Not sure what
*gestures broadly towards the last 2.5 hours*
that was all about.
The Caps were just plain terrible against the Philadelphia Flyers in their second game of round-robin play, which is fake hockey and doesn’t matter, and yes this is how I have decided to rationalize this.
Scott Laughton put the Flyers up in the first period after a defensive-zone turnover that we will discuss. Travis Sandheim made it 2-0 in the second period during a rare moment when the Capitals were not on the penalty kill. The third period happened, unfortunately, bringing with it another goal by Laughton. With mercy, new boy Travis Boyd ended the shutout a few moments later.
Flyers beat Caps 3-1.
- There were, um, uh, a few penalties.
— Aaron Lichstrahl (@AJ_Lich) August 6, 2020
- I like Radko Gudas. Everyone likes Radko Gudas. But this defense is so sus, I start to question allegiances. Who hired you.
- John Carlson is blameless. He sat out the game due to injury, though we’re told it’s mostly precautionary.
- Not quite blameless but at least with less blame is Braden Holtby, who did this:
Talk about the splits! pic.twitter.com/DovcOjrWqp
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) August 6, 2020
- Evgeny Kuznetsov appeared to injure his ankle at the end of the first period, but he returned and didn’t seem noticeably worse for it. That fellow still doesn’t seem particularly interested in the whole defense thing though. He seemed to take a few shifts off after Laughton’s second goal. Benched or hurt?
- Travis Boyd was a bright spot. Filling in for imminent dad (for the second time) Lars Eller, Boyd centered the third line, which worked together to get the Caps on the scoreboard in the third period.
Round Robin Game No. 2 #JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsFlyers pic.twitter.com/ULnzJmWnSE
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) August 6, 2020
My understanding of the reasons for round-robin goes like this:
- Everyone wanted some play-in games for teams on the margins, but they thought it’d be unfair for the teams higher in the standings to get a bye, so they have to play each other for seeding.
- The league wanted more programming after months without any hockey.
- The teams wanted an opportunity to get back into working order before the real tournament begins.
It’s that last one I’m worried about. Are the last two games a reflection of this team working on their craft? If that’s the case, shouldn’t they have gotten better since the last game? If this was progress, it was in the wrong direction.
We’re going to need to see some major progress when the Caps take on the Bruins this weekend. Real hockey that matters is coming soon, and this team doesn’t look ready for it. Yet.
