GDT: GM 57: Caps to Oil the machine in B2B afternoon games

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Not that I mind the charity goal but pulling your goalie down 6-3 when you’ve playing like that all night is kinda insane.

Didnt we make they playoffs last season with one of this way to early goalie pulls lol

 

[RandyHolt]

I love how Ovi released that ENG quickly.

Don't get cute and feel like you have skate to center and then slow dump it. It was painful for DECADES watching players coached to never risk an icing living in fear of a dzone faceoff ignoring your best players can easily hit that empty net.

All hail the king.

 

[zappa4ever]

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Penguins have shot advantage 31 to 8 and are losing two to one lol

 

[RedRocking]

“Hot as a pistol, but cool inside”

 

[Midnight Judges]

Not that I mind the charity goal but pulling your goalie down 6-3 when you’ve playing like that all night is kinda insane.

Not much downside to pulling the goalie there. I bet the math shows a slightly increased likelihood of winning by pulling him.

 

[Pigskin]

Just finished the game

i've kinda thought it a few times at various times, but today it really hit me in the face ... we can win the whole damn thing this year ... in it up to our ears

how good was that game ... seriously

 

[g00n]

He may not be wrong. The quick, clean puck movement and positioning recently, and this game specifically....haven't seen the Caps that on-point since the Cup run.

I love that they're controlling the boards with the D-men and as soon as it looks like one of the D-men might get in trouble or pressed a forward drops back to the middle for a shorter passing option and extra protection without giving up the zone. So many scoring chances seem to come from what might have been odd-man rushes in years past.

You can only do this if you have a really good corps of defensemen, and they do.

 

[Pigskin]

In the back of my mind, i kinda hope he doesn't score the last 13 too quickly ... i'd be concerned we would have an extended period of letdown leading into the playoffs

I guess there is the 900 goal mark, but still

Carbs would surely already be thinking about that scenario

895 seems inevitable, I want another Cup

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

In the back of my mind, i kinda hope he doesn't score the last 13 too quickly ... i'd be concerned we would have an extended period of letdown leading into the playoffs

I guess there is the 900 goal mark, but still

Carbs would surely already be thinking about that scenario

895 seems inevitable, I want another Cup

I think a period of rest before the playoffs would certainly help. He was completely cooked last year after basically playing playoff hockey for 2 months to secure the final spot.

I think it will come down to the final few games, then the playoffs will be right around the corner.

 

[Pigskin]

I think a period of rest before the playoffs would certainly help. He was completely cooked last year after basically playing playoff hockey for 2 months to secure the final spot.

I think it will come down to the final few games, then the playoffs will be right around the corner.

I'm more thinking of the whole team having a letdown period, although i didn't convey that

Ovi's mood/desire likely sets the tone for everybody ... does he have another gear for the playoffs? as great as he is, not sure he does

if we go deep into the playoffs, he will be the most cooked Ovi we have ever seen

 

[Maruk moustache]

Not much downside to pulling the goalie there. I bet the math shows a slightly increased likelihood of winning by pulling him.

I once heard someone, possibly Laughlin, saying something to the effect of “the math suggests you should pull the goalie with about 8 minutes left when you’re down by 3, with about 5 minutes left when you’re down by 2, and with about 3 minutes left when you’re down by 1.” I think that’s what I heard anyway. That was about five years ago or something, and I haven’t tried to Google this yet.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I'm more thinking of the whole team having a letdown period, although i didn't convey that

Ovi's mood/desire likely sets the tone for everybody ... does he have another gear for the playoffs? as great as he is, not sure he does

if we go deep into the playoffs, he will be the most cooked Ovi we have ever seen

I don’t expect a Conn Smythe-level performance from Ovi, but I think he knows this is his possibly his last chance to win another one. My thinking is that the hunger will be there even when the body won’t be.

Deep in the playoffs is where we’ll need young guys like CMM or Protas to carry the mail. You could say the same on D with Chychrun carrying the play instead of Carlson.

Fortunately, this iteration of the Caps is the one that needs Ovi the least to succeed. We saw that when he was absent for 2 months with a broken leg.

 

[Block]

I'm more thinking of the whole team having a letdown period, although i didn't convey that

Ovi's mood/desire likely sets the tone for everybody ... does he have another gear for the playoffs? as great as he is, not sure he does

if we go deep into the playoffs, he will be the most cooked Ovi we have ever seen

That's why he needs to get it in the middle of March so they have enough time to mentally reset for the playoffs.

 

[Bananas]

How fun is this season so far? I mean, c’mon….

 

[WanderingCapsFan]

All-in-all, I would call that a successful weekend.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Wishing for Ovie to score a hatty today and Caps to tattoo Oil goaltenders for 8

Let's Go Ovie and Lets Go Caps

Awesome call!!!!

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Awesome call!!!!

Watching Ovie score is always fun wish I had been a Caps fanatic all this time instead of being a closet Caps fan...that man can fire the puck like Bobby Hull one of my favorites used to blast his howitzers...and scores with the slapper from the leftside,rightside, slot,score with his wrister...from anywhere...he's the Great8

 

[Ridley Simon]

50 years of Washington Capitols...I remember when they drafted Greg Joly 1st overall in 1974...I went to school with his sister Shawn and was excited for them but that first Caps team wasn't afforded much in the way of talent and skill in ghe Expansion Draft then and were miserable and to make makers worse Philly was able to steal away the 1st choice next year(1975)and turned it into Mel Bridgeman...as a closet Caps fan all those years it was great to see them Win a Stanley Cup and see the Grate8 inch ever so close to the use to be great 99...hope the Caps Win another this year...as a fan in Canada I've watched more Caps games this last 3-4 months then I have in quite awhile all because of Ovie and PLD and Wilson,Chychrun,Carlsson,Sandin,Protas,Strome...man they have talent and skill wish Backstrom could come back...and the cupboard is brimming with talent...Miroshnichenko,Leonard,other Hutson,Kristall,Parascak the other Protas,Chesley and Muggli...they are going to continue to be good maybe Grate8!!!

Wait. You aren’t MaacoShark, are you?

Chandler Stephenson fan? Sorry if wrong

 

[Ridley Simon]

No one could’ve seen this coming!

 

[Ridley Simon]

Wilson, PLD, Ovie and Protas is alot of beef. They will wear down teams in a long series.

So is Strome. Dude is 6’4 and not thin!

 

[RedRocking]

So is Strome. Dude is 6’4 and not thin!

I watch opposing teams broadcasts, and they’re always marveling at how huge our team is.

I love when they see this year’s version of Protas in action, and become WWE announcers: “bah gawd, that giant mass of humanity is skating through our team!”

 

[trick9]

Hockey PDOcast gave some love to Pierre-Luc Dubois for Selke... basically mentioned this one game as an extension to the season he's having and in this one he played ~13 minutes even-strength and nearly 12 of it was head-to-head vs. Connor McDavid and his line dominated the shot attempts (4-1) and high-danger chances (3-1). Overall he's been dominant against the Oilers this season because he went head-to-head vs. Draisatl in their win in Edmonton and ended the game with 1+1 +2 stat line. Mentioned that it's also valuable for a defensive match-up center to have the kind of mean streak come Playoff time that he already has.

They mentioned a bit about what they think the Caps should do at this deadline... main thing was that this is not your typical contender who is top-heavy and lacks depth. They have depth and the threshold to enter this line-up for any new players is so high. Said it's a fascinating thing to watch that at the same time, they don't really have glaring needs, but at the same time, it was mentioned that their pro scouting has been so good recently that any player they'd acquire would be highly thought of straight away given they've propably had extended looks already. 3rd line was mentioned as the potential place to upgrade (Duh), if they want to look at extending their 'everything we touch turns to gold' -approach.

But they gave some love to Ethen Frank too, said he's kind of the low-end version of the Tampa trio, and can definitely bring something to the line-up. Also regarding Ryan Leonard they mentioned the high possibility that they were to add Leonard to their Playoff line-up either way and that he is the best player they can possibly add at the deadline. As for Ethen Frank it was mentioned that rather than Caps upgrading on him there should be 28 other teams that are looking to make him their Kiefer Sherwood this summer if he hits the UFA market. Mentioned that he'd be Canucks 3rd best goalscorer and Avs 5th best forward already.