Penguins/NHL
Penguins – Capitals
Mike Sullivan on Tuesday was trying to go away from Penguins – Capitals being about individual storylines and instead being about two good hockey clubs going up against each other.
“Lot of storylines surrounding this series but for me it’s two good hockey clubs going at each other,” Sullivan said. “With all due respect to all the individual players, they’re great players, but for me and our standpoint, this is about two teams playing against one another.”
Sullivan is right.
The most fascinating storyline is you have two teams who believe when they play their way, they are unstoppable.
On Crosby vs Ovechkin……..
While it is Crosby – Ovechkin Part II and no question Capitals – Penguins will be the biggest marquee matchup the rest of the way the NHL is going to see this post-season, the Crosby vs Ovechkin storyline is a story but not close to the magnitude it was in 2009 when both were head and shoulders the two best players in the NHL and the faces of the NHL.
They were the NHL for those first four to five years after the 04-05 lockout.
This years matchup is a lot more about the legacy for Ovechkin.
Darren Dreger was on Trib Live Radio yesterday and one thing that stuck with me was his comment that “I always lean Crosby because he has won.”
Ovechkin in a way gets under-appreciated in some circles because he’s never got past the second round. Fair or not, the lack of a deep playoff run is always going to have an asterisk next to Ovechkin’s name in some eyes.
I’m not one of those.
The combination of the size, skill, all-world scoring ability to go with a physical dimension that’s rarely seen, has made Ovechkin a once in a generation type player and Ovechkin’s consistency to score 50+ goals in this era is something that continues to make him under-appreciated, mainly because so many look at his playoff failures.
Crosby vs Ovechkin might not have the same excitement level as 2009 when it comes to the individual matchup, but from a legacy standpoint it’s big, especially for Ovechkin to change the narrative that he and the Capitals often choke come playoff time.
Things to Watch For Early in the Series
— Everyone is going to be talking about special teams and why not.
Pittsburgh enters Round 2 with a combined Power Play (38.1%)/Penalty Kill (89.5%) percentage of 127.6, Washington with a combined power play (29.6%)/Penalty Kill (95.8%) percentage of 125.4.
“It’s a big challenge, there is no question that they’re one of the top power plays in the league,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of the Capitals. “They have a lot of threats. It’s hard to key on any one particular threat. We have some ideas on what we think we’ll try to do to negate their success, but we have a lot of respect for their power play.”
Special teams is obviously going to be critical in the series but both teams have such good special team units, they’ll likely even each other out.
If this series comes down to 5 v 5 play, who does that favor? Most will say Pittsburgh but it’s not so cut and dry.
During the regular season, the Penguins were the stronger possession team, 52.7 CF%, second in the NHL,and we know how dominant of a possession team they were down the stretch, driving possession at a 55% clip over their last 25 regular season games.
Washington was 14th in the NHL at 51% and they were declining over the final months of the season in their ability to drive possession that had many among the analytics crowd favoring the Flyers in Round 1.
*REGULAR SEASON 5 v 5 PRODUCTION
Pittsburgh 5 v 5 | Goals For: 159 | Goals Against: 129 | +30 Differential | PDO: 100.6 |
Washington 5 v 5 | Goals For: 164 | Goals Against: 128 | +36 Differential | PDO: 101.2 |
What makes Washington so good as a hockey club is that they can play any type of game 5 v 5.
In the first round of the playoffs, Washington was really good 5 v 5 in a number of areas, while the Penguins possession numbers took a major hit against a poor possession team in the Rangers, for various reasons.
*Round 1
Washington 5 v 5 | Shot Attempts For: 281 | Shot Attempts Against: 243 | CF%: 54% |
Pittsburgh 5 v 5 | Shot Attempts For: 200 | Shot Attempts Against: 242 | CF%: 45% |
Washington 5 v 5 | Scoring Chances For: 152 | Scoring Chances Against: 115 | SCF%: 57%
Pittsburgh 5 v 5 | Scoring Chances For: 94 | Scoring Chances Against: 116 | SCF%: 45%
Washington 5 v 5 | High Danger Scoring Chances: 63 | High Danger Scoring Chances Against: 44 | HSCF%: 59%
Pittsburgh 5 v 5 | High Danger Scoring Chances: 45 | High Danger Scoring Chances Against: 39 | HSCF%: 54%
Washington averaged around 25 scoring chances per game during Round 1, an increase of about 3 per game from the regular season.
Pittsburgh averaged 19 scoring chances per game vs the Rangers, a decrease of around 6 scoring chances per game from the regular season.
The key areas that were encouraging for Pittsburgh in Round 1 that backed up what they were doing over the final 25 games of the regular season was 10 even strength goals in the series, and a High Danger Scoring Chance For percentage of 54%.
With the type of goaltending both teams have, possession numbers won’t matter that much. It’s going to be which team creates a greater volume of high danger scoring chances.
Pittsburgh wasn’t beating Henrik Lundqvist with fluke goals that were bouncing off d-men in front. They were beating Lundqvist 1-on-1. That will need to continue vs Holtby.
X-Factors
— On the up coming series, one former NHL assistant coach [hide] told me he feels the series is going to come down to Phil Kessel and Evgeny Kuznetsov. “Washington has to get Kuzni [Kuznetsov] going,” the coach said. “Just can’t see them [Capitals] surviving without him being a factor. He’s the type where if you limit his time and space, he gets frustrated and tries to do too much. The confidence looks shaken.”
Kuznetsov who led the Capitals with 77 points, has 1 goal in his last 26 games.
3rd Pairings
— The third pairings for both teams could play a huge role (good or bad) in the series. If Brooks Orpik is ready to go, Nate Schmidt – Dmitri Orlov will be back together as a pair for the Capitals.
Both can skate very well and drive possession, but the Penguins have been able to exploit the pairing in a big way in previous meetings as both often get caught running out of position.
On the flip side, for Pittsburgh the Cole – Schultz pairing struggled mightily in defending the Capitals size in the last meeting. Ben Lovejoy a better defensive player now replaces Schultz but it’s a pairing that played way too often in their own end vs the Rangers and whichever team can exploit the oppositions third pairing could go a long way to winning 5 v 5 play.[/hide]
Maatta looking slow, both physically and mentally. Good play in OT on the deflection but 2 bad mistakes that lead to 2 TJ Oshie goals. I think he may need to sit a game and get his head right and back into the game. At times his skating looked like Hal Gill out there.
Maattaa has been all year long this team better package him in a deal with malkin to Edmonton
Look at you disguising your love of the Russian and attempting to get him to play for a Canadian team so one of them can finally know what its like to play in the playoffs.
Maatta is just having a rough year. He hasn’t had a good offseason to train. Been dealing with rehabbing injuries and other things. He’ll bounce back. Highly doubt him and Malkin will be traded sorry to burst your bubble.
Im aware that im talking to myself
Pens played a good game. Hopefully they get Crosby back this series.
Crosby had a ton of jump, Hornqvist wasn’t great and Sheary showed clear signs of missing ice time. A whole bunch of guys were struggling to handle the puck. Easy fix
Crosby had a ton of jump… In the first 5 minutes. Barely noticed the rest of the way.
Saint Blurray
Any chance the Steelers faked their significant interest in Jackson knowing the Bengals would do that? Not a lot of chatter around Artie Burns and the Steelers at all throughout the process.
Out of fn left field there. Steelers looked ecstatic with their pick tho.
Billings or trade down
Fn Bengals
Then again, Myles Jack is a tough dude to pass up – but i still would.
Great fn timing NHL. Just in time for the Steelers pick.
2 picks to go. Billings and William Jackson available. Gotta go Jackson if hes there tho, right?
Give any thought to Reed?
Kalan Reed? 2nd round. Especially if William Jackson is there.
Saint Blurray not inspiring a lot of confidence
Phil and Bonino. God Bless America.
That’s a thumbs up to nullify the inevitable thumbs down you will be receiving.
Any other day man, they don’t even get a shot on that 3 Rd goal
Maata needs dealt
Maatta needs a healthy offseason to train.
Glad someone notice it
Unreal. Wilson needs dealt with in some manner – by the officials or a Penguin.
They need to get Maatta the frig off the ice.
Fleury with the stinker
Maata is HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!
Best player on the ice from both side by far is letang up to now but of course according to Stan or tbj that’s not the case because letang needs to score
Ive never seen a dude look as depleted as Corey Coleman after he got the call from the Cleveland Browns.
Some things never change, Crosby v. Ovechkin turns into The Malkin Show
Why am i not surprised the russian is on ice when he scores big goal in big game
Why am I not surprised the Russian got a penalty in the offensive zone
How about that malkin goal same? And the American connection right before it? You piece of white dog $hit
Yeah a 9.5 3rd line center playing vs caps 4th line. Ho about his dumb penalty and first caps goal that happened because of him shows with one goal you clowns Forget all his bad plays.
He’s a 3rd line center as much as you are literate. You cry about him not scoring 5v5 and he does, so you cry about this? Typical bandwagon. Idiot frog that roots for an American team because he’s a bandwagon that doesn’t have a team in the playoffs to root for.
Stupid Russian scoring big goal in playoffs again.
In case you missed. The game caps 1st goal was thanks to the Russian too
Ass
America.
Why am I not surprised the Russian was on ice when goal happened and his dumb pass that created the counter attack
Stick to what you do best….giving thumbs down to people
That’s npl’s and stan’s job
Orpiggggg back in line up
Youre in love. How many times have you wrote Samuel Duranceau-Cloutier-Orpig in your diary with your assortment of gel pens?
“Apparently” Orpig wont be watching the game with DB TK and Shero, since hell be playing in tonights game. Orpig was hosting the eatch party, but im told thats been moved to the home of Jonathan Toews, whose schedule is wide open for the next 5 months.
Sam getting pumped up for the game!
https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-16-2015/aoHFoG.gif
Pens in 7. I think we lose 5-2 tonight.
Apparently DB,shero,tk and Orpigg will be all watching the game together tonight
Good lord, can you imagine the amount of jlzz that would be on your face by the end of the night?
Hope you have a successful pj party tonight with your Stan
How will i know it was successful?
Swing and a miss!
Was that an attempt at humor?
perfect day to recruit new bandwagon fans caps vs pens
just like in 09 when we got npl and stan on this site i guess they will be making new friends soon
How does a special boy from Frenchweirdoville, Quebec, Canada become a Pens fan?
Hint: rhymes with shmandwagon
Pens in 4, what say you?
https://media.giphy.com/media/ZpNti4Fj5pUIg/giphy.gif
Ill go 5. Theyll have one off game similar to Rangers series.
Anyone going to game 2 in DC by any chance?
Contemplated it – not for an 8pm start – i don’t feel like getting back at 3am. If it was an afternoon game, I was in.
Old Man Stan.
Stan don’t you have to work at Dunkin Donuts? LOL!
This playoff more than anything shows the demise of hockey in Canada. Between their bandwagon fans, putrid hockey teams and weak dollar, it’s clear that it’s up to America to carry them.
http://3rdlinegrind.com/2016/04/25/nhl-hockey-player-demographics
Some graphs showing hockey demographics and how Canadian born players in the NHL are at an all time low, while American born players are at an all time high. It also show that for the 1st time ever, the Canadians represent less than 50% of the NHL.
Some other interesting facts that can be seen in the graphs is that only 49% of the goals and 48% of the total points are recorded by Canadian born players. It also shows that Canada produces more forwards(52%) than defenseman(47%) and goalies(38%).
Finland killed the Quebec goalie dominance lol
Actually I think Sweden had a bigger impact than Finland but don’t discount the effect of the American goalie consider 2 of the 3 Vezina finalist this year are American born.
Quick has no business being here at this point… I would argue both the Swedes and Finns but there was a big stir about the fins back in the mid 2000s when Kipper was the man, Toskala took the TO job and Lehtonen was trying to make a name for himself. Rinne came along shortly after. I think Swedish netminders have always had a bit of an NHL presence
Just to make sure I am clear, as I am not snubbing US tenders, Quick had an okay year. There are a handful that should have been considered before him. MAF, Schneider and Crawford are three that come to mind right away. Even Hank had the stronger year. Talk about reputational pick
yeah but other then them there isnt top american goalies
agree on that one
From an American player standpoint, it shows that Mass has fallen from the top as far as producing NHL players and has been passed Minn, Mich and NY.
no wonder more and more there is frauds in the league
Most notably, Toews. Biggest FRAUD on the planet.
As much as I still think my country is generally the team to beat in best vs best tourneys an interesting and very telling stat in regard to how the rest of the world has caught up is… the % of points produced by Canadians is less than the % in the game itself. It tells me that the star quality of the other countries is just as good as what we can ice but Canadians still tend to be used to “fill out” roster spots. Data like this is what really grinds my fucken gears about idiots like sam… Read more »
Interestingly the US has a bigger drop in the players vs points stat… the Swedish brand is the opposite. Swedes can really play this game!
FTR I say interestingly because I thought the opposite would be true. The league is full of noticeable producers born in the US. More than I can recall so I was surprised to see that drop off in players vs production.
I think the players vs points differential is also greatly impacted by where the player growth/reduction is coming from, Canada has seen a slower dip at forward and a greater dip at defenseman and goaltender and since the greater portion of point production comes from the forwards they realistically should see a higher point/player ratio than a country like the US who have seen their growth more in the defenseman and goaltender ranks.
I pretty much agree with most of what you say, I think what those demographics show is that hockey is truly a WORLD sport now and not a Canadian sport as it was even through the ’90s. When you’re looking at the top 20 players that would basically be your international teams, I still think there’s no denying that Canada still holds a decided advantage but I think this shows that the overall depth of the league is really spreading out across a very broad spectrum.
Agreed!
https://t.co/VeHLFWwwrQ
They trade Frog Despres yet sam?
Lattimore, Ekpre-Olomu, and now Jaylon Smith. 3 potential top NFL careers that get screwed with knee injuries.
Anyone know when the NFL draft is? Oh look, the Pens signed Lukas Bengston.
I remember D talking last year or so about dropping Steeler and Pirate coverage so that he could focus all his attention and efforts into making this the #1 Penguins site out there. I guess he finally did it!!
does this mean npl will finally go away ?
Sirus xm guys were saying if ducks lose big chance Boudreau will be fired and that sens are interested to hire him
1) Sirus radio isnt a thing
2) Boudreau sucks balls
3) Ottawa is littered with creepy French Canadians
4) Why would ANYONE care about ANYTHING you just said here?
Yeah and people care everything you say here. You bring nothing to this board other then stupidity with your buddy Stan
When you’re calling me dumb, I take it as a compliment. Because you literally couldn’t spell cat if I spotted you the C and the A.
When we playing Family Feud?
How was Johnson and bishop tonight? 13 shots 4 goals where is Yoda
Who has helped their team more in the playoffs, Toews or Stamkos?
Getzlaf. Fowler. Despres actually sabotaged his team he’s so bad. Yeah. Canada!
Kane, brown and backes
Corey Perry?
Looks like the OBP over power offense is working as planned. This team gets quality ABs after quality ABs. Very impressive.
Too bad their starting rotation is total fucklng shlt. Really hope they dont tread water until Glasnow/Taillon are up in June, especially when theyre no guarantees either.
I think if they continue to find ways to win games that’s exactly what’s going to happen, then if they don’t get the needed boost from Glasnow/Taillon they’ll wait until the trade deadline. Their record and not how they achieved that record will be the determining factor in their approach.
Curious to see if Ladd Hudler will resign with Florida. He came over at the deadline to tremendous fanfare, but was a ghost in the playoffs for them.
French Canadian bltch Simon Despres shltting down his leg right on schedule. He’s so bad.
Yea, but its a really long leg.
Somehow it seems the Isles are able to overcome the absence of Anders Lee.
Yeah. It’s a miracle.
Missing an important player means you can’t advance?
Both teams advanced despite missing their superstars; Lightning without Stamkos and Islanders without Anders Lee.
Let’s go Caps! Let’s go Caps!
He’s making his rounds…
http://i.giphy.com/LTEbcbA3MwG9a.gif
Crosby shows lack of leadership and he is shit on… Ovie does the same and its because the team isnt there? Gimmie a fucking break! OV has plenty of video that show why he has failed in the past. That noted he is a much different player overall now than he was in 2009… will he be that guy the whole series or can the Pens frustrate him into tuning out periodically? I do worry about him running someone important with little to no repercussions though It’s gonna be a great series to watch, emotions on the ice and in… Read more »
Please don’t swear.
-Signed, Santiago
Lol I forgot about Santiago, Nice Call
How about Kendall Fuller in round 1
Id be happy with that. Saw reports before his injury that scouts expected him to be better than his brother, who I believe made the Pro Bowl his rookie year.
A lot of intriguing options that I’d be happy with, at least on draft day.
Wouldnt mind trading back to pick up an extra 3 rounder. Move back up and get two mid-second rounders.
I endorse this as well. Unless the guy you absolutely want is there when you’re drafting, try and get a few extra picks.
I like him too…but everyone says he’s a late 2nd. wouldn’t mind somehow turning our 1st and late 2nd into an early 2nd, mid 2nd, and late 3rd
if we would do that some how then we can take Joseph early 2nd where he should probably go and make sure we get fuller mid 2nd. then the extra 3rd for some one like procise if we want to add rb depth or a lineman.
Well, you would need a team with 2 first round picks. So thats the Patriots and Titans. Pats have two late 2nds so they’re out. Guess you’d like to trade with the Titans…. but they dont have a late 3rd.
Watching for a new article.
I’m so confused, was that really an insightful article from D? Is that the 1st sign the end is coming? If Yoda makes and intelligent comment and Sam posts something legible I’m running for cover.
I’ll echo the question but change the sentiment. Was that really an insightful article?
I’ve been telling you clowns for years about Bengtsson.
That’s gold. You get a thumb’s up.
soon…