Series Thread: First Round: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Washington Capitals

[elocomotive]

@DragonfromTO @Bloody Brian Burke @BGDave

Congrats on the win, fellas.

 

[dare2be]

@DragonfromTO @Bloody Brian Burke @BGDave

Congrats on the win, fellas.

Hey, you promised you weren't going to be nice to BBB.

/Didn't I read that right?

 

[elocomotive]

Please refrain from name calling or personal attacks.

Hey, you promised you weren't going to be nice to BBB.

Inconsistency from the refs tonight!

 

[dare2be]

DoPS (department of poster safety) will have a ruling by morning.

 

[forty_three]

Hey, you promised you weren't going to be nice to BBB.

/Didn't I read that right?

That was me.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

That was me.

I guess your way of not being nice is by having your team give my team's second round opponent plenty of time to rest and recharge?

/MAKE IT A FUCKING SERIES MAN! HACK OFF CROSBY'S FINGER!

 

[dare2be]

That was me.

DoPS hearing canceled.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

 

[forty_three]

I guess your way of not being nice is by having your team give my team's second round opponent plenty of time to rest and recharge?

/MAKE IT A FUCKING SERIES MAN! HACK OFF CROSBY'S FINGER!

We would, but we can't catch him.

DoPS hearing canceled.

Fucking refs.

 

[BGDave]

Any word on Marincin? Is he injured?

If so, whos next on deck? Marchenko?

/Doubt Polak is coming back a la Zaitsev to fill in

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Any word on Marincin? Is he injured?

If so, whos next on deck? Marchenko?

/Doubt Polak is coming back a la Zaitsev to fill in

Probably nothing until the skate today.

Marchenko's a righty so probably not. There's been clamouring for Valiev to get a call up. Wouldn't mind that. He's played some NHL games, from what I hear has been the Marlies' best d-man, might be worth a shot. If they want more of a skill guy there's always Nielsen too but I don't think he's ready.

 

[ritari330]

How does Trotz only play Ovechkin for 15 minutes last night? For comparison, Wilson had 13 minutes. The whole point of him getting less ice time throughout the season was to have him fresh for the post season. I'm fine with rolling 4 lines, because that's what got them through the season, but play playing your best players gives you the best chance to win the game.

I now fully believe that the Caps' successes (or lack there of) over the past 2 seasons have been despite trotz. Not playing OV enough, Overplaying the fourth line, scratching Schmidt when he's at the very least the 5th best defensemen on the team, playing fucking Mike Webber in the playoffs against the Penguins. Babcock got all the matchups he wanted last night and Trotz did nothing to counter it. He's way too conservative when it comes to deployment of players.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Probably nothing until the skate today.

Marchenko's a righty so probably not. There's been clamouring for Valiev to get a call up. Wouldn't mind that. He's played some NHL games, from what I hear has been the Marlies' best d-man, might be worth a shot. If they want more of a skill guy there's always Nielsen too but I don't think he's ready.

Yeah but they were long LH defensemen when Marincin left. I suspect that Marchenko will be the guy, Carrick will probably play a little more and Rielly will still take some shifts on the right side so that the RH guys aren't too exposed. And if it's a Marlie the more likely candidate seems to be Dermott anyway.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

How does Trotz only play Ovechkin for 15 minutes last night? For comparison, Wilson had 13 minutes. The whole point of him getting less ice time throughout the season was to have him fresh for the post season. I'm fine with rolling 4 lines, because that's what got them through the season, but play playing your best players gives you the best chance to win the game.

I now fully believe that the Caps' successes (or lack there of) over the past 2 seasons have been despite trotz. Not playing OV enough, Overplaying the fourth line, scratching Schmidt when he's at the very least the 5th best defensemen on the team, playing fucking Mike Webber in the playoffs against the Penguins. Babcock got all the matchups he wanted last night and Trotz did nothing to counter it. He's way too conservative when it comes to deployment of players.

The stranger thing is Backstrom and Oshie getting more minutes 5v5 despite having a negative shot differential. That means something in a series where the opposing team is more than capable of matching you offensively.

Which brings me to where Trotz is failing - Washington's defence is giving up almost as many shots as the Leafs' is. The difference is on paper the Leafs' blue line should be much, much weaker than Washington's. That shit isn't all on them playing Alzner over Schmidt. For a coach who's hailed as a defensive specialist, that isn't very special.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Yeah but they were long LH defensemen when Marincin left. I suspect that Marchenko will be the guy, Carrick will probably play a little more and Rielly will still take some shifts on the right side so that the RH guys aren't too exposed. And if it's a Marlie the more likely candidate seems to be Dermott anyway.

I'm fine with Dermott. I just figure that having lost 6'2 Polak and 6'4 Marincin Babcock would probably go for 6'3 Valiev over 6'0 Dermott.

 

[Darkstone42]

How does Trotz only play Ovechkin for 15 minutes last night? For comparison, Wilson had 13 minutes. The whole point of him getting less ice time throughout the season was to have him fresh for the post season. I'm fine with rolling 4 lines, because that's what got them through the season, but play playing your best players gives you the best chance to win the game.

I now fully believe that the Caps' successes (or lack there of) over the past 2 seasons have been despite trotz. Not playing OV enough, Overplaying the fourth line, scratching Schmidt when he's at the very least the 5th best defensemen on the team, playing fucking Mike Webber in the playoffs against the Penguins. Babcock got all the matchups he wanted last night and Trotz did nothing to counter it. He's way too conservative when it comes to deployment of players.

I literally could not believe Ovechkin only played 15 minutes, so I had to look it up. That's about 7-10 minutes too few. Ov's a horse. He can handle it.

 

[ritari330]

The stranger thing is Backstrom and Oshie getting more minutes 5v5 despite having a negative shot differential. That means something in a series where the opposing team is more than capable of matching you offensively.

Which brings me to where Trotz is failing - Washington's defence is giving up almost as many shots as the Leafs' is. The difference is on paper the Leafs' blue line should be much, much weaker than Washington's. That shit isn't all on them playing Alzner over Schmidt. For a coach who's hailed as a defensive specialist, that isn't very special.

It's not just that, but its the deployment and mentality that trotz has used. Whenever anything gets tight in the playoffs, his instinct is the play conservatively and play to not lose. Against a high powered offensive team such as the leafs, it plays right into their hands. The caps are the better team, but trotz is willingly allowing the leafs a huge advantage by not playing his best players when it matters most. I love Wilson, Beagle, and Winnick for what they do, but they aren't going to win many playoff games (game 1 aside), and playing them so much is playing to not lose.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

It's not just that, but its the deployment and mentality that trotz has used. Whenever anything gets tight in the playoffs, his instinct is the play conservatively and play to not lose. Against a high powered offensive team such as the leafs, it plays right into their hands. The caps are the better team, but trotz is willingly allowing the leafs a huge advantage by not playing his best players when it matters most. I love Wilson, Beagle, and Winnick for what they do, but they aren't going to win many playoff games (game 1 aside), and playing them so much is playing to not lose.

See, the problem with that argument is that Babcock is doing the same shit with his 4th line. Kapanen-Boyle-Martin are playing just as many minutes as Winnik-Beagle-Wilson. Like Dragon said during the first game Babcock will give that 4th line minutes after a Leafs goal because of that tendency to think the other team will be "fired up" to get a goal after coughing one up.

OV's losing ice time to Marcus Johansson, not Daniel Winnik. He's losing zone starts to Brett Connolly, not Daniel Winnik. Neither of that makes any sense.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

By the way, the Leafs' first line is leading the league in postseason possession:

The only member of that line averaging more ice time than Ovechkin is Matthews.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I'm fine with Dermott. I just figure that having lost 6'2 Polak and 6'4 Marincin Babcock would probably go for 6'3 Valiev over 6'0 Dermott.

I'll be shocked if it's not Marchenko anyway.