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GDT: Game 27: Habs vs. Capitals Dec. 7th, 7 PM | TVAS, CITY, SNE, MNMT2

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Gaylord Q Tinkledink said:
Capitals playing right now, so the Habs get the advantage of playing a tired team.

They're a good team this year, so we'll be able to see if the Habs have actually taken a step forward, or not.
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on a back to back and without Ovi. So if we falter, that's not good. If we win, it's just ok.
 
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Gaylord Q Tinkledink said:
Capitals playing right now, so the Habs get the advantage of playing a tired team.

They're a good team this year, so we'll be able to see if the Habs have actually taken a step forward, or not.
Click to expand...
Even better it's time to make Washington aware that they are merely pretenders. :sarcasm:
 
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Tough team. We'll see how they handle it. So far, we've mainly crashed & burned against the top teams (2-7 against NYR when they were 1st OA, 3-6 @ Washington, 2-6 vs Vegas. The 8-2 loss to Seattle had more to do with absolute shit goaltending than the quality of competition.)

I expect a loss, but hopefully it's at least competitive.
 
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vokiel said:
Best team in the east, best team in the league last 10 games with the Wild. This is a serious test, even if they're on a back to back game.
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How are the Capitals so good?

Looking from the outside, it seems s fee things have worked out for them:

- Connor McMichael - which goes to show the importance of being patient with young players (Slaf, Dach, Roy, Newhook, Mailloux, Barron, Struble).

- Chychrun? Strome? PLD? Sandin? Logan Thompson? Interesting to see how some players play bad on one team, are available for cheap, and then play well on other teams (Monahan, Laine, Matheson, Lehkonen). Hopefully Hughes has a few more finds up his sleeve.
 
26Mats said:
How are the Capitals so good?

Looking from the outside, it seems s fee things have worked out for them:

- Connor McMichael - which goes to show the importance of being patient with young players (Slaf, Dach, Roy, Newhook, Mailloux, Barron, Struble).

- Chychrun? Strome? PLD? Sandin? Logan Thompson? Interesting to see how some players play bad on one team, are available for cheap, and then play well on other teams (Monahan, Laine, Matheson, Lehkonen). Hopefully Hughes has a few more finds up his sleeve.
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Dowd, Protas, Wilson, Duhaime, Dubois and McMichaels, to name a few, are all working hard on every shift. They have some serious weight and it's easy for them to create space by constantly hammering puck battles. Lindgren has been good enough in front of his net to ward off the Leafs' scorers last night.

All small details adding up, no need for hyper-talented forwards or dmen.

HuGort said:
We get a break, no Ovechkin
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Caps seem to be better without Ovy in the line up. They're working harder knowing his skates are hard to fill.
 
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26Mats said:
How are the Capitals so good?
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As a Caps fan, I'd rank the reasons in this order:

1. Skating improvement from Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas - both of these guys were third line caliber players last season who are now playing like top liners. The biggest change is in their skating. So that's two top six forwards added to the offense for nothing. Oh, and I forgot, you can add Rasmus Sandin to this category as well, his skating has improved a lot. And having Chychrun taking tougher assignments has given him the green light to beat up on worst opponents - as a result, he has one of the best expected goals% in the league at any position.

2. Replacement of Kuznetsov with Dubois - Dubois is just a much more creditable 2C than Kuznetsov, who was one of the worst players in the entire league last year considering time on ice and cap hit. Dubois's cap hit is crazy as well but he impacts the game positively when he isn't scoring, something Kuznetsov never came close to learning how to do, or maybe just didn't care to.

3. Added two top-4 defensemen for basically nothing - Chychrun is a legit top pairing defenseman with one of the best wrist shots I've ever seen from the blueline and complements John Carlson nicely. Matt Roy has filled a hole at 2RD that hasn't been filled since Matt Niskanen has been around.

4. Removal of Backstrom and Oshie - both were totally finished as players, sadly. Addition by subtraction, having younger and faster players take their place.
 
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HuGort said:
We get a break, no Ovechkin
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I am sure, somehow he will find a way to score on us, even from the stands........

Very tough test for the Habs tonight!! Wanna see a good game from the guys, Mr Laine gives the habs some confidence.

Guhlie back in hopefully.

Dr John Carlson said:
As a Caps fan, I'd rank the reasons in this order:

1. Skating improvement from Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas - both of these guys were third line caliber players last season who are now playing like top liners. The biggest change is in their skating. So that's two top six forwards added to the offense for nothing. Oh, and I forgot, you can add Rasmus Sandin to this category as well, his skating has improved a lot. And having Chychrun taking tougher assignments has given him the green light to beat up on worst opponents - as a result, he has one of the best expected goals% in the league at any position.

2. Replacement of Kuznetsov with Dubois - Dubois is just a much more creditable 2C than Kuznetsov, who was one of the worst players in the entire league last year considering time on ice and cap hit. Dubois's cap hit is crazy as well but he impacts the game positively when he isn't scoring, something Kuznetsov never came close to learning how to do, or maybe just didn't care to.

3. Added two top-4 defensemen for basically nothing - Chychrun is a legit top pairing defenseman with one of the best wrist shots I've ever seen from the blueline and complements John Carlson nicely. Matt Roy has filled a hole at 2RD that hasn't been filled since Matt Niskanen has been around.

4. Removal of Backstrom and Oshie - both were totally finished as players, sadly. Addition by subtraction, having younger and faster players take their place.
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The Caps, are a very well run team, and have been for years......the Habs are working their way to try and be an organization that can be considered similar.
 


Washington has won 8 straight road games. Even without Ovechkin in the line up they are playing great hockey.
 
26Mats said:
How are the Capitals so good?

Looking from the outside, it seems s fee things have worked out for them:

- Connor McMichael - which goes to show the importance of being patient with young players (Slaf, Dach, Roy, Newhook, Mailloux, Barron, Struble).

- Chychrun? Strome? PLD? Sandin? Logan Thompson? Interesting to see how some players play bad on one team, are available for cheap, and then play well on other teams (Monahan, Laine, Matheson, Lehkonen). Hopefully Hughes has a few more finds up his sleeve.
Click to expand...

I don't think they are this good, but we are over a quarter of the way through and appear to be in great form, so you don't want to play them today.

I don't expect them to a legitimate cup threat though.
 
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26Mats said:
How are the Capitals so good?

Looking from the outside, it seems s fee things have worked out for them:

- Connor McMichael - which goes to show the importance of being patient with young players (Slaf, Dach, Roy, Newhook, Mailloux, Barron, Struble).

- Chychrun? Strome? PLD? Sandin? Logan Thompson? Interesting to see how some players play bad on one team, are available for cheap, and then play well on other teams (Monahan, Laine, Matheson, Lehkonen). Hopefully Hughes has a few more finds up his sleeve.
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Strome, PLD, Protas, Sandin all playing well above their abilities. McMichael was always good but stuck playing for the incompetent Laviolette who had no idea of ability and just played the mostly useless veterans.
 
The Caps are playing extremely solid hockey and although they played last night, the style they play is what the Habs struggle with (strong on the boards and net front, with solid defensive play and net drive) so I don’t expect it to be overly close unfortunately.
 
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malcb33 said:
The Caps are playing extremely solid hockey and although they played last night, the style they play is what the Habs struggle with (strong on the boards and net front, with solid defensive play and net drive) so I don’t expect it to be overly close unfortunately.
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Me neither, Caps shine at winning puck battles, Habs shine at losing them.
 
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