League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - COVID Season Edition - Vol. 3

[AussieCapsFan]

Never thought I'd hear this: "Vegas struggling with their 1C out injured" (Chandler Stephenson).

 

[Langway]

A lot of GMs of mediocre teams going to be asking themselves 'Why not us?' after seeing what Montreal is doing. And they're not wrong. The bar for a deep run has never been lower.

 

[Corby78]

Well nuts, thought price had that.

nhl has to be sweating bullets with the ever possible NYI/Montreal finals looming closer and closer

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

C'mon Montreal. Another OT win, please.

 

[twabby]

Lehner was fantastic tonight. DeBoer must feel like a genius.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

*Ugh* The Vegans win.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Flower to DC plz.

Not happening! Seattle or returning to Pittsburgh are more likely.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Huge game 5 and a best of 3 series now. TBay still the heavy favourites. Let's see if Trotz can pull another rabbit out of his hat.

 

[Langway]

Somebody left the gate open.

 

[Corby78]

Talent coming through for the cap cheaters

 

[mad4comp]

A lot of GMs of mediocre teams going to be asking themselves 'Why not us?' after seeing what Montreal is doing. And they're not wrong. The bar for a deep run has never been lower.

And they'll be in for a rude awakening when the regular divisions are set again. Looking at the division Montreal played in... is it really that much of a stretch that they made it this far?

 

[twabby]

Montreal has been a strong 5v5 team for a few years, let down by poor goaltending and bad special teams. It helps when your goalie returns to form and the zebras decide not to call penalties, negating Montreal’s biggest team weakness.

 

[Langway]

And they'll be in for a rude awakening when the regular divisions are set again. Looking at the division Montreal played in... is it really that much of a stretch that they made it this far?

How closely they've played Vegas suggests they're not a complete pretender that just feasted on the weak North. Turns out Stephenson may have actually been the glue given how quiet Pacioretty and Stone have been.

Montreal has good speed and have long been a strong possession team. But they're not chalk full of rare talents or tons of homegrown pieces. Much of it has been added by Bergevin by other means. It's taken patience but it's not hard to believe it's a story that further adds resolve for GMs staying the course. Bergevin has been somewhat aggressive between the Anderson trade and Toffoli signing but those aren't exactly franchise-altering. He's just added a lot of solid balance and incorporated some good young talent. They, much like the Islanders, will probably fall short ultimately but it's still a galvanizing run that provides valuable experience.

A team like Minnesota probably thinks it could have been them. Or Florida with a couple more pieces and a healthy Ekblad. Still work to be done but there's such parity.

 

[Eirikrautha]

Not seeing a lot of pining for Trotz tonight. I wonder why?

 

[twabby]

Barry Trotz letting the Lightning waste all of their goals tonight. Smart coaching IMO.

 

[StrikingDistance]

Huge game 5 and a best of 3 series now. TBay still the heavy favourites. Let's see if Trotz can pull another rabbit out of his hat.

Aisles come out flat and getting punked. Guess their coach didn't prepare them.

 

[Langway]

Not seeing a lot of pining for Trotz tonight. I wonder why?

I suppose every night must be Barry Referendum Night.

 

[Eirikrautha]

The NBC crew is doing their best to minimize the cheap shot by Barzel. "Was it the glove that was the principle point of contact... maybe...?" What a joke...

 

[pman25]

Barzal loses his temper quite often really, takes a lot of bad penalties. That was bad

 

[John Price]

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Not seeing a lot of pining for Trotz tonight. I wonder why?

where are the Tortz goal by goal updates?!

Is the service down?!

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Keep it up Tampa! Don't let them come back!

 

[StrikingDistance]

Touchdown!

Barry has the Aisles playing without any discipline.

Terrible

 

[John Price]

It's just like last year

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Barzal absolutely must get one game.

No more headshots NHL, no excuses.