Observations XXIV

[Pred303]

I got nothing.

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

I got nothing.

This performance isn't worthy of any words

 

[PredsV82]

I got nothing.

I believe it was you that once told me "some days youre the windshield and some days youre the bug".

I think today we are the possum and Dallas is the semi...

 

[NoNecksCurse]

what's worth noting is that if we do not get a good bounce in OT and pekka doesn't completely steal game 3, we very well could be seeing the same fate as TB and PIT with a sweep. i still have dallas in 6.

they are simply better than us in all aspects of the game.

 

[Prediculous]

Juice for game 5 please. Hopefully it sparks the team

 

[drwpreds]

My negative take:
As nonecks said above, we are VERY fortunate to be in the position we are in. We could easily be getting swept tonight. Saturday was an OT coin flip and Monday we stole one. This whole season, despite a division title, has felt like one big stress and very little fun.

My attempt at finding a sliver of hope:
No matter how ugly the loss was tonight, we are still pretty much right where we want to be. It doesn't matter if we lost 10-0 or in 3OT, it still counts as one loss. All I wanted was to get a split in Dallas, and we did that.

After losing game 1 at home, if you had told me we would be coming home this Saturday tied 2-2 I would have gladly taken it.

When we were sitting in Bridgestone Saturday night in OT, one shot away from going down 2-0 in the series, if you had told me we would be 2-2 after 4 games, I would have gladly taken it.

And that is exactly where we are. There are numerous examples of teams getting blown out in a playoff series and it winding up being just a blip on the radar.

Saturday will tell the tale, and after tonight it will be absolutely fascinating to see what happens. If this doesn't light a fire under our butts, then this whole sorry team truly has no heart and deserves to get bounced. If we don't come out and play our best game of the entire season it will be bitterly disappointing.

I will go so far as to say even if we win- if it is one of our patented 2-1 hold on for our lives games where we are outplayed?? I will be bitterly disappointed in that EVEN IF WE WIN.

That's all I got- I have no confidence whatsoever anymore in this team- but let's see what happens Saturday.

 

[sparkle twin]

Saturday will tell the tale, and after tonight it will be absolutely fascinating to see what happens. If this doesn't light a fire under our butts, then this whole sorry team truly has no heart and deserves to get bounced. If we don't come out and play our best game of the entire season it will be bitterly disappointing.

1000% agree with this right here! It absolutely has to be a full 60 minute effort.

 

[JamestheSame]

What exactly happened to this team around January?

Injury bug get the best of them?

I didn't get to watch much hockey during the end of November-January.

I know the team started the season on fire, but cooled off.

 

[101st_fan]

So far we've lost a hard-fought, one-goal game. Won two of those same type of hard-fought games ... then decided to see how many PPG we could give up. Welcome to a best of three series.

This and the Jets/Blues series are slugfests. Both are going at least six games with all four teams riding their goalies hard. Live or die based on the guy in the mask.

Goal differential over the series is meaningless. I don't care if we win by one goal or ten ... the boys just need to figure out how to get that W on Saturday.

 

[GoldOnGold]

I've seen people blame our defense quite a lot, but make no mistake: those 1st period goals were on Rinne to a large extent

 

[King Weber]

probably has something to do with the lines they're matched up against, but still fairly impressive.


Arvidsson and Sissons now the only Preds without a single point this series. Need Arvi to contribute offensively.

 

[Scoresberg]

Dallas is just flat out better, not on paper, not even close but far better on the ice.

That is what good coaching does. Lavy doesn't have any answers right now.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Dallas has been the better team this series without a doubt.

For me this all comes back to coaching. Lavi doesn't have an answer and doesn't know how to male adjustments. He is a big picture guy and not a details guy. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.

I would not be surprised if the Stars take the next two. I also wouldn't be surprised if we have a game 7. All depends on what Preds team shows up because you know Dallas is going to.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

the way this team is constructed.. we will never be able to win a cup unless our top 4 defenseman are playing at a top level.

16-17.. all 4 were top notch.

since then not so much. regular season it was PK and Ellis. now that it's the playoffs it's ellis and ekholm.

ellis is being traded in the offseason without a doubt if i am poile.

 

[GeauxPreds1]

Time for a shake up with these lines. We have to find a way to get granlund back to his natural position at right wing. He's a 60+ point player with playing that position but what does lavy do he puts in a position hes not comfortable in. Good job. I believe Arvi started at left wing but with him finding chemistry with Forsberg and joey he was moved to right wing. So I'd try
Forsberg joey smith
Arvi turris granlund

 

[LCPreds]

One other boon about the game 4 flow for Dallas is that their 1st line only had about 15 minutes TOI. So much for them being tired due to overuse.

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

Time for a shake up with these lines. We have to find a way to get granlund back to his natural position at right wing. He's a 60+ point player with playing that position but what does lavy do he puts in a position hes not comfortable in. Good job. I believe Arvi started at left wing but with him finding chemistry with Forsberg and joey he was moved to right wing. So I'd try
Forsberg joey smith
Arvi turris granlund

Granlund was a center. He's played there for 5+ years, how is he not comfortable?

 

[Legionnaire11]

I know Granlund blossomed when he moved to wing, but he has plenty of experience at center and would he be worse than what we have going on there right now?

I'd be tempted to try out a Watson - Granlund - Grimaldi line for a few shifts at least. Then a Turris - Sissons - Smith line.

 

[hockey diva]

Granland hasn't played center in a while.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

theres no fixing our offense.

 

[Pred303]

...our two goal a game offense is right on track. 8 goals in 4 games.
...our forwards have scored 5 goals in 4 games. and two of those five were absolute pure luck gifts.
...our 'true game' is a low scoring/defense/forecheck/goaltending/counter game. but this is Dallas's game too. They are better at our game than we are.
...we simply have to play and win 2-1 type games to win this series.
...our PP compared to their PP is actually embarassing. Ours looks like a Chinese fire drill.
...honestly, a team with the 31st ranked PP in the league really has no business even making the playoffs.
...in these type series we HAVE to be carried by the top line. and they aren't doing squat.
...we cann't play against great defensive teams and have forsberg not even get a shot on net and have a chance to win.
...Johansen 8 shots. Arv 1. Forsberg 0. unbelievable.
...we are better than this. But we have been better than we have played for our last 70 games, so i cann't imagine why we expect different.
...remember those rough and tumble playoff games where Watson/Sissons just took over? Where is that?
...Eckholm/Ellis have both been horrible for 4 games.
...Josi/Subban/Grimaldi/Fabbro have been our only bright spots honestly.

Saturday we will see what type of mental toughness this team has or doesn't have. No idea which team shows up for us. No idea what to expect. Hope they have more fight in them than i do at this point.
...

 

[Predsanddead24]

The falloff of the JOFA line is confounding to me. Scored at barely over 2 goals per 60 over the last 20 games of the season and then have had no goals as a line this entire postseason.

 

[Prediculous]

This team basically gets their goals and high % shots from opportunities given by the other team or in other words, their mistakes. When our defense sucks and doesnt bottle up the other team on the ice, we look even worse on offense because the other team is comfortable.

 

[Prediculous]

Dallas also doesnt have much depth past their top 6 guys. Would it make more sense to spread the love throughout our lines and balance them out a bit more?

 

[Predsanddead24]

At this point something has to be changed within the lineup to get things going offensively. You can't keep trotting out the same lineup and magically expect them to start producing offensively again.