Series Thread: First Round: Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Washington Capitals

[dash]

Rover. Jackets give up way too many quality chances going the other way when the opponents figure out it's a center covering the point. Pens feasted on it last year, and the Caps figured it out in game 3.

9 GA were power play goals?

Not Bob.

I think he chunked maybe 3 the whole series. The rest were very high quality chances.

And he stopped more high quality chances than he gave up, IMO.


Plus, I have no data but it feels like scoring overall is up. Maybe that's just because of the scores in the Pitt/Philly series.

I agree with pretty much all of the above - I watched a good portion of every game in the series and #72 made several 10-bell saves. There are some pretty talented players on that Capitals team and they don't need many chances to light the lamp.

 

[elocomotive]

I agree with pretty much all of the above - I watched a good portion of every game in the series and #72 made several 10-bell saves. There are some pretty talented players on that Capitals team and they don't need many chances to light the lamp.

I think the word is getting out on this Ovechkin guy. He sure can score.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Bobrovsky sv% the past two regular seasons:

vs. Pittsburgh - .903, average 33 shots faced per game

vs. Washington - .897, average 25 shots faced per game

I think there's something to be said for him probably facing more high-danger shots against these teams just resulting from the fact that these teams are both a) well-coached and b) highly-skilled, but you probably want to see better from your 2-time Vezina winning goaler than that.

 

[dash]

I think the word is getting out on this Ovechkin guy. He sure can score.

I liked his Bart Scott imitation last night when asked about the upcoming series against the Penguins.

 

[dare2be]

Good example - Fleury. We were once told Fleury had the "clutch" gene. But after some strong early outings, his career .911 playoff save percentage is damn close to his .913 regular season save percentage.

Meh. Not a very good example. MAF had a 4-year stretch of sub-.800 performances, including the beach ball series. No one was saying he was clutch at that point, especially after his many LMAFO moments. He really had only about 3 good seasons in the playoffs, 2 early, one late (plus this one so far), but even with the beach ball series, he brought his career playoff numbers back up to his regular season levels.

 

[forty_three]

but you probably want to see better from your 2-time Vezina winning goaler than that.

No doubt. As I said he absolutely whiffed in three straight games at least once. That's the fun of being a goalie, when your coach has the wrong game plan and all the effort can't overcome how the other team is playing you, all the blame falls on your shoulders no matter what. And had he not had three whiffs, the outcome doesn't necessarily change.

As a goalie coach, I say Holtby did his job better. As a head coach I say Bob was a victim of the game plan this year.

Last year, the Pens counter punched and whooped the whole team. They did the same thing to the Flyers the first round this year.

 

[elocomotive]

Meh. Not a very good example. MAF had a 4-year stretch of sub-.800 performances, including the beach ball series. No one was saying he was clutch at that point, especially after his many LMAFO moments. He really had only about 3 good seasons in the playoffs, 2 early, one late (plus this one so far), but even with the beach ball series, he brought his career playoff numbers back up to his regular season levels.

But that's exactly my point. After two seasons, you would have said he's better in the playoffs (and people did). After six, you'd have said he's worse (and people did). Overall after a decade, he's about the same. Truth is, most players do about the same in both once they have enough of a sample that a few extreme results don't skew the results for better or worse. There are some guys that are just gamers and do seem able to elevate with the pressure on, goalie or not. But I think mostly that's the highs and lows of a small sample skewing perception from the overall mean.

 

[dare2be]

But that's exactly my point. After two seasons, you would have said he's better in the playoffs (and people did). After six, you'd have said he's worse (and people did). Overall after a decade, he's about the same. Truth is, most players do about the same in both once they have enough of a sample that a few extreme results don't skew the results for better or worse. There are some guys that are just gamers and do seem able to elevate with the pressure on, goalie or not. But I think mostly that's the highs and lows of a small sample skewing perception from the overall mean.

Well, what I remember, is when MAF was young and doing well, he relied more on pure talent and agility rather than his positional awareness. Then he got injured and wasn't able to rely as much on talent alone. As he matured he was able to blend his talent with a more strategic positional game. The smaller sample size of the playoffs made that more evident, whereas his overall regular seasonal numbers stayed mostly consistent throughout his career.

 

[elocomotive]

Well, what I remember, is when MAF was young and doing well, he relied more on pure talent and agility rather than his positional awareness. Then he got injured and wasn't able to rely as much on talent alone. As he matured he was able to blend his talent with a more strategic positional game. The smaller sample size of the playoffs made that more evident, whereas his overall regular seasonal numbers stayed mostly consistent throughout his career.

As long as you don't remember @dash when he was young, then you're doing alright.

 

[dash]

As long as you don't remember @dash when he was young, then you're doing alright.

I got me one of those new fangled phones the other day, as you can see, I had some trouble figuring it out...

 

[dash]

 

[forty_three]