Id much rather be playing well going into game 1 but health is obviously the #1 priority. That said, there have been some very wonky results lately. For as poor of an effort that game was for the first 40 minutes, Leafs got bailed out by Samsonov multiple times. Shit, quarter of an inch to the left on the rodriguez shot right after the time out and we are almost certainly talking about a Panthers win today because that Leafs team was absolutely shitting down their pants down the stretch. My concern O' meter is at like 3/10 right now.
I really don’t see a path for Tampa to win this series. They are the former heavyweight champ who held on too long that’s just waiting for someone to finish them.
This should be over in 4 or 5. You can say Vasi can steal a game or two but he kinda just did in game 2 and I don’t know if that can keep up. The Panthers gave them a 4 min power play and Tampa still couldn’t get it done. if the panthers split in Tampa it’s ending in 5 although Bennett is a huge loss. Not just as an anchor for line 2 and PP2 but you end up with someone else moving up getting more TOI that shouldn’t. He’s a bit of an X factor and we saw that when he got suspended in previous playoffs.
It's definitely a big loss. I don't think it will matter for this series, but assuming we make it to round two, it's going to matter against Toronto or Boston. Agree on Vasi. He's taking games the Panthers should have won comfortably and making them 1 goal games, but it's not enough. I still think this comes back to sunrise 3-1 and ends in 6.
Goldie and Red Deer are the best. Such a breath of fresh air compared to listening to the Heat Central State broadcast
Who the heck knows. It’s one of those mystery playoff injuries in that we won’t know exactly how bad it is until he’s back or the playoffs end. I’m confident it’s broken but it depends where it’s broken and how bad. So who knows.
This. They said they would re-evaluate next week, but this is the same coach who said Eetu Loustarinen was day 2 day in the cup final with a fractured shin
6-8 weeks is a pretty normal timeline with a broken bone. Might be able to move that up 1-2 weeks with drugs and it being the playoffs.
Yeah just depends on the bone. If it’s in his hand and he can grip the stick fine (even though it’s painful) he can get the good stuff to help with the pain. If it’s in he wrist and he can’t move or take a wrist shot, then he’s not coming back. So just have no idea.
It's always #CatsIn5 He's been seen at the F1 race without a cast and using his hand without difficulty. That bodes well.
I don't like making marginal changes after a win. Run it back for game 1. If the 4th line struggles, put him in for game 2.
I think we see him Wednesday. That 3rd line makes no sense. None of the pieces fit and tarasenko can’t carry a line at this point in his career.
I really think swayman is playing good enough to steal not just this series but a Stanley cup. That worries me right now.
I'll worry after Wednesday. Panthers had a bunch of chances that just trickled wide. That game was nowhere near as onesided as the score. I also don't expect 4th liners and defensive defenseman to be sniping Bob bar down multiple times in the same game. Finally, I don't expect Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad to each have the worst game of their career in the same game. If history repeats on Wednesday, I'll start to worry.
Almost like the panthers just had to stop stepping on their own dicks and the game would start to tilt their way.
I just don’t get going that route vs Florida. It’s the last team in the league that would be thrown off their game since it IS their game. Like Matthew fucking tkachuk is going to get rattled? I was more worried about the hit from Marchand (which was a great hit btw) just given the injury vs Vegas last year. if anything it gave Florida even more confidence going to Boston since the bruins basically gave Florida permission to punch them in the face, literally.
yea, you aren't going to out rat the panthers. It was a very odd choice. The frustration boiled over for Boston. They thought they had the Panthers figured out after the regular season and game 1, then it all unraveled with the simple adjustment of going back to the original lines.
Having guys who rarely score go bar down on Bob wasn’t going to be a sustainable game plan. panthers also seem to be doing to pasta what they did to kuch. Just some extra attention and TLC. and that was before we dropped the gloves and got dropped.
you've been listening to the pod. lol. It's why I wasn't worried. Game 1 was Boston's depth players making plays WAY over their head while the top guys were getting shut down. If that's Boston's formula for winning, this series ends in 5/6 games
lol I don’t listen to any content after losses. Don’t find it fun. I was worried (and am still worried) about swayman. Hes the best goalie in the series. I was also worried about the effect of Bennett’s injury and it resulting in lines that weren’t clicking. But since the line changes last night, hopefully that’s more solved than not. wouldn’t have minded seeing stollie out there in the last 10 minutes last night though. Barkov is the best player on the ice though and that isn’t remotely close.
It was actually one of our better episodes. No argument, but they need Swayman AND Goals from somewhere to make an upset happen. Right now you have barkov absolutely eliminating whatever line he is matched up against which really makes it hard for Boston's lack of depth to make up for either Pasta or Marchand being eliminated from the score sheet. I think they can get through Boston without Bennett. Lundell between Tkachuck and Verhaeghe has been good enough. The issue becomes that the 3rd line goes from a line that can create offense to a checking line. Not the end of the world, but you need that scoring depth IF you advance. Just not something that is done. Coming into a game cold is REALLY hard. Especially a playoff game. Last thing you want to do is put in your backup for "garbage" time and all of a sudden he gives up a softy or 2 and your 5-1 lead is now 5-3 and they have ALL the momentum. Better off doing what the panthers did is play smothering defense and keep shots away from bob. Yeah, he's standing on the ice, but he's not having to do much so its not too hard on his body. Yup. It took a LONG time, but we are finally seeing Barkov develop the playoff killer instict we've been begging for. He's been the best player on the ice in 5 of the 7 games so far these playoffs.
And now Marchand is out injured on a play where he was going for the late hit. Got to love the irony and the ensuing meltdown.
Had my own championship game tonight (won in double ot) but got to see the winner on the drive home. What a season.
Hoping for an actual series about hockey. There’s gonna be so much skill out there I have no idea what to expect. Goaltending can (and probably will) swing the series one way or another. But you can tell be rangers in 5, Florida in 5, or 7 game double ot and I don’t have an argument against any of it
I haven’t really seen anyone saying that other than maybe bruinsbot73736729 on twitter. Most everyone has pretty much admitted Florida was insanely better. That all said, the bigger complaint isn’t that it swung the series but more that it sucks it had such an impact on it. it’s why I said above for NYR I just want a series about the hockey
Florida was better and got a vast majority of the calls. Leads to series victories most often. Rooting for y’all next (but Dallas overall).