the league's best power plays get the puck to the point, ideally in the center of the ice, get traffic to the net and whale away. without that threat you never get room for the back door tap ins and such.
kane, hossa and toews can make plays down low on the pp because the other team knows keith and seabrook are shooting given half a chance.
Bad: positioning in the offensive zone, there were a ton of rebounds tonight, and only maybe twice did we have someone in good position to pick them up.
Redden: Awareness,
Seems to be a trend all season long, our d struggles making the first breakout pass leading to all sorts of turnovers in our own zone. Most likely due to lack of experience, but a talented team like washington will capitalize.
Also its the same issue in the offensive zone, we blindly throw the puck around the boards leading to easy turnovers. we need either spread people out more, or stop throwing the puck around the boards to switch sides.
Been the same issues with this team since i started posting, and tonight these were exploited.
thats my 2 cents, and it's 10:22 do you know where your children are?
the league's best power plays get the puck to the point, ideally in the center of the ice, get traffic to the net and whale away. without that threat you never get room for the back door tap ins and such.
kane, hossa and toews can make plays down low on the pp because the other team knows keith and seabrook are shooting given half a chance.
why do i know this but torts and sullivan don't?
also why is it that when ever the guy at the top of the circle has the puck, we have one of our forwards perpendicular to him blocking a potential cross ice pass to the forward at the other circle?
Dubinsky finally looking like the player he should be.
Hagelin continuing to improve.
Callahan playing very well as usual.
Anisimov had a very solid game.
Bad:
The decision making. Turning the puck over at the blue line that many times is pathetic.
Biron. Zero rebound control. Couldn't make the big saves when we needed them.
Redden:
Richards. What an abomination of a game he had. Looked absolutely lost, and like he was skating in quicksand. Terrible decision making, forcing passes he shouldn't be making, and just a generally poor performance.
The powerplay. Mind-numbing to watch 5 guys stand still and try and pass through sticks and skates.
Put this one in the rear view, but there's definitely a lot to learn from this game.
This was an even, close game until the Rangers got cocky and cute, and it cost them at least a point.
Sometimes, you just have to give credit to the other team. Yes, even the Capitals deserve credit.
Torts does owe a decent answer as to why Biron started against the Caps and not the Panthers, even though I think they lose this game regardless of who is in goal
Can't win them all... that being said some real coaching failures tonight
1. The PP was horrendous, could not even enter the zone, they would dump and no one would chase, how many times are we going to see this? Richards, Gabby, or MDZ needs to stickhandle in because we only play 2 players who dump and chase on the PP in Cally and Dubi they can't do it all
2. Biron... he was due to come back down to earth, but man he came back hard tonight, terrible puck control, bad positioning often and if he didn't drop so fast on the 4th goal it wouldn't have gone in. Not even going to mention the first one as yeah he let in a bad rebound but MDZ w a turnover and decided to watch his man instead of stick with him. Got to question this decision after Hank played such a solid game the other night.
3. Richards on defense in the 3rd? Really? setting the team up for failure, it was 3-1, yeah we needed offense but this was dumb especially against Semin and Ovie
4. Why on earth we Woywitka inserted? we were on a 5 game win streak with erixon and Bickel playing well, erixon is a much better skater, and it showed when Semin roasted woywitka. I know you want tim to get minutes, but he is doing pretty nicely on the 3rd pair and woywitka is not cutting it
- Loved the missed hi-stick that got MCD, then Boyle can't clear the zone and the Caps score
- This team really needs to learn to shoot more and just get it on net, so many shots passed up or players take themselves out of shooting position instead of just shooting. They are a good team, can't win them all, but they are much better than the collection of individuals that showed up tonight.
Said it in the GDT, but god damn Richards was so ****ing lost out there. Love the guy as a player, but this needs to end quickly. Could shape up to be his worst season in awhile if something doesn't get him going.
__________________
"I used to pray for good things . I used to ask the Hockey Gods for puck luck for the NYR .
Now all I want is Torts the smug stupid goatee clown to be fired , . I hate Torts . Please hockey gods make him get fired. Please Sean punch him in face" -- Dorado
1. LOVE Richie, but he's gotta be better, no argument there. He's looked a little lost the last few games. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though. Dudes a gamer. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Wolski will help him start getting those points up again.
2. This was the type of game where we miss Marc Staal.
3. I'm frustrated, but not down. These games happen. They just gotta pick themselves up and keep going.
Better regroup in Florida, the Rangers just played a dumb game. Not to mention one of their best forwards, Hagelin, was relegated to the fourth line at the end of the game, only 4 shifts in the third period.
It just looked like everyone's head is already in Philly, which is great since we have another game before then.
Tough loss, didn't think we played all that badly outside of a few minutes in the second. Obviously we weren't complaining when we were winning, but a game like this reminds us that Richards needs to get going soon. Hopefully he can pick it up, he just looks frustrated out there. Dubi-Boyle-Mitchell were fantastic, great cycling down low. Powerplay sucked at times, other times looks great at moving the puck, but WSH was very aggressive with the PK. Both goalies were shaky, Caps capitalized and that was that. Nothing to freak out about, hopefully we get a big win in FLA.
Good game tonight. I have always been impressed with how many damn shots the Rangers block. Going back to our series in 2009. And it resulted in a goal tonight.
I don't know why Biron is taking so much heat (for the goals). I guess the first goal he could've controlled the rebound but Johansson had a tap in. Semin's first goal was vintage Semin, that's his breakaway move. Literally, every time if he has the space that's what he's doing, drag across the crease and backhand and usually, it goes in. Third goal was a deflection and the last was a top shelf missile that again, he could've gotten a piece of but 9 times out of 10 a shot placed like that at the speed of Semin's slapshot is going in.
He certainly didn't play great but the only goal you could call soft to me is the first because that's a rebound he'd want back.
The Rangers could've had at least one shorthanded goal tonight. They were almost at their most dangerous shorthanded.
Well this was a good test for us because it could very likely be a playoff team we face in the spring. They looked bigger, faster and more skilled. I thought Dubi played good, Cally and Bickels on D was solid.
Other than that poor game. Biron was not good. Boyle needs to learn to make a play every now an than, Ricahrds is Richards a to soft of a player that does not have enough compete and not enough gears to be effective 5 on 5 and lately not even on the PP. The turnvover tonight was reflective of his entire play, lackluster and just not good enough for a supposed # 1 center not even close to being good enough. I watch the overall games of guys like Koivu, Datsyuk, Kopitars etc and is not near their level, he does not make the guys around him better. He needs to look in the mirror and decide to go hard every shift and compete in the corners and change speeds because its not looking good for him. Just looking at him as the worst +/- on the team tells you the story anyone who says that stat us useless needs hockey 101 lessons. I dont know if he has another gear but if he does its time he brings it out, as hes getting big bucks to be a superstar not a second line player at best. Gaborik played scared tonight also.
Better regroup in Florida, the Rangers just played a dumb game. Not to mention one of their best forwards, Hagelin, was relegated to the fourth line at the end of the game, only 4 shifts in the third period.
It just looked like everyone's head is already in Philly, which is great since we have another game before then.
I didnt get that at all, if torts warrants playing time fairly he should have been played over Richards with Dubi and Cally. Its sad he wont sit Richie when he clearly was not doing it tonight and has not for many games this season. I know hes new but he should be excempt from criticism because Torts brought him here. Hagelin should have been played more for sure, not the guy to be sitting on the bench.
Better regroup in Florida, the Rangers just played a dumb game. Not to mention one of their best forwards, Hagelin, was relegated to the fourth line at the end of the game, only 4 shifts in the third period.
It just looked like everyone's head is already in Philly, which is great since we have another game before then.
What the **** was up with that? I could not for the life of me understand that. Torts might have gone a little overboard giving him so many minutes this early in his career, but you don't virtually bench him after he was so good. Hagelin literally creates every single shift.
Like everyone has been saying, it sucks to lose, but we're in a great position, we are allowed to lose.
Richards was hands down our worst player. Something is up with him, after his hot streak, he's been pretty crappy for like the last 10 games.
I thought Boyle, Hagelin, Dubinsky and Callahan were our best players. Girardi and McDonagh did a nice job as well. John Mitchell, aside from his turnover, was very good as well.
I havent liked his game since day 1, yes he has some points but hes play is lackluster and not what we want from a # 1 center that were commiting huge dollars towards. Its ****ing sickening that we seem to sign these center that are supposed to be able to be number 1s but are lucky to # 2s. If you watch games around the league you have to play hard and we have some guys that are willing to do that but it has to be everyone especially the highest paid players. Gaby has shown flashbacks of timid play from last seasons playoffs, although he didnt play bad he has to try to create a little more out there and protect the puck.
