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thornescratch · 6 years

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I want to watch old Washington Capitals games but I don't know which. If you have any favourite games from the past, would you mind recommending some? It could be your favourite because they won, or they were hilarious while loosing, or even because something memorable or amusing happened at the game. I am asking you because you obviously have a lot of passion for this team, and also because you might have fellow Caps fan followers who might be willing to offer recs too. Thank you in advance!

Oh! This is a super fun question, so thank you. Hmm. This is hard because I know I’m going to write a ton and then remember “I LEFT OUT SUCH AND SUCH GAME” as soon as I hit post. So, yeah, if anyone’s reading this and wants to chime in with their favorite Caps games, please feel free!

And I’m not sure how you’re going to watch these games– hell, I’m not sure all the ones I’d recommend are available, but, I’ll try to be cognizant of that. So. That said. I should probably take this moment to note that if you want to have an actual convenient DVD, Amazon sells one of the 10 Greatest Capitals Games. You used to be able to buy it in the team store, but I haven’t seen it there in a couple years, so.

That particular DVD is very much geared to the Ovechkin era, which I don’t really see as a bad thing, but I don’t know you. And if you’re looking for much more of a deep dive into past Caps history, the DVD does include some of the most exciting and seminal games, but it’s much more current in general. I do get the mindset of people who have been around for this entire franchise and scoff at only focusing at 2005 on. I do get it! But the thing is, when you try to watch old games, you run into the fact they’re one, hard to find, two, generally of terrible video quality.

…Also the reviewer on Amazon who bitches because they think it should include the 4 OT Easter Epic should be soundly donkeypunched. Look, buddy, we all signed up for a disproportionate amount of disappointment as Caps fans, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be memorialized on a DVD. With that said, here are the games I love to rewatch or remember or I just think they’re neat. I’ll start with the DVD games because that’s convenient, and then go on with some other ones I like

Here’s what the DVD includes. All of these are good games to watch.

4/16/1988 - Dale Hunter scores the series’ winner in overtime as the Caps beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 to win Game 7 of the Patrick Division semi-final. This was the one they used in that “History will” series of NHL commercials because we have so few good playoff highlights.

4/17/1996 - In the Eastern Conference quarter-final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team rallies from a three-goal deficit to win 6-4.

6/4/1998 - Joe Juneau scores the overtime winner in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, and the Caps go onto their first (and only) Stanley Cup appearance.

10/5/2005 - Ovechkin’s first NHL game. He scores two goals, hits a dude so hard the glass pane falls out, and Caps beat Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.

11/23/2007 - First Bruce Boudreau coaching game, an overtime win against Philadelphia. Ah, Bruce.

1/31/2008 - Ovechkin’s (first) four goal game against the Habs, where he broke his nose (again) and won the game in OT.

4/5/2008 - Caps win 3-1 against the Florida Panthers to gain their first playoff appearance in five years, after having to win 11 of 12 down the stretch and pushing to the last day.

4/11/2008 - Ovechkin’s first NHL playoff game, with him leading the team to a come-from-behind win over Philadelphia.

4/28/2009 - Russian legend Sergei Fedorov, in his first and last season with the Caps, provides the game-winning goal in Game 7 against the New York Rangers, leading the Caps to win 2-1 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. God, that goal. (Also, don’t look now, but that was a Game 7 the Caps won.)

5/4/2009 - The Ovechkin-Crosby dueling hat tricks playoff game with the Caps winning 4-3. (This was also where Crosby complained about hats being thrown on the ice. Like, there are many other reasons he’s never going to be on my Christmas card list, but this was him at some of his whiniest and pettiest, and when I think of reasons why I don’t care for the dude, this one tends to flash across my mind. Because I am also petty. EXCELSIOR.)

OTHER PLAYOFF GAMES.

HEY YES I KNOW EVERYONE MAKES FUN OF US ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS WELL HERE ARE SOME PLAYOFFS GAMES YOU CAN WATCH AND ENJOY.

4/20/2011 - Game four of the series with the New York Rangers. Yeah, yeah, the Caps have had their share of OT pain with the Rangers. But this comes from one of the shorter playoff series the Caps enjoyed in the Ovechkin era, and hey look, it’s a double OT WIN, which came about after the Caps had fallen behind 3-0 in the game, and then forced OT and won it on what was described as a “freaky sort of development play”. Marian Gaborik, in an attempt to clear the puck, accidentally yanked it away from Lundqvist and passed it directly to Jason Chimera, who promptly put it back in the net, and then skated the length of the ice in basically two seconds while his teammates tried to catch him for hugs. (Game 5 of that series was also pretty good because it’s one of the few times where the Caps were closing out a series and never looked worried during it. Just a nice solid win.)

4/25/2012 - Game Seven of the series with the Boston Bruins. Yeah, yeah, the Caps and Game 7′s. HERE’S ONE THAT WE ACTUALLY WON. This series was so fucking close and insane and it was the NHL playoff debut of a young Braden Holtby who came storming up from the AHL after both Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth went down to freak injury and went on to become the Bruins’s worst nightmare. (If you love Braden Holtby, you should remember that ex-Cap then-Panther Marco Sturm falling on Michal Neuvirth is what propelled Holtby into the playoffs out of necessity, and therefore most Caps fans probably owe him a drink.) And of course, this was the game of Joel Ward’s OT winner, with a helping of Mike Knuble’s gigantic ass in Tim Thomas’s face, (and I’m frankly still amazed the Caps didn’t get boned with a GI call on it), and man do I love me some Joel Ward.

4/27/2015 - Game Seven of the series with the Islanders. ANOTHER GOOD OUTCOME GAME SEVEN. This game seven on the other hand wasn’t as close (though every Caps fan was puckered and freaking during it) and the Caps were dominating. Joel Ward scored first for the Caps, and they outshot New York and were handling the Isles with ease, only to have everyone almost lose their shit when Holtby made a mistake and let Nielson tie. However, just as the Bruins series was Holtby’s debut party, the Isles series was Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Big Show. He scored with just over seven minutes left in the game on Halak, the goalie who’d tortured the Caps in 2010, and it was another successful Game 7 and series win. Since we don’t have a ton of those, enjoy it.

4/18/2016 - Game Three of the series with the Flyers. This was the, uh, Bracelet Game. But it was also a game where the Caps scored five goddamn powerplay goals to win 6-1 and took a 3-0 series lead for the first time in– well, ever. (At least in the seven game series era.) This is why it narrowly beats out Game Two, which had the Steve Mason “OH NO” goal given up to Jason Chimera.

4/19/2017 - I feel like I should include a Leafs playoff series game here from 2017 for completeness sake. Uh. Hmm. Let’s go with Game Four, since it had Tom Wilson saving a goal, then going down ice to score a goal, and was high-scoring, super-close, and barely squeaked away from going to OT.

OTHER REGULAR SEASON GAMES

1/1/2011, 1/1/2015 - Both Winter Classics. CAPS ARE UNDEFEATED IN OUTDOOR GAMES. Plus, they both serve as a good excuse to rewatch the HBO 24/7 and Epix Road to the Winter Classic specials.

2/7/2010 - Snowvechkin. Ovi had a hat trick against the Pens, the Caps had to come from behind, there was bizarre reffing, and Caps won. This was all the more impressive because DC was essentially under two feet of snow at this point and for the intrepid souls who basically walked into the city on foot to see the game, they got a real gem.

2/6/2011 - The Caps shut out the Pens 3-0 on Superbowl Sunday, but more dramatically, shaved ape on skates and career injury-causing cockmonger Matt Cooke tried to go knee on knee with Alex Ovechkin in the process and Nicklas Backstrom did his best to punch everliving shit out of him for doing it. It’s great seeing Backstrom get in Cooke’s face and throw hands afterthe shot on Ovechkin. If “ice in his veins and murder in his eyes” Backstrom is that visibly emotional,then somebody done done somebody wrong.

3/7/2011 - Holtby comes on in relief of Neuvirth in a game against the Bolts, when Neuvirth takes a shot off the mask and gets a sliver of metal in his eye. He held the Caps in it, and went on to help get the shootout win, 2-1. This was the very beginning of his career, and he’d go on to start the post-season against the Bruins and really blossom.

1/24/2012: Matty Perreault tricks the Bruins. This was an interesting game because it was one of the games Ovechkin was suspended for, after the NHL decided to make an example out of him and suspend him for a hit on Michalek but still require him to go to the ASG. Ovechkin not eager to play the NHL game of cookie-cutter villain / showdog to trot out and make money (boy, if you ever want to get an earful of rant, start me off on that particular suspension because I will not shut up about it, ever) and withdrew from the ASG. With Ovechkin out for suspension and Nicklas Backstrom concussed by noted shitstain Rene Bourque, and Mike Green also injured, it wasn’t looking good– until diminutive hero Matty P stepped up (and later got a shaving cream pie, courtesy of his proud captain who essentially rushed out of the press box in his suit and down to the ice to do it) to win the damn game with his hatty.

Fun fact with this game: Perreault somehow managed to high-stick Chara in the face during this game.Ponder that one for a minute. One might wonder how Perreault could even high-stick someone who routinely gets calls from Logan Airport to please move his head sothe planes can take off, without sneaking a ladder onto the ice or something.

2/24/2012 - Caps beat Habs 4-1. There’s an Ovechkin pretty goal in this one, but this real thing I remember is that Mike Green was itching to get back at Rene Bourque for concussing Backstrom, and boy did he. Green was playing Bourque because of the puck coming his waynear the net, but as soon as he saw the puck was past and out of danger, heturned his full attention to absolutely nailing Bourque and shoving him face-first into the goal-side. It was awesome.“Oh, did I fling you into the goal post? My bad, man.”

3/29/2012 - Matt Hendricks wins the shootout for Washington 3-2 and completely turns Tim Thomas inside out. At that point, you expected players like PKane or Datsyuk or Oshie to make beautiful, awe-inspiring SO moves.Matt Hendricks? Well, that’s a secret Caps fans knew and reveled in, and then welaughed at the other teams when they went, “Matt Hendricks, seriously? That’swho you're—oh, fuck. Fuck! fuuuuuuck! Where the fuck did that come from?!”

4/16/2013 - Ovechkin nearly tears Jay McClement’s head off for boarding Backstrom. This was a Caps 5-1 win over Toronto, and you’ve probably seen the clip in question. It was encouraging to see how much the team rushed to start a line brawl for Nicky’s sake. Backstrom, it should be noted, stood right back up and threw himself after the guy throwing himself at Ovi, so it went both ways.

12/10/2013 - I could describe all of Ovi’s four goal games, but this one against the Bolts, a 6-5 shootout win, was super dramatic and his first since 2008, a five year span. I’m just going to quote the RMNB recap of it: First, Mike Green committed a penalty and the Lightningscored. Then, Mike Green committed a penalty and the Lightning scored. Then, ina Shyamalany plot twist, Mike Green was on-ice when the Lightning scored. Holtbywas like, “Sick of you, Mike,” and he peaced out; Grubauer in. AlexOvechkin put the team on the board with an instant-score following a faceoff.Okay, buckle up. Here we go.

Troy Brouwer proved unable, so Nick Backstrom finished off the powerplay for him. Then, Alex Ovechkin happened. After Richard Panik earned a 5-minute major for boarding Karl Alzner, the Russian machine made Tampa pay. Twice. First, he laid up a cross-ice pass from Marcus Johansson, then he took a one-timer from Green to tie the game. Hats rained down. Another three-goal second period for the Washington Capitals.

Ondrej Palat put the Bolts back up in the third, taking advantage of some observational Capitals defense, but the Caps weren’t done. With the Caps net empty, Alex Ovechkin struck again, scoring his 4th goal of the night. HIS FOURTH FOARTH GOAL OF THE NIGHT.

12/13/2014 - Backstrom’s natural hat trick against the Lightning. He’s just so silky smooth.

10/23/2015 - Evgeny Kuznetsov’s hat trick and five point night against the Edmonton Oilers.

11/16/2016 - Nicklas Backstrom has another 5 five point night as the Caps skull the Penguins 7-1. Fun fact: At that point in time, Backstrom had had five five-point games, one more than Ovechkin, equaling Crosby, and one less than Malkin. And… no All Star Game appearances or Selkes, because the NHL is stupid.

If you want to know his other five point games up until then, they were:

11/16/2016 against Pittsburgh Penguins – 2 goals, 3 assists12/10/2013 against Tampa Bay Lightning – 1 goal, 4 assists02/04/2010 against New York Rangers – 1 goal, 4 assists12/05/2009 against Philadelphia Flyers – 1 goal, 4 assists11/15/2008 against New Jersey Devils – 1 goal, 4 assists

1/7/2017 - Backstrom’s 500th assist, on a TJ Oshie goal. It’s harder to pick out favorite Backstrom games because his game is so quiet and focused on operating in the shadows. Usually he’s having some kind of tremendous game that people focus on the dudes scoring the goals off the magical moves he’s making.

1/22/2017 - Ovechkin’s 1000th point. 35 seconds in, against the Pens. FUN FACT I WAS THERE FOR THIS ONE. I have a good friend from out of town who is a Pens fan (I’m as shocked as you), and for the past couple years she’s come to town from across the country when the Caps play the Pens, and my record with her was ABYSMAL. Until this game, I had never seen the Caps win in person at Verizon while she was there, but then this one happened, and she very kindly didn’t shove me over the ledge of the nosebleeds to my death, as she would have probably been in full rights to do after all the hooting and capering I was doing.

LOSSES? UH….

I don’t have a lot of recs for Caps losses because, well, I’m not a masochist. But if you must, I would recommend two particular ones first because the fights were bonkers.

11/21/1998 - Caps vs. Bruins. These is notable because of the goalie fight. Most notably, the one that’s been called “The Dance” between Byron Dafoe and Olie Kolzig, since– well, you’ll know it when you see it. The backstory is, Dafoe and Kolzig were close friends– best men at each other’s weddings, even. And when the Bruins and Caps threw down in their line brawl, Dafoe grabbed Dale Hunter (Dale Hunter having been just momentarily pried out from the dogpile and had just been separated from Ken Belanger) and Kolzig came down the ice to get in on the action. However, Kolzig decided to fight Ken Belanger (since the refs had turned around to deal with Dale Hunter) which was… uh, probably not a good idea.

Dafoe and Hunter had simultaneous “Ho-shit, son,” realizations, immediately stopped fighting each other, and flung themselves at Kolzig and Belanger respectively. Dafoe grabbed Kolzig and basically waltzed him away from Belanger before he could get his head smashed in, and Hunter went back to fighting Belanger. Kolzig and Dafoe pulled each other’s jerseys off while Kolzig seemed torn between trying to yell at Dafoe for yanking him out of the fight and laughing at his friend. Everyone on the ice got tossed and the Caps lost 5-4 in OT.

1/12/2010 - Caps vs. Bolts. You actually don’t really have to watch this whole game, which was a 7-4 loss. You just need to watch Steve Downie and Alex Ovechkin drop the gloves and prepare to fight, only to have Matt Bradley come streaking in at the last second and literally steal the fight out of Ovechkin’s hands. Dan Steinberg did a great write-up of it for the Sportsbog. It’‘s kind of hilarious because, well, Ovi and Downie were both completely taken by surprise. If you catch any of the later analyst clips, you can see Bradley watching Ovi and Downie yell at each in the box, keeping an eye on the unfolding events like a hawk, screaming urgently at Eric Fehr to get the hell off the ice so he can get on without getting the instigator, and then just making a direct beeline for the fight so he can get in front of Ovi and punch Downie in the face.

12/16/2014 - The never ending fucking shoot out with the Panthers. Ugh. I refuse to even google this to find highlights. WE WENT THROUGH THE ENTIRE GODDAMN ROSTER. EVEN BROOKS FUCKING ORPIK SCORED. ON A TRIPLE DEKE. I still refuse to believe the entire thing wasn’t a fever dream from the mind of Roberto Luongo while passed out on the can. It did at least give us the notable mic’d up quote of “Coach Korn has a pitched tent in the stands right now,” though.

WAIT IT��S BAD LUCK TO END ON A LOSS, LET’S END WITH SOME MORE WINS.

1/08/2016 - This game had everything I say, in my best breathy Stefon voice. A quick two goal lead for the Caps. Giving up three goals to fall behind. Nicklas Backstrom slamming in a loose puck with less than ten seconds left to tie it. OT madness. Nate Schmidt and his skate helping Holtby save an almost slam dunk Ranger goal off the faceoff in OT. Ovechkin grabbing the saved puck and going end to end to score in OT. Ovechkin falling on his face. Happy, huggy chaos by the Caps on Madison Square Garden ice. Ovi one away from 500 goals…

1/10/2016 - Ovechkin’s 500th. This might be my favorite game (for now…), not because it was a blowout win, not because Ovechkin actually had two in this game, one of which involved dangling Erik Karlsson’s pants off, but watching the team come to celebrate with him, seeing how much they loved him and were overjoyed for him and had actually planned it out in advance without his knowledge… that’s just something special. It was just a really, really good moment that very little can spoil for me, no matter what.

#Anonymous #links #Washington Capitals #old Caps games #milestones

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365footballorg-blog · 6 years

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Armchair Analyst: Your complete guide to the Week 14 MLS slate

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June 1, 201810:15AM EDT

Welcome to the first weekend of June, which doubles as the first weekend in which the full cadre of World Cup call-ups will be away from their MLS teams. Things have a chance of becoming very MLS-y.

Let’s dive in:

Friday Forecast

Colorado Rapids vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

9 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

The Whitecaps have, for the first time all season, dropped below the playoff line thanks to a stretch during which they’ve won just once in their past nine games. This has come – weirdly, I’ll admit – during a time in which they’ve actually gone out and played some of their most attractive soccer in years. They were devastating getting out onto the break against New England last weekend, and with Yordy Reyna and Felipe both quietly balling they have had more ideas than usual in the attacking third.

But their defense is a train wreck. Only Montreal have shipped more than the 27 goals the ‘Caps have conceded thus far, and it’s hard to imagine that number’s going to look much better now with Kendall Waston in Russia.

Even that might not be enough to wake up a moribund Rapids attack that’s scored just four goals in their last six outings, all losses.

Hard as it is to believe, though, it’s not the attack that’s been killing Colorado’s season. If you want the deep dive, I recommend Rapids Rabbi’s tome published this week. If you want the abridged version:

Here’s what happened right before that 2nd Timbers goal: Deklan Wynne pushes high. Boateng makes a terrible pass right to Arementeros. Rapids left 2v2, Armenteros/Valeri v Wilson/Smith. #Rapids96 #COLvPOR pic.twitter.com/VcOxP4ghjl

— Rapids Rabbi (@rapidsrabbi) May 30, 2018

There sure, sure sure have been a lot of passes like that. And there sure have been a lot of counterattacks when Colorado desperately and haphazardly throw their center backs forward.

Saturday Slate

Portland Timbers vs. LA Galaxy

5 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

The Timbers are good in attack. The Galaxy are… not… in defense:

Granted, that’s five levels beyond pretty from FC Dallas, but whether the goals are pretty sequences or simple service from out wide, LA have not been able to defend.

They’ve also become too reliant upon long balls in an attempt to advance the ball up to the attacking third, which doesn’t make a lot of sense given they have some actual ball-playing central midfielders. Bottom line is that they’ve had enough talent to sneak past the poorer teams they’ve played, but Portland, at home, aren’t that.

Atlanta United vs. Philadelphia Union

7:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

Philly have won three of four and four of seven, and are unbeaten in four, and have conceded just twice in that span. They spent the first 45 minutes on Wednesday night looking far superior to the Chicago Fire, and then the second 45 looking pretty lost for the first time in a while. Jim Curtin blessed his troops out, which is probably necessary heading into a game against the Five Stripes.

What do we make of this Atlanta United bunch? As of late, I think it’s safe to say they’re finding a way to leave points on the table with some poor decision-making and poorer finishing. That was the case in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at New England – not a bad result in a vacuum, but one in which they definitely, definitely should’ve bagged more than one:

#NEvATL xG. The Barco and Kratz chances towards the end loom large. pic.twitter.com/7XvRqTqTUE

— Ben Baer (@BenBaer89) May 31, 2018

They’ve now won just once in their past four. I think it’s a blip, and I think that someone – maybe Philly, or maybe NYCFC or Columbus in the coming weeks – is going to suddenly feel the business side of a bus as the Five Stripes rediscover their collective finishing touch.

Be super-aware of Keegan Rosenberry pushing up from right back, by the way. Atlanta like to flare Miguel Almiron out to the left in order to overload that side, and if the Union lose possession while Rosenberry’s way up on the front foot, they are in trouble.

Columbus Crew SC vs. Toronto FC

7:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

My take for the past month is that TFC will be fine once they get their squad to something approaching 80 percent health (or so). New England going into a slump (one win in five) and Orlando City doing the same (three straight losses) has given them a little more breathing room than they otherwise might have had, but here’s a simple fact that my colleague Bobby Warshaw pointed out on Wednesday night’s Instant Analysis: TFC likely have to take 41 points from their final 23 games, which is at or above a typical Supporters’ Shield-winning pace.

It is a big ask, even for this team. I maintain my belief that they are likely to be up to it, though a loss here would force me to at least begin to rethink.

I’m not sure what version of Crew SC we’ll see given their suspensions (Federico Higuain), injuries (Pedro Santos, Jonathan Mensah) and international absences (Cristian Martinez, Zack Steffen, Wil Trapp).

Don’t be tooooo shocked if they bunker-and-counter a little, especially given TFC’s recent lack of speed at the back. Gregg Berhalter’s done that before in big moments, including way back in the 2015 playoffs against the New York Red Bulls. There is an oft-underappreciated flexibility to how his team plays.

Montreal Impact vs. Houston Dynamo

7:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

The Impact have lost eight of nine and head coach Remi Garde is gaslighting his players:

After Minnesota game, Garde said Impact players lacked talent. Today he didn’t take back what he said: “We lack talent. I do not have to correct my remarks.” But on May 3rd, he said that saying things like this “would cause a lot of damage”. What’s he trying to do? #IMFC #MLS pic.twitter.com/QDPgWrmRWL

— Nick Sabetti (@nicksabetti) May 29, 2018

Houston once again dropped late points on Wednesday – this time they couldn’t defend a corner kick – and we all know how they struggle on the road. This time it’ll be on the road, on short rest, coming off a game at altitude, halfway across the continent. It’s not an ideal situation.

But I’ll say it again: Montreal have lost eight of nine and their coach is out there saying that his players are not good at soccer. The Dynamo have to figure out a way to win this one.

New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls

7:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

The Revs jumped out to a good start in March and April, taking 13 points through their first eight games. They’ve followed that up with five points from their subsequent five, including two very fortunate ones in their past two outings (a road draw at Vancouver, followed by Wednesday’s 1-1 against visiting Atlanta). There is one big reason why:

Matt Turner has been phenomenal. With all due respect to Tim Melia, Turner’s been the best ‘keeper in MLS this year.

He’s absolutely had to be because the Revs are still struggling to defend. They are a dangerous and organized team through their front six, but if you can play through their front six – through the high pressure that got them off to such a fast start this year – then you are going to force their defense to make plays that they’ve shown little ability to actually make.

Which is to say that New England have to win the ball in midfield or higher. If they don’t, it leads to the types of breakaways that both the ‘Caps and Five Stripes squandered (with some help from Turner) because there’s just a natural dislocation between the New England lines.

There is every chance the Red Bulls will see this and figure out how to put Kaku to work in that spot.

NYCFC vs. Orlando City

7:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

NYCFC won five of six to start the season, but are now in a stretch during which they’ve won just two of seven. That includes three blow-out losses, at Portland, at RBNY and at Houston.

Know what it doesn’t include? Many home games, or any dropped points at home. NYCFC are 5-0-0 at Yankee Stadium, the last remaining perfect home team in the league, and are officially staring at a stretch during which they play six of seven in the Bronx. I will make this prediction: By July 14 – the final game of that stretch – the Pigeons will be atop the Shield standings (provided David Villa stays healthy).

One change Patrick Vieira’s toyed with over the past month in his efforts to ensure that Villa does indeed stay healthy is playing some 3-5-2. The idea is for Villa to float off the frontline and let Jo Inge Berget get into the physical battles with defenders that are so draining. It’s a good long-term play, but it’s been a bad short one: Berget is doing his best Adam Nemec impersonation with just one goal in nearly 800 minutes.

It’s tough to justify putting him out there on the road, and not at all justifiable at home. My guess is it’s back to the 4-3-3, and a focus on splitting Orlando City’s central midfielders away from the ball:

This is a run Maxi Moralez makes.

The question is, “is this a run that Orlando City are now prepared to track?” And even if they do, the Purple Lions backline is now as banged up as anybody’s, TFC included. It’s damn near impossible to imagine that makeshift group riding the 6 train all the way to a result.

FC Dallas vs. LAFC

8 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

If you want our full take on FCD, watch the video embedded at the top of the page. Short version: I think they’ve become really good again, and if Mauro Diaz keeps playing as he has been, they’ll jump back up into the ranks of elite teams. You could argue they’ve already done so, given they have just one loss this season and given they’ve bagged quality wins both at home and on the road.

The same is mostly true of LAFC, though it’s fair to say they won’t quite be the same team that’s had such a good first three months of existence. Carlos Vela, Marco Ureña and Laurent Ciman are gone, to name three. Adama Diomande will likely make his first start at center forward. I’m not sure exactly how the backline will line up given Ciman’s absence and Dejan Jakovic’s suspension. Diego Rossi is carrying a knock and hasn’t been all that effective over the past six weeks.

These are the mostly normal trials and tribulations of a regular MLS season, but they hit expansion teams – which, almost as a rule, don’t have a ton of depth – harder than others. The Black-and-Gold deserve credit for grinding out some results recently, including a 1-1 at home against Dallas a month ago. They’ll have to grind again to get anything out of this game.

Chicago Fire vs. San Jose Earthquakes

8:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

Last week Bobby and I made a video examining San Jose’s weakness protecting Zone 14:

Jamon at QuakesEpicenter took that observation and ran with it. I’m going to crib a paragraph of his here:

In terms of passes coming into the golden zone, the Quakes sit dead last with the highest number of pass attempts against (27.2 per game) and completions against (18.4 per game). For passes within the zone, San Jose is 19th (10.3 per game) in attempts against and 19th (8.0 per game) in completions against. And for passes going out of the zone (the most dangerous), the Quakes are 22nd in the league in both attempts against (17.6 per game) and 21st in completions against (13.1 per game). There is no silver lining in this data. Against the Earthquakes, talented players know they can get access to Zone 14, move the ball within it, and then move the ball out of it (or shoot) when a good opportunity presents itself. Even WhoScored’s algorithms have figured out the Quakes have a big issue against skilled players rating them “Very Weak”.

Until San Jose figure out how to deal with this – and as per the video above, I still believe it’s their insistence upon a double pivot – they will be losing lots of games.

Of course, the Fire lack the sort of top-end skill players who’ve given San Jose the most trouble. But Aleksandar Katai has had his moments, and perhaps all he needs is a bit of breathing room to really settle in.

Real Salt Lake vs. Seattle Sounders

9:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

Let’s look back one week to see how RSL got their only goal in a 1-0 win over the Sounders:

While RSL have been mostly disappointing this season, they’ve found life recently by going to work down that left flank. It’s not a mistake that’s coincided with Danny Acosta’s re-introduction into the lineup. His ability to handle that spot (he shut down Alberth Elis on Wednesday – Elis’ goal came after he was moved to center forward) defensively, as well as his on-point distribution, lets Bofo Saucedo push up higher and that in turn gives opposing defenders less time to settle into their spots.

The other big change has been breaking up the Kyle Beckerman/Damir Kreilach pairing deep in central midfield. Sunny doesn’t have much passing range, but he’s mobile and committed, and his strength has now, in back-to-back games, hid the weaknesses of the guys around him (Nick Besler deserves some dap as well). The Claret-and-Cobalt have finally figured out how to be a little bit difficult to play through.

And I’m not sure any of that matters against this battered and punchless Seattle team. They’re 2-6-2 with 7 goals scored all season, and while a couple of guys might be back – Brian Schmetzer has been hinting at Will Bruin’s availability – there are zero excuses for RSL should they come away with anything but the full three points.

Sunday’s Finale

Sporting KC vs. Minnesota United FC

8:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

So here we are, back to this old conversation again. Through SKC’s first eight games of the 2018 season, they scored 19 goals. They did so largely by having their center forward work hard to drag the opposing defense around, then hit the gaps that chaos caused with a bunch of wingers and a couple of goal-hungry midfielders. It worked and there was a lot of “yeah our No. 9’s not scoring, but this time it’s different.”

In the five games following that hot start, SKC have scored just five goals. Khiry Shelton – now the starting No. 9 – has one of them, which was and remains his only goal of the year. It was a few weeks back against the same MNUFC team Sporting will be facing this weekend, but it’s fair to wonder if this particular approach has hit the point of diminishing returns. It’s fair to wonder if the old conversation is once again the right conversation:

Shelton’s total chalkboard activity in the second half vs 10-man Crew. #SportingKC pic.twitter.com/wNIkttthVa

— Nathan Martin (@NMthenoise) May 29, 2018

Shelton wasn’t able to get Columbus moving around and chasing him, and thus SKC’s attack was once again unable to do much of anything.

To put a number on it: SKC’s attack hasn’t scored an open-play goal against an 11-man defense since April 20. If it’s not a set piece or not 11-v-10 (or sometimes, even when it is!), they’re looking nothing at all like the group that tore through the league in the first seven weeks of the season.

We’ll see if the Loons can trouble them again, even without their captain and backline leader, Francisco Calvo.

One more thing to ponder…

Anyways I got bored today and took a drone to an abandoned resort and cut that footage up into an advertisement. Enjoy.

Romance is dead. pic.twitter.com/tPYyRkAnV2

— Pablo Maurer (@MLSist) May 30, 2018

Happy weekending, everybody.

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