Saturday Caps Clips: Caps Hold Serve

Or 3-0 for Bruins’ fans.

I think it’s very likely that the Rangers will win Game 4. That one is a favorable situation for them, given how the series has been playing out — they get an extra day of rest at home (G3 Sunday, G4 Wednesday). There is also an extra day of rest between G4 and G5 (Saturday).

The best thing the Caps have going for them in this series is their depth. They are taking a physical toll out of Staal and Girardi, and the Rangers have nowhere else to turn. Those extra rest days before Games 4 and 5 play into the Rangers’ favor because they allow Staal and Girardi a little extra time to get right.

So the Caps absolutely have to take it to the Rangers in Game 3, same as they have been. Continue to break down Staal and Girardi, and wear out the rest of the D corps. They’re on their heels now, and that just makes it more important to press the advantage in Game 3 because they get a little respite and a chance to regroup before Games 4 and 5.

Give it another loss and we’ll see some amazing reactions by Torts.

That’s the key, isn’t it? The Caps can’t lean back and take things easy.

The Caps definitely applied The Nugent once they went up. Impressive.

The Rangers’ measly 9 SOG are even more impressive considering how much time the Caps spend in their own zone once they got their second goal.

against anybody. Their offense is anemic—boring. I watch them and wonder how they got in the playoffs at all—but then I realize that if you have a defensive philosophy you can beat better teams, win games that you really shouldn’t win. That’s how the Devils won a couple of Stanley Cups (beating a tremendous Ottawa team one year), how the Habs beat us last year. And now the once exciting Caps are playing a somewhat boring defensive style themselves.

That’s a fundamental problem with hockey, I think—and football (soccer). A defense-first philosophy is effective, and so lots if not most teams do it. But the game suffers for it, I assert. I watch good football teams with excellent skill players try to crack through a wall of, say, 8 defenders and a keeper, and about 99.5 percent of the time it’s futile. And watching it, fans KNOW it’s futile—it’s Kabuki. Hockey is much the same: we spend three hours watching skill guys trying to get the puck past the four defenders standing in front of the goalie. So many blocked shots! And so they just throw the puck in the zone somewhere and hope for a lucky bounce! Can you imagine if in, say, basketball, half of Kobe Bryant’s shots never even made it to the basket—and a lot of time he just fired the ball at the backboard hoping his teammates would grab a funny carom? I’m sorry—it’s not the time to be complaining about the basic nature of the sport, but these first two rather unexciting games have got me thinking about this again. It’s why I really only sit up when it’s four on four—which of course they don’t have in playoff OT! I’m doomed!

Rags definitely are not equipped to play from behind. Deep thoughts, Jack.

Agree on Game 3. We’ll see if they can avoid the Game 5 performance from last year. I’ve got a pretty good feeling about it.

I knew Erskine would do well against Avery. Erskine can be very patient and absorb blows when he wants to.

Cheers!

Love the way Semin is playing. It’s completely mental and he just looks so determined.

I love what he’s doing. Besides seeing him talking with Ovi and Semin, he also was having a conversation with Chimera at one point. I can’t recall seeing that much lengthy talking on the bench before. In the past there were times when some players would come off the ice from a bad shift and it seemed both they and the players on the bench would avoid eye contact. Sometimes when players have been asked whether anyone is saying anything in the locker room we would get the stock statements about “we all know what we need to do and do better,” etc. However, I am a firm believer in having these things said out loud because it confirms what is thought, makes it real, then opens up the opportunity for understanding and improvement.

It seemed like he’d do the same thing every rush, gun down the left wing and fire a shot, whether it got blocked or missed, and then once in a while it’d hit Hank. I’d love to see him get a little more creative and maybe fake a shot and take it to the middle or even a drop pass and set a screen/pick on the d-man.

Damn..Ted didn’t hook him up with tickets

That is truly, truly, truly epic.

::Envy::

you lucky, lucky bastard

Did you buy? I would have. Lucky shit.

That is truly awesome. What type of beer does a man like Langway drink? My guess would be a stout.

Express as in the clothing store?

See if you can watch the 2nd period. That’s a damned good way to take any kind of sour taste out of your mouth.

That’s playoff hockey, it’s still early enough in the series to send messages like that. I never thought Torts was the kind of guy to tell his players to goon it up, but I kinda love Torts so maybe I’m biased. Also, BB called the TO, so it’s not like Torts did it to set up the goonery.

?

Yes. That is egregious and inexcusable.

These people should be charged and prosecuted. I understand it’s just ice, but this kind of behavior is intolerable.

These last 2 games have been the most comfortable I may have ever been watching the Caps in the postseason ever. I don’t ever recall a Caps team looking so poised and confident. The Rangers are certainly helping matters, but I love the lack of panic on the ice.

Speaking of that breakaway, how fucking sweet was Alzner on that play? Corrals the puck in the D zone, curls away from pressure and skates around the net, then fires a perfect bank pass to AO? I loved it.

Should get a one gamer. Selanne and Koivu really need to teach that first line about the concept of class. I have zero respect for any of them.

Assuming it’s the stomp – yes.

I’m not objective, as Anaheim is my WC team. It does look deliberate, but it also looks like such a small thing that I can’t see him getting a game for that.

Wait, are you asking if he will, or if he should?

Definitely should. Will he? Anyone’s guess. What did the TSN crew say? After all, they rule, right?

I think he probably gets off. I’m not condoning. First, he’s not a repeat offender. Second, it’s the playoffs. Third, Blum wasn’t hurt. Fourth, it didn’t impact the game.

None of those reasons may be fair. I watched the replay several and not once did I think it was god awful.

1 game suspension. You cannot be allowed to turn the skate from a tool into a weapon.

Yes. One game. Although no injury, you just can’t let guys get away with using their skates like that. It was clearly no accident.

It should be a game, but if he somehow can convince them he was trying to kick the puck then maybe the NHL lets him off with a warning. I’d rather see him sit a game, that’s bullshit. I guess Pronger still leaves his mark on the Ducks.

One game suspension. Skate blades are nothing to fuck around with.

I saw the punishment before I saw the video, but I’m glad the NHL suspended him. That was a dangerous play, although it might not have been deliberate.

Wow.

I agree. I’ll add I don’t think the Caps have played at their A+ level yet. The national media is gushing because they clearly weren’t paying attention the last few months when the Caps were playing legit defensive hockey.

Neuvy has been rock solid and the defense has done its job. But the Caps aren’t capitalizing on chances the way they could/should – breakaways, hitting posts, etc.

There is still another level these guys can get to. To be up 2-0 without “maxing out” is pretty f’n cool. Sunday is critical to see if the attitude we saw post-game last night carries over to the ice. Game 3 should be treated as a must-win.

Really hope he can get back ASAP. Shultz worries me.

You can’t penalize true love.

I was surprised nothing happened with that one, especially after the weaker calls were made earlier against mcdonagh and fedotenko were called.

Love it, but I might drop Chimera to the 4th line and put Fehr on the third.

Arnott and AO are still going to draw Staal/Girardi, but you could make a strong case that Nick and Semin have been our best 2 forwards so far. Nick’s puck control has been in top form so far, and Semin has been white hot. Have fun trying to control that line, Rags.

First lines don’t get much bigger than that:

8: 6-2, 233
44: 6-5, 220
22: 6-3, 223

Translation: Hey, Torts, you’re gonna have to play Girardi and Staal 40 minutes a game if you want to contain both top lines.

Agreed, and so instead of line matching on the road BB spreads out the top talent across lines one and two instead. Clever tactician, that one.

I’ll start with: Our Swedish C’s are extremely good, and responsible, in their own end of the ice.

"He came to play and he was determined to score goals and play sound defense,"Arnott said. If you get that out of him, he can be one of the elite players and one of the best players in the league. He’s got so much talent. It’s crazy. To me, in Game 1 it looked like he wants to win and wants to come to play and enjoy doing it, so that’s a good thing for us."

If Semin is this determined and plays with this effort and fire, G.O.D’s prediction of him winning a Conn Smythe could be much sooner than any of us thought.

Let’s tease out the elements that make my nipples hard:

1. Coaching. This speaks to plenty of time in the video room. It also speaks to an adjustment based on what the Rags did on Wednesday, when they also tried this play several times, and actually scored on a pass from below the goal line. BB appears to have learned something from the Montreal debacle and changed his approach.

2. Buy in. It doesn’t work like this unless the whole team buys into the concept and commits to supporting each other.

3. Execution. It also doesn’t work if you don’t execute the game plan, and they did.

4. Maturity. Overall, it paints a picture of a team that understands the little things that lead to winning and has grown up.

/Swoon.

Anisimov failed to enjoy blocking a Carlson blast in the first. Looked like his hand/wrist caught the worst of it, but then Carlson went missing from the bench for a few. Know what happened?

I think that entirely depends on how Free Agency and resigning go.

May depend on if Sturm comes back.

Fehr — guy with one more year on contract for just over $2 Million. Good player when healthy, albeit injury prone, especially the shoulders.

That is absolutely fantastic.

Which segues into my next point: do you know what country Henrik Lundqvist is from? Sweden! I only know Sweden for three things: socialism, shitty furniture stores, and how they managed to out-Switzerland Switzerland during the Second World War. Did you know Ryan Callahan’s granddaddy slit 3,497 Kraut throats barefoot in -10 degree weather whilst single-handedly rescuing the 101st Airborne from Bastogne?* Or how Brandon Prust’s grandfather secured the beachhead at Juno Beach for the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, and if that wasn’t enough, sprinted like forty miles to save the American landing at Omaha?** Both true stories! You know what Hank Lundqvist’s grandfather was doing around then? Collecting welfare checks from a Nazi-sympathizing government, while occasionally getting off his lazy ass to sing Wacht am Rhein and self-pleasure himself to pictures of Eva Braun.

Awesome.

Tag Team, back again…

(good luck getting that out of your head)

Not of much value as of yet. If Neuvy goes 6 or 7 games with a GAA < .50 then we can talk.

I was thinking about it, and I wonder if it has to do with the weight distribution with skates vs. walking. On the ice, he can put a little more weight on his good leg and still skate. You can’t walk with only one leg, so he has to make a more concerted effort to put much more weight on the good leg, hence the limp.