After last night's loss as the hands of the New York Islanders, one thing stands out. The Washington Capitals were totally and unequivocally outmatched in all facets of the game. They were out skilled, outworked, and completely outplayed. Whether it was a bad bounce like Vrana's breakaway in Game 3's overtime or bad luck like in Game 1's short-handed goal (and game-winner) against Holtby, hockey is a game of luck and bounces. After so many consecutive "bad bounces" and rotten luck, a trend becomes established with something causing it. A Stanley Cup winning team, that has lost in the first round the last two years and played this season almost like a car with flat tires, has had one major addition/change since winning a Cup, and that would be the addition of Todd Reirden.
On paper, Washington might have one of the best teams in the league. Having Lars Eller as your 3rd line center is as huge as having Ovechkin and Backstrom on your first line. Depth is the difference between a contender and a pretender in this league. Having Panik, Hathaway, Hagelin, and Dowd rotating in your bottom plus Gudas Kempney and Jensen all rotating in the top 6 throughout the season has Washington with arguably some of the best depth in the league. Couple that with the elite talent at the top of their roster with Ovechkin and Norris Trophy finalist John Carlson, there should be no way that this team only puts up 8 goals in five games with only three players scoring. If it was only an off game, I could understand a loss like Game 4. But the Capitals have been playing like this for the better part of the season. If that isn't indicative of a red flag that something is wrong, I don't know what would be.
If I went to the store and bought fresh vegetables and meats, I could probably make something really tasty. At the end of the day though, if I mess up the recipe (which would probably happen if you know me), then it's nobody's fault but mine. In this case, the Capitals didn't just buy fresh veggies but organic veggies and grass-fed meats. Their chef, Todd Reirden has botched the recipe over and over again to the point utter and complete failure. We can talk about whether management should have paid Barry Trotz all the money he wanted for winning a Stanley Cup, but even if they decided against it, Todd Reirden wasn’t and isn’t the answer. Capitals management should quickly move on from their mistakes when there are quality replacements such as Gerard Gallant without a job.
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