The 2024 Quest for Lord Stanley's Cup - general NHL playoffs discussion thread

[tbone_ 14106]

These goalies are fucking ballin’ out in Van/Nash tonight. 

On their fucking heads

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Holy shit, Canucks score with 1:39 left. 

[Beau Vine 54205]

Dumb dumb dumb penalty.

 

[Beau Vine 54205]

VAN-EDM will be really good.

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Leafs at Bruins on ABC now. 

[Firemans4Horn 18034]

Really not a fan of NHL refs calling cheapy penalties in the playoffs. Make them earn the 2 minutes. 

[C-Man 27184]

Swayman is standing on his head

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Scoreless through 40. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Leafs break through with 11 left. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Well, that was short-lived. 

Edited May 5 by shadow_operative2.0

[NCMountaineer 100]

holy shit

 

and of course the Leafs will go full Leafs and double down on not fixing their defense in the offseason. And how fitting that it was Reilly that got torched. 

Edited May 5 by NCMountaineer

[dcar00 14150]

that was nuts.

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Well, that's one way to lose. 

[markstanco 12570]

I feel you Toronto. I’m a cowboys fan.

But still, lolololololol Mathews.

Feel bad for Domi though. Like that cat.

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Pretty fucking slick move though. 

[C-Man 27184]

What a horrible bounce for Toronto. Wow!

[Beau Vine 54205]

[Longboard Horn 40290]

With the Leafs eliminated I get to post this again 

 

[Mittens 8256]

8 yrs, $92M - contract starts next year and runs through 2032-33.

 

[markstanco 12570]

Meh.

[Beau Vine 54205]

Zibanijad scores in 1st 3 minutes, and Carolina answers within a minute.

I think this is going to be the best 2nd round series.

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

2-1 NYR on the PP. 

[Beau Vine 54205]

This former ref ESPN has working is way more worthless than Gene Steritore.

Mika again, 2-1 NYR.

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

3-1 now, late 1st. 

[Beau Vine 54205]

 

[Beau Vine 54205]

Newsflash -- NHL has officiating issues:

 

[Beau Vine 54205]

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

4-2, 10 left. 

[Beau Vine 54205]

 

[Vertuzzi 1369]

I’ve since recovered from last night. Fucking Bruins nearly gave me an aneurysm. Anyway, on to Round 2:

Rangers in 7

Panthers in 6

Colorado in 6

Edmonton in 6

[Beau Vine 54205]

 

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

1 hour ago, Vertuzzi said:

Colorado in 6

[Chewbacca 7766]

I'm right here. You can talk to me.

[NCMountaineer 100]

19 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Newsflash -- NHL has officiating issues:

 

That game was about as shittily officiated as I've seen in a while this deep into the playoffs, and I say that as a fan of the team that had the edge in PP opportunities. 

[Beau Vine 54205]

13 minutes ago, NCMountaineer said:

That game was about as shittily officiated as I've seen in a while this deep into the playoffs, and I say that as a fan of the team that had the edge in PP opportunities. 

It was so bad from the opening face off, that them pulling the stunt I quoted didn't even surprise me.

[C-Man 27184]

I still like Carolina and Florida to win their series in the East, which was my prediction before the playoffs started. I'm still pretty firm on Edmonton getting to the WCF and I picked Colorado before the playoffs to beat the Stars in R2. I think it will be a great series and I hope I'm ultimately proven wrong. I think the Dallas-Colorado winner makes the Finals. Initially, I picked Carolina to get win the East. I think I might pick Florida now if I could do things over.

At any rate, here's what I'm thinking: Avalanche in 6, The Oil in 6, Carolina in 7 and Florida in 6

Here's some interesting info from The Athletic:

Goldman: I guess almost blowing a 3-1 lead in Round 1 for the second straight year can knock down some confidence around a team. Honestly, though, this feels like it’s less about Boston and more about how dominant Florida has been all season on both ends of the ice.

Salvian: The Bruins won all four regular-season meetings against the Panthers this season but clearly come in as the underdogs in this series. Jeremy Swayman can win the Bruins a few games in Round 2, but if they can’t get more offense going against a deep Panthers team than they did against the Maple Leafs, they aren’t going to be moving on. I’m hoping this one goes the distance, though. Who doesn’t love a revenge storyline?

 

Gentille: This feels about right. I’ve always liked the idea of Carolina winning a long series here, and Sunday’s result didn’t change that.

Salvian: This series feels like a toss-up for me, and the split of the vote would show our colleagues, somewhat, agree. I picked the Hurricanes in seven because this is the deepest they’ve been in this current window of contention. But the Rangers showed in Game 1 they can make this series a battle, and if Igor Shesterkin can outplay Freddie Andersen, this should be a good series.

Goldman: Something about the series length feels right based on everyone’s votes, too. If the Rangers are going to do it, Game 7 on home ice makes sense versus the Canes closing it out at home in six.

 

Gentille: You’d think more folks would be anticipating a hangover for the Stars. Their series against the Golden Knights was epic, and they’re not going to get much time to recover.

Salvian: I hate that this isn’t the conference final. I’m not ready to say goodbye to the Avs or the Stars. The West is unforgiving this year. I just hope everyone has fun.

Goldman: The most important thing about this series is that we all expect it to go long. Round 2 is already shaping up to be more exciting than the first.

Goldman: This voting feels a little lopsided for a series that could be legitimately interesting — but it’s also hard to see how a Thatcher Demko-less Canucks stop Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, as good as Arturs Silovs was in Round 1.

Salvian: Six percent seems low to me. Silovs showed he could get the Canucks to the second round, but the Oilers offense is going to be a different kind of test for a goalie with 12 games of NHL experience (nine regular season, three playoffs).

[C-Man 27184]

Goldman: More confidence in the Panthers after dispatching the Lightning with ease? Check. Feeling the same about the Rangers after a Round 1 series against the Capitals? Check. A little surprising to see Carolina trend down here, but maybe that changes when there is confirmation on a Brett Pesce return.

Salvian: As a creature of habit, I continue to pick the Hurricanes. I am disappointed in the colleagues who jumped on another bandwagon. Have some integrity!

Goldman: Yee haw. Dallas did not have it easy in Round 1. It was super unlucky that a Round 3-caliber opponent fell into their lap to open up the playoffs. But the Stars were that impressive after rebounding from an 0-2 deficit on home ice. That can definitely instill some confidence into a deep run.

Gentille: The Avs staying put is kind of funny. I feel better about them now than I did a couple of weeks ago, given that Alexandar Georgiev kept it together and their depth guys showed up.

Salvian: On the Oilers’ side of things, they handled the Kings in five games, McDavid has a league-high 12 points, Draisaitl is tied for second with 10 and Zach Hyman is tied for the league lead with seven goals. I could really see it being any of the Oilers, Stars or Avalanche, but I am not ditching my Stars preseason Cup pick. Sorry!

Goldman: I feel like these answers are a little more evenly distributed because there’s one big question looming: Will whoever gets through the gauntlet that is the West have enough oomph to go all the way? That gives teams like Florida a better shot and could be why more of us got behind them.

Gentille: These percentages should be largely unchanged. You can’t change your Cup pick because they won their first-round series in five games instead of four. You shouldn’t be able to change it at all, actually.

Gentille: Matthew Tkachuk getting the goose-egg treatment at the start of the playoffs was a surprise. Then he went out and had nine points in five games. That’ll get you some votes. Jake Oettinger versus Wyatt Johnston might end up as a nice little subplot if Dallas keeps this going.

Salvian: McDavid only getting 3 percent of the vote heading into playoffs is hilarious, but considering only 3 percent said Edmonton could win, that checks out. If you think the Oilers are going to win the Cup, McDavid is going to be the guy.

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Bruins at Panthers on ESPN now. 

[Firemans4Horn 18034]

Haven’t watched any Panthers hockey this season but I like the way they pass the puck around in the offensive zone. 

[C-Man 27184]

Bobrovsky is so good.

I love Florida’s uniforms. So solid.

[Firemans4Horn 18034]

Just now, C-Man said:

I love Florida’s uniforms. So solid.

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Boom, 3-1 Bos right before the end of 2. 

[Firemans4Horn 18034]

Florida getting worked

[Longhorn_Fan68 33859]

9 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Florida getting worked

at home. seems familiar.

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

One game enough for the genius sportswriters to go piling back onto the b’s bandwagon?

[Longhorn_Fan68 33859]

I dunno. I could see this series go to 7. I could also see Boston running away with it. But, it's early. We shall see.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33859]

5 unanswered. ouch. cats better recollect quick

[Vertuzzi 1369]

This result was expected as Florida had too much time off. Still think they beat us in six games. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Canes at Rangers on ESPN. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15944]

Home team scores first.