2019 playoffs will be brutally hard
- Thread starter Aurinko
- Start date
hangman005
Mark Stones Spleen
Calgary and Sharks are likely our most immediate problems. Both have a bit of question marks surronding our goalies... so if they play us they can erase those question marks
Leafs and Bruins are no threat for us... namely because both of those cities are being fired into space for the sanity of the rest of us.
Tampa have been dominant... but I wonder if too much so, they could run out of steam.
Nashville and Jets will beat each other up, I expect.
Should be an interesting post season for all.
Calgary and Sharks are likely our most immediate problems. Both have a bit of question marks surronding our goalies... so if they play us they can erase those question marks
Leafs and Bruins are no threat for us... namely because both of those cities are being fired into space for the sanity of the rest of us.
Tampa have been dominant... but I wonder if too much so, they could run out of steam.
Nashville and Jets will beat each other up, I expect.
Should be an interesting post season for all.
This will be a 10/10 entertaining series to watch tho.
theslatcher
Registered User
It's a good thing Sharks has Martin Jones for a goalie, the reason why I'm not too worried about them. Calgary's goalies are wildcards, could be great or bad.
CupInSIX
My cap runneth over
All I'm focused on is whether they can maintain 3rd in the Pacific.
GKG18
Expansion Fan
They always are. If we get past whomever doesn't win the Pacific, it's pretty much a coin toss after that.
LadyStanley
Registered User
Hot goalie, puck luck and lack of injuries -- none can be predicted and can have a huge impact on a game/series.
Fleury is hot at the right time. If he keeps this up some more games (injury aside) he probably is first or second for the Vezina.
He also is the most experienced and successful playoff goalie.
Mark Stone joining the team is a massive boost. I think we probably enter the playoffs with the most confidence we have had.
Home ice advantage is a big plus for us.
We were already a pretty good team and recent playoffs have seen less talented teams make it far.
If we can avoid injuries and get some puck luck, we could make it to the WCF or SCF.
He also is the most experienced and successful playoff goalie.
Mark Stone joining the team is a massive boost. I think we probably enter the playoffs with the most confidence we have had.
Home ice advantage is a big plus for us.
We were already a pretty good team and recent playoffs have seen less talented teams make it far.
If we can avoid injuries and get some puck luck, we could make it to the WCF or SCF.
GKG18
Expansion Fan
Eh, I don't think he's in the Vezina discussion. He's team MVP for sure, but that .914 GAA is totally average. I'll be surprised if he is top 3.
Super Cake
Registered User
- Jun 24, 2013
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If Vegas wasn't bad for the 1st half of the season, Fleury could have been in the Vezina discussion.
As of now though, its his save percentage that is going to hold him back.
As of now though, its his save percentage that is going to hold him back.
Who cares about these awards really? MAF is a money goalie in the playoffs and that's all there is to worry about. Guys like him, Quick, Price, etc. you overpay for in the regular season to hopefully get to the playoffs and see how far they can take you.
The playoffs are always hard. Even an amazing team like the Lightning this year aren't even 50% likely to win it. It's just the nature of the game which is why going all in and trying to get every player on the roster and then chasing every point during the season is not the best strategy. Just make sure you get into the tournament and hope you get the needed breaks is all you can do
The playoffs are always hard. Even an amazing team like the Lightning this year aren't even 50% likely to win it. It's just the nature of the game which is why going all in and trying to get every player on the roster and then chasing every point during the season is not the best strategy. Just make sure you get into the tournament and hope you get the needed breaks is all you can do
Awards are a nice "side game" if you are a fan of a specific player or playing style.
That being said, imo being out of the Veniza conversation is a positive thing. Easier to focus on the main task when you have a one less thing to worry about. Players always say personal achievements are "nice" and winning is the only thing that matter, but in real life you don't talk about winning the SC, you talk about goals saves and personal plays so ofc they matter.
IceNeophyte
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- Nov 14, 2017
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I mean in that you get 3 games per series at home, and our home ice has been extremely difficult to play on, especially when the team is amped up in the playoffs.
Even if an opponent has 4 home games it is still a lot of pressure if they feel one loss there puts them in a rough position.
IceNeophyte
Registered User
- Nov 14, 2017
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But Vegas has shown itself to be quite beatable on home ice, right up to the trade deadline. Their record since then has me believing that with everyone healthy, including Fleury, we'll take a best of 7 against anyone in the West.
That said, the playoffs are always brutal. They're supposed to be brutal.
I think I am not one to think of how hard the teams are going to be once you get to the playoffs.
Teams have, at most, one "easy" team if they win a Cup but that is hard to predict because upsets happen. The West is there for Vegas if they can execute their game.
IceNeophyte
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Vegas swept the Kings, but if you watched the games, there was nothing easy about them. Nothing easy about SJS or the peg either.
In the NHL, the frontrunner for the draft lottery can beat the president's trophy team on a given night.
There are no patsies here.
I would say everything was easy about the LA series besides Quick. Vegas dominated those games and Quick kept it close.
SJS goalies have an .893 save percentage. The way to beat them is just keep firing pucks at the net, bad angles, low percentage, who cares?
Just think how you would feel if you were going into the playoffs with Subban as you're starter. That's the life of a Sharks fan.
Just think how you would feel if you were going into the playoffs with Subban as you're starter. That's the life of a Sharks fan.
Pirate Deadpool
Registered User
Even though vgk just recently beat down the sharks on the road, the sharks have a better home ice winning record than vgk. I'm more worried about the flames as they seem to have non stop 2 on 1s against us in every game that we have played them this year. Both the sharks and flames are better than us at getting greasy goals too. I sure hope that Gallant has a game plan and has line matches that will take those point blank scoring opportunities away.
The Sharks have a decided disadvantage in Jones. Fleury is a much better playoff goalie. The Sharks also have injury concerns at the wrong time. Gallant is a better coach. We also have the best player on the ice when we play them. Of course they could beat us. Any of the big teams could beat any others but this team after the trade has been the best in the conference.
Pirate Deadpool
Registered User
Do you really believe we have the best player? EK65, Burns, Pavelski, and Hertl are very good and probably easily better than every one of our guys except for Stone and Stone is not a better player than EK65 and Burns. Even Meier and the rat face has more points than everyone but Stone. We have injury concerns as well. Just because the knights own a better record head to head doesn't mean they are better players. It could be psychological and a matchup that the knights are just better at forcing them out of their comfort zone as the sharks get out of their typical game plan early in games whenever they play the knights.
Fleury has had much more bad playoff games than good ones and Jones has been mostly good as far as playoffs are concerned (Jones is having a bad regular season so we need to hope that continues this to the playoffs). I hope that Fleury can keep up the good playoff games going as a knight and really hope no team gets him far out of the net like the caps did to him and get easy goals. Gallant didn't make any adjustments and it cost the team a title. I hope that the coaching staff is better at game planning this season and if the other finds something to exploit that they will adjust quickly to it.
I am not taking the sharks lightly. I do believe psychologically, the knights hold a mental edge in this playoff matchup just as the kings owned the sharks years ago. The knights need to get ahead in this series and create doubt and finish them. I'm interested to see the line matchups in this series. The stazz line can play physical enough to handle any of the top 2 sharks lines while the Karlsson line will need to create turnovers and play fast to counteract the size difference.
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I would agree.
DEFENSE
What goes to the combination of goal tending and defense, we have the upper hand.
Goalie performance based on shot quality:
These are season stats, so they don't mean much in the playoffs, but my personal conclusion:
- We've had the better performing goalie (Fleury has actual Sv% above the expected by dSv%=0,3%)
- Our expected save% is significantly higher, we don't allow as many high danger shots against
OFFENSE
Goals 266 sharks vs. 232 Vegas. They have the upper hand.
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