The Caps are unfortunately banged up heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and one of us aren't feeling great.
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00:00I wanted to take our first peek at this series.
00:03We're going to talk to Tariq El-Bashir coming up in about 50 minutes at 3 o'clock.
00:07Covers the caps for Monumental.
00:08In fact, Smokin' Al Koken is going to be joining us on site at City Tap House.
00:12He's going to be coming out here to hang with us at 5.20 or so today.
00:16A little bit after the party really peaks when we give away those tickets to go to game one tonight
00:22to someone who's going to be with us.
00:23So if you're at City Tap House, make sure you fill out an opportunity to win the raffle.
00:29But I want to look at what you feel really good about going into this series,
00:34Caps Canadians, and what you feel bad about.
00:36I'll start, Danny.
00:37You know that the narrative right now is that the Caps play terribly down the stretch.
00:41And I've made it very clear I don't really care that much about that
00:43because I'm not sure that I believe in momentum going into a postseason in hockey.
00:47But part of the reason they have played badly down the stretch, or less good I guess would be a better way to put it,
00:53is that they haven't been healthy.
00:55And that is, if we're going to start with a thing we don't like.
00:59The thing I don't like is Alexey Protis is not playing in this game tonight.
01:02He is their best even strength skater.
01:04He should be on the top line with Ovechkin and Strom.
01:07Without him, you bump up Anthony Bevilier, who's mostly been in the bottom six.
01:10And it's just a very different looking line with a smaller, faster player with Strom and Ovechkin.
01:15Not a big, physical, heavy guy that creates traffic in front of the net
01:19and is basically a parking cone who can't be moved in the crease.
01:23And I think about this from the perspective of if you don't have Protis, maybe you get by.
01:28You've got to be healthy otherwise.
01:29They're not going to have Marty Farivari tonight.
01:31I don't think they're going to have Marty Farivari in this series.
01:34That's an injury nobody's talking about.
01:35It's kind of gone under the radar because everyone's been focused on the goaltender,
01:39Logan Thompson, and what Protis is going to do.
01:42But Farivari might be the most hurt of the three of them.
01:45We saw Thompson did leave the ice first.
01:47Maybe he's going to play tonight.
01:48I think it's 50-50.
01:49There's a chance you're going with Lindgren, your backup goalie,
01:52a top line without its best even strength skater,
01:56and one of your top four defensemen not playing.
01:58Doesn't mean they can't beat Montreal.
02:00I still think over a seven-game series, it's going to go deeper than I want it to probably.
02:04But you can still make up for those injuries with your depth
02:08and get the better of a young, inexperienced team in the playoffs
02:11that was picking at the top of the draft the last couple of years,
02:14that had a renaissance season.
02:15I just think it's going to be a lot more difficult than it should have been
02:18and so first thing I don't like is this healthy team all year
02:21at the very wrong time is no longer that healthy.
02:24Here's something that I like.
02:26Last year happened.
02:27That nasty taste in their mouth, that battery acid in their mouth,
02:30after missing the playoffs the season before,
02:32having to do everything possible just to make it,
02:34a la what Montreal, frankly, had to do down the stretch,
02:37and you were summarily cast aside by the New York Rangers,
02:40the number one overall seed.
02:42You're the Rangers this year, by the way.
02:43You got bullied.
02:44You got smacked around.
02:45That was so cute.
02:47Congrats on making the postseason.
02:48It's now grown-up time.
02:49Why don't you go sit in the corner and color?
02:51They got throttled.
02:52They got destroyed.
02:52Didn't win a game and were summarily dismissed.
02:55For a lot of the guys, a lot of carryover there,
02:57I think they know that feeling.
02:59Now, some of the vets that were here back in 2018,
03:01the Ovechkins of the world, they already know what it takes,
03:03and that's kind of not the mystery.
03:04But the core of this team that missed the playoffs one year,
03:08smacked out last year,
03:09there's some acid in their mouth from that.
03:11There's some bad taste.
03:12They understand what it takes,
03:14understand a way to take a young and experienced team,
03:16one of the youngest teams,
03:17not the youngest team, ever to make the postseason.
03:19Talk about this Canadians group,
03:20average age, barely even 25 years old or not even.
03:23Smack them around from the first whistle,
03:26from first puck drop.
03:27You bully them a little bit, maybe they will.
03:29Thing I like, I think the Caps' second line,
03:32which might be their best line going into this series on paper,
03:36the Pierre-Luc Dubois trio with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson.
03:39It was excellent early in the year.
03:41It's a tremendous two-way line.
03:44This is a really good defensive trio.
03:47McMichael with his speed and ability to get sticks in lanes.
03:51Luke Dubois with his physicality and the ability to skate.
03:54Same with Tom Wilson, one of the great power rangers,
03:57power rangers, power forwards.
03:58First of all, he would be an incredible power ranger.
04:00He would be.
04:01You wouldn't want him as the Red Ranger?
04:03I would want him as any ranger, honestly.
04:05One of the great power forwards in the sport, though.
04:07I think that line's going to match up with the top line
04:11that Montreal throws at you,
04:13and that's the Cole Caulfield-Nick Suzuki line.
04:15Their number one line with Caulfield, who can fly,
04:18and Suzuki, who was their leader in points, who's a star,
04:20he beat the Caps with an overtime goal the only time this season
04:23in three games that the Canadians beat Washington.
04:26I think that second line,
04:28defensively matching up with Caulfield and Suzuki,
04:30with their size, can give them fits.
04:33Now, Caulfield and Suzuki are going to get theirs offensively.
04:35I do believe that.
04:37But I also think they're a little bit susceptible
04:39with how heavy Washington's line's going to be defensively.
04:42So I like that group.
04:44Something I feel really good about going into the series
04:46is that Luke Dubois, Wilson,
04:47flipped the switch here with McMichael,
04:49and they helped carry this team.
04:51So I started with something I like.
04:52Here's what I don't like.
04:53Since the Four Nations, this group is 15 and 12.
04:56Every good number has gone down.
04:57Every bad number has gone up.
04:59Goals against, the way they've shot,
05:01the way they've scored,
05:02they have not simply played near as well.
05:04There are reasons for that.
05:05That's obvious.
05:06That's clear.
05:07Some of it's injuries.
05:07Some of it, they've pretty much had this thing sewn up
05:10since the All-Star break.
05:11They are better than everybody else.
05:13They were on cruise control.
05:15Whatever the reason is, I think the answer is yes.
05:17I have not seen them play extended stretches
05:20of Capitals hockey for more than a period of time,
05:23here or there,
05:24when they're punching the mouth down a couple of goals.
05:25Then they come out on fire,
05:27and then they relinquish it.
05:28I think it's really, really, really hard to get it back.
05:30Whatever it is in sports,
05:32I think it's really hard to get back.
05:34The fact that I have not seen them play nearly as well,
05:37really since the end of February,
05:39has me a little bit concerned,
05:40regardless of who the opponent happens to be
05:42in the first round.
05:42Yeah, to give some numbers to your point there,
05:45since the Four Nations tournament that you referenced,
05:48if you look at these two teams,
05:50Montreal, the eighth seed,
05:52actually has the better record.
05:53Yeah, Caps are 15-12, I think.
05:54Yeah, so Montreal's 15-5-6,
05:57and the Capitals are 15-11-1.
05:59They've got points in 16 of their 27,
06:01but Montreal points in 21 of their 26.
06:05The other area,
06:06if you look at something I don't like as much,
06:08I think going to Montreal is going to be really, really tough.
06:10Even though you're the better team
06:12when you play the Canadians as the one against the eight,
06:15that's a really hard building.
06:16Yeah, you know that barn's going to be nuts.
06:18They are 10-0-2 there in their last 12,
06:20as they've barreled down the stretch
06:22trying to make the playoffs.
06:23The Bell Center is loud.
06:25It's just an ominous place.
06:27Weird things happen.
06:27And I don't love that part of this matchup,
06:30but it makes it all the more important
06:32to get off to a really fast start.
06:33The reason that you worked your butt off all season
06:36was to get home ice advantage.
06:38So you have the game one and game two edges at home
06:41with last change.
06:42And hockey, more than in other sports,
06:43being at home should matter
06:44because you do get to dictate matchups.
06:47You do get a more fortuitous situation
06:50coming onto the ice
06:51in terms of how far you've got to skate
06:53to get things done more often in the game.
06:55So I think the idea that they play at home
07:00for the first two games for me really matters
07:02because they've got to start fast.
07:04And even in these games,
07:05if you look at the three times they played Montreal,
07:08maybe something I like is
07:09if they can get off to a quick start,
07:11I think they're a better finishing team
07:13than Montreal is.
07:15Game one was on Halloween.
07:16In that game, the Habs allowed
07:18three unanswered third period goals.
07:20It was 3-3 going into the final 20.
07:22The Caps poured it on,
07:23scored the final three goals of the game.
07:24On December 17th, this season,
07:27the Capitals erased a two-goal deficit.
07:29They ended up winning a game 4-2.
07:30Again, they scored three unanswered to end the game.
07:33And then on January 10th,
07:34the only time that Montreal beat them,
07:37they got an overtime game winner.
07:38But the Caps were the best third period team
07:40in hockey statistically all year.
07:42So if you can start fast and being at home,
07:45being able to throw the kitchen sink
07:47with all your energy,
07:48with everybody behind you
07:49to get this series underway tonight
07:51should allow you to do that.
07:52I think as the game goes on,
07:54what this team's done all season long
07:56is find their game more and more deeper
07:57into the contest.
07:58And if they could score the first goal,
08:00if they're up 2-1 through 30 minutes or something,
08:03I feel even more confident
08:04because their best period by far
08:06is the third period.
08:08Yeah, and that goes to the last thing
08:09that I like here is it's a veteran group.
08:11They have, whatever it is, they've done it.
08:13You've got guys that are still hungry,
08:14that haven't been to the mountaintop,
08:15but have been to the postseason before
08:16against this group of neophytes.
08:19Again, you touched on this.
08:20Montreal's been picking in the top five
08:21for the last handful of years.
08:23They're the team on the rise.
08:24Now's a good time to buy stock in them long-term.
08:27Doesn't mean they've got to beat you this year.
08:28So whatever happens, good bounce, bad bounce,
08:31everything in between,
08:31the character of this group, this Capitals team,
08:34I've been wildly impressed with, right?
08:35They are unflappable.
08:37If they have a bad shift, a bad period, a bad week,
08:40none of that seems to matter.
08:41They always seem to rebound and do what's necessary.
08:44This is now time to ramp up that intensity
08:46and there's going to be adversity.
08:48A, it's the NHL playoffs.
08:49It's what happens, but you touched on,
08:51I wouldn't pick a different group
08:52to be able to handle what Montreal's going to throw
08:54at them in Montreal than I would with this team
08:56and the way that they're built
08:57and how steady-edited they are.
08:59Our Caps playoff coverage throughout the show today
09:01and throughout this hopefully long run
09:04in the Stanley Cup playoffs,
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09:26All right, as promised, 20 minutes after the hour,
09:28all day long on Grant and Danny,
09:31we're going to be giving away a pair of tickets
09:32to the second game of this series Wednesday night
09:35at Capital One Arena.
09:37So right now, caller number 9 at 800-636-1067.
09:42You're winning a pair of tickets to Game 2
09:44for the 2025 playoffs, Washington Capitals Hockey.
09:48This is Wednesday the 23rd, two days from now,
09:50over at the arena, just a few blocks away
09:52from where we're sitting.
09:54Tickets and more event information,
09:56go to thefandc.com.
10:00Congrats to whoever's going to win those tickets right now.
10:02You're about to enjoy the best atmosphere in DC sports.
10:05Will you just please come win these tickets?
10:07Please win these tickets.
10:08Please go.
10:08Please be loud.
10:09Please lose your mind.
10:11This is going to be awesome.
10:13There's been a bit of a drought.
10:14There's a hunger.
10:15There's a desire to break through.
10:16There's some pressure, too.
10:17Yeah, and there is on the team.
10:19This is a good group to be able to handle that pressure.
10:21But I think fans, you know,
10:22there's a grace period after you win the championship.
10:24And they did win it, by the way, 2018.
10:26Took a lot of the poison away.
10:27Removed a lot of that built-up steam
10:29that was left over in the pipe.
10:30Now it's kind of a different group.
10:32It's a different group almost entirely.
10:34It's now time to get going again.
10:36I think fans are ready for that.
10:37If you're going to the game tonight,
10:38if you've already got your tickets,
10:39come on by the City Tap House in Penn Quarter.
10:41That's where we are broadcasting live.
10:44I'm going to be walking over with a bunch of fans
10:46as soon as we're done to get into the arena tonight.
10:48City Tap House, Penn Quarter.
10:50We will be giving away two tickets on site
10:52for tonight's game, raffle style.
10:54So you got to come fill out a raffle ticket
10:56if you want those and be here
10:57when we pull the name at 5 o'clock.
11:00We'll be getting started.