GDT #12 Caps vs Predators @ 7pm

[Surreylily]

 

[alta]

pitiful pp

[Mickstix]

No PP and can't win a board battle. 4 minutes of acting like were on a PK aint gonna work.

[alta]

 

[alta]

Caps win 3-2


 

[Surreylily]

No PP and can't win a board battle. 4 minutes of acting like were on a PK aint gonna work.

 
 

[Rey Capalpatine]

Capitals win and Ovechkin is one goal closer to the record.  Great night of hockey.

[Mickstix]

MAGAnificent! 


Friday at 7:30 vs the Pens. Smells like a national tv game. 

[Surreylily]

Great job by ThomCat at the end there.   
And Ovi scored.   Again.   

Really liking Mac on the wing.   
Milly needs to go back to Hershey methinks.

[alta]

MAGAnificent! 


Friday at 7:30 vs the Pens. Smells like a national tv game. 

It’s not a national tv game, it’s a stream only game
 

[Mickstix]

Yea, heard Milano's name twice. Both times he was getting crushed to the ice. lol  Bring back the Snake!!

[Mickstix]

It’s not a national tv game, it’s a stream only game
 

 

[Surreylily]

Sweet dreams my luvverlies.   


 

[alta]

%47 at the faceoff dot.. and 0 fer 6 on the pp


 




and Friday vs the Hens is at 7:30

[BlackIce]

The Caps are 9-3 so far.


One of the 3 losses was opening night, when they were facing a team who had already played three games and after they had a week-long gap from their last exhibition game.   


Another of the 3 losses was the exact opposite situation:  Back end of a back-to-back, with travel, on the road against a top team who had last played 3 nights earlier.


The other loss, the shutout against Tampa, was the only one without the back story of a schedule issue.


Now, this isn't meant to excuse anything.  The schedule is what it is, and all teams have to deal with forced handicaps due to the schedule at certain times during the season.  But seeing the schedule for what it is makes the Caps' start all that much more impressive. 


As for Ovechkin, he is coming up on halfway through what might be the one hot streak he needs in order to become a prohibitive favorite to overtake Gretzky. 

[richkrt99]

We got dominated for most of that period.   Lots of really loose passes.

Slack Alice's drawers are tighter than we are so far.  Lucky to be even Stevens.   

Lil was definitely well into the sauce...the Caps badly outplayed the Preds in the first all but like the first 4 minutes. Preds didn't have a shot on goal for longs stretches at a time.

[richkrt99]

And yes the PP statistically sucks balls at the moment, but if you recall, Ovie had a yawning mostly open net and the D man made a diving block with his leg to stop the goal.  Caps are moving the puck and getting good scoring chances.  It certainly needs improvement, but its not as bad as the statistics would indicate.
Would you rather have a shitty PK or a shitty PP?  Statistically they are penalized more than they are on the PP, so....
The Caps are 9-3 with a shitty PP and some yet to be great goaltending.  We have room for improvement for sure, but damn this is awesome so far.

[BlackIce]

And yes the PP statistically sucks balls at the moment, but if you recall, Ovie had a yawning mostly open net and the D man made a diving block with his leg to stop the goal.  Caps are moving the puck and getting good scoring chances.  It certainly needs improvement, but its not as bad as the statistics would indicate.
Would you rather have a shitty PK or a shitty PP?  Statistically they are penalized more than they are on the PP, so....
The Caps are 9-3 with a shitty PP and some yet to be great goaltending.  We have room for improvement for sure, but damn this is awesome so far.

Just because you give up a couple of goals doesn't mean you aren't getting top-flight goaltending.


Both of Nashville's goals last night were on really nasty tips, especially the second one, where he scorer came out from behind the net and tipped an off-target that was going wide right at the goal line.  Sometimes there's nothing you can do.


Scoring is generally up this year.  Combination of more and more innovative offensive talent coming into the league, stricter rules governing defensive coverage, and shrunken goalie equipment? 

[Mickstix]

And yes the PP statistically sucks balls at the moment, but if you recall, Ovie had a yawning mostly open net and the D man made a diving block with his leg to stop the goal.  Caps are moving the puck and getting good scoring chances. 

PP was definitely moving the puck faster last night. Strome also had a great chance and couldn't covert. We just don't have guys who can protect the puck that well, when they get pressured. I feel like teams will start doing that more and force us to figure it out? Nicky and Kuzy could/would make you pay for bum rushing us, with a nice pass after absorbing the pressure. Usually Ovi or TJ would be wide open for a 1 timer. Hopefully we can get some of those to go here soon!

[richkrt99]

Just because you give up a couple of goals doesn't mean you aren't getting top-flight goaltending.

Both of Nashville's goals last night were on really nasty tips, especially the second one, where he scorer came out from behind the net and tipped an off-target that was going wide right at the goal line.  Sometimes there's nothing you can do.

Scoring is generally up this year.  Combination of more and more innovative offensive talent coming into the league, stricter rules governing defensive coverage, and shrunken goalie equipment?

FWIW - I didn't have a problem with either of the goals last night.  Great players are going to make great plays and score, and hockey has crazy bounces.
I just meant our Goaltending has not been stellar by any means.  It has been satisfactory, but....well.... "Not Great" is pretty accurate I think. Closer to pretty mediocre actually.
Lindy with a 2.70 GAA and .896 Sv%   Thompsons with 2.81 GA and .903 Sv%.   A good Sv% in NHL is .905 - .920.  Above .915 is excellent to elite.
Anything below .900 is below average.  Last season the LEAGUE average was .904....so both our guys currently fall just beneath the average mark.
I looked up this years stats for all goalies 5 games or more and they rank #23 and #32 out of a total of 49 goalies.  (hah  - Kuemper is at 29).  The average of these 49 goalies SV% is actually .900
Same goes for GAA...2.25 - 2.90 is considered average, and that's a pretty wide range, with our guys being at the wrong end of the average range.
(using this years actual numbers the average GAA is 2.89 so far this year - so it is higher this season so far)
Stats certainly don't tell the whole story, and better teams will certainly have better stats for goalies (although that is not true with the Caps).  Timely saves are more important than just the number of saves, and our guys have provided some of that (last night is an example).  However, we have given up way too many softies and quick strikes (giving one up just after we've scored) for my liking.
I think both guys have the ability and potential to be better, but neither of them instils me with the confidence that they can carry us in a tight game when we need them to.
For what we are paying them, we are certainly getting our money's worth and more, but getting a "bargain" pair of goalies takes you.....where?
Its early in the season yet, and give them credit, we are 9-3, but we need some improvement from them if we are going to have any real success (many playoff success)  I keep waiting for one of them to break out and become the clear favorite by displaying better play, but neither has shown real signs of that to me so far.
As long as we keep winning, its great, but we do need our goaltending to tighten up a bit.  I do not believe we will maintain our current level of scoring night in and night out.
(yes, I'm bored)

Go Caps