2017 ECSF Washington Caps vs. Pittsburgh Pens

[toby91_ca 620]

12 minutes ago, wings_fanatic said:

Caps deserved game 1. Holtby needs to be better. Typical refs for a Penguins game though... They got away with LOTS and the home team did not get a single pp.

Going to call complete BS on this regarding refs.  It's all about perspective.  One could argue the Caps got away with a lot more than the Pens did.  The reality is that it was a typical playoff reffed game.  Always drives me crazy that the rules are different in the playoffs and the rules are different late in the 3rd period of a playoff game than they are in the 1st period.  In the last 5 minutes of the 3rd, the only penalty that was going to be called would have been a puck over the glass and it went both ways (including Ovechkin running over Fleury).

[NerveDamage 4,176]

there's some sort of glitch in the matrix

 

[BadgerBob 297]

My coworker and I were just talking about this. I feel like in order for the Caps to ever take a series against Pittsburgh, they need a player constantly in Sid's ear, taking him off his game mentally. Philly did that a while back perfectly. Have the guy shadow him his whole shift and don't leave him alone. He's shown this year he still has that little temper of his. You get him in a hissy fit and he starts slashing people he's gonna shut down and spend some time in the box. Until they get that type of player, I don't think they're going to win unfortunately. I hope I'm wrong.

[LeftWinger 4,959]

Can anyone stop them? God, I swear, if Pit repeats I will barf....

[shocky2002 36]

Capitals are the better team. I still think they're taking this down in 7.

[sjr2012 439]

3 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

Can anyone stop them? God, I swear, if Pit repeats I will barf....

get your bag ready

[chaps80 1,591]

11 hours ago, BadgerBob said:

My coworker and I were just talking about this. I feel like in order for the Caps to ever take a series against Pittsburgh, they need a player constantly in Sid's ear, taking him off his game mentally. Philly did that a while back perfectly. Have the guy shadow him his whole shift and don't leave him alone. He's shown this year he still has that little temper of his. You get him in a hissy fit and he starts slashing people he's gonna shut down and spend some time in the box. Until they get that type of player, I don't think they're going to win unfortunately. I hope I'm wrong.

I remember in '08 when Z was shadowing Crosby like mad. He couldn't do anything and it threw him off his game and made him take hissy fits. He was the leagues golden boy and he felt like he was entitled to do anything and be left alone.

It's really s***ty that the Wings  collapsed and blow the 2-0 lead and the series in '09. Not just for obvious reasons as a Wings fan, but that Cup win pumped Crosby's ego and stardom to intolerable levels. They should have won two more games and shut that f***** and his fans up.

[chaps80 1,591]

8 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

Can anyone stop them? God, I swear, if Pit repeats I will barf....

Holtby needs to step it up. He's been a top 5 goalie in the league for a few years now, playing for a yearly contender. Last seasons Vezina winner and a finalist for it again this year. Being great in the regular season means nothing if you can't keep that level of play up when it really counts. In the playoffs. The Caps' window for a Cup will start to close soon enough. Just get it done Holtby, or let your backup play. Maybe he wants a Cup.

[chaps80 1,591]

The kind of half assed play VS the Leafs isn't gonna cut it this series. Yeah, the Leafs took it to 'em, but that series should not have been so close. A bunch of high scoring rookies and youngsters they do have but they also have a half assed defence, and a middle of the pack goaltender. The Caps have a much better team with Ovechkin, Backstrom, Shattenkirk, Orpik, Holtby, etc, etc. But they barely made it out. Gonna have to take it to a whole other level to beat the Pens. I dunno if they have it, but I really hope so.

[Datsyukian-Deke 722]

Scary thing is Pittsburgh doesn't have Letang, Hagelin, Murray and they have been scratching Streit. And I still think they are the odds on favorites to win it all. And that was painful to write trust me. On paper Washington should beat everyone in the league. I'm crossing my fingers they catch on fire. They are gonna need to.

[chaps80 1,591]

13 minutes ago, Datsyukian-Deke said:

Scary thing is Pittsburgh doesn't have Letang, Hagelin, Murray and they have been scratching Streit. And I still think they are the odds on favorites to win it all. And that was painful to write trust me. On paper Washington should beat everyone in the league. I'm crossing my fingers they catch on fire. They are gonna need to.

Yeah, Rutherford's move to keep Fleury around for the playoffs instead of moving him at the deadline (assuming he'd waive his NMC) has payed off big time. I'm not sure what the rules are on trades in between the end of playoffs and the XDraft, but if Fleury can't be moved, then they'll be forced to expose Murray to Vegas due to Fleury's NMC. Could get messy.

[BadgerBob 297]

7 hours ago, chaps80 said:

Yeah, Rutherford's move to keep Fleury around for the playoffs instead of moving him at the deadline (assuming he'd waive his NMC) has payed off big time. I'm not sure what the rules are on trades in between the end of playoffs and the XDraft, but if Fleury can't be moved, then they'll be forced to expose Murray to Vegas due to Fleury's NMC. Could get messy.

Not sure, but Chicago just traded Darling's negotiating rights to Carolina.

[chaps80 1,591]

4 hours ago, BadgerBob said:

Not sure, but Chicago just traded Darling's negotiating rights to Carolina.

Hmm. I just looked it up. From what little bits easily found, it seems that non-playoff and playoff-eliminated teams (and of course, once the playoffs are over, every team) can make trades up until June 17th, which is when the 30 teams protected lists must be submitted.

So if the Pens make the Finals and it goes 7, they won't have long to try to ditch Fleury before being forced to protect him.

[toby91_ca 620]

I guess NHL forgot to give the refs the memo for this one...PPs 4-0 so far in favour of Caps...penalties are really soft too for playoff standards.  Pens conspiracy folks may suggest the NHL wants to keep this series close and keep it a long one

[DatsyukianDekes 2,428]

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

These goalies are trash.  Holtby is garbage in the playoffs.  Varlamov wasn't much better.  No brainer why they can't get past the 2nd round.  

They need to get tougher, get rid of a few Ruskies and get a goalie who doesn't play like Roman Cechmanek's twin brother in the postseason.  

[amato 3,210]

Regular season holtby.. where you go??? 

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Just now, amato said:

Regular season holtby.. where you go??? 

Hanging out with regular season Bobrovsky.  

[toby91_ca 620]

One of the weakest goalie interference calls ever?

Edit...while my comment is still accurate, they fixed it on review.

Edited April 30, 2017 by toby91_ca

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

1 minute ago, toby91_ca said:

One of the weakest goalie interference calls ever?

We had a couple against the Pens in game 5 of the 2008 Finals.  In OT from what I remember.  

[toby91_ca 620]

Just now, GMRwings1983 said:

We had a couple against the Pens in game 5 of the 2008 Finals.  In OT from what I remember.  

Totally agree, many are debatable, but tonight's was a joke that shouldn't have gone to review in the first place.

[greenrebellion 415]

If they beat the caps, what team has the best chance of stopping the Pens?

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

3 minutes ago, greenrebellion said:

If they beat the caps, what team has the best chance of stopping the Pens?

Likely nobody, but the Predators are stingy enough to play against and have a great goalie.

[toby91_ca 620]

45 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

Likely nobody, but the Predators are stingy enough to play against and have a great goalie.

I was thinking the same thing.  If the Oilers and Penguins meet in the finals it will be SUPER HYPED, but wonder how much the NHL would like it....fairly small Canadian city vs. PIT which isn't a big market, but I guess have somewhat of a national audience....that's just an assumption, have no idea.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

24 minutes ago, toby91_ca said:

I was thinking the same thing.  If the Oilers and Penguins meet in the finals it will be SUPER HYPED, but wonder how much the NHL would like it....fairly small Canadian city vs. PIT which isn't a big market, but I guess have somewhat of a national audience....that's just an assumption, have no idea.

That would be the dream matchup for the league.  Crosby vs. McDavid.  As I've said numerous times recently, the league doesn't have a lot of chances to showcase McDavid playing in Edmonton.

Edmonton is not good enough defensively, though, to beat the Penguins.