I would have been happy with tonight's Caps result, if they hadn't started by jumping out to a two-goal lead. We had dinner, and I had to get the kids ready for, and into, bed almost immediately after that, and things went seriously downhill while I was away.
But let's start with those two goals. Both were within the first seven minutes, and both were on the power play. In fact, both were OV, despite neither being a typical OV goal. The first occurred when play had gotten scrambled, and OV was trying to hit Backstrom on a back-door cut. But Quick got enough in front of it to deflect it, but it went into the back of the defenseman in front of him, and into the back of the net. The second was also a broken play, as a so-so feed to Brouwer in the middle left him scrambling, but he managed to stretch out to pass it over to OV, who wristed it under Quick as Q was sliding across.
Gotta love a start like that. My daughter's reaction to the second score: Boo-yah.
And the Caps did a good job keeping the play mostly in the Kings end for the rest of the first period (basically except for the two minutes they were killing a penalty). Ward took an early tripping call in the second, however, and it eventually led to Richards bringing the Kings within a goal.
Although Washington was outplayed for most of the second (and there were some pretty terrible non-calls on LA in there. In one sequence, Brouwer had his stick grabbed away, then kicked away from him. He grabbed it as they went back to the other end, then had it grabbed again at the other end. Then, a second or so later, another Cap had their stick slashed away, then Nicky got hit hard after chipping the puck in. No calls on any of that; and that hit took Nick out for the rest of the game), they did manage to restore their margin when Penner pounced on a rebound in front with three minutes left.
But the Caps wouldn't be the Caps if a two-goal lead were safe. They were absolutely dominated through the third; the Kings doubled them up in Fenwick (and Corsi was probably even less even). And LA scored in the first, ninth, and thirteenth minutes (at least two of those were against Orlov and Wey; I didn't notice the third).
At that point, I largely gave up on the Caps. And when Carlson took a penalty to prevent an easy empty-net goal, I definitely did. But something bizarre happened when the Caps managed to take the ensuing faceoff down to the other end. Halak ran for the bench, and OV charged on, throwing the puck at the net while running through an attempted stick check by a forward (whose stick went flying almost from the blue line to behind the goal line).
Quick stopped the initial shot, but his leg pad (the top part that sticks up above his knee) stopped the puck going away from the net, and pushed it back under him. Kuzya skated in right then, and backhanded the puck into the net for the team's second last-minute, short-handed, game-tying goal of the season (Backstrom had the other).
You'd think that'd be enough drama, but the Caps still had forty-two seconds of penalty killing left in the period. It was a bit ugly, but they got the job done.
And, in fact, they got the job done in overtime as well, as they had to kill the last minute of that penalty. And from there, the rest of overtime was basically all Caps (there was one 2-on-1 that Green broke up nicely). They had several very good chances, including Dima ringing one off the right post, but didn't manage to get it across the line.
So they went to the shootout again. Kuz started off again, but had the puck hop over his stick before he could get the shot off. Then Kopitar scored. Then Fehr was stopped (it was close). And then Carter scored again to seal the game.
As I said earlier, I would have been very happy with the result if it didn't come out of the Caps giving up two two-goal advantages. Can't really be happy with that, no matter who the other team is.
Despite the four goals conceded, Halak actually had a very good game. Not only was he barraged, especially in the third period, but at least two of those goals came from undefended players less than ten feet from the net (that would be the two Wey/Orlov goals mentioned). He also faced several 2-on-1s and a lot of PK time. Nothing to complain about there.
The power play did pretty well. As mentioned, they scored twice early (and I think this marks the first time this season that the Caps lost with two PPGs, though I'm not positive about that). Overall numbers aren't that great, though, with only ten shots attempted (six on net) in just under six minutes (granted, two of those PPs were without Backstrom, and maybe that just shows how valuable he is on the power play).
The PK did not do terribly well. In just under six minutes, they allowed nineteen shot attempts (eight on net) and one goal. It could've easily been a lot worse, but that isn't great.
On a trivia note, Kuzya was the sixth Cap to get his first career goal this season, joining Latta, Brown, Carrick, Schmidt, and Wilson. Penner, Erat and Wellman also got their first goals as Caps this year.
Anyway, despite the leads blown, the Caps were incredibly lucky to escape with a point tonight. Fenwick at fives, close, was two:one in favor of LA, and that's a formula for getting crushed. Regularly. And they did get a little bit of help, finally, as Columbus and Detroit didn't go to overtime and Toronto continued their skid (have now lost seven of last eight). In fact, I hadn't realized it, but the Caps are now in a four-way tie with those teams for the two wild-card spots.
But the Caps, of course, lose the first tiebreaker against everyone, so they're still on the outside looking in.
And looking to keep them outside is Boston, coming to visit on Saturday. The Caps will need to play a lot better to win against them. I'm guessing that Holtby will get the start, but we'll see.
Go Caps!
Showing posts with label halak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halak. Show all posts
20140319
Halak survives shellacking
Last night's Caps/Ducks game was a bit painful to watch. It started out well, with the Ward/Chimmer/Fehr line working their way to a tough goal in their second shift. The advantage didn't hold long, though, as Lovejoy beat Halak only a minute later (after a very questionable non-call on too many men on the ice a few seconds prior).
The rest of the period largely went Anaheim's way, but the Caps did get a power play with half a minute left, and it took only twenty-one seconds for Brouwer to clean up the trash around the goal to restore the Caps lead. I should also point out that OV caused the commotion with a great pass across the ice to Backstrom that got Hiller scrambling.
The second period had a very rocky start with Washington taking a too many men penalty two minutes in, and a delay of game penalty only ten seconds later. But the Caps packed in around the net, which frustrated the Ducks power play. So despite a huge amount of zone time, the Caps only gave up four shots on the double advantage, and Halak saved all four of those.
The rest of the period mostly went in Washington's favor (though not heavily), despite the two later penalties both going against the Caps.
In the third, the Ducks came out with a great deal of desperation, leading to an early goal by Matty P (one of these days I'll get used to him wearing 22 instead of 85). That didn't much slow down the Ducks, though, as they searched for a go ahead goal.
But Winnik tripped Green, a minute later, as he attempted to corral the puck, and very aggressive D pursuit combined with fast, on-target passes got an OV goal from the OV spot after only seven seconds.
Basically the rest of the game was a long barrage of shots on Halak, though only a few of those required amazing saves. And those amazing saves were provided, as the Capitals held on to take the 3-2 win.
According to one of the interstitial graphics in the telecast, that last goal tied OV with one of the Ducks (Perry, I think) for GWGs this season. Not that that's a terribly meaningful stat, but it's still good to see. Of course, with OV almost lapping the field on overall goals scored, it's hardly a great surprise.
That goal left OV only four short of fifty, which would be pretty amazing, given how low league scoring is (2.77 G/gm, per team). I guess that cap hit continues to look ok for a couple more years.
But, in reference to OV, that Beagle experiment has got to end. The best they've looked over the last several games together, has been to play keep-away in the offensive zone in one shift last night. The cycling was pretty good (was especially impressed by MarJo, there), but it didn't lead to any shots. Part of that is that OV is not a cycling player, generally. He wants to throw the puck over to a teammate and head to a good shooting spot. Not that that's a bad strategy, overall, but it isn't complemented by cycling.
Halak, as mentioned, looked very good, although he better get a break. I get the feeling that Oates wants him retained, probably long term. I think keeping him for one more year, to get Gru more work in Hershey, would be useful, but I can't see any reason to hold onto him beyond that. And, of course, he'd never sign for one year, so it's kind of silly to pursue him. One of the reasons the Caps have done well over the last couple years is that they've gotten good (rarely spectacular, but certainly consistently above average) goaltending for a very good cap hit. Signing Halak would be abandoning that strategy, as I can't see him signing for less than $5M (and $7M wouldn't surprise me, given how much other goalies have signed for, lately).
Possessionally, the team did not look great. Thankfully, much of the discrepancy happened during special teams and after scoring the last goal. So 5v5 close Fenwick wasn't bad (47.5; not a goal, and not good, but not terrible), compared to overall Fenwick (sub-40%). One thing to note is that the third line was the only one with a positive Corsi For. The first line was a bit underwater, and the second was a lot (and the fourth was just buried).
The power play looked very good, scoring on the first two shots and generating eight shot attempts (five on net) in only two and a half minutes. Gotta love that.
The PK was not great, with twenty-two shot attempts against (twelve on net) in just over eight minutes. I don't have a breakdown on how much of that was the 5-on-3, though, so it might not be nearly as bad as it seems. In any event, it was definitely a lot of luck that they didn't allow any goals.
I want to give kudos to Lovejoy, Cogliano, and Matty P, who all looked very good for the Ducks. In Perreault's case, I was especially impressed with his tenacity around the net. He didn't back off, even after having OV clear him out at the end of one scrum. I wonder what Oates and McPhee think, when they see him play. I hope they feel rather stupid for letting him get away for (practically) nothing.
Next up is a very tough Kings team on Thursday; let's hope they can wrangle another win. Look for the Caps to go in the second period, especially, as the teams' scoring is equal in each of the first and third periods. But the Caps are close to doubling the Kings in the second (78-44). Go Caps!
The rest of the period largely went Anaheim's way, but the Caps did get a power play with half a minute left, and it took only twenty-one seconds for Brouwer to clean up the trash around the goal to restore the Caps lead. I should also point out that OV caused the commotion with a great pass across the ice to Backstrom that got Hiller scrambling.
The second period had a very rocky start with Washington taking a too many men penalty two minutes in, and a delay of game penalty only ten seconds later. But the Caps packed in around the net, which frustrated the Ducks power play. So despite a huge amount of zone time, the Caps only gave up four shots on the double advantage, and Halak saved all four of those.
The rest of the period mostly went in Washington's favor (though not heavily), despite the two later penalties both going against the Caps.
In the third, the Ducks came out with a great deal of desperation, leading to an early goal by Matty P (one of these days I'll get used to him wearing 22 instead of 85). That didn't much slow down the Ducks, though, as they searched for a go ahead goal.
But Winnik tripped Green, a minute later, as he attempted to corral the puck, and very aggressive D pursuit combined with fast, on-target passes got an OV goal from the OV spot after only seven seconds.
Basically the rest of the game was a long barrage of shots on Halak, though only a few of those required amazing saves. And those amazing saves were provided, as the Capitals held on to take the 3-2 win.
According to one of the interstitial graphics in the telecast, that last goal tied OV with one of the Ducks (Perry, I think) for GWGs this season. Not that that's a terribly meaningful stat, but it's still good to see. Of course, with OV almost lapping the field on overall goals scored, it's hardly a great surprise.
That goal left OV only four short of fifty, which would be pretty amazing, given how low league scoring is (2.77 G/gm, per team). I guess that cap hit continues to look ok for a couple more years.
But, in reference to OV, that Beagle experiment has got to end. The best they've looked over the last several games together, has been to play keep-away in the offensive zone in one shift last night. The cycling was pretty good (was especially impressed by MarJo, there), but it didn't lead to any shots. Part of that is that OV is not a cycling player, generally. He wants to throw the puck over to a teammate and head to a good shooting spot. Not that that's a bad strategy, overall, but it isn't complemented by cycling.
Halak, as mentioned, looked very good, although he better get a break. I get the feeling that Oates wants him retained, probably long term. I think keeping him for one more year, to get Gru more work in Hershey, would be useful, but I can't see any reason to hold onto him beyond that. And, of course, he'd never sign for one year, so it's kind of silly to pursue him. One of the reasons the Caps have done well over the last couple years is that they've gotten good (rarely spectacular, but certainly consistently above average) goaltending for a very good cap hit. Signing Halak would be abandoning that strategy, as I can't see him signing for less than $5M (and $7M wouldn't surprise me, given how much other goalies have signed for, lately).
Possessionally, the team did not look great. Thankfully, much of the discrepancy happened during special teams and after scoring the last goal. So 5v5 close Fenwick wasn't bad (47.5; not a goal, and not good, but not terrible), compared to overall Fenwick (sub-40%). One thing to note is that the third line was the only one with a positive Corsi For. The first line was a bit underwater, and the second was a lot (and the fourth was just buried).
The power play looked very good, scoring on the first two shots and generating eight shot attempts (five on net) in only two and a half minutes. Gotta love that.
The PK was not great, with twenty-two shot attempts against (twelve on net) in just over eight minutes. I don't have a breakdown on how much of that was the 5-on-3, though, so it might not be nearly as bad as it seems. In any event, it was definitely a lot of luck that they didn't allow any goals.
I want to give kudos to Lovejoy, Cogliano, and Matty P, who all looked very good for the Ducks. In Perreault's case, I was especially impressed with his tenacity around the net. He didn't back off, even after having OV clear him out at the end of one scrum. I wonder what Oates and McPhee think, when they see him play. I hope they feel rather stupid for letting him get away for (practically) nothing.
Next up is a very tough Kings team on Thursday; let's hope they can wrangle another win. Look for the Caps to go in the second period, especially, as the teams' scoring is equal in each of the first and third periods. But the Caps are close to doubling the Kings in the second (78-44). Go Caps!
20131118
Blues News
I watched last night's game against the Blues nearly live (we'd had a neighborhood gathering earlier, though we ended up having to leave it earlier).
It was definitely a weird game, to start. The Caps got off to a decent start, getting the first six shot attempts (although only one ended up on net). St Louis had the next six (none on net). So, seven minutes in, there was only one shot listed, although six were blocked. OV followed that with another shot wide (off the faceoff), and the Blues then brought the puck back up.
Oleksy got it away from the attacker, and pushed it up-ice where Backstrom deflected it (backwards, between his legs!) to OV just outside the zone. It looked fairly innocuous as OV carried in (1-on-4, for those keeping track at home) and took a long slap shot that found the top corner, wide side. If I'd been watching it after the kids went to bed (as usual), I'd've probably woken them up, I was so surprised and happy to see that go in.
Things went more towards normal after that (that is, no super-long stretches without "shots"). And, let's be honest, the Blues badly outplayed the Caps the rest of the way. A little bit of that was special teams (The Blues had ten power play shots, and three short-handed ones, while the Caps only had three and zero), but even strength shots were thirty-four to fifteen also.
Really, in retrospect, it felt a bit like the Montreal/Washington playoff series from several years ago (Halak starting in goal for St Louis made me think about it, of course), except with the shoe on the other foot. That is, the Caps were sitting back and waiting for counter-strikes. Well, I don't think that's true, but it felt a bit like it.
But OV got another goal when he backhanded in a rebound from an Alzner shot from the slot (which, incidentally, tied him with Steen for league lead in goals scored). And Grabo potted a rebound (from mid-air, no less) of a Chimera shot a few minutes later. Given the Caps only having six shots at that point, Halak was given the rest of the night off.
That was enough to send the Caps into the first intermission with a three-goal lead. And, in fact, it was nearly the end of the scoring. All that remained were the two teams trading power play goals in the second.
But really, the rest of the game was a siege of Holtby. To a degree, that's expected with the score that lopsided. But man, it finished 47-20 in shots. Ouch.
As I said, special teams was much of the story. The Blues looked very good on both the power play and the penalty kill. In fact, their penalty kill matched the Caps power play in shots (as alluded earlier), and the power play... I don't know how they were held scoreless.
But they managed not to fold, and ended up a point ahead of Pittsburgh for the Metropolitan Division lead (how's that for the "damns of faint praise"?).
And now, they get to face Pittsburgh for the chance to keep that placement. And OV gets a chance to catch Crosby for scoring on the season (he's currently one point behind). I don't think there's any real argument to be made that, at this point in their careers, OV is better than Crosby, but it'd still be sweet to see him catch or pass Crosby. Go Caps!
(Update: Right after I finished writing this, I saw ESPN had a poll, asking for the quarter-season MVP. I looked at the choices, and decided I'd rate it as a tough call between OV and Sid (close enough that I'd have to do some research to decide between the two). But I decided to vote for OV anyway, just on general principles. Picture of the results below. Tough call, indeed.)
It was definitely a weird game, to start. The Caps got off to a decent start, getting the first six shot attempts (although only one ended up on net). St Louis had the next six (none on net). So, seven minutes in, there was only one shot listed, although six were blocked. OV followed that with another shot wide (off the faceoff), and the Blues then brought the puck back up.
Oleksy got it away from the attacker, and pushed it up-ice where Backstrom deflected it (backwards, between his legs!) to OV just outside the zone. It looked fairly innocuous as OV carried in (1-on-4, for those keeping track at home) and took a long slap shot that found the top corner, wide side. If I'd been watching it after the kids went to bed (as usual), I'd've probably woken them up, I was so surprised and happy to see that go in.
Things went more towards normal after that (that is, no super-long stretches without "shots"). And, let's be honest, the Blues badly outplayed the Caps the rest of the way. A little bit of that was special teams (The Blues had ten power play shots, and three short-handed ones, while the Caps only had three and zero), but even strength shots were thirty-four to fifteen also.
Really, in retrospect, it felt a bit like the Montreal/Washington playoff series from several years ago (Halak starting in goal for St Louis made me think about it, of course), except with the shoe on the other foot. That is, the Caps were sitting back and waiting for counter-strikes. Well, I don't think that's true, but it felt a bit like it.
But OV got another goal when he backhanded in a rebound from an Alzner shot from the slot (which, incidentally, tied him with Steen for league lead in goals scored). And Grabo potted a rebound (from mid-air, no less) of a Chimera shot a few minutes later. Given the Caps only having six shots at that point, Halak was given the rest of the night off.
That was enough to send the Caps into the first intermission with a three-goal lead. And, in fact, it was nearly the end of the scoring. All that remained were the two teams trading power play goals in the second.
But really, the rest of the game was a siege of Holtby. To a degree, that's expected with the score that lopsided. But man, it finished 47-20 in shots. Ouch.
As I said, special teams was much of the story. The Blues looked very good on both the power play and the penalty kill. In fact, their penalty kill matched the Caps power play in shots (as alluded earlier), and the power play... I don't know how they were held scoreless.
But they managed not to fold, and ended up a point ahead of Pittsburgh for the Metropolitan Division lead (how's that for the "damns of faint praise"?).
And now, they get to face Pittsburgh for the chance to keep that placement. And OV gets a chance to catch Crosby for scoring on the season (he's currently one point behind). I don't think there's any real argument to be made that, at this point in their careers, OV is better than Crosby, but it'd still be sweet to see him catch or pass Crosby. Go Caps!
(Update: Right after I finished writing this, I saw ESPN had a poll, asking for the quarter-season MVP. I looked at the choices, and decided I'd rate it as a tough call between OV and Sid (close enough that I'd have to do some research to decide between the two). But I decided to vote for OV anyway, just on general principles. Picture of the results below. Tough call, indeed.)
20100504
end of the line
Watching the series against Les Habs was a really painful exercise. The story felt all-too-familiar. Last year, going into the playoffs, I was feeling optimistic that it was a new, young team that didn't need to carry (or care about) the Caps history of terrible playoff luck. And last year, they did a good job of avoiding that. Well, there was that game seven against Pittsburgh where they didn't really show up; but not too bad overall.
But this year certainly looked like an historic collapse. It certainly felt familiar, given so many previous years of results. And, frankly, I was angry that they could do this to me again. I guess I was seeing red. :)
But in reading one of the post mortem analysis in the Post, one of the writers (Wise, maybe?) was castigating Boudreau for not adapting to Montreal more. He brought up Einstein's definition of insanity, questioning Boudreau's basic competence.
Seeing that, though, made me realize how extreme of an example of a hot goalie they ran into. In those last three games, they took 134 shots, scoring only three; a 98% save percentage for Halak. Expecting the goalie to continue to save that many shots actually is insane. Dropping that down to a merely outstanding 93% (picked because that would still be tops in the NHL most years; in fact, there are only 27 goalie seasons that even round to that level) would have resulted in six more goals. Dropping it down to Halak's career average of .919 would have resulted in eight more.
So there really wasn't much need for change. There was no reason to expect that sort of performance from Halak (or anyone else, for that matter). And any lesser performance would have resulted in at least two more Caps wins.
For an even more in-depth analysis, take a look at Gabe, who found that it was even more lopsided than my fairly simplistic analysis showed.
So where does the team go from here? I'm not sure, but I certainly don't see any need for drastic changes. Sign the restricted FAs; bring back Corvo for one or two more seasons, if possible. Beyond that, I'm not sure who to keep and who to let go. Knuble certainly did better than I expected, so I wouldn't mind seeing him come back for one more year (though not more than that, or at least not guaranteed for more than that). Is Chimera's speed worth bringing him back? Not sure. Belanger's face-off ability? Again, not sure. Definitely bring up Alzner and Carlson to start the season next year. Dunno about who else to bring up from Hershey. Probably let Theodore go, even though he did play quite well this year; get by on a 60/40 or so split between Varly and Neuwirth.
But this year certainly looked like an historic collapse. It certainly felt familiar, given so many previous years of results. And, frankly, I was angry that they could do this to me again. I guess I was seeing red. :)
But in reading one of the post mortem analysis in the Post, one of the writers (Wise, maybe?) was castigating Boudreau for not adapting to Montreal more. He brought up Einstein's definition of insanity, questioning Boudreau's basic competence.
Seeing that, though, made me realize how extreme of an example of a hot goalie they ran into. In those last three games, they took 134 shots, scoring only three; a 98% save percentage for Halak. Expecting the goalie to continue to save that many shots actually is insane. Dropping that down to a merely outstanding 93% (picked because that would still be tops in the NHL most years; in fact, there are only 27 goalie seasons that even round to that level) would have resulted in six more goals. Dropping it down to Halak's career average of .919 would have resulted in eight more.
So there really wasn't much need for change. There was no reason to expect that sort of performance from Halak (or anyone else, for that matter). And any lesser performance would have resulted in at least two more Caps wins.
For an even more in-depth analysis, take a look at Gabe, who found that it was even more lopsided than my fairly simplistic analysis showed.
So where does the team go from here? I'm not sure, but I certainly don't see any need for drastic changes. Sign the restricted FAs; bring back Corvo for one or two more seasons, if possible. Beyond that, I'm not sure who to keep and who to let go. Knuble certainly did better than I expected, so I wouldn't mind seeing him come back for one more year (though not more than that, or at least not guaranteed for more than that). Is Chimera's speed worth bringing him back? Not sure. Belanger's face-off ability? Again, not sure. Definitely bring up Alzner and Carlson to start the season next year. Dunno about who else to bring up from Hershey. Probably let Theodore go, even though he did play quite well this year; get by on a 60/40 or so split between Varly and Neuwirth.
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