Pre-Game Talk: 2022 NHL Playoffs: Around The League

[Bozo Nicholson]

There was Binnington until Kadri ran him over and the league didn't care.

I miss Rinne.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

It's easy to dismiss the Avs because of how bad the Oilers look, but they're the real deal in my eyes. They're oozing with talent and speed top-to-bottom. I see them as a much better version of the Leafs.

 

[Fabiobest]

I'm hoping Point can get back in time. The cup finals won't start until another 2 weeks so there's a chance...

Mah...in any case he won't be at his best I think.
Of course in case TB will defeat NY...
and it's not a safe and sure thing to say because, NY is a real good team and the Rags are not like the Oilers.

It's easy to dismiss the Avs because of how bad the Oilers look, but they're the real deal in my eyes. They're oozing with talent and speed top-to-bottom. I see them as a much better version of the Leafs.

I agree but it's also true that they've not had any kind of challenge, so far in this post season.

 

[BlueMed]

It's easy to dismiss the Avs because of how bad the Oilers look, but they're the real deal in my eyes. They're oozing with talent and speed top-to-bottom. I see them as a much better version of the Leafs.

Their forwards and defense are very real. Their goaltender is not.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

2nd time this playoffs Oilers have scored 6 goals and still lost.

6-9 to Calgary
6-8 to Colorado

 

[The Gongshow]

Edmonton and Colorado both didn't know how to play defense.

Imagine if Edmonton had tried drafting or trading for a goalie for McDavid....

 

[Zwui21]

Everybody seem in awe for the goal scoring and the points scored by the forwards, I just see the atrocious goaltending and poor defense. The west seems to use the Panthers strategy, outscoring their defensive troubles and both Avs and Edm got away with it so far because they faced teams that had awful defences.
If we get to the SCF, they won't be able to do the same thing, and they'll panic.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

Everybody seem in awe for the goal scoring and the points scored by the forwards, I just see the atrocious goaltending and poor defense. The west seems to use the Panthers strategy, outscoring their defensive troubles and both Avs and Edm got away with it so far because they faced teams that had awful defences.
If we get to the SCF, they won't be able to do the same thing, and they'll panic.

I thought the exact same thing. Both teams Puck Watch and make terrible f***ing decisions add in the Goaltending. Kucherov and Point are High fiving rn

 

[Hoek]

Edmonton and Colorado both didn't know how to play defense.

Imagine if Edmonton had tried drafting or trading for a goalie for McDavid....

Goalies don't tend to go for all that much in trades though, since the elite ones don't move at all. The only goalie that would be worth losing McDavid for is Vasi and we're obviously not doing that deal, lol.

 

[Rangerfan4life90]

After seeing game 1 of the WCF, I feel like if either of our teams moves onto the finals, very good chance the cup is coming east. Good luck, and may the best team win.

 

[StammerHammer]

very good chance the cup is coming east. Good luck, and may the best team win.

I think you mean staying east.

 

[JoVel]

Good to see Oilers being exposed as the frauds they are.

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[StammerHammer]

I think a cross check into the boards should get an automatic one game suspension.

 

[DFC]

Edmonton is honestly just not that good and has benefited from some INCREDIBLY soft opposing goaltending. It's really hard to gauge Colorado. They're obviously great, but two of their three series have been against teams that didn't really test them. I think NYR would/will give them a long series, at the very least.

 

[Stammertime91]

Edmonton is such poopoo. Had Colorado 4-2 with 11 to go and can't hold them back. Draisaitl with an empty net miss on the powerplay and MacK shoots one by Smith. Smith has to call it a career after this.

 

[JTBF81]

How was Edmonton in the final 4 with that defense and goaltending.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Avs it is. Lets see if our rust excuse is legitimate.

 

[JTBF81]

Well, at least if Tampa can rally vs NY, maybe it'll be a reversed situation to start against the Avs, who would be coming off a break of anywhere from 7-9 days vs Tampa's likely 1 day off.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

If this isn't one of those great "history repeats itself" opportunities - Lehkonen scoring the series-winning OT goal to send his team to the Cup Final - for us, then I dunno what is. Honestly, it's pretty hilarious. I mean, what are the f*ckin' chances of that happening?

Anyway, we avoided the Avs the last two years and I think that helped us out a great deal in those Cup wins. If we're gonna do it this year, we aren't going to be as lucky as we were. Hopefully we get the chance to face them.

 

[The Gongshow]

Colorado looks spooky. Their goaltending is very iffy tho, they're more an offensive juggernaut than a defense minded team, not saying they can't play D but they rely on outscoring rather than shutting down

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Well, at least if Tampa can rally vs NY, maybe it'll be a reversed situation to start against the Avs, who would be coming off a break of anywhere from 7-9 days vs Tampa's likely 1 day off.

Definitely had this same thought too. I mean, that stat that we all have heard about also said that teams who swept vs. teams who won in 6 is favorable as well to the team who went 6 to win, so whether it's 6 or 7 for us if we're to win this series, history would be on our side.

Biggest difference in their specific case is the mountain air, though. They go back home and re-acclimate in the meantime. Whoever flies in for Games 1 and 2 has to deal with that (it might not be as big a deal for one-off Games 5 or 7). That could balance out those scales a bit.

 

[Stammertime91]

If this isn't one of those great "history repeats itself" opportunities - Lehkonen scoring the series-winning OT goal to send his team to the Cup Final - for us, then I dunno what is. Honestly, it's pretty hilarious. I mean, what are the f*ckin' chances of that happening?

Anyway, we avoided the Avs the last two years and I think that helped us out a great deal in those Cup wins. If we're gonna do it this year, we aren't going to be as lucky as we were. Hopefully we get the chance to face them.

They're looking beatable to me now though. Francouz is not good. Their defense is mobile but look at the backend and goalie tandems they went through. None of those teams were good enough back there. None. They went through Connor Ingram and the Preds, Binnington-less Blues, and the Oilers. Not trying to discredit them, but the margin between them and Tampa/NYR gets much tighter. I'd argue closer with us but even New York with Shesterkin is their toughest goalie.

They haven't faced offensive struggles yet cause they're shooting on cardboard cutouts for a 14-2 record. The thing that worries me is their overall speed. They aren't toronto. They're fast AND can finish. I just see weaknesses now that Kadri is out, Cogliano probably broke fingers/a hand, and Francouz is starting.

It'll be a good finals regardless.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Colorado looks spooky. Their goaltending is very iffy tho, they're more an offensive juggernaut than a defense minded team, not saying they can't play D but they rely on outscoring rather than shutting down

They're a better version of the Florida Panthers based on what you just wrote...I mean, this is exactly how we would've talked about Florida this entire season up until the playoff series we had against them. More experienced though and a deeper blueline. They had two of these run-and-gun games but also had two games in the middle where they kept the Oilers to two goals total as well, which deserves mention.

They'll be favorites no doubt. They finally managed to live up to their hype to reach the Final. They've probably been the Vegas favorites the last three seasons now including this one.

They're looking beatable to me now though. Francouz is not good. Their defense is mobile but look at the backend and goalie tandems they went through. None of those teams were good enough back there. None. They went through Connor Ingram and the Preds, Binnington-less Blues, and the Oilers. Not trying to discredit them, but the margin between them and Tampa/NYR gets much tighter. I'd argue closer with us but even New York with Shesterkin is their toughest goalie.

They haven't faced offensive struggles yet cause they're shooting on cardboard cutouts for a 14-2 record. The thing that worries me is their overall speed. They aren't toronto. They're fast AND can finish. I just see weaknesses now that Kadri is out, Cogliano probably broke fingers/a hand, and Francouz is starting.

It'll be a good finals regardless.

This is definitely true, but probably will play to their advantage as well in terms of rest though. The toughest team they faced in the playoffs were the Blues. If we're to reach the Cup, we'll have had to play three teams just as good, or better, than the Blues, and each team being significantly better than both the Preds and Oilers were.

Can't knock them for it. Not only is this outside their control but we'd also be hypocrites if we didn't acknowledge having some favorable draws the last couple years...Dallas and Montréal were the furthest thing from world beaters to face in the last two Cup Finals.

 

[Hoek]

That had to be the most predictable conference final ever, from the series result to how the actual games played out.