I don't have a whole lot to say about the Caps' recently-completed road trip, but there were a few things.
I thought the Caps played very well in Edmonton, but were a little bit unlucky not to win. Certainly, their possession numbers stayed very good. I, unfortunately, missed the last period, but mostly enjoyed watching the first two.
The possession numbers remained very good in Calgary, and they were able to win that one. I wasn't able to watch the whole thing that night. In fact, I only saw the first period live. I ended up watching the second and first few minutes of the third the next night while my wife was getting the kids ready for bed.
I thought the first goal of that one was kind of weird, with a Calgary being very generous with the puck while ostensibly playing "four corners" on a penalty kill. Wardo, I'm sure, was thankful. It ended up being quite a good game for him, as he got another, early in the second, putting in a rebound from a Latta shot (high caffeine, I'm sure).
And the third had Backstrom showing that Trotz wants him to shoot more (and Alzner showing that he's looking for long passes more often), wristing one in from just inside the blue line.
A good game, any way you want to look at it.
Then the Caps faced Vancouver. The first period was pretty terrible, possessionally, as the Caps were simply dominated. Peters kept them in the game, making a number of excellent saves to keep the game scoreless.
The second started with the Caps clawing back, possessionally, and even taking a lead when MarJo buried a beautiful cross-ice feed from Burakovsky. Things continued to look good for another eight minutes or so, until the wheels fell off, completely. They allowed three goals in under two minutes (the first of which was on the power play), and did not look good in the process. A little bit of bad luck, but some rather bad play, as well.
One mote of good news came when, a minute and change after that third goal, Liam O'Brien got his first of the season on a nice deflection of a centering pass from Greenie.
But that was as good as it got; the Canucks cemented the victory with a minute left in the game and Carlson in the box for a delay-of-game penalty. The puck was in the Vancouver end, as Peters had been pulled, but Vrbata put it in from very long range.
Overall, I was pretty happy with what I saw. I wish they'd been able to get at least one more point on the trip, but they look like a team that should be doing better, not one lucky to be where they are (as was the case for most of last season).
Burakovsky continues to look very well, and is central to a line shuffling that occurred yesterday at practice. Tonight, against Detroit, he'll be centering OV and Wardo, with Backstrom being paired with MarJo and Brouwer. I guess that makes Bura the top-line center, but it seems odd all the way around; the top line has not been part of the team's ... issues, I guess. And I still don't like splitting Chimmer and Ward; Ward's recent goals notwithstanding, they've been too good together for too long. Their games just mesh too well.
I hope Bura handles the additional pressure as well as he's handled his situation thus far. The season could go downhill very quickly if Bura gets frustrated.
One good sign; Wilson is finally well enough to get called up, sending Chris Brown back to Hershey. Hard not to see that as an upgrade, even if my expectations for Wilson are much more tempered, I think, than those of the Caps' top brass. (Yes, I'm still a bit bitter about them not sending Tom back to Junior, last year. And losing Perreault because of it.)
Anyway, as mentioned, tonight's game will be at home against Detroit. Somehow, this is a 'Rivalry Night' game, despite the Caps and Red Wings only being in the same division for six seasons over their history.
Showing posts with label canucks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canucks. Show all posts
20141029
20140318
Just Kuz; that's why
Friday's Caps/Nucks game was not exactly a model of decorum and tranquility. Nor a model of a modern major general. In fact, it really wasn't a terribly good model of much of anything.
I guess it was a pretty close game, for most of its length. The Caps opened the scoring, with the third line pocketing one thanks to some good, persistent work in front of the net from Wardo. Fehr did a good job throwing it towards him, and Ward knocked it down then pushed it into the net from between the skates of his defender.
The Caps were a little slow, as it took them three and a half minutes (instead of the usual two and a half) to give up a goal, as Beagle and OV collided in the defensive zone, giving up the puck to the forecheck. A quick pass found Schroeder uncovered in the slot for a quick wrister past Halak.
The rest of the period was pretty even, but with nobody putting the squat cyclinder in the net.
It took eight and a half minutes (remarkably similar timing to Washington's first goal, now that I think about it), but Washington retook the lead on an OV power play goal from the OV spot (only thing different there was the second assist coming from Kuzya, playing Backstrom's position).
Four minutes later, Kuzya had a really pretty assist to Wilson (who displayed excellent hands to corral the puck quickly and get the shot off). That finished off the scoring in the second, with Vancouver quickly catching up on shots.
And that's where the third went, too, as Washington had almost no sustained possession against the 'Nuck-leheads, and Halak faced a barrage. That barrage did net a pair of goals, but Washington (in the form of Game Over Green, from Kuzya) got one back less than three minutes after the second one to provide the final victory margin.
Overall, shots looked horribly unbalanced (41-21 in favor of Vancouver), but most of the difference came with the game not "close". So the Caps actually looked pretty good, possessionally, up 59-41 in 5v5 close Fenwick. But I wonder if they should have done better when they were up. I'm minded to think so, because that's an awfully big full-game gap.
Because of that huge gap, Halak ended up having a very good game. The first and second goals would have required hella good saves, although I suspect Jaro would've wanted the third one back. Still, that's a very good game.
The power play was pretty good, with one goal in two chances, and attempting nine shots (five on net) in their three and a half minutes. Nothing to be disappointed in, there.
The PK was... not as good. They did keep Vancouver from scoring, but that was allowing eighteen attempts (eight on net) in six minutes. Those are not good rates. It worked out, but that was a lot of luck.
Overall, hard to be upset with how things played out (other than, perhaps, bafflement at Beagle and OV being on the same line with any regularity). Well, it'd be nice if the Caps would stop giving up leads so frequently, but that's really the only major issue.
I'll cover the Sunday Maple Leafs game separately.
I guess it was a pretty close game, for most of its length. The Caps opened the scoring, with the third line pocketing one thanks to some good, persistent work in front of the net from Wardo. Fehr did a good job throwing it towards him, and Ward knocked it down then pushed it into the net from between the skates of his defender.
The Caps were a little slow, as it took them three and a half minutes (instead of the usual two and a half) to give up a goal, as Beagle and OV collided in the defensive zone, giving up the puck to the forecheck. A quick pass found Schroeder uncovered in the slot for a quick wrister past Halak.
The rest of the period was pretty even, but with nobody putting the squat cyclinder in the net.
It took eight and a half minutes (remarkably similar timing to Washington's first goal, now that I think about it), but Washington retook the lead on an OV power play goal from the OV spot (only thing different there was the second assist coming from Kuzya, playing Backstrom's position).
Four minutes later, Kuzya had a really pretty assist to Wilson (who displayed excellent hands to corral the puck quickly and get the shot off). That finished off the scoring in the second, with Vancouver quickly catching up on shots.
And that's where the third went, too, as Washington had almost no sustained possession against the 'Nuck-leheads, and Halak faced a barrage. That barrage did net a pair of goals, but Washington (in the form of Game Over Green, from Kuzya) got one back less than three minutes after the second one to provide the final victory margin.
Overall, shots looked horribly unbalanced (41-21 in favor of Vancouver), but most of the difference came with the game not "close". So the Caps actually looked pretty good, possessionally, up 59-41 in 5v5 close Fenwick. But I wonder if they should have done better when they were up. I'm minded to think so, because that's an awfully big full-game gap.
Because of that huge gap, Halak ended up having a very good game. The first and second goals would have required hella good saves, although I suspect Jaro would've wanted the third one back. Still, that's a very good game.
The power play was pretty good, with one goal in two chances, and attempting nine shots (five on net) in their three and a half minutes. Nothing to be disappointed in, there.
The PK was... not as good. They did keep Vancouver from scoring, but that was allowing eighteen attempts (eight on net) in six minutes. Those are not good rates. It worked out, but that was a lot of luck.
Overall, hard to be upset with how things played out (other than, perhaps, bafflement at Beagle and OV being on the same line with any regularity). Well, it'd be nice if the Caps would stop giving up leads so frequently, but that's really the only major issue.
I'll cover the Sunday Maple Leafs game separately.
20131029
Nuck'ling under
Well, there was a lot of emphasis, before the Caps game, on getting a strong start to the game. And they certainly came out firing, getting a penalty shot eighty seconds in, and drawing another penalty shortly thereafter. But they couldn't solve Luongo in those prime opportunities, and play started balancing out quickly.
Vancouver scored halfway through the period, when Neuvy left a juicy rebound close in, and the defense wasn't able to get over to clear it out. Kassian skated in before they could get there, and wristed a shot over Neuvy's glove. But the Caps didn't fold it in, and got a nice offensive flurry from the third line three minutes later, culminating in Chimmer tapping in Green's shot from the point.
At that point, overall (ie: not 5-on-5 close) fenwick was tied, and things were looking decent.
But it was a steep downhill slide from that point forward, possession-wise. The Caps did get the next goal (two minutes into the third), but that was about the only remaining bright spot. And the Canucks weren't terribly thrown off by losing the lead, as it took them only a minute to tie it up, and two more minutes to regain the lead.
I'd like to say that the Caps took control of the game after that to try to regain the lead, but that's not the case (although giving up a power play in the middle of that span didn't help). In fact, they only got four shot attempts the rest of the game (and one of those, I believe, was short-handed).
In the end, the game was an absolute disaster at even strength. In thirty-one minutes, 5-on-5 close, the Caps barely cleared 1/3 of corsi and fenwick. That's just a recipe for getting blown out, regularly.
The power play was handled pretty well by Vancouver; they put a man on OV, and dared the Caps to beat them with the rest of the team. Brouwer did get one good chance, but most of the power play shots were by Green, from up top. I think OV needed to take himself farther out of the play, to make more space for everyone else (and to give himself a chance for the occasional dart in behind the defender). In any event, in four power plays (two of which were abbreviated), there were only four shots. That's not bad, but it's unlikely to get it done against a good goaltender like Luongo.
And on the flip side, they gave up fifteen power play shots to Vancouver (on six opportunities). Somehow, they didn't allow any goals; I can only attribute that to a combination of good goaltending and an immense amount of luck.
I'm getting to the point of thinking something is fundamentally broken with this team, and I think it's largely a matter of effort. They have a lot of talent; they're not going to push the post-2004 lockout scoring record, but there is a lot of talent. But they can't sustain top effort over an entire game, or something.
I'm not sure what it is, but this team is just a little ways away from getting consistently blown out. I thought this was going to be a solid playoffs team, but I don't see that at all, now. I see a team lucky to be only two points off a point-a-game pace (tied for ninth), and headed in the wrong direction. If the goaltending falters even a little, they're headed for a very steep decline; they're just giving up far too many shots.
Well, maybe a visit to the City of Brotherly Love (boy, isn't that a joke, in this day and age?) will give them a bit of a boost. Let's hope. Go Caps!
Vancouver scored halfway through the period, when Neuvy left a juicy rebound close in, and the defense wasn't able to get over to clear it out. Kassian skated in before they could get there, and wristed a shot over Neuvy's glove. But the Caps didn't fold it in, and got a nice offensive flurry from the third line three minutes later, culminating in Chimmer tapping in Green's shot from the point.
At that point, overall (ie: not 5-on-5 close) fenwick was tied, and things were looking decent.
But it was a steep downhill slide from that point forward, possession-wise. The Caps did get the next goal (two minutes into the third), but that was about the only remaining bright spot. And the Canucks weren't terribly thrown off by losing the lead, as it took them only a minute to tie it up, and two more minutes to regain the lead.
I'd like to say that the Caps took control of the game after that to try to regain the lead, but that's not the case (although giving up a power play in the middle of that span didn't help). In fact, they only got four shot attempts the rest of the game (and one of those, I believe, was short-handed).
In the end, the game was an absolute disaster at even strength. In thirty-one minutes, 5-on-5 close, the Caps barely cleared 1/3 of corsi and fenwick. That's just a recipe for getting blown out, regularly.
The power play was handled pretty well by Vancouver; they put a man on OV, and dared the Caps to beat them with the rest of the team. Brouwer did get one good chance, but most of the power play shots were by Green, from up top. I think OV needed to take himself farther out of the play, to make more space for everyone else (and to give himself a chance for the occasional dart in behind the defender). In any event, in four power plays (two of which were abbreviated), there were only four shots. That's not bad, but it's unlikely to get it done against a good goaltender like Luongo.
And on the flip side, they gave up fifteen power play shots to Vancouver (on six opportunities). Somehow, they didn't allow any goals; I can only attribute that to a combination of good goaltending and an immense amount of luck.
I'm getting to the point of thinking something is fundamentally broken with this team, and I think it's largely a matter of effort. They have a lot of talent; they're not going to push the post-2004 lockout scoring record, but there is a lot of talent. But they can't sustain top effort over an entire game, or something.
I'm not sure what it is, but this team is just a little ways away from getting consistently blown out. I thought this was going to be a solid playoffs team, but I don't see that at all, now. I see a team lucky to be only two points off a point-a-game pace (tied for ninth), and headed in the wrong direction. If the goaltending falters even a little, they're headed for a very steep decline; they're just giving up far too many shots.
Well, maybe a visit to the City of Brotherly Love (boy, isn't that a joke, in this day and age?) will give them a bit of a boost. Let's hope. Go Caps!
20110615
Congrats, Bruins
I caught a bit of tonight's game. Since all I saw of the finals were (pieces of) Boston's last three wins, I didn't see much good from the Canucks. I am glad to see that that late hit from several games back (the 6D Canuck on one of Boston's top scorers; sadly, I forget the players' names) didn't end up being decisive.
Anyway, congratulations to the Bruins on the first title since '72. I think this means that Boston has had a title in every major sport in the last four years. That's quite a run.
It'd be nice if DC had even one title in the last four years. Heck, it'd be nice if there were one in the last fourteen. *sigh*
Anyway, congratulations to the Bruins on the first title since '72. I think this means that Boston has had a title in every major sport in the last four years. That's quite a run.
It'd be nice if DC had even one title in the last four years. Heck, it'd be nice if there were one in the last fourteen. *sigh*
20110424
Around the League
Got a chance to watch most of the Flyers/Sabres game. I was impressed, if disappointed, by how Philly was able to come back repeatedly, and even more disappointed by the final score in OT. But it does mean that whoever wins will be even more battered and bruised, so it's not all bad. And if Buffalo ends up winning game seven, then I will end up being happy with the result.
The Predators managed to knock off the Ducks today as well, although I didn't see any of that game. Congratulations to David Poile (former, and long-time, Caps GM) on finally winning a playoff series down there. I hope you all at least make some noise in the second round.
And I watched the first two periods of the Vancouver/Chicago tilt. I was certainly ready to write off the BLackhawks after two bad losses followed by another loss where, I heard, they outplayed Vancouver. They certainly came back strong, winning the next two by a combined 12-2 margin. Today's game was much closer, as they fell behind by a goal twice in the first two periods. But each time, they managed to tie it up again. Apparently, they traded goals again in the final period of regulation before winning in OT.
I think Vancouver had to end up regretting their replacement of Luongo with Schneider. He had been pulled in each of the previous two games, so it made some sense. In fact, if I were the coach, I might have been tempted to do the same just to give him a rest, even if he hadn't had two disastrous starts. But the talking heads on TV were making a big deal of it. Who knows? Maybe it really was a big deal. In any event, I'm pretty happy; neither team would be my first choice for coming out of the Campbell Conference, so making it tougher on whoever ends up as the winner is great. And really, now that it's going the distance, I don't even really care who does end up winning.
As a side note, I still can't figure out how Chicago ended up with such a low seed (and yes, I am aware they only managed to back into that seed with a final-game loss by Dallas). They certainly aren't as deep as they were last year, but they still seem much too good for that seed.
The Predators managed to knock off the Ducks today as well, although I didn't see any of that game. Congratulations to David Poile (former, and long-time, Caps GM) on finally winning a playoff series down there. I hope you all at least make some noise in the second round.
And I watched the first two periods of the Vancouver/Chicago tilt. I was certainly ready to write off the BLackhawks after two bad losses followed by another loss where, I heard, they outplayed Vancouver. They certainly came back strong, winning the next two by a combined 12-2 margin. Today's game was much closer, as they fell behind by a goal twice in the first two periods. But each time, they managed to tie it up again. Apparently, they traded goals again in the final period of regulation before winning in OT.
I think Vancouver had to end up regretting their replacement of Luongo with Schneider. He had been pulled in each of the previous two games, so it made some sense. In fact, if I were the coach, I might have been tempted to do the same just to give him a rest, even if he hadn't had two disastrous starts. But the talking heads on TV were making a big deal of it. Who knows? Maybe it really was a big deal. In any event, I'm pretty happy; neither team would be my first choice for coming out of the Campbell Conference, so making it tougher on whoever ends up as the winner is great. And really, now that it's going the distance, I don't even really care who does end up winning.
As a side note, I still can't figure out how Chicago ended up with such a low seed (and yes, I am aware they only managed to back into that seed with a final-game loss by Dallas). They certainly aren't as deep as they were last year, but they still seem much too good for that seed.
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