Playoff Time! Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Caps- Rangers. [Archive]

DuffMan

04-11-2011, 06:57 AM

Well were finally here the "pre" season is over and it's on to the main event! Here's the schedule for this series. First game is Wednesday at 7:30.
Game 1: Weds., April 13 at Washington, 7:30 p.m., CSN, Versus
Game 2: Fri., April 15 at Washington, 7:30 p.m., CSN
Game 3: Sun., April 17 at New York, 3:00 p.m., NBC
Game 4: Weds., April 20 at New York, 7:00 p.m., CSN
*Game 5: Sat., April 23 at Washington, 3:00 p.m., NBC
*Game 6: Mon., April 25 at New York, TBD
*Game 7: Weds., April 27 at Washington, TBD

No Wideman (he's our only major injury) for the first round, but Green is supposed to be back so that's a big boost. Neuvirth is getting the nod to start the playoffs lets hope he's as successful here as he has been in the AHL Playoffs.

Obviously Lundquist can steal a few games, but the Caps are on a roll and have bought into what they need to do to win in the playoffs and I don't see them having another 1st round collapse. Caps in 5.

Araqnid

04-11-2011, 09:28 AM

Caps in 5. I see them winning the first 3, letting off the gas for a game, and then winning the series back in DC on the 23rd.

DuffMan

04-12-2011, 02:22 PM

Here's the line combination's for Game 1.
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble
Sturm-Arnott-Semin
Laich-Johansson-Chimera
Hendricks-Gordon-Bradley

Chimera's been playing better lately and probably is playing in place of Fehr. Although I'm sure we'll see F16 at some point.

D pairings haven't been announced yet, but if I had to guess I would say...
Carlson-Alzner
Schultz-Green
Hannan-Erskine.

MuhladaOs

04-12-2011, 08:30 PM

I think the Caps will win it in 6. I just hope Neuvirth comes out and plays strong and gives no reason to put in Varlamov in game 2. I really just want to ride one goalie all the way to the Stanley Cup.

DuffMan

04-13-2011, 01:57 PM

Here's the line combination's for Game 1.
D pairings haven't been announced yet, but if I had to guess I would say...
Carlson-Alzner
Schultz-Green
Hannan-Erskine.

Well I was slightly off in the D pairings. Green will pair up with Erskine for the #3 D line and Hannan will play with Schultz

JDubs

04-13-2011, 04:38 PM

Rock the Red!

http://www.concretepond.com/images/AO_logo.jpg?iact=hc&vpx=752&vpy=84&dur=375&hovh=221&hovw=193&tx=97&ty=152&ei=NRSmTde7HeLv0gGbvpjNCA&oei=NRSmTde7HeLv0gGbvpjNCA&page=1&tbnh=148&tbnw=119&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0

C! A! P! S! CAPS! CAPS!! CAPS!!!

JDubs

04-13-2011, 05:22 PM

So is this thread going to serve as the game thread? I may need some help keeping up as I flip between the O's (cause I NEED some baseball tonight) and the Caps game (cause I NEED revenge on the Rangers from last year).

DuffMan

04-13-2011, 09:21 PM

Caps are plaing great! Lundquist has been solid, but if it weren't for the post we would already be winning. Get one here in the third and win game 1.

The Rick

04-13-2011, 11:03 PM

Good win for the Caps tonight. Neuvirth was as good as I've seen him. We dominated this game for the most part, and fortunately were able to win it in OT. A tip of the cap to Semin who scored his first playoff goal this evening.

DuffMan

04-14-2011, 06:22 AM

DuffMan

04-14-2011, 07:12 AM

Great job by the team last night, they stuck to their system and didn't panic when they went down 1-0. Nice to see Ovie getting a "dirty" goal down low by the crease
of course Sasha's one timer was filthy. 2 points from Semin already equals his point total from last years series, lets hope his improved play continues. Chimera missed several chances in this game, I would like to see Fehr put in on that 3rd line in his place for game 2. I also thought Green played pretty well for the most part, although him and Erskine were on the ice for the goal against and should take some blame for that(I would still prefer Green to be paired with Schultz and put Erskine with Hannan), but for not playing for 20+ games and to comeback in game 1 logging 25+ minutes he held his own. Also a pretty good job by Boudreau of keeping the minutes balanced and the guys as fresh as possible. Great job in game 1 now lets win game 2 and really put em in a hole!

MuhladaOs

04-14-2011, 11:07 AM

Ovechkin's hits on Brandon Dubinsky & Marc Staal were straight filthy nasty! You know they aren't looking forward to 3 more games of that. Actually as a whole, the team was checking really well and blocking shots better than ever. Neuvirth must of enjoyed that!

DuffMan

04-14-2011, 12:07 PM

It's funny they were talking about all the shots the Rangers were blocking but the Caps had blocked more shots than them! Didn't mention it before but Neuvirth was definitely solid in net. Couldn't do anything about the goal given up and stopped everything else. Great game for his NHL playoff debut.

Araqnid

04-14-2011, 12:14 PM

I also thought Green played pretty well for the most part, although him and Erskine were on the ice for the goal against and should take some blame for that(I would still prefer Green to be paired with Schultz and put Erskine with Hannan)

I completely agree that Erskine and Hannan should be paired together right now. You need to pair Green with someone that's solid defensively, and of the remaining Ds, thats either Schultz or Hannan. Ultimately, when Wideman comes back, I'd return Green and Hannan together and do this:

Carlson - Alzner
Green - Hannan
Wideman - Schultz

allstar1579

04-15-2011, 08:47 AM

DuffMan

04-15-2011, 10:02 AM

I think my point was made last night as the goalies I said I wanted to avoid in the first round both put up bagels. Miller and Price are both capable of completely taking over a series. Lundquist is as well, it was a HARD fought win the other night, and I don't expect tonight to be any easier. But at least I'll be there to cheer them on.

The only good thing with goalies like that is that they can be worn down. Catching them in the 2nd/3rd round is much better than catching them now when they have something to prove.

If Buffalo is able to win the series which I think they have a decent chance of doing we would be facing them in the 2nd round.

Lundquist and Price have had heavy workloads this year so they're more likely to wear down quicker. I think Price played in 72 games in the regular season and Lundquist started the last 25 or so games straight for NY.

allstar1579

04-15-2011, 10:24 AM

If Buffalo is able to win the series which I think they have a decent chance of doing we would be facing them in the 2nd round.

Lundquist and Price have had heavy workloads this year so they're more likely to wear down quicker. I think Price played in 72 games in the regular season and Lundquist started the last 25 or so games straight for NY.

Price is young enough to survive that, it's just a matter of him getting hot and carrying things over. You saw last playoffs how we rattled him with a couple quick goals and he was worthless. He doesn't have the mental toughness for the playoffs...yet. If he gets on a roll in this series it could be trouble, like Halak last year, he was so boosted from beating us he carried it through the Pens series too. Lundquist has done it before, he's used to the heavy load, but he'll drop a couple stinkers along the way too, have one stellar game and then give up 4 goals twice. That's why the NYR struggled to make the playoffs, more off days than on. Miller has been off all year, and he's kind of the wild card. I've seen him lights out and carry the team, and I've seen him be average at best back to back nights. There's no pattern, he's just on or he's not. If he builds up some momentum he could be trouble in the next round. I'm just hoping with the injury he had late in the year and the off year he's having that he can beat PHI and be spent for next round.

DuffMan

04-15-2011, 01:14 PM

The pest returns. Sean Avery is in the lineup, let's hope the Caps stay disciplined and don't fall for his antics.

allstar1579

04-15-2011, 01:22 PM

The pest returns. Sean Avery is in the lineup, let's hope the Caps stay disciplined and don't fall for his antics.

Good, he's been more of a pain to them than to other teams this season. Let him give us a couple free power plays, no problem.

allstar1579

04-17-2011, 11:21 AM

So it looks like the top two lines are going to get a little tweak today, Arnott moving to the top with Ovie and Knuble and Backstrom centering Semin and Sturm.

I personally like the move, keeps NYR off balance when they try to make adjustments today, and that top line with be very physical.

DuffMan

04-17-2011, 05:24 PM

Whew! That was close. We should be due for a couple pp opportunities in the3rd. Lets get a goal or two and get the w

ccbird

04-17-2011, 11:38 PM

Big game on Wed. If they lose Game 4 they'll be a ton of pressure on this Caps team in Game 5.

Dr. FLK

04-18-2011, 06:40 AM

I really hate losing to the Rags. That game was so frustrating. The Caps get some great opportunities, but they can't cash in on any of them. The Rags get some bouncing luck near the net and find a way to get it in the net. The Caps need to come out strong in Game 4 and take firm hold of this series. If they lose to a team with Avery on it, I will vomit.

DuffMan

04-18-2011, 06:57 AM

Sucks to lose that one, but the Rangers wanted it more and it showed. Also kind of difficult to get any sort of rhythm going when you are whistled for 8 penalties. Some of those were a bit iffy for sure, but the Caps need to stay disciplined and stay out of the box. Part of the reason they were so successful in the first two games was their ability to keep rolling all 4 of their lines out continuously. Keeping every one fresh and giving NY multiple looks/styles. It's a bummer we have to wait until Wednesday for the next day off, but the extra off day should give the Caps time to just tighten things up and get them ready to go. I'm expecting a more focused effort with more energy from them on Wednesday night.

Araqnid

04-18-2011, 12:44 PM

I'll say this for the series, the Rangers are playing some damn good hockey. I think for the first two games the Caps have played better, and yesterday it was about even (like Dr. FLK said, they got some lucky opportunities that the Caps didn't get), but overall, its good to see the Caps still beating a very focused team right now.

DuffMan

04-20-2011, 12:57 PM

Sounds like Knuble didn't make the trip up, something with his hand/wrist??? Look for Chimera on the 1st line and F16 makes his playoff debut on the 3rd line.

The Rick

04-20-2011, 08:32 PM

Unreal, here we go again. It's great to be a Caps fan!

Weities

04-20-2011, 10:21 PM

DEvils fan here, rooting for the caps in the east this year

Bosibus

04-20-2011, 11:22 PM

What a comeback, just got home from my buddy's house, that was awesome!

The Rick

04-20-2011, 11:38 PM

What a comeback, just got home from my buddy's house, that was awesome!

Your telling me. I was so down after that 2nd period. Great fight, fellas.

DuffMan

04-21-2011, 08:55 AM

2 Nights ago the Sharks rally from 4 down and get the W and then the Caps pull their own rabbit out of the hat. Wow how about that? Wasn't worried for a second;) Seriously though wild and crazy game and I'm glade we came out on top. Really want to see them finish it off in 5. Get some rest and avoid having to go back to MSG.

I thought the Caps looked pretty good in the 1st period. They had the edge in shots and possession and seemed to be in control just not finishing any of their chances. And then came the 2nd period. Worst period I've seen them play in a while. The less said the better. 1st goal I wasn't worried at all and even after the 2nd one I figured we had a shot, but when they gave up that 3rd goal 7 seconds later. I didn't like their chances. And you could tell that the Rags had em on the ropes, luckily they weren't able to get any more b/c they had a few more great chances there.

Start of the 3rd I really wasn't expecting much, but it was good to see them get an early goal, then once the second one came I knew it was only a matter of time before we tied it up and we did as the PP expired. Great to hear MSG get so quiet, although I give them credit for their "can you hear us" chant pretty clever. Boudreau probably should have kept quiet in regards to the MSG comment.

At the start of overtime I liked our chances and felt that we could wear them down with our superior depth. I was a bit worried after Ovie couldn't convert on the breakaway and then not converting on the PP I thought our window had closed. Then came the too many men on the ice and I was sweating bullets. I'm glad that penalty came early in the 2nd OT as the Caps were still fresh enough from the intermission to put up a good pk with some great help from Neuvirth.

The GWG wasn't pretty but in doubleOT how many are? Nice to see on the night that Knuble is out that all of our goals resulted from crashing the net and getting deflections and rebounds. Play like that on Saturday and the series is ours.

Sure is great to have so many young guns on are team that still had the speed and energy in the legs to zip around in OT. MOJO was flying all over the place! Carlson and Green looked solid in OT as well. Green's been great most of the series.

The Caps have been fortunate in the entire first round of the playoffs there's been only about 6 or so games where the team that didn't score first was able to come back and win, impressive that the Caps have 2 of em.

DT undercover

04-21-2011, 09:27 AM

I didn't agree with Boudreau calling out the refs as well as the Rangers/MSG after the game 3 loss. I wish he would just keep his mouth shut. After the Caps went down 3-0, I was furious with him as their fans just got louder and louder. Luckily Neuvirth has been a godsend so far.

Once they tied it and went into overtime, I could barely watch I was so nervous. I truly thought if the Rangers won and tied the series the Caps would have been in trouble in the series, even though the series would have been tied 2-2. I thought we blew a couple great chances. Ovie does the same move everytime on a breakaway and their goalie has it down. Semin forgot how to pass from the his goal in the third and on.

Was glad to see after the game Boudreau learned his lesson and admitted that he probably talked to much after game 3 and should just let the players play. I expect a close game in game 5 with the Caps finishing the series off.

JDubs

04-21-2011, 03:40 PM

Your telling me. I was so down after that 2nd period. Great fight, fellas.

I actually put the game on AFTER we were down 3-0 because I had class until then. I'm glad I stuck with it! That was a game for the ages. Finally! Time to close it out!!!

ChaosLex

04-21-2011, 05:47 PM

allstar1579

04-21-2011, 06:51 PM

A Rangers fan on the ESPN boards was asking if the Caps would be interested in trading for Henrik Lundqvist this offseason. I love our young goalies, but Henrik (despite his age) has always been a favorite of mine.

What say y'all?

Keep in mind, with the salary you are taking on in Henrik you are saying goodbye to more players than you have to give up for him as a salary dump or a non-resigning. I'd much rather keep 2/3 of the young goalies and be able to resign guys like Alzner and Carlson. Green is going to be a fa in 2 years I think. Semin is good as gone next year. Guys like Laich, Fehr, maybe even Johansson would be on the chopping block because we can't carry that many big salaries with Ovie, and Nick already eating up almost half our salary cap.

DuffMan

04-22-2011, 06:25 AM

Keep in mind, with the salary you are taking on in Henrik you are saying goodbye to more players than you have to give up for him as a salary dump or a non-resigning. I'd much rather keep 2/3 of the young goalies and be able to resign guys like Alzner and Carlson. Green is going to be a fa in 2 years I think. Semin is good as gone next year. Guys like Laich, Fehr, maybe even Johansson would be on the chopping block because we can't carry that many big salaries with Ovie, and Nick already eating up almost half our salary cap.

This. We are beating Lundquist right now with our young (cheap) goaltending. We have a great situation in goal right now no need to mess that up.

The Rick

04-23-2011, 10:12 AM

Great ESPN Insider article on how to shut down Ovie. The article gets in depth with some good statistics, which gave me a better insight as to the defensive side of the game and who our better matchup is for round 2.

Link. (http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2011/insider/news/story?id=6410152)

Per board rules, I can't post much more than this. So hopefully you have Insider access because I found this to be a very good read:

For the season, their (Defensive combination of Girardi & Staal from the NYR) SC% sits at 45 percent when skating five-on-five with a tied score. Compare that to the 57 percent New York sees when both are off the ice, you have to question whether they should stay together against the best an opposing team has to offer.

People focus on the number of shots blocked by Staal and Girardi, but most of those shots come from outside the scoring-chance area. They may be blocking some low-percentage shots, but they're also allowing a number of high-quality chances.

The toughest matchup for Ovechkin this season was Buffalo's rotation of Andrej Sekera, Tyler Myers, Jordan Leopold and Steve Montador, giving up only four out of every 10 scoring chances (SC%) to Washington when Ovechkin was on the ice and holding his shifts to less than one even-strength chance per game. If both Buffalo and Washington win their respective series, they would face off in the second round, which doesn't bode well for Washington. Trying to convert less than one scoring chance per game is tough enough; trying to do it against netminder Ryan Miller is almost impossible.

Franchise history aside, a more favorable scenario has Washington meeting Pittsburgh in Round 2, and the Penguins' shutdown tandem of Brooks Orpik and Kris Letang gave up almost three chances per game to Ovechkin at even strength. With Evgeni Malkin out and Sidney Crosby not 100 percent, it could be the best opportunity for Washington to advance -- and dispatch a rival along the way.

Of course, as to not upset the almighty Hockey Gods... first things first, we have to beat New York, hopefully tonight.

OsnRavensallday

04-23-2011, 03:01 PM

Lets Go Caps !!!!!!!!!! . We have been awsome so far in this series , hopefully we can end it this game.

DuffMan

04-23-2011, 04:08 PM

WOW! Two more periods like that and we'll be moving on. If it weren't for Lundquist it could be 2 or 3 to nothing. Fingers crossed that Green is OK. He's been great in this series and that was a great goal by him. He was able to skate off on his own, so hopefully he's ok.

The Rick

04-23-2011, 05:52 PM

What an amazing effort today. If we keep up this intensity and focus this will be our year. Very impressive by Neuvirth, and Johansson has been an unsung hero. Also good to see Semin get back in the mix in a big way this series.

Also, note the avatar. I'm not sayin', but I'm just sayin'.

Big Mac

04-23-2011, 06:00 PM

Great Win! Man do I despise the Rangers, glad we could knock their butts out in style....

Oh, Avery sucks!

MuhladaOs

04-25-2011, 12:30 AM

Neuvirth - Carlson - Alzner & Johannson are really showing how great our team is this year. Way to go Rookies! Now with winning the series so quick Knuble will have more time to rest up, maybe Green swelling will go down in his head by the start of next series and........Dennis Wideman could be available, if need be. But with the way John Erskine is playing both defensively and surprisingly offensively (he had some great shots game 5) and the sound play of Jeff Schultz, it's hard to stick Dennis in there. But depth is always important in a long play off run. All I have to say is though is congratulations to Michael Neuvirth for not having to steal games, but playing some real solid goal tending in his first ever NHL Series. I know our defense as a whole team has really improved, but Neuvirth isn't folding and allowing cheesy goals and those Rangers were basically throwing their bodies into him every chance they got. LETS GO CAPS!!!

DuffMan

04-25-2011, 11:13 AM

Obviously Lundquist can steal a few games, but the Caps are on a roll and have bought into what they need to do to win in the playoffs and I don't see them having another 1st round collapse. Caps in 5.

Winner winner chicken dinner! :D

Great game 5 and great series by the Caps. Wrapping this up in 5 is huge and should really help them out moving forward. Their next series probably won't start until Friday or Saturday so this should give them plenty of time to rest and recover and heal up any nagging injuries. I haven't heard anything yet about Green but the fact that he came back to the bench was definitely a good sign hopefully he's ready to go for game 1.

Neuvirth - Carlson - Alzner & Johannson are really showing how great our team is this year. Way to go Rookies! Now with winning the series so quick Knuble will have more time to rest up, maybe Green swelling will go down in his head by the start of next series and........Dennis Wideman could be available, if need be. But with the way John Erskine is playing both defensively and surprisingly offensively (he had some great shots game 5) and the sound play of Jeff Schultz, it's hard to stick Dennis in there. But depth is always important in a long play off run. All I have to say is though is congratulations to Michael Neuvirth for not having to steal games, but playing some real solid goal tending in his first ever NHL Series. I know our defense as a whole team has really improved, but Neuvirth isn't folding and allowing cheesy goals and those Rangers were basically throwing their bodies into him every chance they got. LETS GO CAPS!!!

The rookies have played great for sure. All of the D has Hannan has really been solid as well. Playing the Rangers was the perfect opponent for someone like Erskine and he had a solid series. He's really come a long way in his development.
You're spot on in assessing Neuvy. Played solid throughout the series and kept us in every game. I saw a stat last night during the Vancouver-Chicago game that out of the 40 games played in the 1st round there's already been 10 or 11 goalie changes! Several of those have been by cup favorites as well, I'm looking at you Vancouver.

In regards to the 2nd round it's looking like we'll be playing either Buffalo or Tampa/Pitt. We could still draw Montreal, but I don't see them coming back to beat Boston. At this point I don't care who we play as we are on top of our game right now!

Gotta love playoff hockey!!!

ccbird

04-25-2011, 01:21 PM

Which team would you prefer to play in the 2nd round?? Better yet rank them from the one who'd most like to play to the least like to play .

4. Penguins
5. Lightning
6. Canadiens
7. Sabres

DT undercover

04-25-2011, 02:12 PM

Pretty much the order they are in currently. The Sabres should have wrapped their series up in 4-5 games with the way the Philly goaltending has been, Miller has been a big disappointment, but he can turn a series around by himself.

Penguins while their record w/ & w/out Crosby is close, I just dont think they have much in terms of firepower that the Caps D couldn't handle. Canadiens are a scrappy team that seem to give the Caps trouble, and Lightning have more O than any team outside of the Caps and possibly Flyers.

So I would rank them in order of Pens, Lightning, Canadiens, Sabres.

DuffMan

04-27-2011, 07:15 AM

allstar1579

04-27-2011, 11:49 AM

Well we won't be playing the Sabres as the Flyers took them out in game 7. Leaves us with the possibility of Montreal, Tampa, or Pitt. At this point I really don't care who we play, I just want the next round to get going!

Pitt might be the best matchup for us, they are missing some big guns, and their defense isn't very good. They'd be smothered by our defensive scheme and we should still be able to score on them pretty well. Just for grins and giggles out of the 3 we were 3-0-1 against PIT, 3-0-1 against MON, and 4-1-1 against TB this year.

DuffMan

04-27-2011, 12:03 PM

Pitt might be the best matchup for us, they are missing some big guns, and their defense isn't very good. They'd be smothered by our defensive scheme and we should still be able to score on them pretty well. Just for grins and giggles out of the 3 we were 3-0-1 against PIT, 3-0-1 against MON, and 4-1-1 against TB this year.

They would get Matt Cooke back for the next round, but I agree that we should be able to handle them as beat up as they are. Plus it would be nice to eliminate another Staal. My only worry would be Crosby comes back and leads them on some run, but at this point I don't think he's coming back.

I wouldn't mind playing Montreal either just for payback for last season!