After the Washington Capitals just got Jay Beagle back and he scored the game’s first goal in Game 2, fans were ecstatic to see their team fully healthy. Unfortunately things unraveled before their eyes and now the Capitals head to Columbus down 2-0 in their first round series against the Blue Jackets. To make matters worse, Andre Burakovsky got injured was he was checked into the boards by Boone Jenner with 5:15 remaining in the first period. Burakovsky didn’t return to the game and during Monday’s off day, coach Barry Trotz held a conference call.
Burakovsky took a hit into the boards from Boone Jenner late in the 1st and is not on the bench for the 2nd.
Stream #CapsJackets: https://t.co/qsAGPkboos pic.twitter.com/Gbm4mCHhLS
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) April 16, 2018
When he was asked about Burakovsky’s status for their upcoming road trip to Columbus, Trotz indicated that he is going to miss some time and won’t travel with the team to Columbus.
Burakovsky has an upper body injury and will not travel to Columbus, Trotz said. He’s going to miss some time. #Caps #CBJ
— Tarik El-Bashir⌨🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) April 16, 2018
Trotz also mentioned that Jakub Vrana will play and fill in for him. After the great Game 1 that he had despite playing only 6:58, Vrana will finally get the playing time that he deserves after being scratched from the Game 2 lineup last night.
Trotz on Burakovsky’s latest injury: “For the player, it’s frustrating. Our mentality is next guy up. Next guy up will be Jakub Vrana. I feel bad for Andre because everything for a young player is about getting…confidence and building on that.” #Caps #CBJ
— Tarik El-Bashir⌨🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) April 16, 2018
By Michael Marzzacco
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Barry Trotz seems to specialize in vague double-talk–particularly regarding the youngest players on his roster. Jakub Vrana has precisely what the Capitals need to get to (and beyond) the second round in the way of speed, skill and rink sense. Moreover he doesn’t make stupid mistakes with the puck or take dumb-assed penalties. For all of the foregoing reasons Vrana’s playing time shouldn’t depend on Burakovsky’s absence—or anyone else’s…
Disgusted,
Clifford
Sta. Monica
“Vague double-talk”, spot on, Cliff.
Thx, Jon…wish I was wrong…
Same here.
If vrana hadnt missed the pass for columbus to score, he wouldnt of been scatched. Read the article on why he was benched before getting excited.
Look, if that was the reason Vrana was a DNPCD, Trotz’ decision is even harder to understand. Lots of players on this team have done that, or something else that was equally dumb, without having it impact their game time status–and more than once, I might add.
For example, in Game One it was Tom Wilson’s charging penalty and hit on Alexander Weinberg that led to Thomas Vanek tying the game at 2, and a late third-period tripping penalty against Andre Burakovsky that helped Seth Jones tie the game on the man advantage. Also, Dmitri Orlov took a poor angle on Artemi Panarin which forced him to make an ill-advised stick check leading to the decisive goal by one of the most talented shooters in the league–costing us the game…
In Game two Josh Anderson cut Washington’s second-period lead to one goal on a five-on-two rush at goaltender Philipp Grubauer…How the hell do THREE players who were on the ice at that time allow that to happen?? Then Tom Wilson was called for roughing after a post-whistle skirmish in front of Washington’s net. Wilson’s actions were unnecessary, and while the home fans booed, the call stood anyway…Then, with 2:20 left in the second period, Devante Smith-Pelly went to the box for holding the stick, and Zach Werenski’s point shot on the power play beat Grubauer to lift the Blue Jackets to a 4-3 lead before second intermission…Again, inept footwork led to an unfortunate outcome…
Then–not that I needed to hear it from Jeremy Roenick–but during the intermission report on NBCSN, he railed on the Capitals for making so many familiar, and repeated, stupid-assed mistakes.
“How many times are you guys going to take penalties when you KNOW the team you’re playing has a good power play?” Roenick asked . “I mean listen, I’m not rooting for anybody, but I don’t like to see stupidity TIME AND TIME AGAIN, especially for a team that hasn’t gotten past the second round in 20 years.”
So there’s been plenty of blame to spread around on this team beyond Vrana’s one errant pass…But that really isn’t the point–not the main one, anyway–which is that Jakub needed more playing time long before it got to this point.
The Caps need to develop their players–particularly the young ones–to the point that they can help propel this club much deeper into the playoffs than they’ve gotten, with a view to winning the Cup–not another President’s trophy.
To me, that process should have begun during the regular season….but it shouldn’t end there…
Based on what I’ve seen that probably won’t happen under Trotz…and it should…
Clifford
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