GDT: Around the League 2023-24 Volume 4: Stretch Drive Edition

[Drivesaitl]

Petterson deal is looking more hilarious all the time. What is it with Nucks and longterm love affairs with Swedish forwards? The guy is completely ineffectual in games like this, i.e. playoff level games. This guy loses board battles constantly against good teams. Just gets nothing going. Looks like a wizard if you allow him open ice. But why would teams do that?

In recent games Petey pointless against LA, Wash, Mtl, but loads up against Buffalo and Calgary. lol

Nucks in for a shock in first round of playoffs.

 

[mkatcherin00]

Seems like the Canucks are really struggling against the Kings.

We are in for a big struggle too if we face them. I do not see us beating them in another series. They actually play structured hockey. We don't. Our D zone coverage is bad, Goaltending is 50/50

Canucks struggled with them last game too, but turned it on in the 3rd and won that one in OT.

Sorry to interject oilers fans, the only reason this game was boring was simply because the Canucks are unimpressive. When the Oilers usually steamroll our Kings it’s because they have good offense. Canucks don’t really have anything of note. Canucks weren’t playing “bad” because our defense is good, they’re playing bad because their offense revolves around a Dman.

This is true too.

I am sorry, but when TJ Miller is your best forward.....A lot of Canuck games are such LOW event hockey. They sometimes can't do anything for such a long time then Hughes or some Dman just fire a puck and it goes in or they get a rebound.

The biggest compliment I give the Canucks is how hard they work for almost every game. Their hard work beats skill. I don't know if they will tire out, but they honestly look like they play "playoff hockey" every game since game 1. The hustle is always there

Teams can really suffocate Van if they play the points tight

I still think vegas would be an easier matchup than your Kings.

 

[mkatcherin00]

Petterson deal is looking more hilarious all the time. What is it with Nucks and longterm love affairs with Swedish forwards? The guy is completely ineffectual in games like this, i.e. playoff level games. This guy loses board battles constantly against good teams. Just gets nothing going. Looks like a wizard if you allow him open ice. But why would teams do that?

In recent games Petey pointless against LA, Wash, Mtl, but loads up against Buffalo and Calgary. lol

Nucks in for a shock in first round of playoffs.

He sure is an enigma. The best I have ever seen him look was when the NHL fuked us and made us play a play in round and gave the Canucks a welfare spot play in when they were not in a playoff spot.

He is like a more elite Lindholm (which is not saying much). He is a ghost for long periods. Then he will pot a PP goal or this and that. I think he gets smoked in the playoffs. Same wit Hughes.

 

[Kerberos]

LA and Vegas right on our heels. Boys better take this next stretch of games seriously or they may be looking at WC2.

 

[Old Boys Club]

The Kings were underrated by hockey media and the social media hive mind the last two years because the Oilers beat them. After the Oilers took the series, it was retconned that the Kings were not a good team. The same thing was done to the 21-22 Flames, whom a near majority of pundits (SN guys) predicted to make the finals/win the cup before those playoffs started.

Kings are a damn good team and have been for the past 3 seasons. Not a fluke that they've been an analytical darling each year with strong shot suppression and high danger chance mitigation. The criticism with that team (especially against the Oilers) has been their willingness to try to milk 1/2 goal leads for multiple periods. Would have to imagine they've learned their lesson this year. Should the Oilers meet them it will be another 6/7 game series with tons of heart-attack inducing moments.

 

[Sol]

We are in for a big struggle too if we face them. I do not see us beating them in another series. They actually play structured hockey. We don't. Our D zone coverage is bad, Goaltending is 50/50

Canucks struggled with them last game too, but turned it on in the 3rd and won that one in OT.


This is true too.

I am sorry, but when TJ Miller is your best forward.....A lot of Canuck games are such LOW event hockey. They sometimes can't do anything for such a long time then Hughes or some Dman just fire a puck and it goes in or they get a rebound.

The biggest compliment I give the Canucks is how hard they work for almost every game. Their hard work beats skill. I don't know if they will tire out, but they honestly look like they play "playoff hockey" every game since game 1. The hustle is always there

Teams can really suffocate Van if they play the points tight

I still think vegas would be an easier matchup than your Kings.

look as a Kings fan I have seen my share of hard work hockey. Hard work hockey only pays off if the team has some talent because if your opponent only needs one shot to take a lead over you then that’s kinda pointless. Look at the Blues, they were a hard working team for how long until they added more talent to win.

Canucks might be hard working but they’re completely out of their depth when it comes to skill.

 

[McDrai]

LA and Vegas right on our heels. Boys better take this next stretch of games seriously or they may be looking at WC2.

I was just looking at the standings as well. It’s crazy how close we are to the last wild card spot (albeit with a couple of games in hand). Boys better string some games together or else we could potentially be facing Colorado in the first round (and I don’t like our chances in that matchup)

 

[CupofOil]

The Kings were underrated by hockey media and the social media hive mind the last two years because the Oilers beat them. After the Oilers took the series, it was retconned that the Kings were not a good team. The same thing was done to the 21-22 Flames, whom a near majority of pundits (SN guys) predicted to make the finals/win the cup before those playoffs started.

Kings are a damn good team and have been for the past 3 seasons. Not a fluke that they've been an analytical darling each year with strong shot suppression and high danger chance mitigation. The criticism with that team (especially against the Oilers) has been their willingness to try to milk 1/2 goal leads for multiple periods. Would have to imagine they've learned their lesson this year. Should the Oilers meet them it will be another 6/7 game series with tons of heart-attack inducing moments.

Yep, been saying this for weeks when folks were dismissive of them.

The Oilers beat them the last two years but those series were wars and the Kings played better in those series as the series wore on to the point where they soundly outplayed the Oilers in 2 of the last 3 games of that series. I want no part of that team again because I think it's be even harder to beat them 3 times in a row but it's looking like the likely matchup now, again.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

and the Kings have the softest schedule down the stretch so they could finish 2nd
Oilers need to get points

 

[CycloneSweep]

I was just looking at the standings as well. It’s crazy how close we are to the last wild card spot (albeit with a couple of games in hand). Boys better string some games together or else we could potentially be facing Colorado in the first round (and I don’t like our chances in that matchup)

I don't like our matchup against most of the western teams.
LA is gonna be hungry and we are gonna be looking past them, recipe for a loss.
Vegas and Hill just seem to have our number.
Colorado just knows exactly how to beat us, consistently. Jets have Hellebuyck and Dallas is crazy crazy deep.
I think Vancouver or Nashville are our best bets but the boys could still be shell shocked from how Vancouver beat us early in the year so who knows.

Its gonna be a very tough year for us in the playoffs no matter who we play. Its a cup or bust year, doesn't matter when we go out, anything other than going to the cup finals is a failure.

 

[McDrai]

I don't like our matchup against most of the western teams.
LA is gonna be hungry and we are gonna be looking past them, recipe for a loss.
Vegas and Hill just seem to have our number.
Colorado just knows exactly how to beat us, consistently. Jets have Hellebuyck and Dallas is crazy crazy deep.
I think Vancouver or Nashville are our best bets but the boys could still be shell shocked from how Vancouver beat us early in the year so who knows.

Its gonna be a very tough year for us in the playoffs no matter who we play. Its a cup or bust year, doesn't matter when we go out, anything other than going to the cup finals is a failure.

So many tough matchups indeed. I feel like if we face LA then it’s an automatic out in the 1st round. They look to be a better team than previous years in which they took us to the brink. They will also be super motivated against us and I can’t see us matching their intensity.
I’d have more confidence facing Vegas as we will likely want to get some revenge for last year as well a couple of months ago when they ended our winning streak. With that being said, I strongly believe we are eliminated in the first round regardless of who we face. The consistency is just not there and I don’t trust our goaltending in the playoffs in comparison to the teams who we will likely match up against. I wish that weren’t the case but I had a lot more confidence in our team last season when entering the playoffs. Hopefully they prove me wrong this time around.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Rangers up next.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Yep, been saying this for weeks when folks were dismissive of them.

The Oilers beat them the last two years but those series were wars and the Kings played better in those series as the series wore on to the point where they soundly outplayed the Oilers in 2 of the last 3 games of that series. I want no part of that team again because I think it's be even harder to beat them 3 times in a row but it's looking like the likely matchup now, again.

That the Kings can also play big boy hockey I think is what makes them more of a challenge for us. This wasn't the case with Gaudreau, Mangiopane, and the smaller Flames. It isn't the case with the Nucks either who are so small at wing and at forward generally.

Kings though are having their own struggles. Kempe hasn't been right for most of season. People will look at pts and say OK, he's doing fine but its been his worst play in career. He's cheating on plays, making poor reads, coughing up pucks. The early season struggles that Fiala was having is now Kempe. Byfield is a force and was on a heater at times. He's been slowed down and also too many wrong side of puck reads. Danault is back to his pest self. Having a good honest season. Doughty and Kopitar mostly look ageless. Pld is a sleeper on the Kings lineup, and when they use him with skill he gets it done. Arviddsson brings pace and skill on puck. Trevor Moore is stone cold now. He has hot and cold phases.

Where Kings struggle though this season is the games of their supporting cast have fallen off a cliff. Lizotte, Kaliyev, Grundstrom are flat out nothing. Just awful players now. All of whom had shown promise and are now looking like complete busts as was Kupari who Kings got rid of. Kings are having to scratch these 3 in a lot of games as they just can't play. This leaves fossils like Lewis holding the bag and actually being better option. Kings who used to have forward depth are now reduced to dressing 11 forwards. Not sure how well that is going to work. Laferrierre has been better than expected and has got the roster spot over the others. But man the Kings wasted a lot of man games on several players that just never found it or lost any grasp of NHL game.

I was just looking at the standings as well. It’s crazy how close we are to the last wild card spot (albeit with a couple of games in hand). Boys better string some games together or else we could potentially be facing Colorado in the first round (and I don’t like our chances in that matchup)

This is a huge week with Winnipeg and LA on tap. I figure the boys will look focused tonight. Winnipeg hasn't been playing well. Kings are not on top of their game right now. Despite the results. The gameplan and 1-3-1 that Kings played heavily against Nucks does not work against us.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Nucks could be denied their championship, cough, I mean Presidents trophy banner. I hear those are big items in their rafters. Oilers didn't even celebrate winning those. The biggest doesn't matter banner in pro sports anyway.

Was keying on Hughes and Pettersson a lot yesterday. The constant tone going back to bench yesterday was negative, and frustration. Its kind of like they know what is coming up. Wasn't a lot of verve or anything with the Canucks. The closest you could come to moxy was JT Miller. Generally the look on the Canucks is they're not feeling it. All they had was trying to generate from behind goal or stuff pads or make wrap arounds or try to come out from behind net.

Its one thing for Hughes to be so tiny as a D (what a liability without puck) but that he doesn't have a shot and doesn't score much compounds things. Nucks need a bunch of punters that just aren't any good to be scoring bunches off of Hughes passes. Somehow Nucks had that but its really died down. They're not getting magic PDO anymore. They must realize it.

These are among the forwards Nucks dressed last night:

Lafferty, Podkolzin, Mickheyev, Aman, Blueger, Garland, D guiseppe. Suter Hoglander. Thats a full 9 forwards that are just not that good. Or not as good as they've appeared. Theres a lot of fill there really any why they get no goals from the bunch in tight checking games. 9 of the forwards Nucks dressed last night are under 200lbs. That don't work for playoffs.

I mean the Nucks essentially at forward have Petey, Boeser, and Miller (and injured Lindholm). The rest is Garland, pun intended. How do you win in playoffs with that?

 

[K1984]

Leaf fans are in tears over Hyman 50. Twitter is a wreck.

Flame fans are also pathetically melting down about it. "50 isn't even a big deal anymore."

All you can do is laugh.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Canes too, though they need more help than the NYR.



Panther's scenario



Bruins too

 

[K1984]

We are in for a big struggle too if we face them. I do not see us beating them in another series. They actually play structured hockey. We don't. Our D zone coverage is bad, Goaltending is 50/50

Canucks struggled with them last game too, but turned it on in the 3rd and won that one in OT.


This is true too.

I am sorry, but when TJ Miller is your best forward.....A lot of Canuck games are such LOW event hockey. They sometimes can't do anything for such a long time then Hughes or some Dman just fire a puck and it goes in or they get a rebound.

The biggest compliment I give the Canucks is how hard they work for almost every game. Their hard work beats skill. I don't know if they will tire out, but they honestly look like they play "playoff hockey" every game since game 1. The hustle is always there

Teams can really suffocate Van if they play the points tight

I still think vegas would be an easier matchup than your Kings.

The Nucks are similar to the Avalanche only in the sense that they go on 5-7 mini runs where they come at you and run over you for a brief amount of time and rack up their scoring. The rest of the time is kind of ho hum.

The Nucks work hard and score a ton of goals off point shots. If you can button it down and not have pucks shoot up low -> high when they are on one of their bursts they are controllable.

 

[McHelpus]

LA and Vegas right on our heels. Boys better take this next stretch of games seriously or they may be looking at WC2.

I'd be really surprised if they can hold that 2nd spot. It's looking more likely we get the last WC spot and face the Avs in the first round lol.

 

[bellagiobob]

Preds will be a well rested team.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I'd be really surprised if they can hold that 2nd spot. It's looking more likely we get the last WC spot and face the Avs in the first round lol.

2 losses in a row after going 9-1-2 and now we are barely a playoff team

classic Oiler fans

 

[K1984]

Preds will be a well rested team.

A week ago I would have said that the Predators are a gift for whoever plays them, but I'm not so sure about that anymore.

 

[McHelpus]

2 losses in a row after going 9-1-2 and now we are barely a playoff team

classic Oiler fans

Yeah I agree my post sounds really panicky but every game counts. They at least should have gotten a OT loss for a point against the sens.

 

[Stoneman89]

A week ago I would have said that the Predators are a gift for whoever plays them, but I'm not so sure about that anymore.

According to one poster on here, they , and their current streak are no big deal, because they weren't at the bottom of the standings when they started it.

 

[Stoneman89]

Nice to see Sam Reinhardt get his 50th this past weekend as well. Yet another guy Buffalo gave up on way to quickly.

 

[mkatcherin00]

Good lord I just seen some Twitter video from that Andrew Birkshire talking about how Hyman has so much special access to be good at hockey lolll. I have never seen this type of video before. Not even about guys like Nylander or Tkachuk, etc, who's dads played hockey and were millionaires