Lars Eller had an up-and-down night this past Saturday, contributing both positively and negatively to his team's successful bid to stay alive during their 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 13:36 of ice-time, Eller had 2 assists, 2 shots on goal, and was 50% in the face-off circle. Additionally, at even strength, the Caps were +4 in Scoring Chance Differential with him on the ice, but his relative possession numbers were not great (-6.2 rel.CF% and -13.1 rel.FF%, via corsica) when compared to his teammates. Out of the 6 goals scored in the game, Eller was on the ice for 4 of them and so I want to draw attention to the good, the bad and the Larry of his Saturday night performance.
The first goal of the game was scored by Carl Hagelin at 10:24 of the opening period, as he received a pass from the wall and walked down Main Street to wrist home his first of the playoffs.
The first goal of the game was scored by Carl Hagelin at 10:24 of the opening period, as he received a pass from the wall and walked down Main Street to wrist home his first of the playoffs.
If we break down the goal, we can see that Eller got lost in his coverage and it was this mistake that helped part the seas for Hagelin's marker. Above, the first image on the left shows Niskanen is in good coverage in the corner, Orlov is in front of the net, the winger is with his man on the wall, and Eller seems to be alright protecting the middle of the ice. As the puck moves up along the boards from the corner in the second image, Eller shifts towards it, losing sight of what's behind him. In the third image, it's clear that his puck-watching has taken him too far from the middle (past the face-off dot), leaving Hagelin all alone to walk in and score. With Connor Sheary dragging Orlov from the front of the net, this was a huge scoring chance to give up, and certainly does not look good on #20 in red.
Observing the play from another angle (above), it's even more clear that this was Eller's responsibility. While it was a great play by Bonino to find his man in the slot, the centre cannot afford to miss his coverage like that and allow the Penguins to capitalize so easily.
Fortunately for the Capitals, Eller was able to catch, drop, and turn things around making up for his earlier miscue by helping set up Burakovsky's tying goal at 19:30 of the 1st period. If we look below, we can see how he started the breakout with an apparently legal play with his hand closed on the puck, and then won a key battle against Tom Kuhnhackl, eventually leading to the tying goal.
Fortunately for the Capitals, Eller was able to catch, drop, and turn things around making up for his earlier miscue by helping set up Burakovsky's tying goal at 19:30 of the 1st period. If we look below, we can see how he started the breakout with an apparently legal play with his hand closed on the puck, and then won a key battle against Tom Kuhnhackl, eventually leading to the tying goal.
In the images above, we can see that the puck was shot into the air as Kuhnhackl closed in on Eller, looking to force a turnover. As Eller caught the puck, he turned to see the oncoming pressure and made a play releasing it towards the centre of the ice. Listed at 6'2" and 207 lbs, Eller used his determination (and every bit of that 11 lb advantage!) to out-muscle Kuhnhackl for maintained possession. This was an important puck battle, as turning the puck over in the slot like that could easily have landed him on the bench for a while in such a critical game. Instead, Eller regained control before finding Shattenkirk on the opposite side of the ice, leading to Burakovsky's impressive curl and snipe.
The next goal of the game was Kessel's powerplay finish at 4:20 of the 2nd, for which Eller was also in the play, but it seems his coverage wasn't the issue (shown above). His primary responsibility (from what I can tell) was to take away the pass up to Justin Schultz, which he accomplished, as Schultz was essentially a non-factor on the goal. After this, Washington scored twice with Eller on the bench, before he was back to factor in on Ovechkin's insurance tally.
While not a major play on his part, the puck came along the boards where Eller retrieved it and drew the forechecking Bonino towards him. This allowed Ovi time to pick up speed from behind Eller so that when the pass came through, The Great Eight could take it in stride and do his thing, adding to Washington's lead. It was a simple play, but Eller's ability to draw Bonino in meant that Ovechkin could burst through the neutral zone unimpeded on his way to attacking Hainsey and scoring Washington's 4th goal.
I'll admit I haven't watched Eller a ton this year, but if Washington plans to send the Penguins waddling home, they will certainly need to keep a closer eye on Larry's searching.
I'll admit I haven't watched Eller a ton this year, but if Washington plans to send the Penguins waddling home, they will certainly need to keep a closer eye on Larry's searching.