GDT: Kings in the Capital

[deeshamrock]

Toffoli doesn't look ready IMO, injury is still bothering him. Just doesn't look right

He's missed quite a few games and practicing is not the same as playing, so he's probably adjusting. Also, when he first started skating again, about 3 weeks or so ago, he mentioned it was an ongoing process and he'll be working his way through it. So maybe he's well enough to play but the injury is still healing.

Good to have him back, tho, they need that shot of his.

 

[Little Psycho]

Caps won't make it past the 2nd round, if they make to to the 2nd, they won't make it past the Pens. Caps remain historically a great regular season team who put up great numbers. But the playoffs are a different beast and requires a great deal of mental toughness which they have lacked. Last year, given how they lost, they should have identified players who were available that have been thru the playoff wars, gone deep, the OT's, the game 7's, the pressure of being tied in the 3rd in a must win game. Those are the guys that would add to the on and off ice leadership you need. Lars Eller and Connolly aren't those guys. Eller esp, giving up two 2nd's for a career 25 point player who is soft? He doesn't have the set of fangs you need.
The pens, whether you like them or not, have those players, guys who've wont those wars, battles and as recently as last year.
When you play a team in a the playoffs who have those guys, and you don't ,it matters

I've been rooting for the Caps the last couple of years, I really wanna see Ovi win the cup but I just don't see it happening this season. As much as us Kings fan complain about Lombardi and his obsessive need to find "leader" type of players, I think the caps are missing that. You need 4-5 guys to rally the troops imo. They are a great regular season team, just like how Bruce Boudreau is a great regular season coach. Nobody is going to remember what they did in the regular season.

 

[deeshamrock]

I've been rooting for the Caps the last couple of years, I really wanna see Ovi win the cup but I just don't see it happening this season. As much as us Kings fan complain about Lombardi and his obsessive need to find "leader" type of players, I think the caps are missing that. You need 4-5 guys to rally the troops imo. They are a great regular season team, just like how Bruce Boudreau is a great regular season coach. Nobody is going to remember what they did in the regular season.

I do too and he was not the issue last year n the playoffs, he was solid in just about every shift. Leadership is one issue, the other for me is lack of a true #1 defenseman, which I think any team expecting to win the CUp has to have, along with legit #1 goalie and center. John Carlson is a good defenseman, just not a #1, IMO. And esp in the pressure cooker that is the SC playoffs, you need that guy, that top d, that can be a game changer. MacLellan said last year after they lost (of the 16-17 playoffs) if the Caps didn't win it all, there would be "major changes'. And I think they need to do that, this ship has just about run it's course

 

[johnjm22]

26 of 30 teams always get eliminated in the second round or do worse

I expect more than one top team to be eliminated in the first or second round in the East. Three, maybe four counting NYR, of the top/ better teams in the NHL are in the Metro

Just to point that out - nothing more.

This is some really good analysis right here. I never could've thought this stuff on my own. You should work for NBC.

 

[sinister6000]

Jordan Nolan has been playing pretty good, the Kings are gonna miss the big hits he throws.

 

[theMajor]

Jordan Nolan has been playing pretty good, the Kings are gonna miss the big hits he throws.

terrible timing. he was just starting to take the next step and he gets hurt again
he was hitting, shooting, protecting the puck, digging it out down low, just keeping it simple and contributing

 

[AlphaBravo]

terrible timing. he was just starting to take the next step and he gets hurt again
he was hitting, shooting, protecting the puck, digging it out down low, just keeping it simple and contributing

Sort of like what happened to Andreoff. He was off to a great start this season, then got hit with an injury.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Sort of like what happened to Andreoff. He was off to a great start this season, then got hit with an injury.

The crappy thing is this ^, that lingering injury effects often take time. You have to get healthy, then get your conditioning and timing back, and on top of that your confidence/mojo. Some players handle it better than others. And with the injuries we've had, it's a miracle we're still chugging along.

 

[artilector]

I've been rooting for the Caps the last couple of years, I really wanna see Ovi win the cup but I just don't see it happening this season. As much as us Kings fan complain about Lombardi and his obsessive need to find "leader" type of players, I think the caps are missing that. You need 4-5 guys to rally the troops imo. They are a great regular season team, just like how Bruce Boudreau is a great regular season coach. Nobody is going to remember what they did in the regular season.

I do too and he was not the issue last year n the playoffs, he was solid in just about every shift. Leadership is one issue, the other for me is lack of a true #1 defenseman, which I think any team expecting to win the CUp has to have, along with legit #1 goalie and center. John Carlson is a good defenseman, just not a #1, IMO. And esp in the pressure cooker that is the SC playoffs, you need that guy, that top d, that can be a game changer. MacLellan said last year after they lost (of the 16-17 playoffs) if the Caps didn't win it all, there would be "major changes'. And I think they need to do that, this ship has just about run it's course

As a Caps fan... fair points.

More leadership and true #1D would be nice to have, but interestingly, the thing that may have held the Caps back the most in playoffs is that their offense goes out of the window. Teams zero in on the top line & the PP, and then it turns out that there's just no reliable secondary scoring. (Ofc, in the BB era it used to be plenty of scoring throughout the lineup, but a sieve on defense)

This season looked like a typical "Good reg. season, 2nd round exit" year, until the Caps stumbled upon a 3rd line that suddenly looks legitimately capable of offense. If that continues, it's a very significant improvement over recent teams.

Plenty of flaws remain -- the ones you mentioned, also non-elite team speed (and no proven mechanism to neutralize elite speed, like the Kings have), and tendency to get hemmed in the defensive zone for way too long. It is what it is -- should be an interesting run!