xXx..CK..xXx Posted Friday at 01:55 AM Share Posted Friday at 01:55 AM Game day thread #3. If it ain’t broke don’t fix so I will keep things fairly similar. Game #41 brings us to the half way point of the season. Montreal Canadiens @ Washington Capitals - Friday, January 10th @ 7:00PM Montreal Canadiens Lineup Caufield - Suzuki - Slafkovský Pezzetta - Dach - Newhook Anderson - Dvorak - Gallagher Heineman - Evans - Armia Hutson - Matheson Guhle - Carrier Xhekaj - Struble Montembault Dobeš ** Starting Washington Capitals Lineup Ovechkin - Strome - Protas McMichael - Dubois - Wilson Miroshnichenko - Eller - Raddysh Duhaime - Dowd - Mangiapane Sandin - Carlson Chychrun - Van Riemsdyk Fehervary - Roy Thompson Lindgren Storyline: Both Montreal and Washington are coming off of thrilling overtime wins against the Vancouver Canucks. Montreal’s win 5-4, with Nick Suzuki sniping a power play goal in the extra frame. Washington’s game was a little tighter defensively, on the scoreboard at least, with Pierre-Luc Dubois playing very well and scoring both goals in the Capital’s 2-1 overtime win. Can the Canadiens keep up their impressive collective play as a unit, even with Patrik Laine once again on the sidelines? Or will the Capitals and Pierre-Luc Dubois frustrate his hometown team and come out with the victory? Also… Alex Ovechkin continues to chase down Gretzky’s scoring record. Logan Thompson, having not been named to team Canada for the 4 nations cup holds an impressive 17-2-2 record this year. Sam Montembault having been named to the team means that both goalies will be coming into the game with something to prove. Washington leads the season series 2-0 October 31st, 2024: 6-3 Washington December 7th, 2024: 4-2 Washington January 10th, 2025: TBD 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted Friday at 03:29 AM Share Posted Friday at 03:29 AM Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXx..CK..xXx Posted Friday at 04:07 AM Author Share Posted Friday at 04:07 AM To be noted, it looks like Dobeš will be getting the nod tomorrow with Montembault playing against Dallas on Saturday. Instantly, he becomes part of the storyline. Let’s see if he can keep up his stellar play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterface Posted Friday at 02:09 PM Share Posted Friday at 02:09 PM Great set up to the game xXx. After being written off earlier in the season, the Habs have defied expectations, flying high with impressive wins over strong teams. But as the playoffs come into view, the question remains: will they reach their destination, or will the pressure of the pursuit be too much ? Either way, their rise has been a reminder that nothing is certain….. I am happy with a strong showing. Not getting pushed around would be great. Keeping it close. Disappointed we don’t have all our players in this one. Laine and Savard would have been extremely helpful for achieving a result. I’d like Dobes to have another great start, Heineman to continue to grow and Dach to give a solid performance. Those three players’ progression, I think, are keys to this team growing into a consistent competitive force (no disrespect to Montembeault). If Washington uses physicality, I’d like to see pushback. We have another stretch of tough teams. There is not much difference between 6th and 16th in points in this conference. This is going to be a wild second half to the season. Between hockey games and transactions, this is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Buckle up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted Friday at 02:49 PM Share Posted Friday at 02:49 PM 31 minutes ago, Butterface said: I am happy with a strong showing. Not getting pushed around would be great. Keeping it close. Disappointed we don’t have all our players in this one. Laine and Savard would have been extremely helpful for achieving a result. Xhekaj and Struble have done quite well on the bottom pair in Savard's absence. Laine is a bigger gap ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbhatt Posted Friday at 04:32 PM Share Posted Friday at 04:32 PM Very tough match-up tonight (I think the Caps maight be the best team in the league this season)...but we've won a bunch of those lately, so I'm more optimistic than I usually would be. Will need some lucky breaks and for Dobes to be lights-out to get a W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted Friday at 06:53 PM Share Posted Friday at 06:53 PM 14 hours ago, xXx..CK..xXx said: To be noted, it looks like Dobeš will be getting the nod tomorrow LINEUP NEWS Jakub Dobes will get the start for Montreal in Washington. Forward Patrik Laine and defensemen David Savard did not travel with the team, indicating that Michael Pezzetta and Jayden Struble are expected to dress for a fourth straight matchup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helmethead Posted Friday at 07:00 PM Share Posted Friday at 07:00 PM The legend of Doběs continues tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted Friday at 07:45 PM Share Posted Friday at 07:45 PM 3 hours ago, sbhatt said: Very tough match-up tonight (I think the Caps maight be the best team in the league this season)...but we've won a bunch of those lately, so I'm more optimistic than I usually would be. Will need some lucky breaks and for Dobes to be lights-out to get a W. Kind of amazing how the Caps refashioned themselves from a team on the downslide, to outright contenders, pretty much overnight. There might be a lesson here in not 'jumping to tank' too soon. (Although, to be fair, most teams take too long to flip that switch, as opposed to doing it too readily). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted Friday at 07:53 PM Share Posted Friday at 07:53 PM 7 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: Kind of amazing how the Caps refashioned themselves from a team on the downslide, to outright contenders, pretty much overnight. There might be a lesson here in not 'jumping to tank' too soon. (Although, to be fair, most teams take too long to flip that switch, as opposed to doing it too readily). Most teams do take too long ... often waiting until it is all but forced upon them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted Friday at 08:16 PM Share Posted Friday at 08:16 PM 29 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: Kind of amazing how the Caps refashioned themselves from a team on the downslide, to outright contenders, pretty much overnight. There might be a lesson here in not 'jumping to tank' too soon. (Although, to be fair, most teams take too long to flip that switch, as opposed to doing it too readily). The Caps are playing well, no doubt. But its half a season... are they this team, or are they overachieving and are the bubble team they have been for several years before this. I tend to think its the latter. They are not as good as their record and have had some puck luck through 40 games, and are the same team they have been the last few years. There are no major additions that have truly changed the team. Yes, Logan Thomson, but they had outstanding goaltending from Lindgren last year, so that doesn't explain the upgrade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted Friday at 08:31 PM Share Posted Friday at 08:31 PM 1 hour ago, GHT120 said: LINEUP NEWS Jakub Dobes will get the start for Montreal in Washington. Forward Patrik Laine and defensemen David Savard did not travel with the team, indicating that Michael Pezzetta and Jayden Struble are expected to dress for a fourth straight matchup. What's strange is that they knew those two weren't travelling and still didn't call anyone up from Laval. They only have 18 healthy skaters so if someone gets hurt/sick in warmup, they're playing short a player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted Friday at 08:37 PM Share Posted Friday at 08:37 PM 41 minutes ago, GHT120 said: Most teams do take too long ... often waiting until it is all but forced upon them. My sense is that teams tend to wait too long, while, by contrast, a lot of fans tend to argue for a tank job any time their team is not deemed a ‘true’ contender. 20 minutes ago, Commandant said: The Caps are playing well, no doubt. But its half a season... are they this team, or are they overachieving and are the bubble team they have been for several years before this. I tend to think its the latter. They are not as good as their record and have had some puck luck through 40 games, and are the same team they have been the last few years. There are no major additions that have truly changed the team. Yes, Logan Thomson, but they had outstanding goaltending from Lindgren last year, so that doesn't explain the upgrade. Fair enough. What I’ve heard more than once is how solid their D is. 🤷♂️ We shall see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IN THE HEARTS OF MEN Posted Friday at 08:47 PM Share Posted Friday at 08:47 PM Thompson Dubois Mangiapane Chychrun Roy Could be missing a few more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted Friday at 08:48 PM Share Posted Friday at 08:48 PM 11 minutes ago, dlbalr said: What's strange is that they knew those two weren't travelling and still didn't call anyone up from Laval. They only have 18 healthy skaters so if someone gets hurt/sick in warmup, they're playing short a player. Rocket are in Cleveland tonight and tomorrow ... guess HuGo et al didn't want to disrupt them for a game against a team with whom they are fighting (along with Rochester) for first place in the North Division ... but it is definitely a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted Friday at 09:05 PM Share Posted Friday at 09:05 PM As I suspected.... Caps PDO 1026 is 1st in the entire NHL, indicating that they are benefiting from puck luck and the record is unsustainable. Montreal is 10th from the bottom at 991, even including the puck luck from their recent good streak, indicating that we are still below our true level of play on the season as a whole. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbhatt Posted Friday at 09:14 PM Share Posted Friday at 09:14 PM 24 minutes ago, IN THE HEARTS OF MEN said: Thompson Dubois Mangiapane Chychrun Roy Could be missing a few more Protas and McMichael have both taken big steps in their development too, making major contributions. That along with the additions accounts for a big boost over last season, so I'm not buying the notion that they aren't vastly improved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted Friday at 09:37 PM Share Posted Friday at 09:37 PM 20 minutes ago, sbhatt said: Protas and McMichael have both taken big steps in their development too, making major contributions. That along with the additions accounts for a big boost over last season, so I'm not buying the notion that they aren't vastly improved. Last year their PDO was 996. This year is 1026 The vast improvement is mainly a better shooting percentage, ie 40 games of puck luck. They were slightly unlucky last year.... and lucky this year..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted Friday at 09:38 PM Share Posted Friday at 09:38 PM 51.40% xGF 8th in the league. A good team? sure. Best in the NHL? Nope, not close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCHabnut Posted Saturday at 12:32 AM Share Posted Saturday at 12:32 AM Caps defending well early on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterface Posted Saturday at 01:11 AM Share Posted Saturday at 01:11 AM Missed the first period, but Slaf is playing great in the second.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted Saturday at 01:11 AM Share Posted Saturday at 01:11 AM Caufield! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCHabnut Posted Saturday at 01:22 AM Share Posted Saturday at 01:22 AM 10 minutes ago, Butterface said: Missed the first period, but Slaf is playing great in the second.. I was chirping him and literally that shift, he started making plays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCHabnut Posted Saturday at 01:26 AM Share Posted Saturday at 01:26 AM Was that a slash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXx..CK..xXx Posted Saturday at 01:29 AM Author Share Posted Saturday at 01:29 AM Let’s go Anderson 🚨 Nice use of his speed there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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