Post-Game Talk: Preseason Game #85: Caps @ Blooj | 4/17/18 | 7:30pm EST

[ovikovy817]

Karma b****

That lucky bounce (finally on our side) is for
-The Connolly goal that should have stay a goal (he had the possession) (And it's the Eller line who scores the GWG)
-The non call on Oshie for that blattant high stick
-That BS call on Willy and non call for the guy who checked in his neck.

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Since few years, the commercial breaks are not cutted on nhl.tv in replay. So when I move forward with the remote those commercial breaks and between periods, even if I hide with my other hand the total time of the game, I still can guess, with the little bar that moves, where we are.
So even before the end of the 1st period, I knew that game will go to an OT.
And I had mixed feelings
I wanted the game to finish 10-10 with 10 Ovi goals, but on the other side, I wanted a low score game for Holtby mental health.
I was also hoping that CBJ would equalize early in the 3rd and not at the end on a heartbreaking 6-on-5

So when I saw that disallowed goal, I was furious, because if the Caps lose that game because of that call, I'd so mad.
And in the OT, when I had to move forward between 1st and 2nd period, I didn't even looked at the screen and I was just counting (because I know that 1 second = 1 minute real time more or less) so every time that CBJ had the puck in our zone, I was like, man that could be it. I thought on that late PP in OT it was over.


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Ovi, 4 points in 3 games, 2 goals.And that pass for Nisky was awesome.

Wilson with a goal take that haters

Holtby You should always go with your number 1, no matter what


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After G3
In 227:24 of this series, CBJ only had the lead for 17:33 (less than a period).
And they had the lead only in G2. Never in G1 or G3

 

[Raikkonen]

Glad we won, still don't see us coming back but dear god... 4 pipes. We're not gonna stay that lucky.

On those where they did slow motion replays I thought Holtby covered the net good enough. Maybe it was not that lucky after all.

Holtby helped the team enormously. Now they think 1) they can win 2) the goalie is back.

Knowing Columbus is nothing much they should clear their game in terms of discipline and win 3 straight.

Knowing the NHL villains first hand they won't.

 

[txpd]

I saw Braden Holtby. Compact and effortless in his movements. When Panaran smoked Djoos Holtby's skates were quiet as he approached. Made the save look easy.

There's that and the top of the Caps stat chart for 3 games. Carlson Backstrom and Ovechkin. The Nicky sauce pass to Carlson was a thing of beauty. Just like his pass in g2 for the Oshie goal.

Its a good sign.

The Caps do these 7 game all one goal games series. Could they play 6 or 7 all OT games?

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

The same thing the Caps were thinking with Marge, “We can’t afford him”.

If I recall correctly, Chicago traded Panarin in large part to help get Toews back on track by reuniting him w/ Saad. Brutal decision however way you slice it.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Glad we won, still don't see us coming back but dear god... 4 pipes. We're not gonna stay that lucky.

I don't see it that way. Chiasson and Carlson hit the pipe in G2. Bob stopped a puck that was behind him when he had no idea where it was. That's hockey.

Also, consider this: Columbus shot 8.5% in the regular season which was good for 22nd... lowest in the league among playoff-qualifying teams. Washington shot 10.8% which ranked them 2nd in the league. In these playoffs, Columbus is shooting 9.3% (5th) but the Caps are shooting 4.3% (14th). You could read a lot into why these numbers are what they are (goaltending, game plan, small sample size, etc) but to say the Caps are getting really lucky probably isn't totally accurate.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I mean I am happy he is doing well I just wanted more youth in the lineup. I know I’m wrong on this.

My mindset is they are going to lose anyway so why not give Djoos and Gersich some games. I’m not coaching for my job though.

Djoos is playing.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

A few thoughts:

• People whining about that being a flukey goal must have only watched the overtimes in this playoffs, that's what an OT playoff goal looks like. We've been on the losing end of so many of those bounces, it feels nice to finally get that greasy goal in our favor.
• The kids looked great. Vrana, Djoos, and Stephenson were noticeable players in OT and contributed to great opportunities. I'm excited that we have all three for a while.
• One game at a time folks, take the next game and it's a 3 game series.

 

[maacoshark]

A few thoughts:

• People whining about that being a flukey goal must have only watched the overtimes in this playoffs, that's what an OT playoff goal looks like. We've been on the losing end of so many of those bounces, it feels nice to finally get that greasy goal in our favor.
• The kids looked great. Vrana, Djoos, and Stephenson were noticeable players in OT and contributed to great opportunities. I'm excited that we have all three for a while.
• One game at a time folks, take the next game and it's a 3 game series.

So what if the goal was a fluke. Those kind of goals happen when you go to the net. Its about time we had some bounces go our way.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Heh. Caps have been in the C-Bus spot (up 2-1 after up 2-0) soooo many times. We’ve seen this story a LOT. Game 4 becomes the choke point. C-Bus wins it and they are still squarely in the drivers seat.

Caps win it, and everything shifts.

The noose is tighter in C-Bus now, by a factor of 10. And they all know it

 

[Bladerunner]

The 2OT goal wasn't pretty. But for those of us who have watched this sport (and the Caps) for decades, so what?
There are no style points and we were due for one of those.

Going by the numbers, plain or fancy, Caps s/be up 2-1 in this series. Unfortunately we're not.
If this Holtby continues to show up, Caps have a fair chance. Win Thursday and pressure heavily shifts to Cbus.

 

[Lindemann]

The 2OT goal wasn't pretty. But for those of us who have watched this sport (and the Caps) for decades, so what?
There are no style points and we were due for one of those.

Going by the numbers, plain or fancy, Caps s/be up 2-1 in this series. Unfortunately we're not.
If this Holtby continues to show up, Caps have a fair chance. Win Thursday and pressure heavily shifts to Cbus.

Seriously, this.

How many times in the past have we lost in OT cause a puck would go off of a skate or stick of our own player. I would say I at least 3 times. Its about time we were due

Also, who cares about the 4 posts? Remember the Rangers series in 2009? we hit like 6 posts in games 1-2. There have been many other times we would dominate but couldn't score. About time some luck went our way

 

[ovikovy817]

Why going so far in the past.

Game 2, Carlson hits the post with 15 seconds to go.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Their stadium was electric, can't deny that. So props to their fans and props to our guys for not getting rattled by it.

If we hadn't been down this road before I imagine Capital One probably doesn't sound like a church for Game 1 and 2.

 

[RandyHolt]

I still think that GWG a hat tip goes to Conno especially if he shot at the far leg forcing the easy random garbage tap in goal.

Conno is a gunner he has to be taking shots to validate his TOI, and he was rewarded. Almost twice. The tough guy bluff to try to earn us a PP is worth a laugh but still, I like that he is trying to get punched on the chin after whistles.

I am amazed we won. They were skating circles around us in OT1. I would love to see a full analysis of Holts play in OT1. Did he aggressively come out and fenwick them? Did they miss the open net on their quality chances? How many times did Holts make an incredible save? What was their corsi, I need answers dammit.

The story of the game was Holts, regardless.

 

[bur and 666 others]

Overtime goal was a beauty. We preached for so long to get ugly goals like this and we got them. In a crucial moment no less. If they can't score in overtimes, then use your body part to do so

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

The 2OT goal wasn't pretty. But for those of us who have watched this sport (and the Caps) for decades, so what?
There are no style points and we were due for one of those.

Going by the numbers, plain or fancy, Caps s/be up 2-1 in this series. Unfortunately we're not.
If this Holtby continues to show up, Caps have a fair chance. Win Thursday and pressure heavily shifts to Cbus.

Anyone who watched the 98 Cup run knows that important goals don't have to be snipes from the point. Juneau's goal to send us to SCF is just about the most basic and ugly thing there is, it's also the biggest goal in franchise history.

Ugly goals count the same as top shelf snipes.

 

[HunterSThompson]

Their stadium was electric, can't deny that. So props to their fans and props to our guys for not getting rattled by it.

If we hadn't been down this road before I imagine Capital One probably doesn't sound like a church for Game 1 and 2.

Hopefully the Cap One fans watched last night and will remember how to be fans in OT. It was a crypt in there during OT for game 1 and 2.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Earlier today I was spinning my wheels about how it may be cool to bring in the 98 team to talk to the guys about their run, and then I realized it would be an awkward encounter with at least four former coaching staff members.

Boy do we have a weird thing for hiring former players of ours.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Hopefully the Cap One fans watched last night and will remember how to be fans in OT. It was a crypt in there during OT for game 1 and 2.

Can't blame the fans one iota. I have been to playoff games that sound like Nationwide did last night, you can only rip our hearts out so many times. I'm honestly surprised it took this long for the fans to begin to grow apathetic, DC fans are typically fickle as all hell

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Anyone who watched the 98 Cup run knows that important goals don't have to be snipes from the point. Juneau's goal to send us to SCF is just about the most basic and ugly thing there is, it's also the biggest goal in franchise history.

Ugly goals count the same as top shelf snipes.

Hopefully the players learn from this and crash Bob to score garbage goals. It sucks that Connolly's goal got overturned, because it's exactly the kind of garbage goal I like.

I think Trotz should consider adopting the Leafs' strategy from last year against us. Remember all the tips and screens from the high slot that caught Holtby off guard again and again? Let's do the same thing to Bob.

 

[Raikkonen]

Btw, what do you think, is Schmidt a better player than Kempny?

 

[HunterSThompson]

Earlier today I was spinning my wheels about how it may be cool to bring in the 98 team to talk to the guys about their run, and then I realized it would be an awkward encounter with at least four former coaching staff members.

Boy do we have a weird thing for hiring former players of ours.

Just four right. Calle, Hunter, Oates, Kolzig. 3 others with coaching experience elsewhere...

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Hopefully the players learn from this and crash Bob to score garbage goals. It sucks that Connolly's goal got overturned, because it's exactly the kind of garbage goal I like.

I think Trotz should consider adopting the Leafs' strategy from last year against us. Remember all the tips and screens from the high slot that caught Holtby off guard again and again? Let's do the same thing to Bob.

Not just the Leafs, that's how the Pens beat us every year. Slow tricklers, crashes, and greasy swats from in front.


The thing of note when we've played the Pens is that they block a tremendous amount of our shots, we never seem to adjust. In the regular season guys just aren't willing to lay out and take those blocks and as a result we get ourselves a lot of goals from above the faceoff circle. In the PlOffs those are blocked, so you can't just keep going back to them over and over. Ovechkin, for the most part, continuously tries it though. I have to believe he has probably a higher percentage of shots blocked than any other player.

 

[HunterSThompson]

Can't blame the fans one iota. I have been to playoff games that sound like Nationwide did last night, you can only rip our hearts out so many times. I'm honestly surprised it took this long for the fans to begin to grow apathetic, DC fans are typically fickle as all hell

Oh I agree which is why I said remember how to be. Need the fans to bounce back.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Just four right. Calle, Hunter, Oates, Kolzig. 3 others with coaching experience elsewhere...

4 seems like a lot to me off of one team, I have no idea how that stacks up to other teams though. We're not Montreal bad with the favortism, but we went through a period of like 3 years where we thought the answer was only Capitals players.