You were with a grid for a week and a half. You wake up, and the Washington capitals won their second round against the Pittsburgh penguins. How did this happen?
Greg Uyszynski, a senior NHL writer: Oh, how crazy is that the penguins had the NHL franchise chart chart withdrawn in the middle of the playoffs, since this is by far the only way they can lose a series in the capitals? Wait, they did not?
Well, look at this: Washington's recipe for success in its first round of the series against the Columbus Blue Jackets series somehow prepared a victory over the penguins. "Capitals" scored the goal in each game and closed the game in Pittsburgh in every victory. Goalie Braden Holtby was the best player on the ice for a couple of games. Rookie contenders Devante Smith-Pelly, Jakub Vran and Chandler Stevenson scored the key goals because they knew nothing better. Alexei Ovechkin had eight points in six games. Operative phrase: six games. No sphincter-squeezing "How-do-It-All-Go-To-Hell" in the 7th game in D.C. Because if the series goes so deep, it is obvious that we will not conduct this conversation.
Emily Kaplan, NHL National Reporter: The Capitals were in a dangerous situation. Not burdened by external expectations (not the trophy of the presidents), the team really felt more pressure than ever. They knew that their coach, Barry Trotz, had no contract for the next season and most likely would not return to win the Stanley Cup, and even then it was not given. Cape also knew that GM Brian MacLellan would shake the list decisively if they fell back on the penguins.
Thus, they raised one feature of the play to win this series in six games. Of course, it helped that Handles played the equivalent of an extra half-season hockey in the last two Stanley Cups. Washington also took advantage of the fact that Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Hornqvist missed the games with protracted injuries. The power game of the Penguins was uncharacteristically tamed - oh, sorry, this is the fantasy "Capital". I wanted to say that Washington continued a violent assassination in the box from the Blue Jackets series. In addition, I'm happy to report that beer cans have not hit the ice.
Chris Peters, NHL writer: First, I had to make sure that I was not hallucinating. After that, I'll probably find out that Holtby, with some restored confidence after four consecutive victories against the Columbus Blue Jackets, was at the top of his game. His .932 career save percentage in the postseason did not necessarily help tone against Pittsburgh in previous years, but this time it's enough, especially if the number of goalkeeper penguins Matt Murray continued to plunge.
The capitals would need big performances from their players in depth to support the expected products from their best guys such as Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom, Eugene Kuznetsov and John Carlson, who were so strong against Columbus and continued to threaten Pittsburgh. Caps received little help from deep-down guys like Stevenson and Jay Beagle, among others, against Columbus. They will need even more against the pens. It is expected that the top lines will carry their respective commands, but the depth can provide separation. And you know what? I think that there is a decent probability that this happens in real life.
Sachin Chandan, ESPN Journal researcher: Three things had to happen. First, the Capitals won a high chance of winning. They are already strong, as they lead all the playoff teams with 66 high-risk chances with high danger, for every natural trick. Secondly, Holtby was clearly a star, but he needed protection in front of him to help him. This year, Holtby was more susceptible to shots from the center of the zone, and he would need his upper defensive pairs, Michal Kempni-Carlson and Dmitry Orlov-Matt Niskanen, to close these vulnerable strips. Three, they continued their success in the power game, not taking penalties. Washington leads all the teams with a 33.3 percent stake on the power game, having the most chances and not imposing penalties. It was a struggle, but everything is possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment