Not a whole lot to be happy about tonight.
Caps were sloppy overall. Holtz would have liked a few back. 3 defensemen stood out worse than the others!
In order, Orlov, Carlson, and Bowey! Orlov seems to just get mentally bushwhacked when the opponent gets to start some cycling in our zone, ESPECIALLY vulnerable when opponent cycles with some behind the net exchanges going on!! This action seems to CONSISTENTLY confuse, freeze, and stupify our guys, as we see them scramble to RE-FIGURE, who the hell theyre supposed to cover!!
This tactic, or very similar versions of it, seem to stymie Orlov and Carlson the most! Add Nisky in there too, although he will sometimes tie up a guy physically, and break the cycling!
Orlov seems just too clueless to understand his assignment, during this critical time, and Carlson either reacts too slow, arriving too late to even be meaningful, OR his attempts at physical disruption are too soft, and the opponents carry on like he wasn’t even a factor!
Mix in a bad PP, general low energy all around, Holby reacting a little slower, and you have the recipe for losing to one of the worst teams in the league! Fortunately the Caps haven’t crapped on themselves very often like this, and TBH, it seems to be their habit sometimes when having more than a couple days off!
One positive note is that we are playing 7 games in the next 12 days, and 11g in 20 days, before the allstar break! We usually play much better, in win percentage, when we have this type of game schedule!! Lets hope so!!
MOVING FORWARD FOLKS!!
Rush
