One reason I'm not a fan of starting the back-up goalie over Holtby is that if you lose game one, where do you go from there?
This is the exact scenario we now find ourselves in.
The Capitals have lost game one, in O.T.
They had a good first period, were absolutely dominated in the third, and overall the Jackets were the better team, controlling 52% of the play, winning the game, and seizing home ice advantage.
Kuznetsov scored a couple of nice ones, Foligno took a shot to the face and amazingly barely missed any time, and it was an entertaining game, but the Capitals lost.
John Carlson had a pretty good game though. He was 61% at 5v5, added one point there and another two on the power-play.
If the Caps are to win this series, it will most likely come down to their trio of #1 defenseman - Carlson, Niskanen and Orlov each played 28 minutes last night, which means their other three defenseman only have to cover roughly as much ice time as a single one of them.
Here is a hot tip for Barrie Trotz: don't play Tom Wilson more than Alex Ovechkin at 5v5.
You could also maybe remind him that the only reason the Capitals are even in the playoffs is because of how good Braden Holtby was from October to February.
Then again we're talking about the guy who a) looks exactly like Sonic the Hedgehog's arch enemy, Dr. Robotnik, and b) once thought healthy-scratching Alex Burakovsky was a smart thing to do.
To prove that I am unbiased and can recognize ability in people I don't like, I will say this: Despite being a world-class dud, John Torterella is a way better coach than Barry Trotz.
Additionally, Sergei Bobrovsky is better than whatever goalie the Capitals use. Seth Jones is better than any defenseman the Capitals have, and Artemi Panarin is better than anyone the Caps have.
So losing game one is a bit of a problem.
Anyways, it was fun to watch and at least the Capitals didn't do anything as crazily dumb and insane was what the Oilers did yesterday.
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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