2018 NHL Playoffs

[Rex]

Hey, the Thrashers are still in it

[brian]

If thing goes 7 (and I’m not saying it will) it’s going to resemble Balboa-Drago at times.

[wlu_lax6]

yup...and would have been worse except for 2 blown calls by the zebras.

7 minutes left in the game and fans just streaming out of the arena


https://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.c ... ore-155064

[govmentchedda]

I'm not in that shot, but I left as soon as goal 6 went in. Why should I stay?

[Nonlinear FC]

People are doing the "remember, the Caps were down 0-2 to Columbus..." And, like, sure... They lost the first in OT and the second in double OT.

There's a persistence to this team... I'm just not used to it. I barely remember the run to the finals in 98, but what I do recall is that team was considered the underdog throughout. This team exorcised demons, now they're playing loose and determined.

I mean, this is what we're usually looking at from the wrong side.

Tampa's been punched in the mouth, twice. Gotta figure they come out nasty on Tuesday.

[Nonlinear FC]

I'm not in that shot, but I left as soon as goal 6 went in. Why should I stay?

1) Fuck that noise. I absolutely would've left. I don't really get the big deal here. Fucking Caps fans were leaving a game against Pitt down ONE GOAL with 5 minutes left. I was actually surprised so many were still there with 7 minutes left.

I'm an extremely optimistic hockey fan... I've seen some crazy shit over the years. But I start chopping the game into 5 minute segments at a certain point. "Get a goal in the next 4 or 5 minutes, we still have xx amount of time left." etc etc. If I'm trying to do that clock math and I have to score 3 goals with less than 10? They better show me something by minute 5, at the latest. When they put in the 6th? Again, fuck that noise, I'm going home.

2) I thought it was over when Vinne's kid came out like a devil child from Running Man.

3) Kuznetsov is going to get most of the credit for last night, but Lars fucking Eller was absolutely massive last night. He's not better than Backstrom (that's ridiculous), but he's different in a few positive ways. Most important is his knack and desire to crash the net. Resulted in a goal and contributed to Kuzy's PPG lat in the 2nd (which was the back breaker.)

[BSF21]

I'm not in that shot, but I left as soon as goal 6 went in. Why should I stay?

Yep. Fuck people who question people for leaving when their team plays like shit. I bought a ticket to watch a game. I didn't sign a contract to clap for them. I hate that "REALFAN" bullshit. I can be a fan of a team and dislike a play, a player, a call, a level of effort. It's just gatekeeping bullshit.

[wlu_lax6]

Biggest thing I am noticing about this Caps playoff run is what they are not doing. Every previous year I remember them moving the puck to Ovi and him taking slap shots from his spot just above the circle on the left side (goalie's right). This is his spot for the power plays and very powerful, but not great on 5 v 5 when the goalie is not moving. Basically just throwing high volume of low probability shots with no traffic in front of the goalie. It was done in desperation. But I have not seen that yet from the caps this year. They are getting goals from other folks, lots of rebound and redirects.

The other thing is the caps are breaking out of their zone/entering the offensive zone in ways that setup chances. Few dangerous turnovers or off sides.

[wlu_lax6]

I'm not in that shot, but I left as soon as goal 6 went in. Why should I stay?

Passing no judgement on the fans.....it just is a good thing when the team you are cheering for is the one causing the behavior.

[Nonlinear FC]

Biggest thing I am noticing about this Caps playoff run is what they are not doing. Every previous year I remember them moving the puck to Ovi and him taking slap shots from his spot just above the circle on the left side (goalie's right). This is his spot for the power plays and very powerful, but not great on 5 v 5 when the goalie is not moving. Basically just throwing high volume of low probability shots with no traffic in front of the goalie. It was done in desperation. But I have not seen that yet from the caps this year. They are getting goals from other folks, lots of rebound and redirects.

The other thing is the caps are breaking out of their zone/entering the offensive zone in ways that setup chances. Few dangerous turnovers or off sides.

Yep, this was a point of emphasis after the loss to Pitt, where there were a lot of dumbdumb fans acting like Caps outplayed the Pens primarily because we out shot them. But as you say, the shots were bullshit and Murray was made to look like Roy because he was squared up to almost all of the shots. (ETA - He also stood on his head, not saying he wasn't great. But we played into it too much.)

So this year, their stats, especially early in the season, were down because they were taking less shots, trying to move the puck laterally to get the goalie sliding. It was a new approach and combined with almost completely re-tooled 3rd and 4th lines, resulted in a shitty start.

Then they figured it out.

And I know this because I've spent the last 3 weeks catching up. ;-)

[govmentchedda]

I'm not in that shot, but I left as soon as goal 6 went in. Why should I stay?

1) Fuck that noise. I absolutely would've left. I don't really get the big deal here. Fucking Caps fans were leaving a game against Pitt down ONE GOAL with 5 minutes left. I was actually surprised so many were still there with 7 minutes left.

I'm an extremely optimistic hockey fan... I've seen some crazy shit over the years. But I start chopping the game into 5 minute segments at a certain point. "Get a goal in the next 4 or 5 minutes, we still have xx amount of time left." etc etc. If I'm trying to do that clock math and I have to score 3 goals with less than 10? They better show me something by minute 5, at the latest. When they put in the 6th? Again, fuck that noise, I'm going home.

2) I thought it was over when Vinne's kid came out like a devil child from Running Man.

3) Kuznetsov is going to get most of the credit for last night, but Lars fucking Eller was absolutely massive last night. He's not better than Backstrom (that's ridiculous), but he's different in a few positive ways. Most important is his knack and desire to crash the net. Resulted in a goal and contributed to Kuzy's PPG lat in the 2nd (which was the back breaker.)

We were right next to two Caps fans from Baltimore who happened to already be down here celebrating their 10th anniversary. Nice couple, who weren't at all obnoxious, and had a lot of nice things to say about the in game experience (kinda hard not to be happy as a Caps fan last night though, right?). There were more than a few obnoxious red-clad Caps fans around us though.

Down 3, lateish in the third, I was already debating when to pull up stakes to go relieve my mom who was watching our boys, but that 6th goal erased any doubt that I had.

On Friday night, I was making the same calculation, "If we're still down 4 with 10 minutes left, I'm out". Bolts score. "If we're still down 3 with 5 minutes left, I'm out". Bolts score. We stayed until the final horn that night.

I completely missed Vinny's kid, as we arrived at our seats just after the first Caps goal, late from Mother's Day festivities.

The Bolts have been 2 different teams this year; the team that tore off to such a lead in late 2017, and the team that coasted through early 2018. It was nice to see the return of Fall 2017 Bolts in rounds 1 & 2, but they have had absolutely nothing for the Caps so far, and I'm not optimistic about turning this around in D.C.

[degenerasian]

Depth is what is needed in the NHL and the Caps sure have it. Eller the 3rd liner slots in nicely in Backstrom' place.

And the speed of Chiasson and Smith-Pelley on that counter-attack was the prettiest goal of the night. The puck was turned over at the hashmarks and they took it 150 feet in lightning speed. That's the new NHL. No more room for pluggers.

[govmentchedda]

Depth is what is needed in the NHL and the Caps sure have it. Eller the 3rd liner slots in nicely in Backstrom' place.

And the speed of Chiasson and Smith-Pelley on that counter-attack was the prettiest goal of the night. The puck was turned over at the hashmarks and they took it 150 feet in lightning speed. That's the new NHL. No more room for pluggers.

The Bolts and their pluggers, a tale as old as time.

[A_B]

Stugotz, today: "Tampa is still getting licked"

[wlu_lax6]

How did they negotiate that dollar amount?

Washington Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny has been fined $2,419.35, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for cross-checking Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final in Tampa on Sunday, May 13, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 6:55 of the third period. Kempny was assessed a minor penalty for cross-checking.

[brian]

How did they negotiate that dollar amount?

Washington Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny has been fined $2,419.35, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for cross-checking Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final in Tampa on Sunday, May 13, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 6:55 of the third period. Kempny was assessed a minor penalty for cross-checking.

Presumably, it is x percent amount of his annual salary.

[sancarlos]

How did they negotiate that dollar amount?

Washington Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny has been fined $2,419.35, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for cross-checking Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final in Tampa on Sunday, May 13, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 6:55 of the third period. Kempny was assessed a minor penalty for cross-checking.

Presumably, it is x percent amount of his annual salary.

Yep. He is (quite a bargain) at an annual salary of $900,000, which makes it a cap hit of $4,839 per season day (LINK). His fine is half a day's pay.

[degenerasian]

I'd like to cross check some guy in the face at work and get docked half a day's pay.

[Nonlinear FC]

I'd like to cross check some guy in the face at work and get docked half a day's pay.

I like this. Fuck that spreadsheet motherfucker.

[brian]

That’s more like it boys.

[sancarlos]

That’s more like it boys.

What a difference from Saturday.

[brian]

I’ll take it.

[degenerasian]

Winnpeg continues it's trend of winning only odd games in a series. 7 wins out of 8 in odd games, 2 win out of 6 in even games

[brian]

Fortress is gonna be loud on Wednesday. I think people gonna take the Winnipeg fan hype all week to heart.

[Nonlinear FC]

I just wrote 400 words and dumped it.

I hate that these games start at 8.

I'm busy as fuck at work, barely able to focus.

[sancarlos]

I just wrote 400 words and dumped it.

I hate that these games start at 8.

I'm busy as fuck at work, barely able to focus.

5:00 Pacific is great for me. Thanks. (But, yeah. 8:00 is stupid.)

[brian]

I just wrote 400 words and dumped it.

I hate that these games start at 8.

I'm busy as fuck at work, barely able to focus.

5:00 Pacific is great for me. Thanks. (But, yeah. 8:00 is stupid.)

5 p.m. sucks for home games though. Fortunately I can split from work early, but I'm going to basically take a half-day off work on Friday.

[Nonlinear FC]

I wasn't paying attention and just figured the WCF games would start at 9. Tuned in to catch the end of the game around 10 and they were doing the wrap up show.

[BSF21]

I just wrote 400 words and dumped it.

I hate that these games start at 8.

I'm busy as fuck at work, barely able to focus.

I feel bad for you west-coasters, but that game got over at 10:50p last night and it was perfect. I've missed a lot of good hockey this year because I just can't stay up till 12 or 1am.

[Nonlinear FC]

Yeah, my issue isn't a rational/logical argument. I just like when games start at 7p because I basically come home, help get dinner finished and the game starts soon after.

[brian]

Presented without comment, because frankly I don't get it.

[govmentchedda]

Money wasted if the Bolts keep this up.

[Nonlinear FC]

What don't you get? I'm not saying you SHOULD get any of it, just need to know what part to explain. :D

[Nonlinear FC]

Fairly predictable result, but I would say that I wasn't bothered by how the Caps played.

* - One thing I think Holtby is starting to figure out: You can't dive past the far post to cover on swing passes on the PP. They are waiting for him to do that and making the third pass (pass goes to the LW who passes to the RW across the face of the net... Holtby over commits... pass pack into the slot) for a wide open net. As the game went on, he was being a lot less reckless

* - The Lightning PP is NASTY. I love the Caps PP, I really do. But I don't even get mad when the Lightning score on the PP. It feels inevitable.

* - Again, I know guys here like to call Wilson out on stuff and he deserves his reputation. If he had hit someone the way Stralman hit him last night, he's looking at a suspension. I wonder what the league does with that hit last night. Textbook boarding. That needs to be a major penalty... Not how the rules are currently written, so I'm not saying last night, I'm saying they need to change the rules. 5 minutes if you board someone doesn't really seem all that crazy to me... far from it.

* - I actually feel pretty good about the game TH. My sense from last night is not that the Caps were blown away by a crazy, new, unexpected Lightning effort... I think they're probably frustrated to not have finished some wide open chances and to have taken some unnecessary penalties to give them an early lead (again.) We'll see if this "new" Caps mentality kicks in tomorrow.

[govmentchedda]

Fairly predictable result, but I would say that I wasn't bothered by how the Caps played.

* - One thing I think Holtby is starting to figure out: You can't dive past the far post to cover on swing passes on the PP. They are waiting for him to do that and making the third pass (pass goes to the LW who passes to the RW across the face of the net... Holtby over commits... pass pack into the slot) for a wide open net. As the game went on, he was being a lot less reckless

* - The Lightning PP is NASTY. I love the Caps PP, I really do. But I don't even get mad when the Lightning score on the PP. It feels inevitable.

* - Again, I know guys here like to call Wilson out on stuff and he deserves his reputation. If he had hit someone the way Stralman hit him last night, he's looking at a suspension. I wonder what the league does with that hit last night. Textbook boarding. That needs to be a major penalty... Not how the rules are currently written, so I'm not saying last night, I'm saying they need to change the rules. 5 minutes if you board someone doesn't really seem all that crazy to me... far from it.

* - I actually feel pretty good about the game TH. My sense from last night is not that the Caps were blown away by a crazy, new, unexpected Lightning effort... I think they're probably frustrated to not have finished some wide open chances and to have taken some unnecessary penalties to give them an early lead (again.) We'll see if this "new" Caps mentality kicks in tomorrow.

Having two guys able to set up in their office on the PP on opposite face off dots is always going to be tough to deal with. Last night it seemed like Point was the guy in the crease more than Miller, and Miller was behind the net a bit more. That's usually reversed. I really love Point.

For all the shit the Panthers get (and Lightning to a lesser extent) for "giving up on" Marchessault, we have so many guys like him. Johnson, Point, Kucherov, Conacher, and Gourde are all no taller than 5'9" at best, and the Bolts lack of size clearly was an issue in Games 1 & 2 (and at other times this season). I'm not that broken up about not having Jonny Whiteteeth (he always wore a gleaming white mouthguard while playing for Tampa) on the Bolts any more.

You and Tom Wilson are right about "if it were me..." and the hit Stralman laid on him. Stralman has no disciplinary history (as far as I know), and usually plays a very "gentlemanly" Swedish style of defense. Based on what we've seen with player safety this postseason, who knows what will happen with him, but if I had to wager on it, I'd say fine or nothing.

I'm glad to get to go to another game (or maybe 2) this season, and I hope it's not facing elimination.

[mister d]

When we say "Tom Wilson would have been suspended", we mean if we give Wilson's history to Stralman, right? Otherwise this is Jenrry Mejia looking at Cano and saying "if that were me, it would be a lifetime ban".

[Nonlinear FC]

I think he gets a fine. That was pretty clear targeting (as much as it can be, granted.)

I said this on RMMB comments, so to repeat:

The whole past history thing is stupid. I get that it's in there as part of the CBA and all that. But it's stupid. If you do something dirty, you should get reviewed and the punishment should fit the misdeed. Yes, repeat offenders should get progressively worse penalties/repercussions. But it's just stupid to trot that out in this case. His history has to fucking start somewhere.

I also will be consistent on the head injury issue. Boarding should be a 5 minute major. It's actually pretty ridiculous that it's not. You run a guys head into the glass or boards, go take a shower. I love open ice hits and don't have any issue with a great body check into the glass. DSP had one last night that should be sent out to the league as to how to deliver a crushing hit on the boards without coming near the head. Hell, Wilson had an open ice hit clearing the crease that was intimidating, nasty and clean as a any hit you'll ever see.

Hockey doesn't need head shots to maintain its violent and entertaining brand. Get rid of it.

[govmentchedda]

When we say "Tom Wilson would have been suspended", we mean if we give Wilson's history to Stralman, right? Otherwise this is Jenrry Mejia looking at Cano and saying "if that were me, it would be a lifetime ban".

Yeah, that's my take. Wilson's history (even if just looking at this postseason) = suspension, if the actors in this hit were reversed. Stralman's lack of disciplinary history probably means he gets a slap on the wrist.

And I agree with NFC, boarding should be 5. I feel like it used to be only a major, but there's definitely a gap in my hockey watching history.

Yeah, that Wilson crease clear of Johnson last night was beastly.

Paquette barely missed a massive hit on Ovi right before the Connolly goal too.

[Nonlinear FC]

I also want to be clear... I am in no way "worked up" about the hit on Wilson. I'm not going to be faux outraged if Stralman doesn't get suspended. It was a bad hit, it wasn't that big of a deal. Particularly not a big deal because Wilson is a cement-head and seemed to just shrug it off. Which DOES play into this in terms of who Stralman hit.

If he'd done that to Kuzy or Vrana or some other diminutive FWD? Now we're talking about a suspension. Not that it would BE a suspension, but now I'm going to start agitating for that.

[BSF21]

Let's not forget that the most important part of tonight is that we get another weird thing where a middle aged knight screams at an anthropomorphized jet lying at center ice begging for his mercy. HOCKEY.