Series Discussion: Round 2 (Caps vs Rangers) 2015 Playoffs

[hitachi]

why not his face on the alien from the Predator movie, then?

Both imo.

 

[thelebaron]

 

[g00n]

.

COME AT ME, BRO!

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Winner!

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

How about a Caps themed preditor aircraft no face, but Willy's #, name, etc....

 

[artilector]

Since game 1 thread needs to continue to bask in sheer epic glory, I'll take my thoughts on the game here

I think overall Caps did a very good job limiting the Rangers' speed. But Rangers do look elite in that regard, broke dangerously a bunch of times, so it shows that the Caps will need their A game and Holtby's A game to keep it close. At the same time, today the Caps generated enough chances to steal the game comfortably, so I would say it was a solid counterpunch underdog road-game performance.

Don't know if the Caps can actually consistently take the game to the Rangers (aka Isles game 5 or (sort of) 7), except for some specific spurts here and there. Hopefully they can apply more pressure at home, with the last change, etc.

Also I wasn't very upset at the "turtle", because a) that's just what they do, and b) they did a pretty good job of it, kept Rags to the outside, and very well could've won the game that way.

Very close overall, and if the Caps continue playing well, that's probably how the series will be. Magical shift by the 1st line at the end was really the difference and a huge boost for morale and chances in this series.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Not really any odd man breaks for the Rangers, and that's their bread and butter.

 

[txpd]

Caps got a nice jump on them with a win. An emotion punch in the mouth. Ov with the snipe and the highlight setup immediately quashes the Ov is not performing pressure while Nash is skunked again.

The real test of this group being different Capitals would be if they won the next game and gained the two game lead for going home.

After Krieder ran over Holtby and Glass speared him in the neck. They are going to have to watch that.

Who was the Tampa Bay goalie that Brooks Laich used to runover all the time?

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Man, if the Backstrom hit sets the standard for hits that will be whined about, we're in for a whole lot of it.

 

[Drakon]

Not really any odd man breaks for the Rangers, and that's their bread and butter.

Yeah, they had very few high quality chances in general IMO.

 

[txpd]

Man, if the Backstrom hit sets the standard for hits that will be whined about, we're in for a whole lot of it.

I have seen two things post game that I didn't see in the game. ESPN highlight showing McDonagh punching Ov in the head and NBC showing Carlson's elbow while leaving his feet.

nobody seems to stand by any complaint that Backstrom should have been penalized.

 

[FloridaCap]

Not really any odd man breaks for the Rangers, and that's their bread and butter.

I saw a handful opportunities for odd-man breaks that the Rangers just screwed up.

For once, NYR actually missed some shots. Seems like every time we play them, they ROOF every ****ing scoring chance.

 

[El Gato Bodegero]

This is a rookie question but are this NBC Sports announcers the same ones that we will have to listen at our home games?

No way to listen to Beninati and Craig?

 

[Calicaps]

I have seen two things post game that I didn't see in the game. ESPN highlight showing McDonagh punching Ov in the head and NBC showing Carlson's elbow while leaving his feet.

nobody seems to stand by any complaint that Backstrom should have been penalized.

I saw McDonough punch Ovie. Pierre even featured it in a package on strong defense. Tool.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

I saw a handful opportunities for odd-man breaks that the Rangers just screwed up.

For once, NYR actually missed some shots. Seems like every time we play them, they ROOF every ****ing scoring chance.

Their PDO is coming back down to earth, as expected.

 

[Red Dread]

I'm beginning to sympathize with the Penguins fanbase in the sense that our playoff opponents are claiming the NHL is in our pocket.

 

[g00n]

From the NHL.com game summary (which I am not going to link due to annoying autoplay video):

"There's no doubt that one of my focuses is going to get my top players to play at a top level," Vigneault said. "Washington's top players tonight played a real strong game and we're going to need to be better."

translation: Rick Nash = under the bus after 1 game

 

[strungout]

I'm so proud of this team being the "dirty" team now. This is fantastic.

 

[um]

I'm so proud of this team being the "dirty" team now. This is fantastic.

winning is a lot funner with sore losers on the other side.

 

[stanleycaps18]

Embrace the dark side.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

There's a calmness and confidence about this team that hasn't been there in the past. Blood in the water, let's see what they got on Saturday.

 

[RandyHolt]

+1 on embracing the hate, being the dirty team. The Dark Side.

The best part of the dark side is that even Nick is getting in on it. I am still astonished he led in hits last night. If HE keeps playing physical, that is huge for us and very different from any other year. If MJ hits....

Smart checks, avoiding suspensions, are imperative up in NY. He laid off just enough on the Boyle hit, to keep it clean.

Boyle, almost programmed to dive and feign injury like so many others, only increases the chances of a suspension that seems inevitable for us. Why didn't Boil counter hit? The loss is on him. Oh and all the Rangers chasing Ovi behind the net with only 2 seconds left

Ward gets all the credit to many but Nick and Ovi get 33% each to me.

 

[John Price]

With a big sports weekend on tap - NFL draft, Kentucky Derby, the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight, NBA playoffs and more, what would be the No. 1 event for a fan to attend? None of those, Harper said. ''I'd take Wild at Blackhawks. I love the NHL playoff atmosphere, and I really like how Patrick Kane plays,'' he said. Harper is giving hockey support to Washington, too. He's set to attend Game 4 of the Rangers-Capitals series next Wednesday night, after the Nats host Miami in the afternoon.

 

[txpd]

backstrom had more boarding penalties than willy this season. that was not boarding.

 

[RandyHolt]

RH Injury Log

Caps
What happened Joe Hansen?

Rags seen dragging themselves across the ice / injury speculation
Moore
Boyle - wind knocked out of him
St Louis - hand
Stepan - Slashed on back of leg


Injuries are HUGE in the playoffs. Look at our D in that Pens series. They can decide a series.