Pre-Game Talk: nyrcar

[A Star is Burns]

What concerns me about Gardiner is this, how many teams saw his gaffes against Boston in the playoffs and will now specifically target him because they know he's prone to f***-up? I mean, I watched the dude drop pass to a Bruin behind his own net in last years game 7. I guess you could say part of that was just another Leafs implosion in a game 7 at TD Garden but I also think that's just who Gardiner is. We all saw Ovechkin "target" Dougie last Spring, I have little doubt that Gards will be a "target" himself going forward.

I know CDH was and is injury-prone, but I also thought he was solid in his own end and did the little things that led to scoring chances. In other words, I trusted him more than I do Gardiner.

Dougie got targeted, and they definitely had to hide him at times in that series. But Dougie also had a couple of big games at home during the Washington series when it was more controllable and we might not win the series without those. It might definitely take some good coaching and strategies in different situations to maximize the good and hide the bad of Gardiner like it did with Dougie in that case.

 

[HisIceness]

Good point, Dougie responded well in that game 6.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

What concerns me about Gardiner is this, how many teams saw his gaffes against Boston in the playoffs and will now specifically target him because they know he's prone to f***-up? I mean, I watched the dude drop pass to a Bruin behind his own net in last years game 7. I guess you could say part of that was just another Leafs implosion in a game 7 at TD Garden but I also think that's just who Gardiner is. We all saw Ovechkin "target" Dougie last Spring, I have little doubt that Gards will be a "target" himself going forward.

I know CDH was and is injury-prone, but I also thought he was solid in his own end and did the little things that led to scoring chances. In other words, I trusted him more than I do Gardiner.

I think it goes without saying that you need to be very careful with Gardiner in the playoffs. In key situations he either needs to sit or be sheltered against top competition. The narrative is out there and whether it's mostly in the past or in his head it doesn't matter, you can't allow him to be targeted by the other team. Put him in a situation to succeed and he likely will. He has some great skills but he's also flawed and has limitations. Don't push those limits and you won't end up in tears. In the playoffs that can be tough but it is what it is.

With Pesce out of the backend, our defense is super imbalanced. Slavin is excellent all around but Dougie, Skej, Vatanen and Gardiner all skew to the offensive side of things with some shortcomings in their own zone. Edmundson and TVR aren't exactly defensive studs. They are more physical crease clearing type guys who are suited to the bottom pair. Fleury is the one guy with some defensive acumen to his game.

That's why I think the idea is to use McGinn - Staal - Williams as a support system for the offensively minded D pairings. They'll focus on shutting down the other team so the D can keep it simple and do their thing. Then the 3rd line of Dzingel - Trochek - Nino - Necas can feast on a weaker third line.

I'm sure it's not the way Rod wants to do things but given the options it might be the best way to play to everyone's strengths.

 

[spockBokk]

Personally, I think Gardiner could be key in the NYR series. He was becoming quite the offensive force at even strength in the last few games of the season. I don’t expect low scoring affairs in this series. Gardiner should hopefully thrive. Now, if the Canes advance and get the Caps in the next round, time to sub in Edmundson or Fleury...

I have a feeling that the Canes are going to need to be very aggressive in the offensive zone to score against the stingy Ranger goalies, whomever they end up going with. Having Gardiner out there working with the Trocheck line against the Ranger’s 3rd pair and bottom 6 forwards at even strength could cause the Rangers some issues.

They have lethal offensive forwards and Fox and Deangelo will have to be contained on the back end, but they suck defensively for the most part. I think the advantage the Canes have in their potential 3rd line (Dzingel/Nino-Trocheck-Necas)matchup against the Rangers’ bottom 6 and bottom D pair could be a key to the series also. Being the “home” team and having last change for the first 2 games will be crucial I think.

Who are we kidding, we all know the Staal line and Aho line will end up getting the top 6 minutes.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

One thing that TVR does have, even in off-years like this season, is a decent puck possession game. In a bottom-pairing, that skill's pretty useful to have around. I seriously would not be surprised if TVR is the one that Brindy uses more often than not as his #6, with Gardiner as the anchor on the 3rd pair. I actually could see the two right side slots rotated as Vatanen adjusts to our system. I think that Brindy plans to shoulder the bulk of the games played on our bottom-2 pairings to Skjei and Gardiner. Both Fleury and Eddy can play their off-hand decently well, especially Fleury, so if Vatanen or TVR have a bad game, one of them can sit for the other.

Honestly, I'm incredibly excited to watch the defense this year. When TVR is at his best, Gardiner-TVR could well be the best third-pairing in the NHL. My main concern is still the 2nd-pairing with Skjei and Vatanen. Those two, historically, have some issues with keeping the puck out of their own end, especially Skjei. Skjei playing up to his known capability is key here, and also it's important to figure out just how much of Skjei's struggles were about the Rangers being an awful possession club in general. Neal Pionk suffered a similar effect until he was traded to the Jets, where his advanced stats and point totals blossomed in Coach Mo's system, and Trouba suffered a similar effect in the inverse when he was traded to the Rangers, where his advanced stats tanked.

Whenever Pesce is ready to return, that's when we should start considering our defense to be the single best in hockey. Running Slavin-Hamilton, Skjei-Pesce, and Gardiner-Vatanen/TVR, with all of them in the prime of their careers age-wise is, to put it mildly, bonkers. Until then, though, I'm still on the cautious side as far as our 2nd pair is concerned.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

What if we lose and that means we get literally a week of hockey and then nothing again?

 

[Navin R Slavin]

What if we lose and that means we get literally a week of hockey and then nothing again?

Then someone starts a bandwagon thread. Personally, I'll be watching every game I can for a while.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Then someone starts a bandwagon thread. Personally, I'll be watching every game I can for a while.

I will too, for sure. I watch every game anyway, and especially now when we are all completely devoid of sports content this will be a treat.

At the same time, a 3-game sweep would be such a weird blip. It'd be very strange to watch 3 Canes games with several months on either side of them.

Let's all agree now that we can leave the "Dougie just wasn't the same coming back from his injury, he was -1 with no points in the 3 playoff games" discussion alone. If we make a deep-ish run (as in, beat the Rangers and don't get swept in the next round), sure, we can glean some info. But let's just collectively decide that everyone who loses in the play-in round isn't allowed to make anything of it.

(Edit: except the Rangers, who if they get swept can very reasonably determine that they are screwed in the goaltending department.)

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I mean, this year is an asterisk year for sure. I'd love to see us go deep, but with this dumb play-in, a couple of rusty starts and it could be over. The talent is here, the future is bright, and this year has just been f***ing weird.

And hey, maybe we can Lafreniere, lol. That would be so hilarious.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I mean, this year is an asterisk year for sure. I'd love to see us go deep, but with this dumb play-in, a couple of rusty starts and it could be over. The talent is here, the future is bright, and this year has just been f***ing weird.

And hey, maybe we can Lafreniere, lol. That would be so hilarious.

It would be incredible. The notion of Aho being our third most highly thought of forward in only like 3 years is kinda crazy. That’s Kane/Toews/Hossa level shit.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

It would be incredible. The notion of Aho being our third most highly thought of forward in only like 3 years is kinda crazy. That’s Kane/Toews/Hossa level shit.

Lafreniere would be amazing. A Stanley Cup would be even more amazing. I know which one that I would prefer. Let a club like Minnesota enjoy Lafreniere, you know, a franchise that actually needs their first true "savior".

 

[emptyNedder]

But let's just collectively decide that everyone who loses in the play-in round isn't allowed to make anything of it.

Can the winners draw conclusions?

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Can the winners draw conclusions?

They’ll get a bigger sample size eventually, no?

 

[Chrispy]

Can the winners draw conclusions?

It's a different type of challenge, but God willing a type of playoff challenge they won't have to play again.

Succeeding in it is still worth praising, but not being able to turn things back on almost immediately is not a black mark against a franchise for future traditional playoff runs.

 

[Stickpucker]

Who would be starting goaltender for you guys? Reimer? Mrazek?

Hah! like we know.

Most likely Mrazzle Dazzle.

 

[Stickpucker]

I know you guys made playoffs but where the hell is our draft for loser team fan bases.

no excuses, I didn’t know where to put this.


I’m between being a Carolina fan or a Colorado fan for these playoffs

How bout both?

 

[Chrispy]

Hah! like we know.

Most likely Mrazzle Dazzle.

Reimer will get at least one start with the B2B for games 2 and 3. I expect Mrazek will get to start game 1.

Beyond that, I expect hot hand for games 4 and 5 and possibly the 2nd round.

 

[jiitu]

What is interesting, is that still first teo games are "home games" even tgought it is best of five series.

As we know, panarin and ziba will play huge minutes. For first two games we can decide who to put against. For their first home game, its third game in 4 days and those two just cant play astronomical minutes then.

Aho and staal groups wih short shifts against them all the time. Hit them, score against, make them tired.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Reimer will get at least one start with the B2B for games 2 and 3. I expect Mrazek will get to start game 1.

Beyond that, I expect hot hand for games 4 and 5 and possibly the 2nd round.

It's a very interesting question that we hadn't thought much of until the schedule. How do you handle the goalies?

If you're down 0-2, and your starter played the first two games, you probably don't mind going to your backup since the starter lost the first two.

If you win game 1 with your starter, do you try game 2 with your backup since you have a tiny cushion? Do you run your starter hoping to get the stranglehold (such as it is one) at 2-0? Then, do you automatically go to the backup because it's back to back and your goalie may not be ready for 3 in 4 after months off? Do you risk throwing your starter out there for 3 in 4 if he says he feels good and has played great?

What if you lost game 1 with your starter? Do you go to the backup for game 2, but then maybe have to go back to the starter for the back to back? If the backup is great, do you try him back to back?

There's a lot of different ways to run this, and that's just considering the first 3 games of this series. Normally, you can just throw your starter out there for every game in a series (good play pending). It may not be that easy this time. And you may want to get your backup a game if possible since you could need them eventually should you advance.

 

[Chrispy]

It's a very interesting question that we hadn't thought much of until the schedule. How do you handle the goalies?

If you're down 0-2, and your starter played the first two games, you probably don't mind going to your backup since the starter lost the first two.

If you win game 1 with your starter, do you try game 2 with your backup since you have a tiny cushion? Do you run your starter hoping to get the stranglehold (such as it is one) at 2-0? Then, do you automatically go to the backup because it's back to back and your goalie may not be ready for 3 in 4 after months off? Do you risk throwing your starter out there for 3 in 4 if he says he feels good and has played great?

What if you lost game 1 with your starter? Do you go to the backup for game 2, but then maybe have to go back to the starter for the back to back? If the backup is great, do you try him back to back?

There's a lot of different ways to run this, and that's just considering the first 3 games of this series. Normally, you can just throw your starter out there for every game in a series (good play pending). It may not be that easy this time. And you may want to get your backup a game if possible since you could need them eventually should you advance.

I think the best method is to plan out games 1-3 in advance. Don't let your starter think you're benching them for the game 1 performance. Tell them both in advance which of games 2 and 3 the backup is starting, because as you said you want the backup to get 1 of the B2B.

Then you at least have 2 games of the starter to make a decision off for game 4.

 

[Unsustainable]

Beat they ass

 

[cptjeff]

Then someone starts a bandwagon thread. Personally, I'll be watching every game I can for a while.

My current job is a temp gig that ends on July 31. Games start August 1. Gee, I wonder how that's gonna go.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

It is merciful that they are starting on a Saturday, but yeah I may be inconspicuously blocking my calendar with "private" meeting invites during the Canes games during the week and then making up hours during the West Coast games.

 

[cptjeff]

Reimer will get at least one start with the B2B for games 2 and 3.

Sure about that? Traditionally in the playoffs you run your starting goalie even on back to backs, and everybody is going to be healed up and rested.

 

[spockBokk]

I was initially bummed that my office pushed back folks getting back from early July to early September. 4 months working from home with pent up with a 4yr old is getting a little old, but with the play-in schedule now out ,I’m all set. Will have the laptop up to keep up with the emails while also screaming at the Canes.