So the Washington Capitals season ended yet again with a whimper. After rallying from 30th in the league to win the Southeast Division, the Caps fell to the New York Rangers in 7 games after leading the series 2-0. It was just another failure in what has become a regular occurrence with the Caps.
The Caps were shut out the final two games of the series. There was very little offense. Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Johansson, the Caps top line, were virtually non-existant in the last 2 games. Braden Holtby was good in net at times, but at others let in some very soft goals.
Here are my player grades for the playoffs.
Holtby: B-. He played well in games 1, 2, 5, and 6. He was less than stellar in games 3, 4, and 7.
Green: B-. Green had flashes of brilliance and his play led to the GWG goal in game 5. His defense was lacking at times.
Alzner: B-. Nothing good or bad to say about Alzner. He quietly did his job.
Fehr: C. Played hard, wasn't rewarded for his good play.
Wilson: C. The experience is good for him. Just didn't get a lot of ice time to try much.
Ovechkin: C-. Scored in game 1, hit plenty of Rangers, but looked terrible in games in NY. Needed to be a better leader for the team.
Beagle: D. Didn't do much.
Hillen: D. Meh.
Olesky: D. Meh as well.
Hendricks: D-. Probably gone in the off season.
Backstrom: F. Completely disappeared in the playoffs. Very disappointing.
Brouwer: F. Talks the big talk, but didn't deliver.
Johansson: F. Aside from game 1 goal, terrible.
Carlson: F. Terrible series. "Captain America" did not play well at all.
Erskine: F. Several gaffes and lack of speed led to goals for NY.
Erat: F. I hope mortgaging the team's future was worth it.
Chimera: F. Looks like he's lost a step.
Ward: F. Aside from his game 5 goal, was pretty much invisible.
I guess it's til next year. There are a lot of questions to answer. My predictions:
1. Caps will not re-sign Ribeiro. He will get a decent pay day.
2. Brooks Laich will return healthy.
3. Tom Poti will retire.
4. Jeff Schultz will start next season in Hershey.
5. Johansson will not get a significant raise.
6. Ovechkin will lead the league in goals again.
7. Caps will trade at least one of their goalies. My guess is Neuvirth.
8. Matt Hendricks will sign elsewhere.
9. Joel Ward will be bought out or released by using one of the amnesty releases.
10. Tom Wilson will start the season in Hershey but be with the Caps by December.
Until next year, Caps.
The Caps were shut out the final two games of the series. There was very little offense. Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Johansson, the Caps top line, were virtually non-existant in the last 2 games. Braden Holtby was good in net at times, but at others let in some very soft goals.
Here are my player grades for the playoffs.
Holtby: B-. He played well in games 1, 2, 5, and 6. He was less than stellar in games 3, 4, and 7.
Green: B-. Green had flashes of brilliance and his play led to the GWG goal in game 5. His defense was lacking at times.
Alzner: B-. Nothing good or bad to say about Alzner. He quietly did his job.
Fehr: C. Played hard, wasn't rewarded for his good play.
Wilson: C. The experience is good for him. Just didn't get a lot of ice time to try much.
Ovechkin: C-. Scored in game 1, hit plenty of Rangers, but looked terrible in games in NY. Needed to be a better leader for the team.
Beagle: D. Didn't do much.
Hillen: D. Meh.
Olesky: D. Meh as well.
Hendricks: D-. Probably gone in the off season.
Backstrom: F. Completely disappeared in the playoffs. Very disappointing.
Brouwer: F. Talks the big talk, but didn't deliver.
Johansson: F. Aside from game 1 goal, terrible.
Carlson: F. Terrible series. "Captain America" did not play well at all.
Erskine: F. Several gaffes and lack of speed led to goals for NY.
Erat: F. I hope mortgaging the team's future was worth it.
Chimera: F. Looks like he's lost a step.
Ward: F. Aside from his game 5 goal, was pretty much invisible.
I guess it's til next year. There are a lot of questions to answer. My predictions:
1. Caps will not re-sign Ribeiro. He will get a decent pay day.
2. Brooks Laich will return healthy.
3. Tom Poti will retire.
4. Jeff Schultz will start next season in Hershey.
5. Johansson will not get a significant raise.
6. Ovechkin will lead the league in goals again.
7. Caps will trade at least one of their goalies. My guess is Neuvirth.
8. Matt Hendricks will sign elsewhere.
9. Joel Ward will be bought out or released by using one of the amnesty releases.
10. Tom Wilson will start the season in Hershey but be with the Caps by December.
Until next year, Caps.
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