I will keep it short.
-BB. he was simply out-coached tonight
--Theo. Was almost ok but you can just feel the lack on confidence in him. He is committing way to early and once crabs figure that out we are in deep deep crap.
---Ovi. WTF? Just WTF? If you are injured then sit. If you are not injured than sit anyway with that kind of game. Easily one of the worst.
+ First period
++Carlson, Backstrom
+++Poti's deflections did not enter our own net...for now
-Ovechkin (Worse than I ever thought possible)
-Laich (where was he?)
-Flash (i wanted him at center because there's no other place for him. Now that he's proven useless there...)
Overall this game was lost due to poor conditioning and OV. Bottom line.
Their coach called it that we couldn't sustain it after period one. Once we got gassed they took it to us.
+Good first period start
+Theo played great made some huge saves
+Backstrom montreal was covering Ovie so close it gave Nick a lot of space he easily could have had another goal or two
+Carlson played way beyond his years
+Belangers faceoffs
-Ovechkin its hard to do something with no space but he just didnt look right out there
-Laich he didn't seem to effective out there I expect more from him
-Semin he looked good at times bad at others
-and of course Fleischmann at center he looked decent there in the first but as the game went on he played worse and worse he definitely shys away from physical games
just got back from the game, not sure how it looked on tv put Tom Poti was god awful, and John Carlson looked great. After that game I wouldn't give Poti a jersey for the next game.
Big time minus to Caps fans in 412. I love that the caps are attracting new fans, but please, shut the **** up if you don't know hockey. Dude next to me was running his mouth all game long, only to be surprised that OT was a full period. Shut the **** up, or learn the game.
Big time minus to Caps fans in 412. I love that the caps are attracting new fans, but please, shut the **** up if you don't know hockey. Dude next to me was running his mouth all game long, only to be surprised that OT was a full period. Shut the **** up, or learn the game.
And yes, I hate to be "that guy."
I can't stand the fans that don't wear red, well at least those that are Caps fans and not the opposing team
i think laich was a playoff warrior the last two years. I am still mad Bruce benched him for Flash on PP1 for so many games in last year playoffs. I was looking forward to full cage laich tonight, parked right in front. He changed his cage and it never materialized. He had some hits but dont think he has ever proven a great LW with Flash as his center. Maybe they should swap. His line was discombobulated.
Plus
Backstrom - Almost always made the most out of his opportunities and often created something out of nothing. Him not creating or getting a shot during the OT break was less Backstrom screwing up than the Habs defenseman making a great play.
Carlson - The kid played like a veteran. Took chances when it made sense and looked solid otherwise. He should have took it to the net on that 2 on 1 since Bradley being a rightie wasn't a good pass-to option.
Green - Especially coming off of last year's disappointment I paid attention to Green a lot and he played well all in all.
Minus
Team Defense - Was very undisciplined. Way too much running around. Guys often trying to do too much and sometimes too little.
Ovechkin - The Habs did a good job on him and they deserve a lot of credit but he mis-shot when he did get open, kept doing the same things over and over, did not play the point well on the PP, and was worse than usual defensively. The post-olympic funk is just continuing. Hopefully he is very ticked at himself and will make a solid showing next game.
Semin - Way too many high-risk low reward plays that resulted in loss of possession.
Coaching - They need to better adjust in game as needed.
Nick delivered
Baby dinosaur had a great 1st career playoff game
Theo made some key saves
Belanger and Steckel owned faceoffs
the 4th line
-
Ovechkin was useless, invisible
Semin needs to hit the ****ing net
turmoil in the defensive zone, just clear the puck (eg Poti)
lack of intensity and heart after the 1st period
Bruce and his coaching
Nick delivered
Baby dinosaur had a great 1st career playoff game
Theo made some key saves
Belanger and Steckel owned faceoffs
the 4th line
-
Ovechkin was useless, invisible
Semin needs to hit the ****ing net
turmoil in the defensive zone, just clear the puck (eg Poti)
lack of intensity and heart after the 1st period
Bruce and his coaching
I am pretty sure I saw multiple times, mostly floating around though
+ Backstrom. One positive from this game is that anyone who didn't believe that Backy was a legitimate star on his own probably changed their opinion after last night's performance. He dragged Ovie around the ice like a ball and chain, and basically created every scoring chance the line had.
+ John Carlson. Very composed all night. Created numerous scoring chances, and was very solid defensively.
+ Mike Knuble. Had a good game. Wouldve been even more effective if Ovie had gotten anything on net and created any type of rebound opportunities.
+ Theo. Played pretty well. No chance on the first or second goals.
+ 3rd and 4th lines. Belanger, Fehr, Chimera, Bradley, Steckel and Gordon were all effective IMO.
- Ovechkin. As bad as I've ever seen him play. If he's not injured, he needs to seriously reevaluate his offseason training regimen, because he is losing steam at an alarming rate. I have no doubt that the Capitals can come back in this series if Ovie rebounds, hell... they could win the next 4 in a row, but if that is the Ovie we can expect from here on out (a guy playing with no energy, no physicality; a guy who doesn't forecheck, doesn't backcheck, doesn't go to the net consistently and isn't playing the aggressive game that is his hallmark), we are ripe for an upset.
- Semin. He didn't play poorly, but as someone said earlier, he made to many low percentage plays. He also needs to get his shot off a little quicker. Less time and space afforded to you in the playoffs, and he needs to adjust to that reality.
- Poti/Flash. Terrible, terrible performances by both. In my eyes, Flash is a completely expendable piece and if he asks for anything approaching 3-3.5 in the offseason he should be laughed at and sent packing. The more physical the games, the less effective he is. He looked slow, weak, and intimidated against a team that's probably thr least physical team in the playoffs altogether. Poti was just postseason Poti. Apart from game 5 of the Rangers series, I think he's consistently been one of the Caps worst defenseman in tight checking games. It's between he and Schultz. For a guy who is supposed to be poised withe puck, he sure turns the puck over a lot on clears in his own end, doesn't he?
-BB. I don't think that the lion's share of the blame falls on him for last night, he didn't tell Backstrom to take a penalty in the offensive zone, or tell Ovie to take himself out of position on the rush that resulted in Gomez's goal by going for an open ice hit, but would it kill this man to match lines? He did it a couple of times, but that is one of the main benefits of having home ice advantage. In my mind it is borderline hubristic to simply ignore that advantage.
- The OP for creating a +/- thread. I know it's not a creation of theirs, but the Pens board has been using this format to analyze games for years. I'd rather have anything (a star system, an Ebert and Roeper style thumbs up/thumbs down thread or even a generic post game discussion thread) than emulate our biggest rival in this fashion.
For what it's worth (very little), my record while wearing my Ovechkin/Che Guevara Rock the Red shirt is pretty horrible. That includes last night's loss.
For what it's worth (very little), my record while wearing my Ovechkin/Che Guevara Rock the Red shirt is pretty horrible. That includes last night's loss.
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