Checking line or player in the playoffs

Hey guys, seeing Alexander Ovechkin score at will pretty much all season, do you think if we meet the Caps in the playoffs Sutter would put a Pando or Madden on him to "try" to shut him down ??........I know Sutter doesnt really use checking lines against other teams top lines....but all teams get tighter defensively in the playoffs, and coaches do make changes. Remember Pando on Jagr in '06...he totally frustrated him.

Ovechkin would run over Pandolfo. The Zajac line would be our best bet.

no probably not because ovechkin plays like 45 minutes a night and do you really want to see pandolfo out there all night?

its not like pandolfo has been better defensively than anyone on the top 2 lines anyway. plus i doubt anyone will be shadowing him. they will just be aware of him and realize not to give him alot of space to shoot

Ovechkin would run over Pandolfo. The Zajac line would be our best bet.

I know AO cant be stopped, he's super human....thats why I wonder what Sutter would do to try to slow him down ...hopefully we wont play them

I know AO cant be stopped, he's super human....thats why I wonder what Sutter would do to try to slow him down ...hopefully we wont play them

He can't be stopped, but the Zajac line can keep the puck in the offensive zone for shifts at a time.

no probably not because ovechkin plays like 45 minutes a night and do you really want to see pandolfo out there all night?

its not like pandolfo has been better defensively than anyone on the top 2 lines anyway. plus i doubt anyone will be shadowing him. they will just be aware of him and realize not to give him alot of space to shoot

do you guys remember when Claude Lemieux shadowed Cam Neely back in the '95 playoffs.............Cam freekin went nuts cause he couldnt be himself......it was awesome

Ugh. He's so good there is no stopping him.

You can only wish to contain him.

Hey guys, seeing Alexander Ovechkin score at will pretty much all season, do you think if we meet the Caps in the playoffs Sutter would put a Pando or Madden on him to "try" to shut him down ??........I know Sutter doesnt really use checking lines against other teams top lines....but all teams get tighter defensively in the playoffs, and coaches do make changes. Remember Pando on Jagr in '06...he totally frustrated him.

The best defense against Ovechkin is taking the puck out of his hands and Backstrom's. Having Pandolfo or Madden checking Ovechkin like they did against the Lecavalier line a couple of years back in the 1st round of the SCP against the Bolts showed us that we were giving them the advantage.

Our top forwards are all defensively responsible and are all playing a HUGE part on our PK. I rather see Elias, Parise, Zajac, Gionta and Langenbrunner on the ice instead of Pandolfo or Madden when Ovy is out there.

If we ever start line matching again, I'm going to hurl myself off a bridge. It's a strategy that's flawed in pretty much every way. It doesn't work in the new NHL, and going back to it in the playoffs will make us very vulnerable.

I dont have the numbers on me, but Im pretty sure Brodeur owns him. Hes been lighting us up since weve had Clemmer but if someone can find his numbers against Brodeur I dont think theyre that good.

EDIT: HAHA, found them. I just took all the games hes played against NJ not including this year assuming they were all against Brodeur. I realized hes improved a lot since his rookie year but even last year in his career year his stats sucked vs. Brodeur.


2005-2006: GP: 4, Pts: 2-0--2, +/-: -3

2006-2007: GP: 4, Pts: 1-2--3, +/-: -1

2007-2008: GP: 4, Pts: 0-4--4, +/-: 5

Career: GP: 12, Pts: 3-6--9, +/-: 1


Yep, there's our answer to Ovechkin. Note: There were only 4 other teams Ovechkin didnt score a goal against last year. They were all in the Western conference, meaning he only played them once. Ovechkin went scoreless in 4 game against Brodeur and the Devils.

I think Zubrus could do a pretty good job on Ovechkin. He was great last playoffs in a defensive role. Plus, he played with Ovechkin on the same line.

I dont have the numbers on me, but Im pretty sure Brodeur owns him. Hes been lighting us up since weve had Clemmer but if someone can find his numbers against Brodeur I dont think theyre that good.

well.....there's our answer, no need to shadow him
but it depends which Marty shows up.....good Marty or the other Marty:amazed:

You play back at the best players. It'll be interesting to see how Washington plays in the playoffs this year, last year they were wound way too tight and were a positional trainwreck.

If they're sloppy again, you want guys out there that can take advantage.

You play back at the best players. It'll be interesting to see how Washington plays in the playoffs this year, last year they were wound way too tight and were a positional trainwreck.

If they're sloppy again, you want guys out there that can take advantage.

I agree with this. I think Sutter goes with what is working, and having a specific checking line certainly hasnt worked this year.

08 flyers could stop him

09 devils > 08 flyers

09 devils can stop him

I dont have the numbers on me, but Im pretty sure Brodeur owns him. Hes been lighting us up since weve had Clemmer but if someone can find his numbers against Brodeur I dont think theyre that good.

EDIT: HAHA, found them. I just took all the games hes played against NJ not including this year assuming they were all against Brodeur. I realized hes improved a lot since his rookie year but even last year in his career year his stats sucked vs. Brodeur.


2005-2006: GP: 4, Pts: 2-0--2, +/-: -3

2006-2007: GP: 4, Pts: 1-2--3, +/-: -1

2007-2008: GP: 4, Pts: 0-4--4, +/-: 5

Career: GP: 12, Pts: 3-6--9, +/-: 1


Yep, there's our answer to Ovechkin. Note: There were only 4 other teams Ovechkin didnt score a goal against last year. They were all in the Western conference, meaning he only played them once. Ovechkin went scoreless in 4 game against Brodeur and the Devils.

only 2 of those goals where against Brodeur:handclap:

only 2 of those goals where against Brodeur:handclap:

Where do you find those stats? Did Weekes get one of those games? (Or Clemmer or whoever the backup was)

Where do you find those stats? Did Weekes get one of those games? (Or Clemmer or whoever the backup was)

it was Clemmer back in 05 i think it was

i found the stats on NHL.com to players then just go to Ovechkin game log and find the games against NJ and if you click on the date it shows who was in nets for that game

For all of those who said AO cant be stopped, I have a question. Have you ever heard of a guy named Martin Brodeur?

For all of those who said AO cant be stopped, I have a question. Have you ever heard of a guy named Martin Brodeur?

Check from post 10 down dude

Check from post 10 down dude
:(:(:(

Hey guys, seeing Alexander Ovechkin score at will pretty much all season, do you think if we meet the Caps in the playoffs Sutter would put a Pando or Madden on him to "try" to shut him down ??........I know Sutter doesnt really use checking lines against other teams top lines....but all teams get tighter defensively in the playoffs, and coaches do make changes. Remember Pando on Jagr in '06...he totally frustrated him.

Sutter may line match but it will be Zajac up against him. That line can keep up better and take advantage of mistakes. Madden and certainly Pandolfo can't do that at this point in their careers.

pando is a *** bum

I tend to think that maybe you just accept that he's going to get his chances and try to keep Backstrom out of the equation. A great amount of Ovie's goals come off setups by Backstrom or Green, so if you monitor those two players (easier than shadowing Ovechkin IMO) you would have more success. Honestly though, Ovechkin will get his, its Mike Green that scares me.

:(:(:(

lol, times are hard

If we ever start line matching again, I'm going to hurl myself off a bridge. It's a strategy that's flawed in pretty much every way. It doesn't work in the new NHL, and going back to it in the playoffs will make us very vulnerable.

Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off