*** Official 2024-25 NHL, Playoff talk... Nothing better *** (1 Viewer)

[Capella]

TB-TB-TB-FL-FL, that's what you get from the East the last 5 years, Panthers hoping to add another year for the State of Florida
Panthers are a product of the Lightning being so good , deal with i

I know the Panthers are good, I already said that. It’s their constant hits to the head I could do without.

 

[Chemical X]

Panthers cut a 4-1 lead down to 4-3 pretty quick

I guess it helps when you take the starting goalie out with an elbow to the head.

Panthers are an incredible team and also one of the dirtiest groups I’ve ever seen. Ridiculous.

They learned from the best
I was there Season 1 for the Lightning when they played in Expo at the fairgrounds in Tampa
I watched that team walk around lost for many years, they got much better when they started dishing it more than they took it
I would never describe the Lightning as dirty but they played hard especially in more recent years when they won B2B, 3 Finals in a row
Along the way they dismissed the Panthers a couple times in the Playoffs
One year it made the Panthers overturn a lot of their roster that had just finished as the top seed

You can hate on the Panthers, i was born in Miami so I tend to enjoy either team and the last 5-6 seasons here in Florida have absolutely expanded both fan bases
The best ticket in town down here and for the foreseeable future is the Florida Panthers, if nothing else you get to watch a lot of high level hockey games as a season ticket holder
I've been to several home games for the Lightning in the last 5-6 years, electric inside that building, almost feels like a night club in the lower level at times.
Panthers games are more "family" friendly and you just don't quite get the same electricity in that building like you do up in Tampa
That machine that creates lightning up in the rafters, the first time I saw that in person was with my son, amazing experience

Back to you griping about the Panthers and the word dirty...they did trade for Marchand, what do you expect?
I don't think the hit was dirty or any more dirty than other NHL in game stuff.
TB-TB-TB-FL-FL, that's what you get from the East the last 5 years, Panthers hoping to add another year for the State of Florida
Panthers are a product of the Lightning being so good , deal with it

I'm sorry, but it was 100% dirty. You don't go through the crease like that. Guys know which part of their equipment cause pain and he was well aware he was putting his elbow into the side of Stolarz's head, plus guys know not to touch the goalie. I'm surprised their wasn't a fight after it and if he isn't suspended Game 2 is going to be exceedingly chippy.

disagree. bennett was outside the crease and the contact really looked incidental, like bennett was repositioning himself. stolarz is on his knees, not like bennett can detach his arms from his shoulders there. when you are the same height as the guy’s elbows, stuff can happen. with the speed of the game, i hardly think bennett had time to say to himself, let me twist and hit stolarz in the head.

 

[Sammy3469]

Panthers cut a 4-1 lead down to 4-3 pretty quick

I guess it helps when you take the starting goalie out with an elbow to the head.

Panthers are an incredible team and also one of the dirtiest groups I’ve ever seen. Ridiculous.

They learned from the best
I was there Season 1 for the Lightning when they played in Expo at the fairgrounds in Tampa
I watched that team walk around lost for many years, they got much better when they started dishing it more than they took it
I would never describe the Lightning as dirty but they played hard especially in more recent years when they won B2B, 3 Finals in a row
Along the way they dismissed the Panthers a couple times in the Playoffs
One year it made the Panthers overturn a lot of their roster that had just finished as the top seed

You can hate on the Panthers, i was born in Miami so I tend to enjoy either team and the last 5-6 seasons here in Florida have absolutely expanded both fan bases
The best ticket in town down here and for the foreseeable future is the Florida Panthers, if nothing else you get to watch a lot of high level hockey games as a season ticket holder
I've been to several home games for the Lightning in the last 5-6 years, electric inside that building, almost feels like a night club in the lower level at times.
Panthers games are more "family" friendly and you just don't quite get the same electricity in that building like you do up in Tampa
That machine that creates lightning up in the rafters, the first time I saw that in person was with my son, amazing experience

Back to you griping about the Panthers and the word dirty...they did trade for Marchand, what do you expect?
I don't think the hit was dirty or any more dirty than other NHL in game stuff.
TB-TB-TB-FL-FL, that's what you get from the East the last 5 years, Panthers hoping to add another year for the State of Florida
Panthers are a product of the Lightning being so good , deal with it

I'm sorry, but it was 100% dirty. You don't go through the crease like that. Guys know which part of their equipment cause pain and he was well aware he was putting his elbow into the side of Stolarz's head, plus guys know not to touch the goalie. I'm surprised their wasn't a fight after it and if he isn't suspended Game 2 is going to be exceedingly chippy.

disagree. bennett was outside the crease and the contact really looked incidental, like bennett was repositioning himself. stolarz is on his knees, not like bennett can detach his arms from his shoulders there. when you are the same height as the guy’s elbows, stuff can happen. with the speed of the game, i hardly think bennett had time to say to himself, let me twist and hit stolarz in the head.

It's pretty simple, it doesn't matter at what level, if the goalie is in the crease (Stolarz is the crease and Bennett went through the crease) and you aren't playing the puck (at that point the puck is behind him), you don't hit the goalie. If you are going to hit the goalie, you try to avoid the contact (which Bennett didn't). What you don't do is maintain your strongest skating position and hit them in the side of the head where they are unprotected with hard elbow pad.

It's one thing if he tried to stop or made some effort to avoid the hit, but he didn't. He went straight through a stationary Stolarz after Stolarz made the save.

 

[Todem]

I think that puck to the mask earlier in the game may have contributed to the issue with Stolarz as well. The Bennett elbow really didn't look all that bad. Goalies get run often and they don't come away with a concussion. Frankly shouldn't we be blaming the spotter a bit here as well? I mean he had the puck off the mask earlier in the game, later is down due to the hit by Bennett but he stayed in for, what, 30 minutes, before coming out.

You are correct. He got absolutely lit up by that puck. Knocked his helemet off I believe. I was surprised the concussion “watcher” did not have a look at him after that.

Bennett’s light collision was not aggregious. Could they have called a 2 minute roughing? Yeah sure….he entered the crease on his own and skated thru the collision, but I saw nothing aggressively intentional. I have seen my boy Bennett (my favorite Panther btw and I anticipate he will be extended this off season) do a lot worse.

In hockey I have learned the higher end players can walk that line of being legally aggresive and Sam Bennett is one of the best at it. He is a hard nosed player without being overly dirty….you need guys like him to have some toughness.

As for the game. Toronto played really well for the first two periods while we looked like we were sleep walking. I think the most critical goal by Toronto came after we scored on the PP due to that foolish “too many men on the ice” penalty. When we cut it to 2-1 tue Leafs answered 17 seconds later to keep that 2 goal lead and keep us chasing the game.

I expect a lot more hitting from the Panthers tomorrow night and us evening up this series heading back to Sunrise.

Panthers in 6

Still stand by that.

 

[Todem]

Panthers cut a 4-1 lead down to 4-3 pretty quick

I guess it helps when you take the starting goalie out with an elbow to the head.

Panthers are an incredible team and also one of the dirtiest groups I’ve ever seen. Ridiculous.

They learned from the best
I was there Season 1 for the Lightning when they played in Expo at the fairgrounds in Tampa
I watched that team walk around lost for many years, they got much better when they started dishing it more than they took it
I would never describe the Lightning as dirty but they played hard especially in more recent years when they won B2B, 3 Finals in a row
Along the way they dismissed the Panthers a couple times in the Playoffs
One year it made the Panthers overturn a lot of their roster that had just finished as the top seed

You can hate on the Panthers, i was born in Miami so I tend to enjoy either team and the last 5-6 seasons here in Florida have absolutely expanded both fan bases
The best ticket in town down here and for the foreseeable future is the Florida Panthers, if nothing else you get to watch a lot of high level hockey games as a season ticket holder
I've been to several home games for the Lightning in the last 5-6 years, electric inside that building, almost feels like a night club in the lower level at times.
Panthers games are more "family" friendly and you just don't quite get the same electricity in that building like you do up in Tampa
That machine that creates lightning up in the rafters, the first time I saw that in person was with my son, amazing experience

Back to you griping about the Panthers and the word dirty...they did trade for Marchand, what do you expect?
I don't think the hit was dirty or any more dirty than other NHL in game stuff.
TB-TB-TB-FL-FL, that's what you get from the East the last 5 years, Panthers hoping to add another year for the State of Florida
Panthers are a product of the Lightning being so good , deal with it

I'm sorry, but it was 100% dirty. You don't go through the crease like that. Guys know which part of their equipment cause pain and he was well aware he was putting his elbow into the side of Stolarz's head, plus guys know not to touch the goalie. I'm surprised their wasn't a fight after it and if he isn't suspended Game 2 is going to be exceedingly chippy.

Yeah absolutely not….way off here. And it was explained well already. Incidental contact all the way. 2 min roughing at best.

It was not an intentional dirty play. Just a circumstance of events in a high speed post season game. And he won’t be suspended.

Also no doubt Rhinos shot that hit him square on the helmet at 85 plus MPH is what knocked him on his ***.

 

[northern exposure]

More consistent calls from the Refs would be nice. From game to game and within the games.

 

[northern exposure]

Oilers get another comeback win! Would love to see them start the game better though.

 

[falguy]

Seems like an inordinate amount of 3rd period comebacks throughout the playoffs thus far. It seems like you are freer to just "play" when trailing and when you are leading you tighten up, or get "Hillered" . Every night there's a comeback (which is awesome).

I was impressed with Edmonton's bottom 6. Connor Brown is playing like a man possessed.

 

[dgreen]

Nothing drives me more crazy in hockey than the defense failing to get the puck out of the defensive zone.

Once again, that was the main problem last night. Good news is when Montreal did this to them, they bounced back nicely getting the puck out of their zone the next two games. Hopefully they can figure out the CAR forecheck.

 

[northern exposure]

Seems like an inordinate amount of 3rd period comebacks throughout the playoffs thus far. It seems like you are freer to just "play" when trailing and when you are leading you tighten up, or get "Hillered" . Every night there's a comeback (which is awesome).

I was impressed with Edmonton's bottom 6. Connor Brown is playing like a man possessed.

I'm not sure what Hill was doing on the Oilers second goal. He jumped way up to deal with a really high deflection. Took himself way out of position and Draisaitl just banked it in off of him.
Brown looked like a shadow of himself last season when he returned from a major knee injury. He started to come on at the end of the season and in the playoffs, but looks fully recovered now.
Trent Frederic looked great too. Took a shot off the face off and rang the bar. Was just coming back off injury in Round 1 and keeps looking better.

 

[Gally]

when you are leading you tighten up, or get "Hillered"

Ugh. It's never good when your name gets turned into a descriptor. Nobody ever wants to get "Munsoned" and now we have "Hillered"

 

[Skipdog77]

In the world's worst-kept secret department, the Utah Hockey Club are now officially the Utah Mammoth.

 

[northern exposure]

Leafs up 2-0 on the Panthers in the series. I didn't see that happening. Series is still far from over though.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

In the world's worst-kept secret department, the Utah Hockey Club are now officially the Utah Mammoth.

Update is that the logo is great. Not sure about the catch phrase "Tusks Up" but whatever.

 

[Todem]

Ye

Leafs up 2-0 on the Panthers in the series. I didn't see that happening. Series is still far from over though.

Yeah two one goal games.

Credit to Toronto last night they simply kept answering and overall have had the better goaltending thus far.

We have to regroup and take both home games to restart this as a best of three series to have any real legit shot. But credit to Toronto so far. They have simply been the better team to this point.

 

[zamboni]

In the world's worst-kept secret department, the Utah Hockey Club are now officially the Utah Mammoth.

Update is that the logo is great. Not sure about the catch phrase "Tusks Up" but whatever.

Looks like a meaner version of something right out of the Flintstones.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

In the world's worst-kept secret department, the Utah Hockey Club are now officially the Utah Mammoth.

Update is that the logo is great. Not sure about the catch phrase "Tusks Up" but whatever.

Looks like a meaner version of something right out of the Flintstones.

Pretty sure that's a mastodon. Completely different animal.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I didn't think "revenge games" was a real thing but Mikko Rantanen is making me reconsider.

 

[northern exposure]

Ye

Leafs up 2-0 on the Panthers in the series. I didn't see that happening. Series is still far from over though.

Yeah two one goal games.

Credit to Toronto last night they simply kept answering and overall have had the better goaltending thus far.

We have to regroup and take both home games to restart this as a best of three series to have any real legit shot. But credit to Toronto so far. They have simply been the better team to this point.

Sure Game 1 was a one goal game.But the Panthers really only came back from a 4-1 deficit after Stolarz was knocked out of the game and a rusty Woll (hadn't played a game in 18 days) went in the net.
The Panthers and Woll both looked much better in Game 2.

 

[Todem]

Ye

Leafs up 2-0 on the Panthers in the series. I didn't see that happening. Series is still far from over though.

Yeah two one goal games.

Credit to Toronto last night they simply kept answering and overall have had the better goaltending thus far.

We have to regroup and take both home games to restart this as a best of three series to have any real legit shot. But credit to Toronto so far. They have simply been the better team to this point.

Sure Game 1 was a one goal game.But the Panthers really only came back from a 4-1 deficit after Stolarz was knocked out of the game and a rusty Woll (hadn't played a game in 18 days) went in the net.
The Panthers and Woll both looked much better in Game 2.

I expect the Panthers to absolutely tie this series up. Would be surprised if they don’t.

 

[falguy]

Don't usually watch Vegas but obviously when it's playoffs I make an exception. Also doesn't hurt that they are playing against Edmonton who is always entertaining. I say Jack Eichel is under-rated. He is so good at slowing the game down, it's like he sets it to 50% speed when he's got the puck. Really impressive. Complete opposite of guys like McDavid and Mackinnon, but really effective. Seemed he was generating chances all night (and not just on the PP). The 2 Edmonton superstars were struggling to do anything...until they weren't. That was a fun game to watch. Moving to, and sticking with Pickard, was a very wise move for the Oil.

 

[northern exposure]

Don't usually watch Vegas but obviously when it's playoffs I make an exception. Also doesn't hurt that they are playing against Edmonton who is always entertaining. I say Jack Eichel is under-rated. He is so good at slowing the game down, it's like he sets it to 50% speed when he's got the puck. Really impressive. Complete opposite of guys like McDavid and Mackinnon, but really effective. Seemed he was generating chances all night (and not just on the PP). The 2 Edmonton superstars were struggling to do anything...until they weren't. That was a fun game to watch. Moving to, and sticking with Pickard, was a very wise move for the Oil.

Agree about Eichel. He flew under the radar during his years with the Sabres.
Now he is getting a lot more eyes on him. Eichel set up Olofsson twice on the power play and ended up with 3 assists. He ended the night even in +/- though because he was on the ice for the OT winner and the Oilers 4th line scored twice against his line.
After 8 playoff games all 12 Oilers Forwards have at least one goal.

Pietrangelo had an interesting game too. He scored the game tying goal in the 3rd to send it to OT. But then his gaffes in OT resulted in Hyman getting a shot and hitting the crossbar and then McDavid hitting the post on a later play.

 

[The Gator]

Eichel set up Olofsson twice

That pass across the ice for Olofsson's one timer was faaaantastic. Beauty of a goal and assist

 

[falguy]

Pietrangelo had an interesting game too. He scored the game tying goal in the 3rd to send it to OT. But then his gaffes in OT resulted in Hyman getting a shot and hitting the crossbar and then McDavid hitting the post on a later play.

Thought the same. Easily could have been the , and not in a good way. The blunder that set up Hyman was particularly egregious. Initially I thought it was him, not Eichel, getting walked by McDavid on the winning goal and remember thinking "that was an OT he'd like to forget" I'm sure it was, anyway

Such a positive for the Oilers winning a game where their top players were pretty much invisible and, getting nothing out of their powerplay. I expect both of those to change next game.

 

[zamboni]

Don't usually watch Vegas but obviously when it's playoffs I make an exception. Also doesn't hurt that they are playing against Edmonton who is always entertaining. I say Jack Eichel is under-rated. He is so good at slowing the game down, it's like he sets it to 50% speed when he's got the puck. Really impressive. Complete opposite of guys like McDavid and Mackinnon, but really effective. Seemed he was generating chances all night (and not just on the PP). The 2 Edmonton superstars were struggling to do anything...until they weren't. That was a fun game to watch. Moving to, and sticking with Pickard, was a very wise move for the Oil.

Agree about Eichel. He flew under the radar during his years with the Sabres.
Now he is getting a lot more eyes on him. Eichel set up Olofsson twice on the power play and ended up with 3 assists. He ended the night even in +/- though because he was on the ice for the OT winner and the Oilers 4th line scored twice against his line.

Tough break for Eichel being undressed by McDavid on the OT goal, but it's not like he's the first big time player to have had that done to him. Played a great game overall and I thought for sure Vegas would close it out after killing off the OT major. They really dominated from the middle of the 3rd period onward, but that's the Cup playoffs for you. Games turn on a dime.

 

[Todem]

What a game last night!

The Panthers were hitting and hitting often. That's our game. Now we need to even this up tomorrow night and we have a brand new series.

 

[The Gator]

Edmonton deserve that. They let Vegas glide the puck up with 10 seconds left instead of checking/stopping it.

 

[General Malaise]

Oooooof

 

[dickey moe]

That was nuts.

 

[zamboni]

2nd worst own goal in Oilers history

 

[northern exposure]

Edmonton deserve that. They let Vegas glide the puck up with 10 seconds left instead of checking/stopping it.

100% agree. I thought they learned the lesson of playing to 0:00 on the clock in game 1 of round 1 vs the Kings. I guess they didn't learn yet.
Fought so hard to come back and tie it. Then get lazy and let the other team get a late one to win.
Better come out with a much better showing in game 4 vs Vegas.

 

[General Malaise]

Crack it open, Dallas!!!!!

 

[Todem]

At the Panthers game…..LFG!!!! Tie this **** up!!!!!

 

[The Gator]

Crack it open, Dallas!!!!!

Booooo

 

[The Gator]

At the Panthers game…..LFG!!!! Tie this **** up!!!!!

Double booooo

 

[Todem]

Strong 1st period for my Cats…..keep it going.

 

[Todem]

Woll is playing outta his mind as we have out shot the Leafs 29-12.

Without his stellar play we would be up 3-0 easily.

Big 3rd period coming up here.

Chucky is clearly not himself. Maybe skating at 80% in this series.

 

[northern exposure]

Hurricanes have the Capitals on the brink of elimination. Oilers have the Golden Knights in the same spot.
Leafs and Panthers tied at 2 games each. Stars up 2 games to 1 on the Jets and this thread is on page 2?!!

If you missed game 4 between the Oilers and Vegas,you missed Adin Hill channeling his inner Billy Smith.

 

[The Gator]

Dominate game by Edmonton

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Hurricanes have the Capitals on the brink of elimination.

They've outplayed the Caps in every game. The Canes are just a better team right now.

 

[zamboni]

Dominate game by Edmonton

Showed some real moxie/resiliency to bounce back in a big way after that devastating Game 3 loss. Kane taking a page from his opponent Mark Stone in showing up big time for the playoffs without playing much (in this case, at all) in the regular season.

 

[Fat Nick]

Hurricanes have the Capitals on the brink of elimination.

They've outplayed the Caps in every game. The Canes are just a better team right now.

This. The only time the Caps have looked better was early in game 2, and early in game 3. Beyond that, it hasn't been close. Carolina looks like they have an extra guy on the ice. They know where the puck is going, and how to get to it faster.

I'm not sure I'm even going to watch game 5. It's a superstition thing for me - and a stress thing. I can't watch elimination games other than game 7...

 

[falguy]

Stars up 2 games to 1 on the Jets and this thread is on page 2?!!

Too many Canadian teams, maybe? No Pittsburgh, NY, Tampa left? Probably not as many FBGs as fans of the remaining teams. Still watching but don't necessarily care about the results as much? Just speculating.

Edmonton has surprised me. Didn't think they had much other than one line. They are getting contributions from everyone. Drai has been invisible for 3 games now and they won 2 of them,
Not surprised about Washington. They really weren't as good as their record, IMO, and didn't look that much better than Montreal save for game 1.
Dallas should beat Winnipeg. Another team that I was never really sold on, and when Hellebuyck is mortal they stand little chance.
Toronto and Florida is going to be a gongshow next 2-3 games. They hate each other and the refs better be careful calling the rest of the series. Florida seems to have tilted the scales, which means, Toronto likely to win game 5.

 

[dgreen]

Hurricanes have the Capitals on the brink of elimination.

They've outplayed the Caps in every game. The Canes are just a better team right now.

This. The only time the Caps have looked better was early in game 2, and early in game 3. Beyond that, it hasn't been close. Carolina looks like they have an extra guy on the ice. They know where the puck is going, and how to get to it faster.

I'm not sure I'm even going to watch game 5. It's a superstition thing for me - and a stress thing. I can't watch elimination games other than game 7...

Yep, Caps are slow. Just not a good matchup for them. I was worried about this series before the playoffs started. Carlson keeps getting 25 minutes each game so maybe he does something well that I just don't notice, but he looks slower and slower every time I watch.

 

[zamboni]

Hurricanes have the Capitals on the brink of elimination.

They've outplayed the Caps in every game. The Canes are just a better team right now.

This. The only time the Caps have looked better was early in game 2, and early in game 3. Beyond that, it hasn't been close. Carolina looks like they have an extra guy on the ice. They know where the puck is going, and how to get to it faster.

I'm not sure I'm even going to watch game 5. It's a superstition thing for me - and a stress thing. I can't watch elimination games other than game 7...

Yep, Caps are slow. Just not a good matchup for them. I was worried about this series before the playoffs started. Carlson keeps getting 25 minutes each game so maybe he doesn't something well that I just don't notice, but he looks slower and slower every time I watch.

Seems like the year long goal chase clearly has caught up to Ovi. Looks totally gassed. Which shouldn’t be surprising given how long he’s been at this.

Also not enough credit is going to Freddie Andersen. The lack of solid goaltending has been a longstanding issue for the Canes in the playoffs and they finally seem to have found it.

 

[Don Quixote]

Hurricanes have the Capitals on the brink of elimination.

They've outplayed the Caps in every game. The Canes are just a better team right now.

This. The only time the Caps have looked better was early in game 2, and early in game 3. Beyond that, it hasn't been close. Carolina looks like they have an extra guy on the ice. They know where the puck is going, and how to get to it faster.

I'm not sure I'm even going to watch game 5. It's a superstition thing for me - and a stress thing. I can't watch elimination games other than game 7...

Yep, Caps are slow. Just not a good matchup for them. I was worried about this series before the playoffs started. Carlson keeps getting 25 minutes each game so maybe he doesn't something well that I just don't notice, but he looks slower and slower every time I watch.

It surprised me when the Caps scratched Leonard for that reason. He has not produced in the scoring department, but he was one of the few players who seemed to be able to keep up with them. But they re-activated him yesterday and still got crushed; so, it did not really matter.

 

[Fat Nick]

Not surprised about Washington. They really weren't as good as their record, IMO, and didn't look that much better than Montreal save for game 1.

I honestly don't get this. You're not the only one who has had this view, but - while yes, I'm a Caps homer here - they honestly looked as good as any Caps team I've seen, and they looked good more consistently than many of the teams of the past. They did on occasion go down a goal or two at the start of games, and had the most come from behind wins in hockey if I recall. Not a great stat for playoff hockey, but they still put up great numbers and looked every part of a playoff team with good depth, great goaltending, good goal output, and a solid D.

They also won against most of the teams still left in the playoffs - 12-3-3 record combined.

• 2-0-1 vs. Toronto
• 3-0-0 vs. Florida
• 2-2-0 vs. Carolina
• 0-0-2 vs. Winnipeg
• 1-1-0 vs. Dallas
• 2-0-0 vs. Vegas
• 2-0-0 vs. Edmonton

I just don't understand why people kept saying, even going into the playoffs, that they weren't as good as their record showed. Based on what?

 

[guru_007]

Caps looked good in the games I saw them this year. Very good team that rolled out 4 solid lines.
That said, over the past 2-3 years, Carolina is almost never the second best team on the ice. I don't know how they do it so consistently, but they are almost always first to pucks, put up more SOG, great special teams. Even when Tampa had their great run, I didn't see them dominate games like Carolina often does, but they always had Vassy in the back, just in case.

 

[falguy]

Not surprised about Washington. They really weren't as good as their record, IMO, and didn't look that much better than Montreal save for game 1.

I honestly don't get this. You're not the only one who has had this view, but - while yes, I'm a Caps homer here - they honestly looked as good as any Caps team I've seen, and they looked good more consistently than many of the teams of the past. They did on occasion go down a goal or two at the start of games, and had the most come from behind wins in hockey if I recall. Not a great stat for playoff hockey, but they still put up great numbers and looked every part of a playoff team with good depth, great goaltending, good goal output, and a solid D.

They also won against most of the teams still left in the playoffs - 12-3-3 record combined.

• 2-0-1 vs. Toronto
• 3-0-0 vs. Florida
• 2-2-0 vs. Carolina
• 0-0-2 vs. Winnipeg
• 1-1-0 vs. Dallas
• 2-0-0 vs. Vegas
• 2-0-0 vs. Edmonton

I just don't understand why people kept saying, even going into the playoffs, that they weren't as good as their record showed. Based on what?

Not sure. Probably a bad take and somewhat skewed due to how I thought they looked against the Habs. Other than game 1 where they really dominated most of the it seemed like Montreal wasn't far off. And I did not think Montreal was very good. They barely squeaked into the playoffs and had tons of holes on their team. So, guess I was expecting 4 easy wins and didn't see it happen. Also, much like any cinderella sort of team (a team like the Caps who outplayed their pre-season expectations, most would agree) , I just didn't give them their just deserts, I suppose. Like, I know they were the best team in the East, but I still don't believe it? They have lots of young talent so will be strong for year to come and I certainly would expect them to be great again next year.

Mostly I expected them to run all over the Habs, they didn't so I said they were overrated lol. Pretty dumb take, I know.

That said, now that I dissed them they should be all set to come back and beat Carolina.

 

[Fat Nick]

Not surprised about Washington. They really weren't as good as their record, IMO, and didn't look that much better than Montreal save for game 1.

I honestly don't get this. You're not the only one who has had this view, but - while yes, I'm a Caps homer here - they honestly looked as good as any Caps team I've seen, and they looked good more consistently than many of the teams of the past. They did on occasion go down a goal or two at the start of games, and had the most come from behind wins in hockey if I recall. Not a great stat for playoff hockey, but they still put up great numbers and looked every part of a playoff team with good depth, great goaltending, good goal output, and a solid D.

They also won against most of the teams still left in the playoffs - 12-3-3 record combined.

• 2-0-1 vs. Toronto
• 3-0-0 vs. Florida
• 2-2-0 vs. Carolina
• 0-0-2 vs. Winnipeg
• 1-1-0 vs. Dallas
• 2-0-0 vs. Vegas
• 2-0-0 vs. Edmonton

I just don't understand why people kept saying, even going into the playoffs, that they weren't as good as their record showed. Based on what?

Not sure. Probably a bad take and somewhat skewed due to how I thought they looked against the Habs. Other than game 1 where they really dominated most of the it seemed like Montreal wasn't far off. And I did not think Montreal was very good. They barely squeaked into the playoffs and had tons of holes on their team. So, guess I was expecting 4 easy wins and didn't see it happen. Also, much like any cinderella sort of team (a team like the Caps who outplayed their pre-season expectations, most would agree) , I just didn't give them their just deserts, I suppose. Like, I know they were the best team in the East, but I still don't believe it? They have lots of young talent so will be strong for year to come and I certainly would expect them to be great again next year.

Mostly I expected them to run all over the Habs, they didn't so I said they were overrated lol. Pretty dumb take, I know.

That said, now that I dissed them they should be all set to come back and beat Carolina.

I wish the last comment was true...I agree with what @guru_007 said above - even given the Caps' good regular season, Carolina was the one team I didn't want to draw in the east. Their style of play throws teams off their game. Rod the Bod is the coaching equivalent of Tom Wilson. I hate the guy so much because he's good. He gets his teams ready, and they play up to the occasion. I think the air is out of the Caps' balloon now - we'll go down tomorrow. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. Carolina has us so far off of our game that we're just not in any rhythm. I think the Caps have the gusto to come back from 4-1 against a lot of teams, but Carolina isn't one of them.

With that said - Your comment re. youth - 100% agree. I actually think we take a step up once Ovi and potentially Carlson retire. I think Ovi provides a spark and leadership, but on the ice, he's a liability at times, and I think he gets forced the puck far too often. He can still shoot with the best of them and he has the instinct, but everything else is a minus. The timing of the goal record was awful. Everyone was on an emotional high during the run, and he hit it just before the playoffs - the energy levels, especially his, came down at the worst time. Carlson needs to play fewer minutes. Dude gets gassed late in these games playing 24 minutes a game. I can't understate how much we miss Fehérváry - him being out forced Carlson to play more because Alexeyev looks so lost with the puck in his own zone. I think we have the talent depth to make it up, especially with some salary cap room to sign somebody else. Wilson can more than make up the energy and leadership at this point. Not a knock on Ovi and Carlson. I love them both and what they've done for the franchise, but their age is showing now when you look at full end-to-end hockey.

I'm not giving up, but I don't have high hopes for this season...