Around Hockey and the NHL

[The Macho King]

Caps are donezo.

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[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Now we just need either Toronto or Pittsburgh to be eliminated, and we'd no longer be in-line to face the Avs/Golden Knights winner in the 3rd round.

 

[Fan from AK]

I can't believe I was rooting for the Boons but I was. The Bolts have always had problems with the Craps and not so much anymore the Boons, if they were to meet later.

 

[The Macho King]

Winnipeg just tied a 4-1 game in the third in the span of like 90 seconds.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

I can't believe I was rooting for the Boons but I was. The Bolts have always had problems with the Craps and not so much anymore the Boons, if they were to meet later.

Biggest difference with this Bruins team compared to previous ones is the existence of a legitimate, functional second scoring line. Something they lacked in 2018 and 2020. I'd put us as about 55% favorites if we met but no outcome would be surprising. We've won all three OT games in previous meetings, so you would expect a little fortune to go Boston's way eventually in future OT's.

But while I concur 100% about feeling sick about "rooting" for the Bruins - I preferred to think of it as "rooting against the Caps" - the truth has been that Washington has been a matchup nightmare for us for a very long time. For that reason alone, I'm happy they're out of the way. Hopefully we can take advantage of it just like we did last year.

 

[Fan from AK]

Winnipeg just tied a 4-1 game in the third in the span of like 90 seconds.

Dispatching Draisitl and McNeverinplayoffs early would suit me just fine. Getting all of those first picks was ridiculous.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

What a catastrophic collapse.

 

[Hoek]

If I was an Oilers fan I'd quit watching hockey forever. What a joke.

Just mind blowing how they go from dynasty under Gretzky, to getting McDavid, and somehow still being cursed with being so pathetic.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I’ve been seeing posts like this around Twitter tonight. Kind of crazy to think about.

 

[These Are The Days]

All things in sports are cyclical. The simple answer is Darryl Katz is a piece of shit owner and the fish rots from the head down. The rest of me thinks "That fanbase is gonna learn the hard way what it was like to suffer at the hands of their dynasty 30 years ago." I try to process what's gonna happen to Pittsburgh after the Crosby/Malkin era and decades of ineptitude would not come as the least bit surprising to me.


In the meantime GAWD that was a bad loss

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

All things in sports are cyclical. The simple answer is Darryl Katz is a piece of shit owner and the fish rots from the head down. The rest of me thinks "That fanbase is gonna learn the hard way what it was like to suffer at the hands of their dynasty 30 years ago." I try to process what's gonna happen to Pittsburgh after the Crosby/Malkin era and decades of ineptitude would not come as the least bit surprising to me.


In the meantime GAWD that was a bad loss

Eh, knowing Pittsburgh, they'll probably win the lottery again in a year where a unicorn is available. Based on past history, this should be expected in 2026.

 

[Hoek]

I’ve been seeing posts like this around Twitter tonight. Kind of crazy to think about.

Caps will always be the biggest chokers no matter what anyone says.

 

[These Are The Days]

Eh, knowing Pittsburgh, they'll probably win the lottery again in a year where a unicorn is available. Based on past history, this should be expected in 2026.

lol we'll have to see how it shakes out. Right now the unicorn is Connor Bedard and I'd be pleasantly surprised of another one rolled around by 2026. But I digress as it's a city that hasn't not had a generational talent in almost 40 years.

 

[These Are The Days]

And if I can say so myself, the guy who called the Jets/Oilers game was fantastic. I only caught the tail end of it but I'm pretty sure that was Harnarayan Singh because of that little sing-song at the end for the OT winner. I heard it once for a Flames game and the Stastny goal last game. It's cringey as hell but I gotta give the man props for having the balls to do that on national telecast and the fact it's original enough to where I can't say I've ever heard anything like that before.

I always looked forward to games with Chris Cuthbert because he always had a quirky charm that won me over. He's like what Doc Emrick tries to be without the shrill screaming and 18 different syllables for when a puck hits the boards. I can say I'm looking forward to other games with Singh because this cat has great energy. It's like Mishkin but without wanting to kill yourself...... well at least til the cute OT goal calls

 

[DFC]

Oh, the Oilers...

 

[Stormbreaker]

What a meltdown I loved every second of it.

 

[LightningStrikes]

That team has no experience or leadership.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Yeah good luck with that

 

[Hoek]

That team has no experience or leadership.

And Mike Smith between the pipes...

 

[gn2007]

That oilers team has no defense lol like it's really bad bad

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

So I've written about preferably avoiding the West winner until the Cup Final, if possible (because they might be eliminated before then), but after some further thought, I'm not so sure that really is realistically possible. I'll try to keep this concise and readable but I can't make any promises, and all scenarios are for if we get to the 3rd round, because it's a pointless thought exercise otherwise. Obviously we have our own challenges in this division still to deal with before then. Anyway...

In order for us to avoid the Avs/Golden Knights winner in the 3rd round, we need(ed) some combination of Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Washington to be eliminated before then. If the two division winners get through, they'll face each other and we face the Western team. If Pittsburgh gets eliminated, we'll face Toronto and the East winner faces the West. If Toronto does, we face Pittsburgh and the Canadian winner faces the West. If all three are eliminated (the Caps obviously already have been), we'll face the East winner with home ice and the Canadian team faces the West, barring a shocking Edmonton comeback at this point (if Edmonton and NYI come through, we'd face the Oilers).

So, if we're the No. 2 seed, either the Jets or Habs face the West winner. Does anybody really see either Canadiæn team winning that matchup? Me neither. The West winner will surely reach the SCF.

If we're the No. 3 seed, that means the West winner could face the Bruins, Islanders, Habs, or Jets. I've already touched on the latter two. The Islanders feel like they'd be overwhelmed though they would battle like always. The Bruins are the one team in that mix who I could see pulling the upset, and that gets us to the part where we talk about 2018 and 2020, how we've generally matched up well against the Bruins come playoff time in recent years, but this Bruins team actually has a legitimate second scoring line, which won't make things easy for us at all, and then there's also just the general problem of having the Boston Bruins playing in the Stanley Cup Final. I'm not writing as a Lightning fan at this point, I'm writing as a general anti-Boston sports fan across all sports. I don't want any Boston team being only four wins away from winning any championship. I've seen them win 12 championships in my life and that's 12 more than I ever cared to see. We would be favorites against the Bruins, yes, but no outcome should come as a surprise. Boston is more than capable of beating us. 2018 and '20 might've been 5-game series, but the close games all seemed to go our way in those matchups. We won all three OT games. Eventually, you'd expect the Bruins to start being on the positive end of some of those close games.

Anyway, there's no reward for making it further in the playoffs before losing. Lose in the 1st round, 3rd round, or Final, you still lost. It actually hurts more if anything the farther you go before falling. The point being, at this point I'm not so sure at all that hoping to avoid Colorado or Las Vegas really is the best way forward at this point. The only way I see it happening is if the Bruins reach the SCF instead, and that's not a preferable alternative. So, at this point, despite what I might've said previously, I think I'm perfectly fine if we end up facing the West winner in the 3rd round after all. And if we get through that, then even better. Neither team is unbeatable, and I would rate us as favorites vs. Las Vegas. It's only the Avs I've ever truly been concerned about from a talent perspective, but there's nothing saying we couldn't beat them, either. It'll just be tough, that's all.

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I wonder how much pressure McDavid and Draisaitl are feeling. Not just to win, but on how their legacy will be written. I'm sure that's hanging over their heads.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Big win for the Germans @LightningStrikes

 

[LightningStrikes]

Big win for the Germans @LightningStrikes

So great! And a big day for hockey in Germany!