Series Talk: WCSF: (P3) San Jose Sharks vs. (P1) Vegas Golden Knights

[TomasHertlsRooster]

I meant thanks to ME Vlasic regarding all those star players never scoring much against us in the playoffs. He is the master of shutting those guys down.

Yes he is and I just knew that William Karlsson would be the star player to finally break through.

 

[Friday]

Yes he is and I just knew that William Karlsson would be the star player to finally break through.

Pretty likely with his 90% shooting

 

[DeadGhost]

After Game 3's heartbreaker there isn't really too much to clean up before Wednesday:
-Obviously Ryan needs to slot in for Martin. Deboer is essentially waving the white flag on the season if they trot Martin out there for Game 4. He really could have helped the 'Cuda in their run.
-It's been present all series but they desparetly need to work on zone clearances. Swining it around the boards every time they're hemmed deep just isn't working. The speed that Ryan brings that Martin didn't will help get to those pucks first but they all need to be better.
-The dumb penalties are whatever. I don't expect those to continue. Even the Hertl one seemed like self-defense in a weird way. It was vicious but reactionary, imo. That said, the puck over glass penalties (and the excessive icings in Game 2) are a result of failure to clear the zone. If they can figure out another other options for zone clearance the number of icings decrease and those puck of glass penalties will be eliminated.
-I really want to like Labanc but he was clearly the weak link on the PP in Game 3. He treats the puck like a live grenade. He'll still get praise for his pass on the game winner in Game 2 but overall he's a negative on the PP.

The positives:
-The shots and quality of shots are there. Fleury has been outstanding but solvable.
-Everyone was really good at the dot in Game 3. Key faceoffs, for the most part, were won.
-The Sharks essentially eliminated 3 of the Knights lines for 60 minutes. I can maybe think of 3 instances where a non-Karlsson line had sustained pressure. We've been saying what Vegas has been doing isn't sustainable all season but I really feel that just having one line going will make winning a 7 game series extremely challening for them. Keep playing the favorable matchup against them and get under Karlsson's skin early in Game 4

 

[Pinkfloyd]

If it were up to me and DeBoer still ices Martin, which I'm expecting, I'd fire him for it. There's no excuse for not playing Ryan for the last two and a half months.

 

[do0glas]

Guess this goes 7.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

The loss sucks but it was almost entirely self-inflicted. I feel like if the Sharks cut out the crap and play with the same level of intensity, they'll beat these guys.

 

[Friday]

This is already a crazy roller coaster of a series. Feel like were supposed to enjoy this as fans but its stressing me out haha. Hopefully the the d pairings for game 4 change, Sharks forwards have looked fine.

 

[Used As A Shield]

The loss sucks but it was almost entirely self-inflicted. I feel like if the Sharks cut out the crap and play with the same level of intensity, they'll beat these guys.

Agree.

 

[DeadGhost]

The loss sucks but it was almost entirely self-inflicted. I feel like if the Sharks cut out the crap and play with the same level of intensity, they'll beat these guys.

100%. Vegas had 15 passengers (Fleury, Karlsson, Marchessault, and Smith excluded) in their lineup. I like our chances if that continues.

 

[Sleepy]

Even if SJ loses this series, pretty happy with their performance. Not Martin's fault he's undeservedly in the lineup each night.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

If it were up to me and DeBoer still ices Martin, which I'm expecting, I'd fire him for it. There's no excuse for not playing Ryan for the last two and a half months.

I would’ve fired him a long time ago because he has been making blatant, terrible lineup decisions for a while now. Micheal Haley played 55 NHL games last year. There is no excuse for a coach to do that in 2016-2017. Paul Martin over Joakim Ryan was somewhat understandable at the time but it clearly didn’t work out in the first two games and should have been done away with. Dylan DeMelo over Tim Heed is bad but excusable based purely on personnel but it becomes a lot more damning when you consider the way the players were treated.

Nothing about the Tim Heed Vs. Dylan DeMelo situation is normal at all and comments from players like Hansen and Schlemko regarding PDB’s lineup decisions are pretty strange.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Even if SJ loses this series, pretty happy with their performance. Not Martin's fault he's undeservedly in the lineup each night.

I can’t agree. Vegas is not good enough for me to be happy about losing to. I could feel this way about a loss to any one of Winnipeg, Nashville, Boston, Tampa Bay, or Pittsburgh. Losing to anybody else is inexcusable.

Fortunately, I still think we beat Vegas.

 

[LA Shark]

The loss sucks but it was almost entirely self-inflicted. I feel like if the Sharks cut out the crap and play with the same level of intensity, they'll beat these guys.

Agreed, although it doesn't help that we dug ourselves a 2-1 hole. Now game 4 is a must win.

 

[LadyStanley]

Kane!!!!

 

[LadyStanley]

Free Ryan

 

[Mafoofoo]

At this point we have to assume Ryan made fun of DeBoers hairline or something to warrant not starting over Martin.

 

[Pistol Pete]

So, after much thought and deliberation, I still loathe and despise Pete. I know that I’m not “in the room” and I’m just an “overreacting fan”, but some of his decisions are mind blowing. On top of everything, his arrogance makes my blood boil.

This is arguably the best roster Doug has put together. To start the season, our D core was one of the best in the league:
Vlasic-Braun
Ryan-Burns
Dillon-Heed

For some reason Pete dismantled that, and won’t budge from those changes. It’s well documented around here that Pete has a special affinity for his son, Demelo.

His communication with his players seems deeply flawed. It’s well reported that Schlemko and Hansen had/have no ideas what they did to get in Pete’s dog house, or how to get out. We all know that Hansen had been terrible until the final 3rd of the season, but after he turned it on, he rarely was suited up. And I believe he’d be great in this series. Especially over someone like Karlsson.

Lastly, what kind of message does it send to a young player like Ryan, that he loses his job because of injury, and doesn’t even get a chance to see a game after recovering? Now he can’t play because “he hasn’t played in 6 weeks”? Terrible management. Burns prefers to play with Martin over Ryan? So Pete will pander to the whims of a player? Only if they’re an elite level and highly paid?

His tactics are stale. His personality and arrogance is disgusting. His logic and justifications are deeply flawed. And his act is incredibly tired.

For the record, I’ve been feeling this way all season. This isn’t an overreaction to a disheartening loss. I believe the team is where it is today because of the players and the GM and despite Pete. They could be a lot further if he wasn’t in the way.

Go Sharks!

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

Free Ryan

I want to drink a blended battery acid bleach smoothie now. f*** you PDB. f*** you for taking one of the best line ups we had and throwing it out the window because your f***ing ego. Clearly you don't learn from your mistakes. (All directed to PDB)

 

[gaucholoco3]

Yes some of PDB's lineup decisions are questionable but saying we want to fire a coach because of some line up decisions about a 4th liner and Defensemen who will play 12 min is completely ignoring about 90% of what a coach does. PDB has shown consistently to be outstanding at developing a system and changing that system to get the better of a team particularly in the playoffs. Just look at his record in the playoffs. No team could match the speed of PIT in 2016 and last year our top 2 C's were walking corpses. Just look at how the Sharks have made a simple adjustment after GM 1 and been by far the better team for GM's 2 and 3. If it weren't for MAF and stupid penalties this would be a 2-1 Sharks lead with Vegas having no answer for the Sharks.

I think we all need to truly appreciate what an excellent playoff coach we have in PDB.

 

[Mattb124]

Yes some of PDB's lineup decisions are questionable but saying we want to fire a coach because of some line up decisions about a 4th liner and Defensemen who will play 12 min is completely ignoring about 90% of what a coach does. PDB has shown consistently to be outstanding at developing a system and changing that system to get the better of a team particularly in the playoffs. Just look at his record in the playoffs. No team could match the speed of PIT in 2016 and last year our top 2 C's were walking corpses. Just look at how the Sharks have made a simple adjustment after GM 1 and been by far the better team for GM's 2 and 3. If it weren't for MAF and stupid penalties this would be a 2-1 Sharks lead with Vegas having no answer for the Sharks.

I think we all need to truly appreciate what an excellent playoff coach we have in PDB.

Stop talking sense.

Now back to the regularly scheduled programming. Rabble, rabble, rabble.....

 

[Alwalys]

Pete's system is fine and it works. It's goo roster decisions that are wanting.

 

[Bizz]

PDB is this era's Mike Keenan.

 

[WTFetus]

Yes some of PDB's lineup decisions are questionable but saying we want to fire a coach because of some line up decisions about a 4th liner and Defensemen who will play 12 min is completely ignoring about 90% of what a coach does. PDB has shown consistently to be outstanding at developing a system and changing that system to get the better of a team particularly in the playoffs. Just look at his record in the playoffs. No team could match the speed of PIT in 2016 and last year our top 2 C's were walking corpses. Just look at how the Sharks have made a simple adjustment after GM 1 and been by far the better team for GM's 2 and 3. If it weren't for MAF and stupid penalties this would be a 2-1 Sharks lead with Vegas having no answer for the Sharks.

I think we all need to truly appreciate what an excellent playoff coach we have in PDB.

If only it was that simple. The problem is with the current line-up, 2 LDs have to be sheltered and will only be playing ~12 or less minutes per game. At least on RD, the Sharks have Braun and Burns. Vlasic is getting absolutely overworked this series and he looked wiped out by the middle of the 2nd last game.
Ryan has shown to be more than capable of handling those types of minutes in the regular season. It'll no doubt be harder throwing him into the playoffs now, but that's also 100% on Deboer for not bothering to dress him at the end of the regular season. And a rusty Ryan is still immensely better than Martin.

The NHL is also a game of inches. You win games with your top players, but it's extremely easy to lose games with "a 4th liner" or "defensemen who will play less than 12 minutes". Simply put, the argument of "it's just a 4th liner or a 3rd pairing D, so no big deal" is a dumb one. Every single shift matters, as shown in last night's OT.

Deboer is handicapping the team by stubbornly playing a less optimal line-up, and the team is suffering because of it.

 

[Friday]

Petes bein a d*** and he knows it. Also he's obviously a good coach with a system that works, his favorites thing is soooooo frustrating though. He literally wants to ruin Heeds career, and I hope that guy leaves and becomes an awesome 2nd unit PP quarterback somewhere.

 

[Sysreq]

We need Bob Boughner back.

And after the sparks we saw from Goodrow - Fehr - Hansen during the winstreak, I can’t even fathom why we aren’t seeing them right now.

Long term, I hope we resign Kane - he has shown to be a good addition. And assuming we do, I would hope that DW starts to focus on our defensive core. Burns and Vlasic are both getting older - without a clear heir apparent to replace them. The time is now to start planting those seeds.