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Posted
10 minutes ago, Bill Brasky said:

For fucks sake, hard to say game 2 of round 1 determines the entire future z. but here we are 

last year we went down 0-2 to vegas at home. 

Posted
2 hours ago, crum said:

benn to seguin man... a classic

Blackwell has brought some much needed energy tonight

NEEDED ENERGY AND THE WINNER LETS GO

Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, GoldAppleCorps said:

Whatever switch got flipped with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd, remember where that one is. That's the team that plays to win.

No kidding. That's the team we've been used to, prior to the last couple weeks of the season. I like the all Finn forward line. Seems that combo at least gave stability to all four lines. Maybe they didn't score, but after that line was assembled the play was mostly in the Colorado zone. We can build on stability

Edited by Longhorn_Fan68
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Posted
Things seemed to go better when they played heavy instead of trying to skate and skill with them. 

No kidding. That's the team we've been used to, prior to the last couple weeks of the season. I like the all Finn forward line. Seems that combo at least gave stability to all four lines. Maybe they didn't score, but after that line was assembled the play was mostly in the Colorado zone. We can build on stability


Desperation is a powerful thing in playoff hockey.
Posted

There seemed to be a long time in the OT period without any stoppage in play. It just kept going and going, so after the game finished, I went back and tracked it.   

There was continuous play for 7 minutes 8 seconds in OT. From 12:30 remaining to 5:22 remaining when Bichsel took a helmet to the mouth, no whistles. 

While watching it, it seemed like about 3x to 4x as long as normal between whistles. Maybe longer. 

I checked the next stop and it was 3:56, so only 1 minute 26 seconds until the next whistle.  

Then the goal was at 2:16 (no matter what the clock said), so just 1 minute and 30 seconds.

They took a minute or two to let the players rest while checking Bichsel’s face… probably so that the refs could catch their breaths more than the players. 

The fans needed a break as well, because being on pins & needles for that long is as draining as it is exhilarating.

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Posted

I went to bed at the end of the 2nd period, disgusted by the Stars power play, where they not only couldn’t get shots off, they couldn’t even get the puck in the zone. It was ridiculous. 

There is something very wrong with this team. Rantanen sucks. There isn’t enough team speed. The puck passing is slow and lazy. All this pops up after the trade. I’m pumped they won, but something has to change or it will be an early exit. 

Posted
4 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

I went to bed at the end of the 2nd period, disgusted by the Stars power play, where they not only couldn’t get shots off, they couldn’t even get the puck in the zone. It was ridiculous. 

There is something very wrong with this team. Rantanen sucks. There isn’t enough team speed. The puck passing is slow and lazy. All this pops up after the trade. I’m pumped they won, but something has to change or it will be an early exit. 

I can't disagree with anything you said, especially considering the time frame in which you said it. Our entire power play was skating across the Colorado blue line, then standing there like "now what?". The Avs would gladly nab the puck and fire it on down. It seemed the entire team was cruising at 90% speed, playing not to make a mistake, thinking while skating, and consequently being 2nd best to every contested puck. The first 35 minutes of the game were almost entirely spent with the Stars cobbling defensive efforts to prevent the Avs All-Stars from destroying them.

Starting with around 12:00 left in the 3rd period, Dallas seemed to abandon all that and just start flying around the rink. If a white sweater got in the way, it got trucked. Otherwise, the puck was there for the taking, so they took it. Without their goalie standing on his head, Colorado would have given up 3 in the 3rd. Possibly the Avs thought they could nurse a 1-goal lead through a desperate 3rd period, despite that being an insane game plan. The Stars simply went into rampage mode, and kept it up for a period and a half, until the got the game winner.

To temper expectation, that's 30 minutes worth of playoff speed hockey, after 8 straight games of confused, brain-fog level play. We'll have to wait until Wednesday to see if that was the end of a slump, or just an inspired moment.

Posted
4 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

I went to bed at the end of the 2nd period, disgusted by the Stars power play, where they not only couldn’t get shots off, they couldn’t even get the puck in the zone. It was ridiculous. 

There is something very wrong with this team. Rantanen sucks. There isn’t enough team speed. The puck passing is slow and lazy. All this pops up after the trade. I’m pumped they won, but something has to change or it will be an early exit. 

so you admit to missing the Stars best play of the series and in weeks and you're still concluding they suck? seems like you're basing that opinion off old info. they flipped the switch last night. not sure why it was ever off, but they outplayed the Avs second period on and made them look lost for large stretches of the game. if not for some ill-timed penalties, I think we could have beat them prior to OT. but we were the better team by far and any rust we had seen before is shiny and new now.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, C-Man said:

According to HockeyStatCards.com, Evgeni Dadonov was the best player on the ice last night followed by Jamie Benn.

the moneypuck link above says the same. they were both noticeable all night. first game I've noticed how small dadonov looks

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Posted
23 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

so you admit to missing the Stars best play of the series and in weeks and you're still concluding they suck? 

This.  Maybe hold off on your hot sports opinions if you only watched half of a playoff game.  I don't know if the losing streak (or play before the streak) just broke a lot of our fanbase or what but that isn't the same team we've seen the last 2 nights.   Let's put things in perspective.  The Avs are a Stanley Cup Favorite, favorite to win this series and we were home dogs both Saturday and Monday.   Without Heiskanen, not only our best player but most important player, we are at a talent and schematic disadvantage against this Avs team.   Yet we played a solid game 1 despite outcome (analytics say we outplayed them in game 1 but just didn't get the bounces and didn't finish) and after the first 10 minutes last night we thoroughly outplayed them.  Again, the Avs are a really damn good team.  I think they are definitely better than last year and it was hard to put them away then when we had both Tanev and Heiskanen.  I was concerned our play from the last month would carry over into the playoffs but that obviously hasn't been the case (despite the final score in game 1).  So personally, I'm far more optimistic now than I was before the series started despite losing home ice.  Avs still rightful favorites but they have to be a little concerned they haven't dominated play so far with the Heiskanen wild card in play for the 2nd half of the series.

I'll say this, Harley is turning into a flat out top tier defender before our eyes.  He played 28 minutes Saturday and 36 last night.  We need Miro back because I don't think he can carry that load all series but his future is really bright. Really liked what I saw out of old guys Benn/Seguin/Dadonov and 4th line.  We really need more out of Duchene, Johnston and Rantanen.  Miko played a ton last night but still just doesn't seem comfortable on O.  It's like he's always looking to make the perfect pass.  I'm sure he's going to connect on one at some point, but we need him to just say fuck it and try to get pucks on the net.  I feel like the team overall took that approach as the game played on and that is the way we're going to beat these guys.  There just isn't enough space in playoff hockey against this team to wait for the perfect play. 

I'm exhausted today but great night at the barn.  

 

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Posted
5 minutes ago, Skipper said:

This.  Maybe hold off on your hot sports opinions if you only watched half of a playoff game.  I don't know if the losing streak (or play before the streak) just broke a lot of our fanbase or what but that isn't the same team we've seen the last 2 nights.   Let's put things in perspective.  The Avs are a Stanley Cup Favorite, favorite to win this series and we were home dogs both Saturday and Monday.   Without Heiskanen, not only our best player but most important player, we are at a talent and schematic disadvantage against this Avs team.   Yet we played a solid game 1 despite outcome (analytics say we outplayed them in game 1 but just didn't get the bounces and didn't finish) and after the first 10 minutes last night we thoroughly outplayed them.  Again, the Avs are a really damn good team.  I think they are definitely better than last year and it was hard to put them away then when we had both Tanev and Heiskanen.  I was concerned our play from the last month would carry over into the playoffs but that obviously hasn't been the case (despite the final score in game 1).  So personally, I'm far more optimistic now than I was before the series started despite losing home ice.  Avs still rightful favorites but they have to be a little concerned they haven't dominated play so far with the Heiskanen wild card in play for the 2nd half of the series.

I'll say this, Harley is turning into a flat out top tier defender before our eyes.  He played 28 minutes Saturday and 36 last night.  We need Miro back because I don't think he can carry that load all series but his future is really bright. Really liked what I saw out of old guys Benn/Seguin/Dadonov and 4th line.  We really need more out of Duchene, Johnston and Rantanen.  Miko played a ton last night but still just doesn't seem comfortable on O.  It's like he's always looking to make the perfect pass.  I'm sure he's going to connect on one at some point, but we need him to just say fuck it and try to get pucks on the net.  I feel like the team overall took that approach as the game played on and that is the way we're going to beat these guys.  There just isn't enough space in playoff hockey against this team to wait for the perfect play. 

I'm exhausted today but great night at the barn.  

 

Agree with most of this. But I think the Stars' struggles go back further than the most-recent 8-game losing streak. Post-Miro injury, we were snagging points and wins despite getting outplayed for long stretches of games. I think you can probably go back to when fuckhead Mark Stone hurt Miro's knee. That was probably inflection point #1. We were humming along at that point. Then, we make the questionable mega-deal to get Rantanen. The jury is still out on that one in my mind but we'd better get used to him in a Stars sweater as we're married to that guy now. I wonder how things would look if we still had Stankoven instead of Rantanen, who I think can be very effective in the right situation. If you can pair him with the right talent, he can give you a ton of production. (I say that with full realization that not everybody has Nathan MacKinnon just sitting there.)

It would be amazing if we can get Miro back at some point in this series. Of course the Avs are likely to get Landeskog back but he hasn't played in a game since the Avs hoisted the Cup back in 2022. It will probably take him far longer to shake the rust and get back into the swing of playing high-intensity playoff hockey.

Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I wonder how things would look if we still had Stankoven instead of Rantanen, who I think can be very effective in the right situation. If you can pair him with the right talent, he can give you a ton of production. (I say that with full realization that not everybody has Nathan MacKinnon just sitting there.)

you seriously pondering this? you make that trade every day and all day. Rantanen is a top 20 player in the league. Stanky is top 250. It's not even close. And his ceiling isn't even at Rantanen's floor - mostly due to his stature. He'll be a really good player but he's not a first liner and unless I'm massively wrong, will never be a top 20 player. obvs Rantanen has needed time to settle in and they hadn't found the right line combos until last night. I bet that all Finn line sticks around

Edited by Longhorn_Fan68
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Posted
Just now, C-Man said:

Agree with most of this. But I think the Stars' struggles go back further than the most-recent 8-game losing streak. Post-Miro injury, we were snagging points and wins despite getting outplayed for long stretches of games. I think you can probably go back to when fuckhead Mark Stone hurt Miro's knee. That was probably inflection point #1. We were humming along at that point. Then, we make the questionable mega-deal to get Rantanen. The jury is still out on that one in my mind but we'd better get used to him in a Stars sweater as we're married to that guy now. I wonder how things would look if we still had Stankoven instead of Rantanen, who I think can be very effective in the right situation. If you can pair him with the right talent, he can give you a ton of production. (I say that with full realization that not everybody has Nathan MacKinnon just sitting there.)

It would be amazing if we can get Miro back at some point in this series. Of course the Avs are likely to get Landeskog back but he hasn't played in a game since the Avs hoisted the Cup back in 2022. It will probably take him far longer to shake the rust and get back into the swing of playing high-intensity playoff hockey.

Oh for sure.  We played like shit most of that 7 game win streak leading up to the losing streak and a few games before that.   I think it was a combination of a condensed schedule + pretty much being locked into playoff seeding.  I mean after that loss @ Winnipeg early part of March it was going to be damn near impossible to catch them and only got close because of a bunch of lucky wins.  But whatever it was, I do think the team flipped the switch and I wasn't sure they could.  That doesn't necessarily mean I think we are winning this series.  I still favor the Avs unless Miro can somehow get back soon and fall right back into form.   But I legitimately thought we might have to flat out steal games maximizing on scoring chances + elite goaltending while being completely outplayed (much like several games during that win streak).  We have absolutely held our own so far.

As for Rantanen - I don't think we can really evaluate until next year.  He's clearly still trying to find his role.  Hopefully he can come up with some big moments for us.  I felt like the top line with Rantonen/Robertson/Hintz were starting to figure it out a bit and then of course we lose Robertson.  Speaking of, definitely missing Robo this series.   From ice level, it seems like numerous times there is space and we just need an accurate shot.  I could be off but feel like this is the kind of goalie Robo would get to.  Oh well, nothing we can do about that now.  Need to keep elevating the puck.

Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

you seriously pondering this? you make that trade every day and all day. Rantanen is a top 20 player in the league. Stanky is top 250. It's not even close. And his ceiling isn't even at Rantanen's floor - mostly due to his stature. He'll be a really good player but he's not a first liner and unless I'm massively wrong, will never be a top 20 player. obvs Rantanen has needed time to settle in and they hadn't found the right line combos until last night. I bet that all Finn line sticks around

 

9 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Oh for sure.  We played like shit most of that 7 game win streak leading up to the losing streak and a few games before that.   I think it was a combination of a condensed schedule + pretty much being locked into playoff seeding.  I mean after that loss @ Winnipeg early part of March it was going to be damn near impossible to catch them and only got close because of a bunch of lucky wins.  But whatever it was, I do think the team flipped the switch and I wasn't sure they could.  That doesn't necessarily mean I think we are winning this series.  I still favor the Avs unless Miro can somehow get back soon and fall right back into form.   But I legitimately thought we might have to flat out steal games maximizing on scoring chances + elite goaltending while being completely outplayed (much like several games during that win streak).  We have absolutely held our own so far.

As for Rantanen - I don't think we can really evaluate until next year.  He's clearly still trying to find his role.  Hopefully he can come up with some big moments for us.  I felt like the top line with Rantonen/Robertson/Hintz were starting to figure it out a bit and then of course we lose Robertson.  Speaking of, definitely missing Robo this series.   From ice level, it seems like numerous times there is space and we just need an accurate shot.  I could be off but feel like this is the kind of goalie Robo would get to.  Oh well, nothing we can do about that now.  Need to keep elevating the puck.

I agree with @Skipper that we will not know how the Rantanen deal actually works out until next season (and beyond). From a talent/production perspective, Rantanen was an upgrade over Stankoven (meaning maybe "better" for the immediate time-frame but not long-term). However, I wonder how things might look today if we'd stood pat. (My only real concern moving forward with Rantanen is the amount of money/years committed to him. His production has been other-worldly in the past. He's played 652 career NHL regular-season games. All but 33 of those were with a team that featured MacKinnon, Landeskog, Makar. His scoring rate with CAR-DAL is considerably below his career before that. He's a big guy that isn't overly physical and lumbers around the ice a bit. But he seems to find himself in the right place quite a bit, and had a few of those chances last night. He just didn't bury anything. I think he'll only get better as he gets more and more familiar with his new long-term teammates. I also do not discount the comfort he probably feels with as many Finns as we have on the Stars.)

Edited by C-Man
Posted

I'm still pretty optimistic about Rantanen long term.  The skill for a guy his size really pops even when it doesn't produce a result.  I think once he gets more chemistry with his teammates the points will follow.  I'm sure he would love nothing more than to have a big game in Denver.  Hoping he and Duchene both can shut that crowd down this week.

Posted
2 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

so you admit to missing the Stars best play of the series and in weeks and you're still concluding they suck? seems like you're basing that opinion off old info. they flipped the switch last night. not sure why it was ever off, but they outplayed the Avs second period on and made them look lost for large stretches of the game. if not for some ill-timed penalties, I think we could have beat them prior to OT. but we were the better team by far and any rust we had seen before is shiny and new now.

Yes. Didn’t see the third period and they obviously did something very different. I can’t reconcile the third period with the other periods of this game and the previous one. The other thing I can’t reconcile is that I saw on Reddit the Stars led both games handily in advanced stats. So now I’m completely confused. 

Posted

Frankly, I was waiting for the Stars to give up the next goal early in the 3rd so I could go to bed. I still gotta make it to the office in the morning. I was really resigned to more of what I'd seen for the last 2 weeks.

Believe me when I say you wouldn't think it was the same team. The Stars had a stash of those Mario-Kart type star boosts that they started firing through. They just started wrecking shop, but in a controlled chaos way. The Avs held on by their fingernails and couldn't match the boost. Dallas was unlucky not to pot 3 more goals.

We'll see if that was an exception or the end of a slump. We'll also need to focus on breakaways in practice. The Stars are generating a ton, and getting nothing for their efforts.

Posted
1 hour ago, C-Man said:

 

He's played 652 career NHL regular-season games. All but 33 of those were with a team that featured MacKinnon, Landeskog, Makar. His scoring rate with CAR-DAL is considerably below his career before that. He's a big guy that isn't overly physical and lumbers around the ice a bit. But he seems to find himself in the right place quite a bit, and had a few of those chances last night. He just didn't bury anything. I think he'll only get better as he gets more and more familiar with his new long-term teammates. I also do not discount the comfort he probably feels with as many Finns as we have on the Stars.)

This.  he's now supposed to be the alpha.  he doesn't have those other guys for the opponent to focus on anymore.  we will see if he can raise his game to previous level while being the main target.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

This.  he's now supposed to be the alpha.  he doesn't have those other guys for the opponent to focus on anymore.  we will see if he can raise his game to previous level while being the main target.

disagree. we're not colorado or edmonton or other teams that solely rely on their top line - or at least expect them to carry the bulk of the scoring. our strength is rolling four lines and applying constant pressure, like we did the latter half of last night. we boast the most 20+ goal scorers in the league, for the second season in a row, iirc (8 players this season, which is almost our entire top three lines). I think the beauty of grabbing someone like Rantanen is that he won't have to be "the guy" on this team - he can play his game and contribute in a natural progression rather than trying to force results. I think his relative lack of production is due mostly to line juggling and trying to find a combo that works for him. from my observation from last night, they may have found it.

Posted
6 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

disagree. we're not colorado or edmonton or other teams that solely rely on their top line - or at least expect them to carry the bulk of the scoring. our strength is rolling four lines and applying constant pressure, like we did the latter half of last night. we boast the most 20+ goal scorers in the league, for the second season in a row, iirc (8 players this season, which is almost our entire top three lines). I think the beauty of grabbing someone like Rantanen is that he won't have to be "the guy" on this team - he can play his game and contribute in a natural progression rather than trying to force results. I think his relative lack of production is due mostly to line juggling and trying to find a combo that works for him. from my observation from last night, they may have found it.

If we knew that one of the fin rw could play on the left, I’m surprised we didn’t try it earlier than Robo vacating his spot.  

Posted
31 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Yes. Didn’t see the third period and they obviously did something very different. I can’t reconcile the third period with the other periods of this game and the previous one. The other thing I can’t reconcile is that I saw on Reddit the Stars led both games handily in advanced stats. So now I’m completely confused. 

If you didn't think the Stars play a solid game 1 you are letting the final result cloud your judgment.  Colorado's first goal was a total fluke.  Then Blackwell made a ton of great saves and we also just missed some good chances in the first and the 2nd.  Then we were in the exact situation as we were in the 3rd period last night.  We were down a goal and pressuring, very easily could have scored and tied it up, instead rebounds goes out for an odd man breakaway and that's the game.   The 5-1 final was not indicative of how close the overall play was.  It was a pretty evenly "played" game.  They just had some luck and made the plays and saves that mattered.  That's the thing about hockey more than any other sport.   So much of the game is dictated by bounces.  I mean look at the game winner last night.  The rebound just sat there on the ice for Blackwell spinning which probably helped him elevate it.  We were due for a bounce like that.

Posted
1 hour ago, C-Man said:

Colin Blackwell and Alexander Ovechkin now have the same number of career playoff overtime goals.

Noodle on that.

While you’re noodlin’ .. that would be career playoff OT game winning goals.

Also, they both now have one more than Howe, Lemieux, Bourque, Coffey, and Messier.

Posted
3 minutes ago, VirginiaLonghorn said:

While you’re noodlin’ .. that would be career playoff OT game winning goals.

Also, they both now have one more than Howe, Lemieux, Bourque, Coffey, and Messier.

Tell me about overtime goals that don’t win the game. 

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Posted
18 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Yes. Didn’t see the third period and they obviously did something very different. I can’t reconcile the third period with the other periods of this game and the previous one. The other thing I can’t reconcile is that I saw on Reddit the Stars led both games handily in advanced stats. So now I’m completely confused. 

 

5 minutes ago, GoldAppleCorps said:

Frankly, I was waiting for the Stars to give up the next goal early in the 3rd so I could go to bed. I still gotta make it to the office in the morning. I was really resigned to more of what I'd seen for the last 2 weeks.

Believe me when I say you wouldn't think it was the same team. The Stars had a stash of those Mario-Kart type star boosts that they started firing through. They just started wrecking shop, but in a controlled chaos way. The Avs held on by their fingernails and couldn't match the boost. Dallas was unlucky not to pot 3 more goals.

We'll see if that was an exception or the end of a slump. We'll also need to focus on breakaways in practice. The Stars are generating a ton, and getting nothing for their efforts.

I thought the Stars played well enough in Game 1 but Colorado's first two goals were just unlucky bounces. Meanwhile, the Stars weren't scoring on their best chances. The final two Colorado goals were an empty-netter and garbage-time goal, no big deal. I, too, was surprised to see the stats on MoneyPuck with the Stars something like 60% winning that game. The Hockey Stat Card grades were dominated by Avs at the top but I guess the margins were pretty close. Otter got outplayed by Blackwood in Game 1.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Otter got outplayed by Blackwood in Game 1.

Yep. And Otter outplayed Blackwood in game 2.  Blackwood didn't really play "poorly" either in game 2.  We really could have scored 6+ if he was having an off night.   I think Otter would have probably liked to save 1 of those first 2 Avs goals yesterday but he also came up really clutch with some first period saves when they were rolling to keep it within reach (and then was locked in after the 3rd goal).  I definitely think Otter will probably need to steal a road game with an A performance for us to win this series.

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