GDT: 2018-19 Other Games Around the League

[Pinkfloyd]

Okay, well the first point is semantics. You know what I meant.

After reading your post, I think Calgary has a better shot at losing those series than I did before but it’s still nowhere near enough for me to declare Calgary the definite winner for any of them. You’re ignoring that Calgary has a far better defensive core than Dallas or Colorado and you’re also ignoring that Calgary has 4 first line forwards and 5 top-6 forwards. That’s much better than Dallas who has 3 first line forwards and 3 top-6 forwards, Colorado who has 3 first line forwards and 4 top-6 forwards, or Arizona who has 1 first line forward and 3 top-6 forwards. Calgary definitely made a mistake by not upgrading on Michael Frolik as their 2nd line RW but Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik is still miles better than whatever Colorado or Dallas can match up against them.

I also don’t think regular season series means that much. Last year New Jersey swept Tampa Bay in the season series and then got destroyed by them in the playoffs. For the same reason, I don’t agree with @ChompChomp that Dallas should be a worry at all. As PF mentioned, the Sharks will only lose to them if they beat themselves and don’t clamp down on the team defense. They’re a much better team.

The first point is to make sure you get what I'm saying straight because to not do so is misrepresenting what is being said. The favorites in the large majority of 1st round matchups are the teams with home ice. I just happen to think that the way Calgary is built, they're not set up well for a deep playoff run and will have matchup issues with certain teams.

Dallas is the best defensive team in the conference by a significant margin. They have very strong goaltending and while they don't have the talent on paper, they're getting the job done and Calgary hasn't shown any ability to solve them.

While Colorado is a lot more shaky than Dallas defensively, they have a similar recipe to Calgary for success but they have more solid goaltending than Calgary does. Their top line alone can carry them to a series win against a team that like them does not have solid scoring depth.

As for Arizona, they're not in the playoff hunt because they're outscoring anyone. Kuemper is carrying them right now and they're capable of shutting down a team that lacks depth. Look at what they did to Winnipeg a week and a half ago. Winnipeg is a better team obviously but they took advantage of poor puck play and shut them down. Arizona is trending up down the stretch and Calgary is trending down. Even during Calgary's last winning streak, they were having problems scoring. They've scored three goals in a game once in the last seven games. If that continues, they're in a heap of trouble against a lot of teams.

 

[Alaskanice]

Matchups and regular season records are fascinating.
This is why the playoffs exacerbate that fascination. Winning 4 games over the same team? That is one of the things that makes the NHL playoffs great.
My 2 cents? I don’t fear anyone over a 7 game series. Even if a team has depth, the scoring depth is our trump card. If a team relies on one line, I don’t think that lasts over 7 games.
Our added trump card is having both Burns and Karlsson on the back end. No one has that.

Go Sharks!!

 

[FunkyPhin]

Matchups and regular season records are fascinating.
This is why the playoffs exacerbate that fascination. Winning 4 games over the same team? That is one of the things that makes the NHL playoffs great.
My 2 cents? I don’t fear anyone over a 7 game series. Even if a team has depth, the scoring depth is our trump card. If a team relies on one line, I don’t think that lasts over 7 games.
Our added trump card is having both Burns and Karlsson on the back end. No one has that.

Go Sharks!!

Really depends on the Karlsson we get,
Who knows the timetable for how long it'll take him to be 100%, before the playoffs, during, even after?
Either way whenever he does get to that level there's definitely going to be an adjustment period for him to get back into game form. He's played like what 3 games since mid Jan?

Karlsson is going to be our X-factor and we need to do whatever possible to get him to 100% come playoff time

 

[undercovernerd]

No way. He isn't really that slow. Is he?

YES!

 

[stator]

Dallas defense lives off their goaltender. Their GA/G is one of the best, but they fall in the SA/G. Additionally, they are one of the better teams on FOW% but they cannot parlay that into generating offensive shots on goals, and GF/G. They're an odd mix.

Contrast that to the Sharks with one of the league's best SA/G, but they fall down in GA/G. Obviously, they don't feed off their goalies contrary to some believes here.