweak systems. Carbery threw our game out the window first.

I don't mean to harp on him, but there's a bit of a narrative here that the players have shit the bed and Carbery's been solid -- "he's done all he can with this group..." -- and that just isn't the case. He's just as culpable as everyone else.

Effort and execution have been wildly inconsistent, which is bad. But Carbery's overall approach has been just as underwhelming.

 

[mad4comp]

Switch Strome and Dubois. Can't have two slow skaters on the top line.

 

[illicit]

Switch Strome and Dubois. Can't have two slow skaters on the top line.

Only problem with that is Dubois has been out shutdown guy. Not sure if pairing our shutdown guy with O is the best option either. Bit of a predicament.