(NHL Playoffs) Rite of Spring 2017: can't go on, no, I'll go on

[The Six 759]

Let that be a lesson to you kids. Injuring your first round opponent's best defenseman doesn't matter when your team still sucks.

[DTConcepts 2,111]

[Morgan33 4,108]

You actually bothered to watermark that half assed logo 

Go Sharks or Oilers. 

[SabresRule7361 553]

THAT close to a Battle of Alberta.

 

But hey, the hockey gods got to make Carlyle happy!

[ninersdd 578]

Praying for a California 2nd round!

[wildwing64 1,702]

[Still MIGHTY 3,834]

They can't win here. They can't win there. Annnnnnnd that's handshakes.

 

After last year's first round debacle, that one felt pretty sweet. Just, yeah, I feel really, really good right now.

 

Whether it's another round of Alberta or Sharks/Ducks Part Deux, I'm so ready for Round 2.

 

LETS GO DUCKS!

[Sport 14,032]

RIP Flames. Thank you for allowing the Blue Jackets to not be the first eliminated team. 

[2001mark 1,204]

12 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

That was nuts. Down 4-1 and they kept crawling back, only to lose 5-4.

On one hand? It's encouraging to know that this team will not stop fighting. On the other hand? This shows the danger of always having to win from behind. Eventually it catches up to you and you just can't do it. The Leafs need to kick themselves into gear and shut down Washington from the start. The Caps are too good to let them put 3-4 on you while you're still waking up. It's the playoffs. Start the game ready to win it.

 

The good news in all of this is that four games in? Toronto hasn't been outclassed by the best team in the league like I thought they would be. This Leafs team is going to be very good down the line.

I guess it's something that they're winning & dying by the same formula they played during the regular season.  That should help them reflect in the offseason & adapt next season yes?  

I know the stupid turnover spoiled their 1 goal margin late, & yet I would hope Babcock would tell that room - sure, here's the piss poor concentration lapse & here's the guy who did it... but his flub wouldn't have mattered as much if x hadn't happened here, if y hadn't given up here, if z hadn't quit on this play, etc.  Throw the guy under the bus only to throw the rest of them under thinking one play is all that mattered.  Smarten up & play for each other, not to dangle around expecting automatic comeback wins.

If it's a series lost, I don't know if I hope they lose in 6 on home ice or if they can manage to go the full 7 to lose on the road.  Maybe losing at home would be the best of the worst options, get a season ending standing O & whatnot to bank in the brain.

No matter the series result, Andersen has shown his true worth, & Matthews has had a very good playoff (I haven't heard his name called much on goals allowed).

[maz 169]

If the Pens lose tonight, I will begin to worry. A lot. I'm confident they won't, this isn't a Bylsma/Shero-era "let's throw as many scoring forwards out there as possible and forget about the other side of the puck then lose our heads the second adversity hits" kinda team that blew leads like it was their job. But if they do lose tonight, and Columbus rides that kinda wave back home for Game Six...

 

Let's just hope Bobs keeps playing like he has, Fleury shakes Game Four off, and the Pens stop turning over the puck so much.

[_J_ 2,046]

3 hours ago, 2001mark said:

I guess it's something that they're winning & dying by the same formula they played during the regular season.  That should help them reflect in the offseason & adapt next season yes?  

I know the stupid turnover spoiled their 1 goal margin late, & yet I would hope Babcock would tell that room - sure, here's the piss poor concentration lapse & here's the guy who did it... but his flub wouldn't have mattered as much if x hadn't happened here, if y hadn't given up here, if z hadn't quit on this play, etc.  Throw the guy under the bus only to throw the rest of them under thinking one play is all that mattered.  Smarten up & play for each other, not to dangle around expecting automatic comeback wins.

If it's a series lost, I don't know if I hope they lose in 6 on home ice or if they can manage to go the full 7 to lose on the road.  Maybe losing at home would be the best of the worst options, get a season ending standing O & whatnot to bank in the brain.

No matter the series result, Andersen has shown his true worth, & Matthews has had a very good playoff (I haven't heard his name called much on goals allowed).

I honestly believe the winner of game six will take the series, be it toronto or was.

 

Just gotta hope to steal one from was in was, and then come back to TO with the lead and a chance to win.

 

Either way, the leafs overpeformed this year, and they should be proud.

[The Six 759]

Damn, you know what, I actually feel bad about what the Ducks have done. They selfishly denied everyone a Battle of Alberta. We could have watched the Flames play a sloppy mess against the Oilers, which surely would have been much more entertaining than watching them play a sloppy mess against the Ducks. Damn this California Hockey!

[Seadragon76 870]

Calgary didn't even bother to show up in this series... yeesh. It wasn't even close.

 

Now, I'm pretty sure that Edmonton or San Jose will put up a better fight then Calgary did, but time is indeed on Anaheim's side. I bet you the bigger Duck fans on here like wlidwing, Still MIGHTY and monkeypower would probably love to see the Oilers-Sharks series go to 7 games.

[Still MIGHTY 3,834]

I don't know. I've never come down on a difinitive side of the Rest vs Rust debate. Sometimes it's great, sometimes not.

 

The Ducks may benefit from the rest to nurse up some injuries and get Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler back. They're also a team that hasn't lost in regulation since March 10, so idk if the break screws up the rhythm or not.

 

On the other side, sure, you want to see the Oilers and Sharks flop about and slap each other around for the full seven, but they'll be in the every other day game rhythm and travel rhythm (depending on opponent).

 

But yeah, I guess in this instance I'd take the rest. Get the key guys healed up, and even though I mentioned the rhythm, this Sharks/Oilers series doesn't seem to actually have a rhythm. So at worst, the next series starts at even, in that regard.

[Morgan33 4,108]

2 hours ago, The Six said:

Damn, you know what, I actually feel bad about what the Ducks have done. They selfishly denied everyone a Battle of Alberta. We could have watched the Flames play a sloppy mess against the Oilers, which surely would have been much more entertaining than watching them play a sloppy mess against the Ducks. Damn this California Hockey!

 

2 hours ago, Seadragon76 said:

Calgary didn't even bother to show up in this series... yeesh. It wasn't even close.

 

You guys have both contacts in one eye?  Not a single game was a blowout and three of Anaheim's wins came on the heels of questionable calls.

 

-Game 1:  Game winner was a result of a call where Gibson was barely touched.  Hook and a hold on a clean break-away for Calgary results in no call.
-Game 2:  Calgary's go ahead goal was waived off cause once again, Gibson was brushed.  Game winner was a result a fluke bounce following a penalty where the Flames were punished for committing the exact infraction Anaheim did, seconds earlier, and got away with it (of course).
-Game 3: Goal to make it 4-3 was clearly scored with a high stick.
-Game 4: Flames deserved to lose this one, but it was essentially a 1 goal game with an empty netter added at the end.

Not saying the Flames deserved to win the series by any stretch, their goal-tending was terrible.  But to say they 'didn't show up' is about as far from the truth as you could possibly get.  They outplayed Anaheim for large stretches of the first three games.

[Still MIGHTY 3,834]

It was a sweep, but yeah not a completely dominant sweep. The Ducks lagged in the second periods of the first two games and let Calgary hang around or back into it (mostly thanks to Sean Monahan). They didn't necessarily put away the Flames like they could have, but they haven't really done that all year. They've just done what they had to get done.

 

And look, the officiating was just bad period, both ways. Calgary had 8 consective power plays in Calgary, starting with Game 3 where the Ducks got zero power plays. And the Game 3 Thompson goal? Obviously wasn't so "clearly" a high stick. It was called a goal on the ice, and the call stood on review.

 

The key to this series, as most, was goaltending. Even if the Flames had won Game 3 as they should've, the Ducks were always going to win this series in the long term. Brian Elliot was awful in this series, as the numbers bear out. John Gibson was very good, outside of that Game 3, and even after he was pulled in 3, Jonathan Bernier stood strong and didn't allow anything as the Ducks climbed back.

 

The Ducks were just the better team, too. I said Ducks in 5, and that looked to be the case. It's just that Calgary lost their one with Game 3.

[MiK 318]

Ducks/Flames felt very similar to Ducks/Jets from a couple years ago. If I remember correctly, Winnipeg had every chance to win the first three games but blew 3rd period leads and then had a meltdown in game 4.

 

This year, Calgary had every chance to win really all four games but had a meltdown in game 3.

[Still MIGHTY 3,834]

12 minutes ago, MiK said:

Ducks/Flames felt very similar to Ducks/Jets from a couple years ago. If I remember correctly, Winnipeg had every chance to win the first three games but blew 3rd period leads and then had a meltdown in game 4.

 

This year, Calgary had every chance to win really all four games but had a meltdown in game 3.

 

I thought that too. I believe in Ducks/Jets, the Ducks only led for a total of like 40 seconds through the first three games.

[Still MIGHTY 3,834]

Not only is Penguins-Blue Jackets Game 5 relegated to NHL Network, it's the local Pittsburgh Root Sports feed.

 

This will be a decent game on mute.

[DTConcepts 2,111]

1 minute ago, Still MIGHTY said:

Not only is Penguins-Blue Jackets Game 5 on NHL Network, it's the local Pittsburgh Root Sports feed.

 

This will be a decent game on mute.

 

 

I saw a statistic somewhere that said the Penguins' announcers were the #1 leading cause of suicide amongst NHL fans.

 

Also, sorry if that was too edgy.