If the Caps can defeat the Coyotes and C'bus loses to Chicago (distinct possibility considering that it's the tail end of a back to back for them on the road and Chicago is playing very well) then the Caps would have a 6 point lead with 5 games to go. Quite favourable setup for the Caps.
Is Kucherov injured? He didn't play against Detroit.
How does Hainsey's loss make a difference given that he had minimal amount of games played prior to the injury?He took a floundering team last season and had them playing quality hockey almost immediately after he arrived including the second half of last regular season, all of last postseason, and for most of this season before major injuries took their toll. Imagine how the Capitals would be doing if Kuznetsov (Malkin), Niskanen (Letang), Alzner (Hainsey), Orlov (Daley), Orpik (Maatta), and Burakovsky (Hagelin) were out for example.
Also there's no real evidence to prove they quit on Johnston. It's more likely that Johnston was just a bad coach. Sullivan is a good coach who plays to the roster's strengths. No, he's not some godsend but you'd be crazy to say he's not one of the best in the league right now.
Dennia Wideman and Troy Brouwer
Dennis Wideman, from top 4 defenseman to #7 defenseman.
Flames: Brouwer and Wideman
Didn't say he was bad coach. Just said he is over-hyped and is not doing the magically job everyone makes it out to be. He is above average of what another average coach can do for the last quarter of a season. The Pens are still giving up a lot of goals and are a poor road team. Those have been trends almost the whole year. That is only being intensified by the team not being able to break the puck out by the combination of their puck moving D and some of their more skilled/speedy forwards being out.So your point is Sullivan is a bad coach because the Penguins are a mediocre team when half their roster including their 2C and their #1 D is injured?
Therrien was a bad coach (or bad fit) in Pittsburgh and the numbers back it up. Immediately after he was fired all of their shot-metrics saw a huge spike under Bylsma and they won a Cup. If you think it was just a matter of the players playing harder well I have a really nice bridge I'd like to sell you. Do you think the Capitals problem in 2011-12 and 2013-14 was that they weren't playing hard enough?
Bylsma's firing was likely just a coach outliving his shelf-life. Boudreau is a good coach but it's probably fair to say his time in Washington was up, as a similar example to this.
If you think Sullivan's overrated then we'll agree to disagree. But to say he's not one of the better coaches in the league seems like you're just trying to spew a hot-take rather than trying to present an informed opinion.
From the main boards thread on Least Valuable Players
Matt Cooke for meI don't know why, but Brouwer is easily the Cap that I liked the least.
Jagr for me, but Cooke is a nice pull.
Kind of hoping the Pens win tonight, *vomit* as that would almost guarantee that they would not slip into fourth place in the division. I don't want them to overtake C'bus though for home ice advantage.
So, I will go with the natural inclination and cheer against the Pens.
Yes, yes, they do.
2-0 Pens.