Talk about Capitals hockey & more! > Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion
GDT#79 Capitals @ Penguins 2018-04-01 7:30pm EST NBCSN
ArJunaZ:
--- Quote from: BlackIce on Sunday April 01, 2018, 10:54:29 PM Eastern ---The coach told us all we needed to know about the playoff goaltender tonight when he named Grubauer the starter. Grubauer hadn't played the past few because of a tweak and Holtby had done generally OK in his absence. With a back-to-back, it would have been easy and defensible to start Holtby tonight and ease Grubauer back in tomorrow. That Trotz brought him back specifically in Pittsburgh in a division-clinching game after being out spoke VOLUMES.
--- End quote ---
I Agree wholeheartedly. I was thinking exactly the same as you when I saw that Grubs was starting tonight. Then the way he performed he further locked it up IMO.
Maacoshark:
--- Quote from: BlackIce on Sunday April 01, 2018, 10:54:29 PM Eastern ---The coach told us all we needed to know about the playoff goaltender tonight when he named Grubauer the starter. Grubauer hadn't played the past few because of a tweak and Holtby had done generally OK in his absence. With a back-to-back, it would have been easy and defensible to start Holtby tonight and ease Grubauer back in tomorrow. That Trotz brought him back specifically in Pittsburgh in a division-clinching game after being out spoke VOLUMES.
As for meeting the Pens in the 2nd round, don't count any chickens yet. We may meet them in the first round, or we may not see them at all. The Pens are in 2nd right now and have the tiebreaker, but all 3 teams below them have a game in hand. Before the Pens play their next game, all 3 have games against non-playoff teams. The points standings of the Pens/BJ's/Philly/NJ could very easily be 96/96/96/95 going into the last two games for each team -- and then the Pens have to go into Columbus. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Pens finish 5th in the Division and get moved over to the Atlantic for the playoffs, where they can deal with Boston/Tampa/Toronto.
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It looks like 2nd to 5th in the Metro won't be decided until the final day. I would have no problem if the Pens finished 5th.
BlackIce:
Now think about this intriguing situation for a moment.
On this coming Saturday the Pens will have finished their season. It is quite possible that they might be anywhere in the mix with Columbus and Philly, but they might still have, say, a single standings point on NJ, who finishes their season against -- the Caps, who will have absolutely no standings motivation since they are locked into their playoff position as of right now. NJ on the other hand may have all the motivation in the world to climb out of 5th place and avoid the Boston/Tampa/Toronto gauntlet -- and for that matter, maybe play the Caps in the first round of the playoffs.
Maacoshark:
--- Quote from: BlackIce on Sunday April 01, 2018, 11:16:49 PM Eastern ---Now think about this intriguing situation for a moment.
On this coming Saturday the Pens will have finished their season. It is quite possible that they might be anywhere in the mix with Columbus and Philly, but they might still have, say, a single standings point on NJ, who finishes their season against -- the Caps, who will have absolutely no standings motivation since they are locked into their playoff position as of right now. NJ on the other hand may have all the motivation in the world to climb out of 5th place and avoid the Boston/Tampa/Toronto gauntlet -- and for that matter, maybe play the Caps in the first round of the playoffs.
--- End quote ---
It is entirely possible that we play the Pens in the first round. That scares me but maybe we are better off playing them in the first round and get it over with. If we can play them like we did tonight we have a chance.
ArJunaZ:
I've been watching that tip goal in by Wilson over and over. Willy had his back to the goal and could not have made a more perfect no-look tip in. He took that high speed shot by Niskanen out of mid-air and facing away from the goal tipped it at a sharp angle into the narrow crease above and between Murray's shoulders and the pipes. It's got to be a top ten highlight goal of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Kxv81Qf9k#t=6m16s
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