One of the lasting images from the Capitals‘ playoff run came the morning of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference final.
Usually Alex Ovechkin hustles around the rink in a hot lap prior to the morning skate. Only this time it was 55-year-old coach Barry Trotz Walter Payton Jersey , who answered the call from his players to do the lap.
”I was worried about the turns,” Trotz said. ”The rudders haven’t been sharpened all year. … I almost bit it at the end there trying to imitate Ovi.”
The Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 that night to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, but they might’ve won Game 7 at that moment. Rarely in previous postseasons had Trotz been that relaxed, the result of an unusual situation.
Trotz went into the season without – and still doesn’t have – a contract for next season, a circumstance that almost never happens to an experienced coach of a team with legitimate postseason hopes. But in a strange way, being a lame-duck coach might’ve helped Trotz not feel the pressure of past early exits and played a positive role in getting this far.
”I think it could be the same effect on a player, too, that’s becoming a free agent,” general manager Brian MacLellan said Friday. ”He’s basically becoming a free agent as a coach, and what effect does that have? Do you have your best year when you’re a free agent?”
Trotz has. Even with the fifth-most victories of any coach in NHL history, until this spring he hadn’t made it past the second round in 18 previous seasons with the Nashville Predators and Capitals. He called it ”luck of the draw,” running into championship-bound teams from Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh.
This improbable Capitals run that continues with Game 1 of the Cup Final on Monday in Las Vegas is not luck. It’s parts Ovechkin and goaltender Braden Holtby, and also the right moves by Trotz. He called on Philipp Grubauer to start the first round in goal before switching to Holtby in Game 2 against Columbus and watching him get on a roll. He put Jakub Vrana on the top line not long before the rookie scored the winner in Game 5 against the Penguins and pushed all the right buttons on rest and preparation.
Teams tend to read cues from a head coach Emmitt Smith Jersey , and those have been positive.
”I think his demeanor has changed a little bit,” MacLellan said. ”He seems a little lighter, a little looser, a little less pressure, maybe a little more freedom in terms of how he goes about things.”
Despite back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies, MacLellan and Capitals management didn’t offer Trotz an extension.
Before the playoffs, Trotz said he hadn’t lost any sleep over his status and referred questions to MacLellan and owner Ted Leonsis. In March, Leonsis said he doesn’t talk about contracts, and MacLellan has repeatedly stated that any talks would wait until after the playoffs. There are currently no vacancies in the NHL.
Toronto’s Mike Babcock is the highest-paid coach at $6.25 million, Chicago’s Joel Quenneville is next at $6 million and Montreal’s Claude Julien comes in at $5 million. Those three have combined to win the Cup five times.
Trotz’s price tag has gone up however the Final goes against the Golden Knights.
”He’s probably going to benefit from this, too,” MacLellan said. ”I think he’s done a good job managing it. To come in this year with so many questions – not from my point of view the lineup questions were that a big deal – but just the emotional state of our team coming in to start the year and how to handle that, I think he’s done an outstanding job.”
Trotz survived a 10-9-1 start that culminated with 6-3 and 6-2 losses at Nashville and Colorado, and the Capitals winning 12 of their next 14 games might have saved his job. Players’ response to Trotz reading them the riot act showed he certainly hadn’t lost the room.
But a journey of self-discovery last summer went beyond not having a contract.
”It gave me just some clarity on what defines me T.Y. Hilton Jersey , what defines us, what defines you,” Trotz said. ”If you don’t win any awards or anything, I’m not going to look at you any different. If you’re a good person and you treat people right and you live your life right, then I’m going to think really highly of you. If you don’t, I’m not going to think so much of you. And I started getting that clarity that everybody looks for the wrong in people rather than the right and it gave me a lot of clarity. And some things happened in my life that allowed me to see that and it’s been good.”
Happy, relaxed Trotz has made more appearances in these playoffs than buttoned-down, terse Trotz. He hasn’t soured amid the road bumps this postseason.
The Capitals have followed Trotz’s even-keeled approach and even been upbeat following losses. Like his players, he’s enjoying the ride.
”Playoffs are fun,” Trotz said. ”They are a grind. But they’re fun. And they should be treated as fun. They’re sort of all the hard that you have to put in just to get there and it takes even more hard work to go farther, but it is fun. I’m finding I’m having a blast during the games.”
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More Stanley Cup coverage: Game 4 lacked the intensity of the three before it, and no overtime heroics were necessary. Instead, the workmanlike Washington Capitals turned in their most complete game of the playoffs, putting away the Columbus Blue Jackets to tie their series at two games apiece.
Not that the Blue Jackets did themselves any favors in the 4-1 loss Thursday night. They came out flat http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/davante-adams-jersey , squandered an early power play, surrendered pucks in the neutral zone and couldn’t seem to get any traction until late in the game.
Columbus had overcome deficits to win the first two games in Washington. When the series shifted to Columbus on Tuesday, the Capitals prevailed on a lucky bounce in double-overtime.
Now the best-of-7 series moves back to Washington for Game 5 on Saturday afternoon.
”All we’ve done is gotten on even terms,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. ”We got ourselves in a hole, and we have to continue to push forward. The next game is a real pivotal game. Someone is going to take the lead in this series, and then your back is against the wall. We have to make sure we’re ready to go.”
Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and two assists for the Capitals, who made sure the game was never in doubt. Tom Wilson and Alexander Ovechkin each had a goal and an assist, and T.J. Oshie also tallied.
”We’ve been a confident group all year,” said Washington goalie Braden Holtby, who finished with 23 saves. ”I don’t think we’ve ever doubted ourselves. We came into this building with the right mindset.”
There was no comeback magic this time for the Blue Jackets, who couldn’t seem to shift out of neutral until coach John Tortorella started switching up the lines in the second period.
Boone Jenner scored for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky had 29 saves.
”There’s no sense asking me things about the game,” a bewildered Tortorella told reporters. ”I’m telling you, we laid an egg http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/marcus-murphy-jersey , so I’m not going to break it down for you. We sucked. We sucked. Let’s move by it and see if we play better Saturday afternoon.”
Washington led 1-0 after the opening period. Just after Columbus’ Thomas Vanek knocked the puck out of the blue paint with his glove, Kuznetsov shoveled the carom from the right boards out to Wilson, who connected from above the circle at 6:16.
The Capitals got their second halfway through the second period on a power play when Oshie flicked in a rebound. Ovechkin beat Bobrovsky from the right circle early in the third period to give the Caps a three-goal lead.
A few minutes later, Jenner redirected Josh Anderson’s slap shot to make it a 3-1 game and finally give the record Nationwide Arena crowd of 19,395 something to cheer about. Kuznetsov added an empty-net goal with 2:19 left in the game.
”They scored that goal to kind of sneak back in it a little bit, and we didn’t miss a beat,” Washington defenseman John Carlson said. ”Our next shift I think we dominated them, and maybe one or two after that one, too. Those are the kinds of things you need to do to win.”
Columbus captain Nick Foligno also couldn’t explain what happened to the Blue Jackets after they had showed so much juice in the first three games.
”We know we have to be way better,” he said. ”Maybe it gives us a little kick in the rear to know we have a real good opportunity in front of us to go back there. Home ice hasn’t been too nice to each team. We feel good about ourselves and the fact that we haven’t played our best hockey yet. We’ve got to find it.”
NOTES: When a best-of-7 series goes to 2-2, the winner of Game 5 wins 78.8 percent of the time, according to the NHL. … Washington F Andre Burakovsky missed a second game with an upper-body injury. It’s not clear if he will play in Game 5. … The Capitals have scored the first goal in all four playoff games. … Washington has seven power-play goals in the series. … Ovechkin has three goals and three assists in the four games.
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21.09.2018 04:52
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