GDT: Russia Vs USA - 12/25 - 9:30 PM ET - TSN/NHLN

[ORRFForever]

LOL Look at all my posts in this thread, I have said time after time how good they looked and how big and fast they are. The US still got bad goaltending, both can be true

Okay.

 

[snipes]

Yup. I have no complaints with the refs.

They were pretty unnoticeable and called the obvious calls. Let both sides get away with a bit but called what needed to be called.

They were basically invisible and not noticeable, which generally means they did a good job.

 

[ViD]

Someone in the US roster thread had the Russians at 61% and the US at 39%.

One more step remaining - beat Canada at face offs.

 

[NyQuil]

I mean, seems to me like Russia is the closest to putting it together if they haven't already. I thought they were the better team against Canada, and they clearly were better against the US tonight. Super impressed by Russia so far.

Yeah, I've been impressed with them as well.

 

[ORRFForever]

One more step remaining - beat Canada at face offs.

???

 

[Passionis]

Agree with everything but #2. I think Askarov is too confident.

Ye I could see that too, I guess what I'm trying to say then is he needs to inspire confidence for his team mates and prove unquestionable stability to allow the team to play freely.

 

[snipes]

???

We always historically dominate Russia in the face off circle, he’s joking on that fact.

 

[mrmovies779]

Does anyone have face off stats? It seemed that Russia might have won more face offs which would be mightily impressive

At 1 point during the game Russia was 20-10 on faceoffs.Dont have the final numbers,but i imagine they won the faceoffs battle

 

[ORRFForever]

I mean, seems to me like Russia is the closest to putting it together if they haven't already. I thought they were the better team against Canada, and they clearly were better against the US tonight. Super impressed by Russia so far.

Agree - minus being better than Canada.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Russia needs to:
-fix their discipline.
-Askarov has to get confident
-improve their PP.

I'd they don't do this, I think Gold is not realistic.

Askarov was good, save the 1st goal. He had no chances on the 2nd and 3rd.

 

[NorCalhockey]

If they think Knight is their guy, then you have to give him a chance to bounce back.

If it was a bit up in the air and nothing settled, Wolf no doubt.

Basically this. If Knight is "their guy", then you have to give him the opportunity to bounce back. If they're not sold on him being their guy then it has to be Wolf.

I see them going back with Knight tomorrow to see if he can bounce back against a weaker opponent in Austria but have a quick hook. If it was against someone else, it would be a much harder choice.

Two things:
1) does the team play differently going forward with Knight versus Wolf in net?
2) US has luxury of playing a “lesser” team tomorrow so if Knight is in goal, would that really show the “true” Knight who was highly touted and thus, drafted in the first round? Or was tonight’s Knight the “true” Knight (at least against TOP competition)?

 

[Sean Garrity]

Agree - minus being better than Canada.

Do you mean moving forward?

 

[ORRFForever]

Ye I could see that too, I guess what I'm trying to say then is he needs to inspire confidence for his team mates and prove unquestionable stability to allow the team to play freely.

Fair enough. I just think, if someone beats Russia, it will be because Askarov took a chance he did not need to take and it came back to haunt him.

 

[ORRFForever]

Do you mean moving forward?

Yes and no. I thought Canada was the better team in the exhibition game - and I am TRYING to be objective.

 

[Sean Garrity]

Two things:
1) does the team play differently going forward with Knight versus Wolf in net?
2) US has luxury of playing a “lesser” team tomorrow so if Knight is in goal, would that really show the “true” Knight who was highly touted and thus, drafted in the first round? Or was tonight’s Knight the “true” Knight (at least against TOP competition)?

If he's your goalie you need to build his confidence.

 

[Passionis]

Askarov was good, save the 1st goal. He had no chances on the 2nd and 3rd.

Hmm I saw a lot of fat rebounds and he had to really look for the puck after. I'm not so sure that first goal was a 100% fluke. He was shaky on his position when setting up.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I said many times Russia played a good game, that does not take away from the fact Knight played badly and gifted them the 4th goal which was ultimately the GWG

Yes but it doesn't take away from the fact that with a different goalie it would have been a completely different game which Russia still would have had a great chance to win. USA got close because Russia took the foot off the gas and took stupid penalties to begin with.

Considering I've seen him dominate games before, I'm starting to think that he caves pretty bad under real pressure.

That's the impression I'm starting to get as well, sadly.. Because what we've seen today was definitely out of character and, frankly, weird. All that hand-wawing etc... It's like he's nervous as hell and just wants to act out.

Also to people saying Askarov was good.. What the hell are you talking about....

 

[ORRFForever]

We always historically dominate Russia in the face off circle, he’s joking on that fact.

Thanks!

 

[mrmovies779]

Askarov was good, save the 1st goal. He had no chances on the 2nd and 3rd.

He needs to clean up his rebound control.He left alot of juicy rebounds that his team did a good job cleaning up.

 

[ViD]

I feel some people expect Askarov to play in a God like mode and try to undermine his performance any chance given, I personally didn’t think he was giving many rebounds and other than the first goal he was just fine.

 

[mrmovies779]

Faceoffs 28-18 Russia

 

[Passionis]

I feel some people expect Askarov to play in a God like mode and try to undermine his performance any chance given, I personally didn’t think he was giving many rebounds and other than the first goal he was just fine.

Yes, I think what concerns people is a potential trend. I think this tournament may expose (or confirm from last year) some of the weaknesses that are not visible in regular games in KHL.

 

[Kshahdoo]

He needs to clean up his rebound control.He left alot of juicy rebounds that his team did a good job cleaning up.

A lot is exaggeration for sure, there were a few, and they mostly happened in really tough situations, when a goalie just needs to make a save first and cares about rebounds second.

 

[snipes]

Yes but it doesn't take away from the fact that with a different goalie it would have been a completely different game which Russia still would have had a great chance to win. USA got close because Russia took the foot off the gas and took stupid penalties to begin with.


That's the impression I'm starting to get as well, sadly.. Because what we've seen today was definitely out of character and, frankly, weird. All that hand-wawing etc... It's like he's nervous as hell and just wants to act out.

Also to people saying Askarov was good.. What the hell are you talking about....

I don’t know, he was pretty incredible in that Hlinka-Gretzky tournament and especially the Gold game against Canada which was a big game.

Granted, not as big of a stage as the WJC, but it’s still a highly regarded tournament.

He did look a bit shaky today though, I think he’ll be fine as this goes along.

 

[Hanji]

Quite impressed with Russia thus far.

Apart from perhaps Askarov I’m not seeing high-end game breaking talent, but they have depth, size, speed and tenacity. Very well constructed and coached team thus far.