GDT: G6: Cappies @ Debbies - 7:38pm EST

[StrikingDistance]

More G's and less GA's or else: Bring the pain. Shepard in net.

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Not that it will affect the outcome, but this game is at NJD.

 

[shtorm2005]

Not that it will affect the outcome, but this game is at NJD.

 

[trick9]

This'll be fun.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

TNT means I can watch but after last night why??? See you all at 7:38 puck drop

 

[kicksavedave]

Live look at the Caps defenders in their own zone.

 

[troyerlaw]

Well, my expectations couldn’t be any lower. So there’s that.

Hoping for a goal tonight from CMM, Pro, and/or Phillips. Would be good for their confidence. I like all three players and hope they can get some traction this year.

On same topic, I hope Snively and Frank get some games this fall. Easier for me to watch a team lose if they’re at least giving full effort and doing it with some jump and hunger

 

[marcel snapshot]

Easier for me to watch a team lose if they’re at least giving full effort and doing it with some jump and hunger

Couldn't agree more. But that's because you and I like, you know, the game of hockey. The owner of this team seems to think he's better off selling a scoring record chase than trying to market actual hockey.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Not that it will affect the outcome, but this game is at NJD.

Hope it doesn't effect my Yelp review.

 

[kicksavedave]

Couldn't agree more. But that's because you and I like, you know, the game of hockey. The owner of this team seems to think he's better off selling a scoring record chase than trying to market actual hockey.

I think the narrative that Ted doesn't care about winning, only marketing and filling the seats, is just way off base. Ted spend to the Cap every year for decades. They resign their best players, even potentially over paying sometimes. Its essentially impossible to market any sort of rebuild, so what is Ted supposed to do, not do any marketing at all, or market the chase?

Ted can be fairly accused of being loyal beyond what is competitive. He -could- be more cutthroat when it comes to jettisoning older players who have given the Caps a full career of great service, or keeping a GM/FO beyond when the fans think they should move on (in both GM and BM cases). But he cannot be accused of being too cheap to put a winning team on the ice. He cannot and should never be accused on not caring about winning. The Caps under his ownership are one of the most successful franchises in the NHL, and not because Ted is cheap.

The lesson of Peter Pocklington should be mandatory reading for any Caps fans who complain about Ted. And not just because of the Gretzky trade, but for all the stars (Coffey, Mess, Fuhr, etc) he sold off because he couldn't afford to keep them.

 

[BallardEra]

So are Backstrom and Oshie officially cooked?

 

[um]

So are Backstrom and Oshie officially cooked?

Yes.

Kuzy is cooked too, or he doesn't care. Same result either way.

 

[marcel snapshot]

I think the narrative that Ted doesn't care about winning, only marketing and filling the seats, is just way off base. Ted spend to the Cap every year for decades. They resign their best players, even potentially over paying sometimes. Its essentially impossible to market any sort of rebuild, so what is Ted supposed to do, not do any marketing at all, or market the chase?

Ted can be fairly accused of being loyal beyond what is competitive. He -could- be more cutthroat when it comes to jettisoning older players who have given the Caps a full career of great service, or keeping a GM/FO beyond when the fans think they should move on (in both GM and BM cases). But he cannot be accused of being too cheap to put a winning team on the ice. He cannot and should never be accused on not caring about winning. The Caps under his ownership are one of the most successful franchises in the NHL, and not because Ted is cheap.

The lesson of Peter Pocklington should be mandatory reading for any Caps fans who complain about Ted. And not just because of the Gretzky trade, but for all the stars (Coffey, Mess, Fuhr, etc) he sold off because he couldn't afford to keep them.

I think this is fair, and I've become a whiny broken record on this and should probably stop. But I can't help myself because I think we're going to end up in NHL purgatory for far longer based upon a misguided notion that we didn't have to change or adapt - something Ted's Caps really haven't been that good at.

I'm not saying he's cheap. I'm saying that where he puts his capital and focus doesn't necessarily maximize your chances of being a good hockey team.

Before Ovi, Ted decides the way to fix his Penguins problem is to bring in Jagr and sell him as a big, shiny superstar. No one can say that acquiring Jagr was some visionary inflection point move for the Caps, other than the fact that it failed so badly we lucked into Ovie out of it.

After getting Ovie, they declined to make any significant investment in D assets for almost a decade until bringing in Niskanen and Orpik in 2014, and ended up squandering several strong Ovie era years with a middling at best D. And when they finally did make that change, they got their Cup - which was, is, and always will be a great thing.

But they sort of ignored how the game was changing. They got rid of Chandler Stephenson - who turned out to be a prototypical 2023-type hockey player - and in the next year brings in Richard Panik and later a decrepit Ilya Kovalchuk (?!). They bring in 44 year old Chara at the expense of playing time and development for Siegenthaler who they let go. They seemed to think it was possible to defy time itself.

And it showed in how they've managed the development of the young assets they do have, basically de-valuing the benefits that youth and fresh energy can contribute to present and future success. Sure, maybe an under-investment in youth, development, and continued organizational growth is a price you pay for years of playoff success. But each of the last 2 seasons, they played their best hockey when declining vet assets were out of the lineup.

To me, it's been evident for awhile that we need a new organizational focus beyond ride the Ovie train, as components of his game began to break down - D (never great to start), speed, puck handling. His incredible slapshot and scoring prowess have masked a lot of that decline - and maybe it still can. But it sure looks to me like it's time to pivot - but it's looked that way to me for awhile, and we still really haven't.

I wish Carbs a lot of luck.

 

[tycoonheart]

The win streak DEFINITELY starts tonight!

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Well, my expectations couldn’t be any lower. So there’s that.

Hoping for a goal tonight from CMM, Pro, and/or Phillips. Would be good for their confidence. I like all three players and hope they can get some traction this year.

On same topic, I hope Snively and Frank get some games this fall. Easier for me to watch a team lose if they’re at least giving full effort and doing it with some jump and hunger

We just need a bunch of goals for a change.

 

[aonb]

fun fact: timo meier scored only one goal against caps as a sharks player, back in 2017, so 6 f**** years ago, as a devils player he never scored against caps (only two games tho). he's a volume shoter and a pretty good goalscorer overall so its really surprising. now he's in drought, no goals this season, benched in 3rd period few games ago.

7-3 devils
timo meier x4

 

[bacchist]

So are Backstrom and Oshie officially cooked?

Honestly, Oshie hasn't been too bad. He's no longer in his prime, but as far as fancy stats go he's actually been pretty decent. Just hasn't had much luck it would seem.

The whole vibe around the team would be completely different if Darcy's save percentage was better than the abysmal .868 that he's given us. (Lindgren was not much better the game he played, to be fair)

Our goal differential is exactly the same as our shot differential. Our opponents have had 13 more shots on goal than us, and scored 13 more goals than us. We've averaged 2.6 fewer shots on goal per game, yet our opponents have scored more than 3x the goals we have.

Plenty of room for improvement across the board, but goaltending is our most glaring weakness at the moment in my opinion.

 

[TJHKY]

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Honestly, Oshie hasn't been too bad. He's no longer in his prime, but as far as fancy stats go he's actually been pretty decent. Just hasn't had much luck it would seem.

The whole vibe around the team would be completely different if Darcy's save percentage was better than the abysmal .868 that he's given us. (Lindgren was not much better the game he played, to be fair)

Our goal differential is exactly the same as our shot differential. Our opponents have had 13 more shots on goal than us, and scored 13 more goals than us. We've averaged 2.6 fewer shots on goal per game, yet our opponents have scored more than 3x the goals we have.

Plenty of room for improvement across the board, but goaltending is our most glaring weakness at the moment in my opinion.

I might have picked goalscoring #1, 7 goals for, next lowest in league 13….but we would be a lot better with good goaltending that’s for sure….

 

[bacchist]

I might have picked goalscoring #1, 7 goals for, next lowest in league 13….but we would be a lot better with good goaltending that’s for sure….

Depends on how you're counting whether it's 6 or 7 goals for.

By my count it's 6. So yeah, that's alarming for sure.

 

[bacchist]

I don't know why, but I feel like our 4.4% shooting percentage is less indicative of the performance of our offense than our .872 save percentage is indicative of the performance of our goaltenders.

 

[kicksavedave]

I don't know why, but I feel like our 4.4% shooting percentage is less indicative of the performance of our offense than our .872 save percentage is indicative of the performance of our goaltenders.

Both of those numbers have to improve. If they don't, the '74 Caps will have some company.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don't know why, but I feel like our 4.4% shooting percentage is less indicative of the performance of our offense than our .872 save percentage is indicative of the performance of our goaltenders.

Curious where we rank in high pressure chances against, that kind of stuff…and I think low shooting percentage is definitely indicative poor shooting/shot selection for the individuals..

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

They’re playing better but fighting it for sure and Darcy is doing them no favors. Only game on tonight across the NHL… please make it watchable, Caps.

 

[bacchist]

Curious where we rank in high pressure chances against, that kind of stuff…and I think low shooting percentage is definitely indicative poor shooting/shot selection for the individuals..

That's definitely a factor. And I'm not sure how much credibility to give the stats on this one, because we've looked pretty goofy when we had "high danger chances". Like totally whiffing on shots, freezing up and not pulling the trigger until the goalie has time to get over, stuff like that. But it says 52.2% of high danger scoring chances in our favor. I'm not sure what to make of that, honestly. Just watching the games, it often seems like the other team is way more dangerous with the puck. But that could be somewhat subjective.