The Dallas Stars 2024 Playoffs Thread

[Skipper 6170]

They are going to give up a breakaway.  I can feel it.  

[C-Man 27244]

I stand by my root canal comment. The only “pretty” thing about this game is the current score. This shit ugly AF.

[dcar00 14321]

we are "parking the bus".  this next 10 min probably determine the series.

[C-Man 27244]

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop taking amphetamines.

[Firemans4Horn 18118]

Wow, so close

[dcar00 14321]

fuck.  that was it.

[Skipper 6170]

Oh man he had that.

[C-Man 27244]

That building is dead-ass silent. Hope it stays that way.

[msudawg 371]

Dang that would have been huge. So close

[Hagbard Celine 10903]

dump

change

turtle

[Rex Kramer 1345]

19 minutes ago, C-Man said:

This is gonna fall on Otter. I hope he’s up to the task. We are just try to strangle this game now.

Worked thus far. We’re playing the Vegas strategy. Otter has looked good. 

[Firemans4Horn 18118]

Wow, we were completely out of legs there. 

 

“Cannot connect with Hintz”

ain’t that the fuckin truth

Edited April 30 by Firemans4Horn

[C-Man 27244]

[shadow_operative2.0 16013]

Never a fucking doubt, bros. 

[Firemans4Horn 18118]

ROOOOOPE!!!

 

he heard all my shit talk and was tired. 

[Hagbard Celine 10903]

BBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[C-Man 27244]

Roope!!!!!!!!! I never doubted you for a second!

[Fudbelty 2789]

Motherfucking hell yeah!!!

[dcar00 14321]

unbelievable.  Hintz finally does something.

[Zeus 6110]

Dushane in the Lane!

Hintz sacrifices himself then earns that Goal sweeett!!!!

[Skipper 6170]

TONIGHT REDEMPTION IS SPELLED R-O-O-P-E!!!  Beautiful

[C-Man 27244]

Lotta time left. Not over yet.

[Beau Vine 54340]

Thank you for showing up, Roope...

[Firemans4Horn 18118]

How do you get caught out 2 on 1 in that situation? Plz man

[dcar00 14321]

one kinda bad goal but other than that jake has been stones.

[C-Man 27244]

Wow

[Skipper 6170]

Hell yeah boys.  Right back in this bitch.  

[Firemans4Horn 18118]

We kicked their ass the second half off that game. Let’s roll in game 5. 

[Hagbard Celine 10903]

3 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

We kicked their ass the second half off that game. Let’s roll in game 5. 

dude

[C-Man 27244]

Jake was really good tonight.

Wyatt, Robo and Miro were -2’s

Everything Vegas seemed stuck in mud. Shitty building tonight too.

Is there any chance of Marchment or Faksa the rest of the series? What about Hakaanpa?

[wood 11231]

[Pato del Muerto 52552]

Had a function. Saw 2-2 score and the final just now. Zero debilitating heart stress. 

[shadow_operative2.0 16013]

 

 

[Pato del Muerto 52552]

Attaboy cap

[markstanco 12586]

7 hours ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

 

 

[C-Man 27244]

My apologies for not posting these for Games 2 and 3. Here's the Dallas skater stat card for Game 4:

 

 

According to this, Tanev was our best skater last night. Can't really argue with that. He was +3 after all and I thought he was extremely solid, especially considering the way we bunkered down to protect the 3-2 lead. Going down this list, I noticed Lindell a couple of times as well, perhaps most when he got a stick in to break up a chance in the third that was about to be a dangerous scoring chance down low to Otter's left. IIRC, it was basically a wide open net if Lindell doesn't lift the Vegas' player's stick. I liked Duchene and Dadonov's game too. That said, we cannot have names like Miro, Robo, Harley and Hintz at the bottom of this list. Roope had a heroic final 60 seconds after a dreadful game prior to that. Miro's chart is putrid -- probably one of the worst of the season. He had a game-worst -3.80 game score.

As I said a couple of times last night, that game was not very pleasing aesthetically. It is not one you show to non or casual hockey fans who you're trying to convert BUT a win is a win is a win. And we got it. If we can get by the Knights, I think the next round likely against Colorado could be some breath-taking hockey and I hope we get to see it. But I digress ...

 

The full game stat card shows Otter was solid, it not spectacular. He gave up two goals -- one pretty soft one -- and had an XGA of 2.92. On the other side, Logan Thompson continues to outplay his XGA. In G3, it was near six and he gave up only three. Last night it was 4.64 and he let in three -- two were greasy AF "puck luck" goals off the side of his head and Dellandrea's shoulder. Still, he looks like he's completely out of sorts in some scrambles and I'm wondering if they use the eye test and throw Cup-winning Adin Hill out there to change things up. Then I look at Thompson's stats and it appears he's playing brilliantly.

At any rate, the Stars should be commended for getting this series back even after it looked really fucking bleak last week. It's a best-of-3 and the Stars have (shudder) home ice advantage.

Edited April 30 by C-Man

[C-Man 27244]

As an addendum to the above, Heiskanen's -3.80 game score in G4 was his second-worst grade of the season. He was -4.49 against in the Stars' 6-3 loss to Colorado back on 11/18/23. His third-worst game was in our 7-3 loss to Calgary on 11/24/23 so that was a rough week for Miro.

[Skipper 6170]

55 minutes ago, C-Man said:

As an addendum to the above, Heiskanen's -3.80 game score in G4 was his second-worst grade of the season. He was -4.49 against in the Stars' 6-3 loss to Colorado back on 11/18/23. His third-worst game was in our 7-3 loss to Calgary on 11/24/23 so that was a rough week for Miro.

Interesting.  My eyes didn't see him playing that poorly.  His minutes have been absurd.  Concerning if he's wearing down.

[C-Man 27244]

38 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Interesting.  My eyes didn't see him playing that poorly.  His minutes have been absurd.  Concerning if he's wearing down.

I didn't think he looked great last night but, yes, the minutes might be taking an effect especially since we're rolling with just five defensemen.

[C-Man 27244]

57 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Interesting.  My eyes didn't see him playing that poorly.  His minutes have been absurd.  Concerning if he's wearing down.

Also, and I'm trying to remember exactly but I don't think he looked particularly good last year in the Vegas series. I could be wrong. (I checked -- he was a team-worst -7 in the WCF last season.)

[Longhorn_Fan68 33881]

1 hour ago, C-Man said:

Also, and I'm trying to remember exactly but I don't think he looked particularly good last year in the Vegas series. I could be wrong. (I checked -- he was a team-worst -7 in the WCF last season.)

He also gets the hardest matchups. it's almost like we're playing the champs or something.

anyway, does VGK have another gear? because I think the Stars do and if we really get clicking like we know we can, VGK is in trouble. We've won the last two ugly, but with overall very solid play and limited mistakes - something that cannot be said for games 1 and 2. I like the progression we are making, and I think we've been doing it since game 1. VGK on the other hand, seems to be playing the same game without much adjustment. HUGE contest tomorrow. important enough that I think whoever wins it takes the series.

Edited April 30 by Longhorn_Fan68

[C-Man 27244]

1 minute ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

He also gets the hardest matchups. it's almost like we're playing the champs or something.

anyway, does VGK have another gear? because I think the Stars do and if they really get clicking like we know they can, VGK is in trouble. We've won the last two ugly, but with overall very solid play and limited mistakes - something that cannot be said for games 1 and 2. I like the progression we are making, and I think we've been doing it since game 1. VGK on the other hand, seems to be playing the same game without much adjustment. HUGE contest tomorrow. important enough that I think whoever wins it takes the series.

I don't think it's that simple. He's playing nearly 30 mins per night. He's getting ALL the matchups. He just doesn't look his usual silky smooth self and I think it might be because of Vegas' style of play. It's rough and rugged with big defenders who pack the slot tightly in the defensive zone. However, Miro was the best-rated skater on the ice in Game 3.

[C-Man 27244]

BTW, caught Owen Newkirk on one of the spare midday Ticket shows when I was out running an errand earlier. He said Faksa took part in the optional pregame skate yesterday, which indicates he's closer to returning to the lineup than Marchment, who took part in activities before the optional workout. Newkirk said Faksa is probably a player as soon as he can get back in but also doesn't discount what fill-ins like Dellandrea and Craig Smith have given the team in the two games in Vegas.

[Pato del Muerto 52552]

Vegas has big forwards and they hit and go to areas to scrap, and he has to deal with that for 25 minutes a night.  Different thing than trying to skate with McKinnon or mcdavid.  
 

probably why tanev is looking as good as he is, relative to miro. This is his style of fight. 

[Skipper 6170]

3 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

anyway, does VGK have another gear? because I think the Stars do and if we really get clicking like we know we can, VGK is in trouble. We've won the last two ugly, but with overall very solid play and limited mistakes - something that cannot be said for games 1 and 2. I like the progression we are making, and I think we've been doing it since game 1. VGK on the other hand, seems to be playing the same game without much adjustment. HUGE contest tomorrow. important enough that I think whoever wins it takes the series.

I think the first half of game 3 was the best I've seen this Stars team skate all year.  They just weren't finishing at an elite level (and Thompson was making big saves) but other than that aspect, that is as good as it gets.   Games 2 and 4 were very similar.  The winning team was badly outplayed in the first period then turned it around in both.  Game 1 was just weird in the sense that they got up so quick, won special teams and 'won' officiating.   We were all so down (rightfully so) after the first 2 games that we tend to forget they were both kind of toss ups and Vegas just made one more play in each (we were slightly ahead on expected goals both games I believe).  Game 4 was the first game we got some puck luck + special teams advantage on our side.  

To your point, we have yet to put it all together in a game.  Hopefully that is tomorrow.

 

[C-Man 27244]

Adin Hill between the pipes for Vegas tonight

[Longhorn_Fan68 33881]

10 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Adin Hill between the pipes for Vegas tonight

that's surprising, honestly. I don't think I would blame either loss on Thompson. oh well, hopefully Hill is leaky as fuck, which he can be

[Skipper 6170]

That is a fucking risky move.  And feels like a bit of a panic move.  Cassidy could either look like a genius or a moron after tonight.  Remember when MN did this in game 2 last year and we ran them out of the building?  Hintz hat trick I believe

[Firemans4Horn 18118]

On 4/30/2024 at 10:29 AM, C-Man said:

Miro's chart is putrid -- probably one of the worst of the season. He had a game-worst -3.80 game score.

Playing only 5 defenders wears down your top line. DeBoer needs to figure this shit out fast because the NHL playoffs aren’t little league, you can’t play your best players all game long. 

[C-Man 27244]

2 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

that's surprising, honestly. I don't think I would blame either loss on Thompson. oh well, hopefully Hill is leaky as fuck, which he can be

 

1 hour ago, Skipper said:

That is a fucking risky move.  And feels like a bit of a panic move.  Cassidy could either look like a genius or a moron after tonight.  Remember when MN did this in game 2 last year and we ran them out of the building?  Hintz hat trick I believe

Agree on both counts. Look at the metrics and Thompson has not been their biggest problem but he has looked a little discombobulated back there a few times and probably could’ve been dinged a few more times. Plus, Hill is the who led them ultimately to the Cup. I expected him for Game 2 after the softy Marchment goal but then he won and was insanely good in G3 loss.

This does feel like a coach making a reactionary move. At least I hope it is.

 

1 hour ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Playing only 5 defenders wears down your top line. DeBoer needs to figure this shit out fast because the NHL playoffs aren’t little league, you can’t play your best players all game long. 

The Lundkvist thing is strange. Clearly DeBoer doesn’t trust him at this point. Is there not a guy we can dress who we’d use more than 90-120 seconds per night unless somebody goes down with injury. Sucks that he cost us a 1st round pick.