Well that sucked. I think it was about what we expected going in though, no? I kind of figured we go down in 4-1 or 4-2.I was stoked when we went up 2-1 but new it wouldn't last. Then I was shocked when we actually tied it. I didn't expect to win in OT, but you just never know with OT. Honestly we didn't really look very good in OT and it was inevitable....I was just hoping for a miracle....hoping for an Ovie sighting, but alas...Fucking Samsonov....You could see the entire team and stadium deflate when he let in that softy WAY TOO soon after we went up. You just can't do that and expect to win. He played better for the most part than I expected in the series overall, but you can't let in a softy per game.
Mostly, the fucking old guys did pull their weight:
Ovi: 1G, 5A
Backy: 2G, 4A
Oshie: 6G, 1A
Kuzy: 2G, 3A
Eller: 1G, 2A
Carlson: 1G, 4A (and a minus 5)
Mantha: 0G, 4A
I would have liked to see more goals out of Ovi, and certainly Mantha.
We just could not quite compete with FLA. Missing Tom hurt in many ways, hitting, energy, scoring, PK, PP, and just help drives this team.
Backy is smart and skilled and he provided some points (more than I expected), but there's no hiding he has lost beyond a step in his game. Oshie; yeah he has some aging health issues, but he fucking plays. He's not very fast and not as durable as he used to but you can't complain about his compete level or his effectiveness in this series. Same for Ovi...he doesn't work as hard as Oshie, but also hasn't slowed down all that much.
Blow up the team? Never happen....well not in the Ovi era. You can hope for it and want it, but I don't see it happening. This team committed itself to Ovie and Backie and the club and we are stuck with it. I can't see them being able to move ANY of the big contract pieces out anyway. Who would take Backy at $10m? We have nothing left to give away to sweeten the pot.
I expect there will be few changes in the offseason. I can wish and dream, but....I think we are stuck with this. The biggest question is what to do about GT. Both guys are RFA's and DO YOU want to rely on either as a starter next year? Sammy does have some great talent, but also brain farts more than any GT I've ever seen. His rebound control is out of control and he loses his net now and then (way too often) Vitek is a bit steadier, but he aint great.
Not sure why everyone hates Lavy - other than he's the coach and they always take the heat. He has a mediocre team whose best parts are aged past their prime. He has no goal tending to work with whatsoever. Florida is a far better team at this point. IF we had Bobrovsky and they Sammy, we would have won the series. Florida won all the puck battles and all the foot races and the Goal tending matchups. You can put SOME of that on the coach, but most of that is on the the players. Like someone else said....Scotty Bowman could not get THIS team to the Cup.
For what it's worth....Everyone hated Trotz after his multiple playoff failures and even up thru about 90% of the season we won the Cup. Everyone was calling for his head....and then after he's gone....he's all that?
As for McMichael....he is exactly the type of player we didn't need more of in the playoffs...NOT a hitter, NOT a great back checker, NOT a great anything. Lots of potential, but not enough at this point to make a positive impact. Hell, I'll take Sheary or Hathy double shifting over McMichael in the playoffs anytime (at this point). Hopefully that changes
(soon) moving forward
Florida outplayed us for most of the series. They deserved to win it. We had times when we were the better team, but not enough of them. We had our chances to steal it (ahem game 4) but we let them slip.
Bummer. (and the lifelong Cap fan was heard to say.....shortly after losing in the 1st round..."Well, there's always next year"
