GDT: G71: Capitals @ Wild | 3/19/23 | 2:00p ET

[Brian23]

By your definition who isn’t mobile in this league? And do you feel like the Caps move the puck better than other teams in this league? I don’t believe so. In fact our possession game is arguably one of the weaker ones in the league.

Straightaway speed and quickness (2 different things) are very valuable for a forecheck and a possession game. I’m not even mentioning its obvious advantages on the rush. Watching Strome get left in the dust by Boldy it occurred to me that I’ve seen that repeatedly this season, whether a forward or defenseman, unless it’s Fever or Jensen back there. Trying to think if I can recall one time all season we had someone pull away. Maybe once?

Not saying we need burning speed everywhere but I would venture to say we have an unusual number of guys who are below average skaters. Some due to age, sure, but not all.

Maybe Maclellan is of the belief that guys can improve speed but skill can’t be taught.

Most of our worst offenders were plenty mobile and puck possession machines, they're just old, hurt, and apparently unable to be traded because the Beatles can't break up. I won't disagree they're missing top end speedsters, though guys that normally make up that role have been hurt this year or finally hit the wall (Wilson, Oshie, Eller, etc) but to say he doesn't prioritize mobility is kinda ridiculous.

I'd also argue what you're really taking issue with is a mixture of the team checking out and the actual offensive system just being pretty poo poo. They've never been a very good passing team, even during their dominant 16 and 17 seasons with Trotz, but the few years under Lavi have been unusually bad and I don't personally prescribe that entirely to a personnel issue.

 

[RandyHolt]

Random Randyisms. I was recently wondering why the league doesn't hand out misconducts anymore. I can't remember the last time I had seen one. I always loved the misconduct padding the stats of my favorite goons. Then I see we had multiple today.

 

[usiel]

Zooming out that last of 20+ games I've viewed a lot of counter attack goals. Structure seems mostly gone at this point.

 

[ClevelandCapsfan]

So we lost, that's good for draft status. Ovi scored twice that's good for the gr8 chase but I did not like the way we got bullied. This teams soft as butter when willy is focused on being top line willy. The loss of Hathaway and Orlov really took the physical nature of this team away.

Orlov, with the exception of an occasional solid hip check, is hardly a physical player.

 

[usiel]

So we lost, that's good for draft status. Ovi scored twice that's good for the gr8 chase but I did not like the way we got bullied. This teams soft as butter when willy is focused on being top line willy. The loss of Hathaway and Orlov really took the physical nature of this team away.

Hathaway yes/Orlov meh.

 

[marcel snapshot]

Well, Mojo had a good game

 

[YippieKaey]

Totally forgot there was a game today. Ovi is a game time decision.

Totally forgot there was a game today. Ovi is a game time decision.

A good decision too 75 goals to go.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Nothign to complain about. 2 Ovi goals, 2 As from Mojo, Hathaway scored...solid day for 2023 Caps.

Oh, this team continues to be an amazing physics phenomenon. How can they suck and blow at the same time?

 

[Pebble live]

He's playing half the game on a team that gives up 5+ a game. What do you expect lol

lol