I knew Laich had a bad night in the dot against Bergeron, but I was still surprised when I looked at the stats and saw a 26.9 next to Brooks' name. It was even worse on the PK where he went 1/6.
I knew Laich had a bad night in the dot against Bergeron, but I was still surprised when I looked at the stats and saw a 26.9 next to Brooks' name. It was even worse on the PK where he went 1/6.
Too bad we don't have anyone good at faceoffs. *Cough* HALPERN *Cough* **** you Dale *Cough*
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mrwarden is in ur threads, deleting ur posts
If Holtby plays like that 90% of the time we are set at goal for the next 15 years. He was poised and brilliant in anticipating the shot.
No complaints about this game. We played hard and had our chances. The Bruins are among the best in the NHL. We hung with them. Play like that every night and we might win.
I believe the Capitals averaged 27.02 shots on goal per game during the regular season under Coach Hunter, which would've been good for 3rd from the bottom had it been their number for the entire season, above only Edmonton and Minnesota.
I think we need to try to get below that for the playoffs. Tim Thomas did say in the interview after the game that it was rough on him getting so few shots and he never got a rhythm or something like that. I think about 10 per game ought to do it, and let's save them all for the third period next time. That'll really screw with Thomas's head.
If Holtby plays like that 90% of the time we are set at goal for the next 15 years. He was poised and brilliant in anticipating the shot.
No complaints about this game. We played hard and had our chances. The Bruins are among the best in the NHL. We hung with them. Play like that every night and we might win.
The worst part of it all is that come Saturday Wideman is still going to be getting insane minutes and Aucoin will still be in the line up. Ovechkin will still be with Laich and Brouwer and matty P will still be getting like 6 minutes of ice time.
Wideman played less than any defenseman besides Schultz. Ice time was pretty evenly divided between the top two pairs with a slight drop-off for Wideman and Schultz.
Also, if anything, Wideman should be promoted and play with Hamrlik.
Whichever side you were rooting for, that was a great, great game. Both teams played good defense and in the end it came down to which goaltender was going to make the first mistake.
Really impressed by Holtby. Exactly where have you been hiding this guy? And why? Very good play by him tonight. I also liked the leadership Ovechkin showed after Holtby blinked first.
Good luck in Game 2. IMHO the entire series could turn one way or the other based on the next game.
the only thing he did well today was get off the ice in time so he never got a minus on the winning goal.
I thought Ward played pretty well.....worked hard. I do like how the Caps stood up to the Bruins....just wish Erkine was in the line up, so we could back it up.
Also we need Halpern in the line up....Aucoin needs to sit out.
Just noticed Laich played 3 more min that Ovi .....brutal
Bummer we lost. HH almost won its first game on the road vs the champs. Demote Liach and Coin and keep rolling. We have more depth at C and W than ever, no reason not to.
Mods maybe consider, before hastily locking a GDT in the playoffs because its a mere few over the limit, why not create a Post Game thread? or at minimum post a link to the actual post within the thread where you guess people will be forced to continue discussions.
Too busy being negative? Thanks Ridley.
A board of this size with threads limited to 1000 posts is archaic to be frank. I saw more posts on bulletin boards at 244 in 1998. Some programmer said that 1000 limit 5 years ago and I guarantee that is no longer needed for this site to work.
I actually thought they played fairly well tonight. The 1st period was even, the 2nd period they dominated (thanks to being on the PP 5mins straight), and the Caps dominated the 3rd almost all at ES, even though the Bruins should've had about 3 penalties the last 5 minutes alone.
Overall, I thought they were good defensively, keeping things to the outside and not giving up many quality chances, which is what they have to do against Boston.
I think Backstroms line will make the difference in this series though and I think they will step up in game 2.
If we play that well defensively, compete that hard, but just get a little more offense going (so pretty much play the way we did in 3rd), I think we will win in 6.
The key to the 3rd was that they got their forecheck going (it wasnt sporadic) and they threw the puck at the net more often, instead of trying to be too cute with it, which is how they're gonna have to score the majority of the goals in this series.
I really liked that 3rd period, and that's the way they need to keep playing. I'm upset with the loss, but I was half expecting to get blown out of the building, so it's definitely encouraging to see them play such a close game, and dominate a 3rd period in a 0-0 game on the defending champs home ice.
we played a good game all around and holby gave us a shot at winning but it never happened,maybe next game. the only thing that really disappointed me was our top line never got a shot on net and that included power play time. I like brouwer and liach but do not think they should be on the power play or on the top line. they have good work ethics but no finish. good penalty killers and at best second liners.
It's a great thing to draw Boston in the playoffs. As the Stanley Cup Champs, this gives us a great chance to see how we measure up to an elite team.
I expect BOS will make quick work of the Caps but we'll see.
WSH clearly needs to let McPhee go. But he has left us with enough assets that a great GM will be able to build a winner in a couple years.
you got from a 1-0 ot lose on the road to the defending champs tht mcphee clearly needs to go? how is anything clear after an OT loss on the road to a champion?
great gm's are rare, not the average. the chances that there is a great gm available to be hired or discovered to replace mcphee are small. be careful what you wish for.
we played a good game all around and holby gave us a shot at winning but it never happened,maybe next game. the only thing that really disappointed me was our top line never got a shot on net and that included power play time. I like brouwer and liach but do not think they should be on the power play or on the top line. they have good work ethics but no finish. good penalty killers and at best second liners.
the true first line last night was semin backstrom chimera. ovechkin was skating decoy to take up chara's ice time. had ovechkin been the caps prime attack trying to score a 3rd period winner in hunter's mind, he would have played more.
ovechkin had an awesome scoring chance in the 3rd per. pp that thomas stopped. unless they didnt count that as a shot then the ovechkin did have a sog.
I really like having Semin and Backstrom together without OV. I pray to God that Dale sees what we all saw last night and gets Aucoin out of there. He was rag-dolled mercilessly.
In any event, it's very difficult to come into a series like this especially after winning 3/4 regular season games with a "non-cerebral" coach. The Caps looked unprepared and underwhelming. Looked like by the third period they had finally settled in.
I had to keep reminding myself that the Caps weren't "supposed" to win last night to keep from getting too caught up, but they need game 2, and I think they'll take it.
the caps have mike knuble. as strong on his skates as any player in the nhl. a player with leadership skills and a player with a history with the boston bruins. he is a scratch and keith aucoin is playing? its hard to make this stuff up.
edit: thats it from nc. i am loaded up and headed to the race track in savannah. a fresh weagle on the hood of the new #15 mustang. i have gone from traded to scratched. what a step up.
