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Sept. 24, Washington vs Montreal, 7:30 PM


dlbalr

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Flash and Desharnais are great together. Add Kassian and it's a top six quality line.

It seems like Therrien wants Kassian on the 4th line. He has been there since Day 1 of training camp while Weise has been with Desharnais. I too would like to see that flipped.

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Condon looked really good, better than Toker. Do we have new goaltending controversy? What do we do with Toker if Condon is simply better? Or does Condon go down because he "should?"

If anyone ever posits that preseason games are important, be sure to tell them that Therrien just used Brian Flynn as the 3rd shooter in the shootout.

someone better tell that to Le Genius, why did we have Marky and Subban out for the penalty in 3 on 3? I thought we were looking at the kids.

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If anyone ever posits that preseason games are important, be sure to tell them that Therrien just used Brian Flynn as the 3rd shooter in the shootout.

Like i said a couple of days ago. We have the new Darche.
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Really, Caps blogger reported was 'exciting' OT and Therrien called it 'fun'.

Did Condon keep them in it, sounded like he played solid?

Condon was a mini-Price out there. Same patience and calm. It was like a great impersonation. Pucks just clinged to him.

The Caps blogger would say it was fun. Half way it turned into a 4 on 3 for Washington. We didn't get a full OT period of 3 on 3. Subban certainly made it fun but that was it. Wasn't the best example of it.

I think Tokarski's days are numbered. Possibly Tinordi's too

I think Tokes deserves another start on the weekend. Remember Price? "Chill out."

But if he looks like he's handling grenades and can't track the puck again, I agree. Just send him to the AHL and keep Condon up. Or keep Tokarski as the backup and give Condon all the AHL starts to keep him seasoned. Which probably means Fucale to the ECHL.

From what I remember last night:

Eller - Galchenyuk - Semin: Semin slower than I would have liked and took shots in safe places but he has natural chemistry with Galchenyuk. Eller was everywhere, which would be a problem as a centre but as a winger it's good to dig out pucks. Liked this Eller. Galchenyuk looked like a star, maybe not as many shots as he should have taken. Eller took a lot of faceoffs.

Fleischmann - Desharnais - Weise: Weise doesn't belong on the line. Kassian would look a lot better there. He was invisible most of the game. Flash and DD have instant chemistry. Really loved seeing Flash this game. Him and DD created two 2-on-1 opportunities out of thin air.

Bottom Six: Nothing special to note. Ghetto and Hudon weren't doing much. McCarron had the fight which he had after a whistle and shoved a referee out of the way to fight Brown. He ended up slipping but still looked very intimidating. His game wasn't there on the fourth line though. Washington hemmed that line up. The third line was hard to remember.

Markov - Subban: PLAYED TOO MANY MINUTES. COME ON THERRIEN IT'S EXHIBITION.

Tinordi - Gilbert: Bowling. Shoe. Ugly. Gilbert looks slower. Tinordi can't get pucks out of his own zone to save his life. Made some really terrible short passes off the board that Washington were easy to jump on. He needs the AHL. He won't do any good as an eighth defenceman sitting. Gilbert needs to go too.

Beaulieu - Lernout: I liked Lernout. He's big and imposing but he uses it to his advantage. Instead of big checks he'll tighten up to the boards and break up players digging for pucks. I liked that. He could be good for us in a few seasons. Beaulieu had another gear which was great to see but wasn't played enough. Markov played 27 friggin minutes. Give 10 of those to Beaulieu.

Tokarski: Handled the puck like a grenade, sliding everywhere, no puck control. Terrible game. No idea what's up with him. Where is Waite?

Condon: Mini-Price.

Powerplay: They tried some different things, which was good to see. I wouldn't expect immediate results.

Penalty Kill: Instead of just crowding the crease they did some puck tracking which worked well when Washington is a heavy passing team. Kept Ovechkin away from the net and blocked him well.

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Guest Stogey24

Good post ^

Did Therrien not learn anything from last year with Markov? I know it's only pre season, but played the young guns for God sakes. His stubbornness is why I can't stand the guy.

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Condon looked really good, better than Toker. Do we have new goaltending controversy? What do we do with Toker if Condon is simply better? Or does Condon go down because he "should?"

One good game from Condon and a bad game from Tokarski shouldn't create a controversy. It is, after all, only preseason. However, Condon's performance should guarantee him at least another look.

As for what they're going to do with Condon, a lot depends on their view of Tokarski and, to a lesser degree, Fucale. Do they view Tokarski as an asset or just a cheap roster filler? If it's the former, they'll show patience with him but if it's the latter, they'd be more comfortable waiving him to make room for Condon.

As for what Fucale has to do with this, the question is whether or not they're comfortable with him potentially starting right away in St. John's, a scenario that could occur if they waive Tokarski (and someone claims him). If they're not, they may want Condon in St. John's to start at the very least.

It's not a matter of if Condon takes the #2 job but rather a matter of when, something I've been saying since late last season. I wouldn't be shocked if it doesn't happen right away though even if Condon outplays Tokarski the rest of the preseason. If they don't want Tokarski as the backup, they could always scoop someone off waivers to replace him and keep Condon starting with the IceCaps.

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There's a difference between borderline players/AHLers and established big-leaguers when it comes to the 'chill out, it's just pre-season' mantra. It's one thing for Gilbert to look bad out there; as an established pro, he is just coasting and finding his legs and timing. It's quite another for a marginal player like Tokarski to be badly outplayed by a newcomer like Condon (and if the latter makes the team, I look forward to witticisms about Condon stopping Semin in practice). If I'm Toker, I'm concerned. As for Tinordi, he simply has no choice - he HAS to show he belongs. And it sounds like he is failing. Since we can't send him down without exposing him to waivers, and he will not benefit at all from riding the pine up here, maybe we will have to give up on the idea of Tinordi.

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