GDT: GM#1: lil Debbies @ Capitals 7pm-ish

[Hivemind]

Shrug. Do you really go to Vrana against VGK? Shrug. Shrug.

Third line gave the coaching staff plenty of excuses to bench one of them in favor of Vrana

 

[Liam Smith]

Can’t really complain after playing with 5D. Liked what I saw from the 2nd line, specifically CMC. I’d like to see Milano out for Vrana (I guess) but it’s not going to matter if Lapierre isn’t playing well enough.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Special Teams was a positive. 3rd line needs to be reworked. HL is not ready to be a pivot yet. I hope Roy injury is not long term. I like CMM/Dubios/Wilson, but you basically have 2 centers playing on one line. OV badly needs a setup man for his still good shot.

 

[Langway]

Third line gave the coaching staff plenty of excuses to bench one of them in favor of Vrana

Sure but with that sort of match-up I'm not sure that's what's needed really. Good to have speed and a finisher in theory but...I dunno. Just a pretty meh team still from a dynamic standpoint. Scrambly, as to be expected, but that goes for both sides. NJD had more than a few Grade As they didn't convert which could have made this one even uglier.

Positives were Carlson, McMichael, Wilson I suppose and Strome. But plenty of neutral to negatives to go around.

 

[Liam Smith]

Ovi without a shot… thought he was in for a good game after a couple hits on the first shift but man…

 

[Kalopsia]

Growing pains were expected tonight - 1/3 of the team playing their first game with the Caps, with a full week off beforehand, against a very good team with 3 games under their belt to gel, and then losing a key D early on to throw the pairings out of whack too. I like the top 6, aside from Ovie not managing a single shot attempt. Special teams look fantastic. Third line needs work but there’s cap space to make a move if needed. I’m still optimistic.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I would say scratch Milano and insert Vrana against Vegas.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I'm a bit puzzled about how the 3rd line was put together? Protas is a solid 2-way winger(hoping he shoots the puck more this season), HL he has good offensive skills but is weak on the back-check. Milano is a flashy player, but not good back-checking either. I thought you want your 3rd line to be a checking line, but able to chip in some goals. The line needs a bit experience to lead/teach the younger guys.

 

[Kalopsia]

We keep calling the Lapierre line the 3rd line, but honestly they’re the 4th line. Protas played 10.5 minutes, Lapi under 8, Milano under 6. Meanwhile Dowd played 17, Duhaime 15, Raddysh 12.

Anyway, I agree that Milano/Vrana really aren’t the ideal compliment to Lapi-Protas. I think that line’s basically just the spare parts that had to go together because they ran out of room for more additions. It’s a shame the Kuzy contract termination didn’t go through until most of the free agents had signed, cause they really could’ve used a 2-3M veteran LW to be a stabilizing presence there.

 

[twabby]

Stop if you've heard this before: Dylan Strome with another well-earned game puck. Honorable mentions to Tom Wilson, Connor McMichael, and John Carlson.

 

[SherVaughn30]

We keep calling the Lapierre line the 3rd line, but honestly they’re the 4th line. Protas played 10.5 minutes, Lapi under 8, Milano under 6. Meanwhile Dowd played 17, Duhaime 15, Raddysh 12.

Anyway, I agree that Milano/Vrana really aren’t the ideal compliment to Lapi-Protas. I think that line’s basically just the spare parts that had to go together because they ran out of room for more additions. It’s a shame the Kuzy contract termination didn’t go through until most of the free agents had signed, cause they really could’ve used a 2-3M veteran LW to be a stabilizing presence there.

HL is not gonna hold up as the center for that line. I lightly followed preseason, but it seemed from what you guys said, HL looked a bit lost. Maybe he needs another year in Hershey?

I have to ask, is Strome right for OV? Strome can drive more on his own. OV because of his age really needs a setup man with 2 years left.

 

[Kalopsia]

HL is not gonna hold up as the center for that line. I lightly followed preseason, but it seemed from what you guys said, HL looked a bit lost. Maybe he needs another year in Hershey?

I have to ask, is Strome right for OV? Strome can drive more on his own. OV because of his age really needs a setup man with 2 years left.

I still think they can afford to give Lapierre a little time to right the ship. He hasn't looked good lately but the upside if he can figure it out and get back to the player he was when he came back from Hershey last spring is higher than any of the alternatives if they send him back down. McMichael's a good fill in for Lapierre, but then you've got Ovie-Milano-Vrana-Duhaime down the left side which is pretty uninspiring.

Strome with Ovie feels to me like trying to have a little bit of continuity to start a year where their lines from last season had to be thrown into a blender. Those two are literally the only linemates on the current team who played more than 200 minutes together last season. I hope we'll see PLD centering Ovi at some point, if only because Ovie-PLD-Wilson might be the biggest line in NHL history.

Side note on PLD - he got 1:26 on the PK tonight. The Caps were doing a lot of PKing tonight and had to spread it around more than usual because Dowd took two of the minors, but that's especially notable because he's never played more than 11 seconds a night on the PK in any of his previous seasons. I like that the Caps are showing confidence in him and asking him to take on more responsibility.

 

[TheSmokingMan]

Positives: PLD played with a bit of an edge and seemed to have good chemistry with TW and CMM. The PK and PP also looked pretty decent. Despite giving up 4 goals, I thought Lindgren looked solid. The Carlson / Chychrun pair seemed to work.

Negatives: The Protas / Lapierre / Milano line. Pro was skating well, but the other two were awful. The coaches are gonna have to fix this line and quick. They stunk.

With their speed, the Devils are probably not the best match up with the Caps. I think they will play a lot better against Vegas.

 

[Holtbyisms]

I won't be surprised to see Vrana with PLD and Willy soon and Mikey at 3C. That this line was brutal outside of some Big Pro effort plays.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I won't be surprised to see Vrana with PLD and Willy soon and Mikey at 3C. That this line was brutal outside of some Big Pro effort plays.

I think with the prospects scouting report for CMM, at the NHL level his best fit long term was 3C. I still believe that. HL has the higher offensive upside compared to CMM, but CMM is considered the better 2-way player.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I won't be surprised to see Vrana with PLD and Willy soon and Mikey at 3C. That this line was brutal outside of some Big Pro effort plays.

To jump Vrana up to 2LW is too high because Vrana has hardly played in Carbery's system. I think ultimately Vrana gets inserted/established on the 3rd line, Milano becomes a regular scratch, Miro gets called up while HL is sent to Hershey for more seasoning.

 

[Pigskin]

Just finished the game about 10 hours after. All things considered, thought we played pretty well. Was the devils 4th game, so thats gotta help. They are quality opposition and will light up some teams. Hope Lindgren finds last seasons form. I see Big Pro as our 4C when Dowd is gone, always have. Tough start to the season. Need to find 2 points minimum from the next 2 games. Hate Vegas.

 

[HTFN]

View attachment 915981

Stop if you've heard this before: Connor McMichael,

You keep that man's real name out of your mouth, that's Constable McManrod.

 

[John Price]