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Like...I think it was hard on you because it's your team. But, watching as a casual observer, there was NEVER a point IMO where the game was in doubt by your Avs. That first goal by the dipsh*t Evander? The Avs went, okay...better get serious. Scored right away in 30 seconds. It was this way up until it was 2-2...then, your team went, okay enough...and then piled it on. Once it was 7-3, I think Denver started to coast and get loose (too easy?) and yeah, allowed Edmonton to claw back within 1 goal but even then, I honestly felt it the outcome was never in doubt. There was never really any sustained pressure and the Avs had really good active sticks and stole the puck to counter with regularity on Edmonton.
There was no sustained McJesus/Draisaitl plays in the Avalanche zone that I saw against Flames and Kings.
You hit in on the head with the second period part. I wasn't concerned with how we kept responding in the 1st at all. It was them coasting when they were up 7-3. We did this in the first two series as well in at least one game each. Just keep the pressure up and close them out. Don't let them even have the feeling that they can play with you. I don't want that stress
You hit in on the head with the second period part. I wasn't concerned with how we kept responding in the 1st at all. It was them coasting when they were up 7-3. We did this in the first two series as well in at least one game each. Just keep the pressure up and close them out. Don't let them even have the feeling that they can play with you. I don't want that stress
The Avs remind me big-time of the 2009 Cup-winning Hawks...same problems...goals came easy and they were so skilled that any deficit or poor play they just believed they could rebound from. I think this is the same for this Denver squad.
Still, Oilers are in this dance for a reason...so, Colorado has to respect their opponent or they'll be golfing. If Avs play the way they can, I don't see them going to Edmonton without a 2-0 series lead.
The Eastern Conference series...I think NY has a good chance to get the jump on Bolts given that Tampa has been resting for awhile with their sweep of the Cats. So, if there's a game to jump on the Lightning, it's Game 1...do it before they find their legs.
The Eastern Conference series...I think NY has a good chance to get the jump on Bolts given that Tampa has been resting for awhile with their sweep of the Cats. So, if there's a game to jump on the Lightning, it's Game 1...do it before they find their legs.
You called it. Definitely didn't expect that out of the Rangers. I thought they would make it a series but wow that was a dominant performance. If that kid line keeps progressing the way it has in these playoffs so far the Rangers are going to be dangerous for years. I had only watched 3 rangers games before these playoffs. Then watched the entire Pens and Canes series. I think that was their best game of the playoffs so far. Tampa was sleeping maybe cause of the long rest so I still think it can be a good series.
Yeah, he has had a good season overall but definitely a bit premature for that. The last thing you want to do is give Tampa even more motivation.
Yeah, this.
Don't give the Bolts a reason to wake up. They are back-to-back Cup champs and defending ones too.
1 game in a 7 game series is nothing...those fans should save the trashtalk and ribbing for when the series is over and if the Rangers are the victors.
It isn't playoff gamemanship with the Avs. Us fans hate it. They literally do it the entire season. Some clubs actually tell you what is going on but not the Avs. They play these games year round.
It isn't playoff gamemanship with the Avs. Us fans hate it. They literally do it the entire season. Some clubs actually tell you what is going on but not the Avs. They play these games year round.
Rangers do it too. Goodrow had a LBI for a month, just before he came back they said fractured ankle.
I'm shocked there are only 3 goals. Odd game so far, lots of mistakes on both sides.
I had a good feeling we could pull another one out tonight. I certainly didn't expect to shutdown McDrai. Impressed by the shutdown style they played after an awful 1st in my opinion. The game could have been 3-0 in the first and they just squandered chance after chance. They pulled it together in the second and the third though.
Interested to see how they play in Edmonton. I expect to probably lose game 3 but hope we can steal one in game 4.
Sidney Crosby missing a game and a half after what was deemed an accidental high hit in Game 5 of the opening round, changing the course of that series.
Hurricanes rookie Seth Jarvissaying he was still “in a fog” Thursday at Carolina’s breakup day, three days after Trouba threw what was also deemed a legal hit — but one that left Jarvis concussed and, in the immediate aftermath, left the Hurricanes on a penalty kill in Game 7 when they took a too-many-men minor as Jarvis tried woozily to crawl to the bench.
Much of this hasn’t gone over very well in the 2020s NHL, where we have to reconcile increased attention on the long-term effects of head injuries with a sport that is still physical and can legally still be violent, especially in pursuit of a Stanley Cup. But as Trouba rides the edge of how much damage the league allows a player to inflict, he’s also drawn the admiration of a couple of the biggest hitters of the 1990s and 2000s.
“The guy knows how to hit, and he can change the game,” Darius Kasparaitis, one of the league’s all-time hard-hitting defensemen, told The Athletic.
Kasparaitis made his name as a 20-year-old Islanders rookie in 1992-93, standing up to Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr as the Isles upset the two-time defending champs in the second round that postseason.
“When I played, you expected it to be nasty and ugly,” he said. “There would be lots of big hits. It was just part of trying to win. Now, guys don’t expect to get hit. You can see it with Jarvis. And it’s unfortunate what happened, but he got hit, they took a penalty and the Rangers scored. That’s how you change the game.
“It’s a dying breed, what Trouba’s doing. But I can tell you, guys appreciate it.”
Chris Pronger never met an opportunity to throw a hit that he passed up in 18 seasons, plus a streak of 15 consecutive playoff appearances, with four different teams. Like Kasparaitis, he plied his trade in a very different NHL, even though he retired only a decade ago. But, to him, that doesn’t mean there’s no room in today’s postseason for hits like the ones Trouba has thrown.
“People might see it as cheating or against the rules when someone gets injured, but it’s part of the game,” Pronger said. “You have to try and wear teams down, slow them down. The playoffs are a battle of attrition and you’re doing anything you can within the rules to get an edge. It’s something the really good teams understand and teams that have won know it.
“Tampa’s guys don’t necessarily run you through the boards, but they’re battling for every puck. They’re not passing up a chance to hit someone. They grind on you. That aspect can’t be overlooked.”
Pronger added something that may rankle many: “You’re not trying to injure anyone, but you are trying to hurt people. You want them to have a few extra ice bags after a game in a long series. You want them thinking twice about coming down your side. Certain teams aren’t as deep as others. That’s gamesmanship.”
Trouba isn’t as explicit as that, probably because he’s got a few years left to go in his career. He had a string of regular-season hits that drew similar attention, delivering a big, legal hit that knocked Chicago’s Jujhar Khaira out on the ice. He knocked Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon down with a similar hit a few days later. Trouba answered the bell to fight after both hits, as he did when he hit Max Domi in Game 4 of the Hurricanes series.
Carolina’s Steve Lorentz immediately went after Trouba, they fought, Lorentz received an instigator penalty, and the Rangers converted on the power play. It was infuriating for Carolina and its fans but effective.
“Guys aren’t taught to play that way anymore, and when it happens, people get upset,” Kasparaitis said. “It’s important to teach young players to be ready for those kinds of hits and that they can happen at any time. When I was learning the game, I had coaches like (legendary Soviet defenseman and coach Zinetula) Bilyaletdinov that taught me to look for guys coming across the middle with their heads down. It was a skill to do that. I understand we don’t want that anymore because of too many concussions, but you still can hit in the NHL. Why wouldn’t you try to do it whenever you can?”
Earlier this week, Gerard Gallant mentioned Scott Stevens when asked who Trouba reminds him of. GM Chris Drury mentioned Adam Foote, his old Avalanche teammate, whose son, Cal, is on the Lightning.
“He was a guy that was hard to play against. It’s a pretty big compliment in my eyes,” Trouba said of the Stevens comparison. “I know you’ll be disappointed to hear I didn’t watch a ton of hockey growing up. I was more of a (Nicklas) Lidstrom guy in my backyard.”
“Trouba’s been doing that for years,” Tampa coach Jon Cooper said. “The unfortunate result of what happened the other night (with Jarvis), I don’t think anyone including Trouba wants to see that. But everybody’s well aware of guys that can hit you. Going into a corner with Trouba versus someone else on their team, you probably have a different mindset. I would assume they have that same thought process about some of our guys.
“Trouba’s a good player in this league. I was part of that North American team (at the World Cup) in 2016, and Troubs was on it; he’s been a heck of a player in this league and a physical presence. And you do need that on teams that advance.”
Jarvis said Thursday he didn’t have a problem with the hit. It’s doubtful many Carolina fans (or Pittsburgh fans) feel the same way. That’s a reminder that the environment outside the NHL, especially in the playoffs, is nothing like what’s discussed or viewed inside the locker room. And even at that, Pronger agrees with Kasparaitis that today’s young NHLers have to be more prepared for big contact, especially in the playoffs.
“The less people hit, the more players like Trouba stand out and the less prepared for his hits guys are,” Pronger said. “Guys just get lackadaisical, and you can’t afford to do that as a pro. You end up getting injured, and guys like him have free rein.”
The playoff battle is long, and the players who can throw those game-altering hits while also still playing defense at a high level — like Stevens, who is viewed now as either the ultimate leader and a big reason for three Stanley Cup wins or as a menace, depending on which Twitter thread you want to jump into, or Pronger or Foote — can have as big an impact over the course of two postseason months as a big scorer or a hot goaltender. Even if it makes you feel conflicted to want a player like that on your team.
“You get the other team thinking about something else other than what’s right in front of them and you’re winning the battle,” Pronger said. “We always tried to have the edict when someone got hit hard that you take a number and get them in the regular season next year. I was very bad at that my first few playoff runs. Some guys get too distracted.”
“You’ve for sure got Carolina fans saying Trouba’s the dirtiest guy ever,” Kasparaitis said. “Maybe Pittsburgh fans too. But Ranger fans? They love it. I sometimes get tagged in Facebook posts with some of my old hits, and it’s the same thing. That was 25, 30 years ago. Those plays energize the crowd, energize your teammates.
“You want a guy who can play that way. Sometimes people get hurt. But that’s hockey.”
So I love what he does I give you that. I was all about that game way back. The thing I take issue with is the big hits and hits to the head the league claims they are trying to take out of the game. Either shit or get off the pot. Stop saying one thing and doing another. I don't care either way but the way they enforce the rule is never consistent in my opinion.
I would like to keep seeing them as long as 100% not head first. But players like Kadri and Landeskog have gotten suspended for hits and the next day an Avs player has gotten take out for a hit equal to those and nothing happens. I know it's not the only team this has happened to I just obviously watch those games a lot more.
I do give Trouba props for taking the fights brought his way when he makes these hits. Some guys that throw these big hits and then run are pussies. Specifically this year I can point out Taylor Hall doing this in two different games. One against the Avs and one against another team I can't remember who they were playing. If you want to throw them then answer the bell if the challenge is there.
Naturally, we had to capitalize on yet another pop-culture thing by shamelessly shoe-horning it into the power rankings this week.
Four teams are left trying to be the Top Gun of the NHL and for those we figured out a perfect character match from the new movie (we promise there are no spoilers here). For everyone else? Call signs that also match perfectly.
We’re almost at the finish line of the 2021-22 season. Here’s how the final four stacks up.
Series: Up 2-0 against the Oilers Last week: 1 Dom rank: 1 Sean rank: 1
Top Gun character: Rooster Proving they belong
Dom: The Avalanche finally did it; they got over the second-round hump with a gutsy last-second win over the Blues. It was a terrific series with some frightening ‘LeafsWest’ moments, but in the end, they prevailed.
But that’s only half the battle. Standing in their way is Edmonton and the Best Player In The World, and so far the Oilers have mostly been standing down. Colorado has looked like a buzzsaw so far winning the first game 8-6 and then putting together a dominant 4-0 win in Game 2. With a backup no less.
In both cases, the two teams just seemed like they were in different leagues playing different sports. Can’t call a series over until a team loses at home, but it’s hard to see Edmonton keeping up with everything Colorado has. After finally getting over the hump and proving they belong, the Avalanche look like they’ve hit another gear.
Sean: Is this what the Avs look like when Nazem Kadri sticks around for the conference final? Kadri has led all players in expected goals in both games (0.82 in Game 1, 1.15 in Game 2). The actual goal count is at one, and he had three assists in 2:04 on Thursday night. Mix that in with a couple more S-tier games from Nathan MacKinnon — one goal, one assist, 10 shots — and they’re going to be 1-for-1 in Round 3.
I’d also be down for a few more games’ worth of The Pavel Francouz Era. Twenty-four saves on 24 shots in Game 2, a goals saved above expected of a little more than 1.00, and he did this.
Might be time for Mike Smith to pass The Wandering Goalie Torch. The fact that Francouz only dabbled in the artform on Thursday night — he didn’t go Full Jacob Markstrom and outdo Smith in the mistakes column — is a great sign for Colorado.
Series: Down 1-0 against the Rangers Last week: 2 Dom rank: 2 Sean rank: 3
Top Gun character: Maverick They’ve done this before
Dom: Well, we found out the answer to the age-old question of “rest vs. rust” – it’s rust. The Lightning looked nothing like they have all playoffs, playing some awful hockey against the Rangers in Game 1. They were out of sync and just didn’t have it defensively. It was a game to forget.
Fortunately for the Lightning, that’s exactly what they do. They have a championship pedigree that they’ve shown countless times throughout these playoffs and there’s little doubt we won’t see their best side in Game 2. Not a single soul is writing these guys off, not with Andrei Vasileskiy’s post-playoff loss stats in the back of their minds.
What is worrying, though, is the lack of Brayden Point in all of this. When Tampa Bay bounced back in Round 1, Point was a key part of it and his absence looms large. The Lightning never faced an ounce of adversity against the Panthers, so he wasn’t needed then, but against a Rangers team that’s peaking things might be very different.
Tampa Bay has the experience that the other three teams all lack, hence the Maverick comparison, but the Lightning are hardly unbeatable.
Sean: I’m writing this on Thursday night, so I’m fully prepared for the 24-hour shelf-life, but I’ll say it anyway: Andrei Vasilevskiy isn’t perfect. I think his performance this season — nothing great, nothing terrible — flew under the radar, and I think how bad he was for 6 2/3 games against the Maple Leafs has been memory-wiped by how great he was for the 4 1/3 games that came after.
And look, the post-loss stuff for him in the playoffs is real. He’s done more than enough over the last few years to deserve the benefit of the doubt. But the Leafs, much as it pained me to watch in the moment, almost pulled it off, y’know? It’s OK to say that, just like it’s OK to think that the Rangers are capable of getting the ball across the goal line. Would I bet on it? Nope. But it isn’t not an issue.
And if he stops 36-of-37 on Friday night and the Lightning win 4-1, we can forget any of this ever happened.
T-2. New York Rangers
Series: Up 1-0 on Tampa Bay Last week: 6 Dom rank: 3 Sean rank: 2
Top Gun character: Hangman A one-man army
Dom: I made a lot of Rangers fans extremely angry with a tweet after Game 7, simply stating that it “must be nice” to face a backup or third-string goalie in every game except one. I didn’t say the wins count less, I didn’t say they didn’t deserve their spot in the conference finals, I didn’t say they shouldn’t enjoy the run – I just said it must be nice. Because it is nice! Very few teams are that fortunate, but good fortune is what all winning teams need en route to the Stanley Cup. Nothing wrong with pointing it out.
Naturally, the Rangers immediately made that tweet age like milk by pumping six goals by some guy named Andrei Vasilevskiy. Of course.
The thing with the Rangers is that no one worth their salt was saying they were a bad team, even with their weak underlying numbers. Their lower standing had more to do with the rest of the East looking a bit stronger – in a more sustainable way anyways. The Rangers could win their way, it’s just other teams had more convincing ways.
But the Rangers built up their depth, and they’re much more than a one-goalie army now. They played extremely well against Carolina and gave the Lightning an unexpected punch in the face in Game 1. They’re getting better as the playoffs roll on and are now only three wins away from the final. It’s been pretty incredible to witness the transformation from paper tiger to legitimate Cup contender.
Sean: It’s rare to see a tweet that ages so badly so quickly. But …
…it happens. That was after MacKinnon went “Temple Run” against the Blues … and a fraction of a second before the Blues went back ahead. Honestly might have happened as I hit “send.” Glad it wasn’t about the Rangers.
Still, it’s one of my favorite moments of the playoffs, because it’s a pastiche of what I most hold dear. It has eeeeverything; Dom being pissy, then getting shown up! Pure schadenfreude! Bad-faith readings by obnoxious weirdos! Context collapse! It’s all awesome. I love it here. Such is life in the Take Economy, I suppose. There are times you’re going to be wrong, and there are times you’re going to look wrong even when you aren’t, technically. It’s all the same in the end.
The reason people seized on that one is that they assumed your tone. What was your intended tone? That’s an answer between you, your god and Frank from White Plains, or whatever. I’m in two camps here — that the Rangers are out in six against basically anyone other than Louis Domingue, and that it couldn’t matter less. That’s why this is fun; they beat the guy in front of them, then they beat the next guy, and now they’re beating the next, next guy. Asterisks on series wins do not exist, and anything is possible in a seven-game series. We’re lucky for that.
And we’re also lucky to watch a team as across-the-board compelling as the Rangers. If nothing else, Game 1’s outcome was a blessing bestowed on me, personally.
Dom: Twitter? Assuming tone? No way. I feel like I’m the same as you: I fire up Twitter without thinking or feeling anything – and just fire something off into the universe. Never did I expect that.
4. Edmonton Oilers
Series: Down 2-0 against Colorado Last week: 7 Dom rank: 4 Sean rank: 4
Top Gun character: Bob The butt of many jokes, but who’s laughing now?
Dom: By my rough count the Oilers were 37-3 during the regular season when scoring four or more goals, or a win percentage of 93 percent. In their utterly chaotic playoff run they’ve already lost two games when scoring six goals and are 7-3 when scoring four or more, a win percentage of 70 percent. That’s a huge drop, one that just shouldn’t exist in the playoffs. Scoring four goals should be enough!
That’s the beauty of the Oilers, one of the most fun teams to watch in a long time. They have the best player in the world and a deep group of forwards behind him. But they also have a very weak defense corps and a goalie who can turn into a pumpkin at any given moment. It leads to a lot of exciting action as we saw in Game 1, but in order to go the distance – in this year and any other – the Oilers need more resolve on the backend. Losing two games in one playoffs where the offense put up six feels like proof of that.
Of course, it helps to actually score goals and that’s where things went really wrong in Game 2. Shutout by Pavel Francouz? That’s bad folks. Now they’re down 2-0 and this series is starting to feel close to over already. The Oilers are good, but they’re not Colorado good. There’s a vast chasm between the two – they’re no Rooster.
Sean: This is the first crack we’ve seen in the “Top Gun” gimmick. I’ll leave it at that. And those are some unbelievable stats, mainly because, if you made me guess, I’d have assumed their regular-season, four-plus win percentage would’ve been a lot lower, for all the reasons you outlined. You mix Mike Smith in with a suspect D-corps, and weird, unpleasant stuff is going to happen. For whatever reason, though, that wasn’t the case in the regular season. It’s only now that they’re starting to lose games the way you’d have guessed.
We saw that in Game 1, and we got a different variety in Game 2; they threw up a goose egg against Colorado. Not coincidentally, their most dangerous forwards were Jesse Puljujarvi, Evander Kane and Kailer Yamamoto. If Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl aren’t producing, they’re going to lose. It’s reductive but true.
Regarding McDavid specifically, with him on the ice at five-on-five, Edmonton is getting out-attempted 58-43, outshot 36-23, outscored 3-2 and outpaced 65-35 in expected goals percentage (per Natural Stat Trick). If that doesn’t change, the series is over. McDavid isn’t inevitable — he only feels that way. It only seems like he can score at will. He’s the greatest hockey player on Earth, and there’s only one of him. For better or worse.
5. Carolina Hurricanes
Series: Lost 4-3 to the Rangers Last week: 3 Dom rank: 5 Sean rank: 5
Call sign: Brick
They had a brick wall in net — and shot bricks at the other guy.
6. St. Louis Blues
Series: Lost 4-2 to Colorado Last week: 5 Dom rank: 6 Sean rank: 6
Call sign: Bullseye
They can score at will. Also, we were correct about them the whole time.
Eliminated by Colorado Last week: 16 Dom rank: 16 Sean rank: 16
Call sign: Juice Box
It’s helpful that the most important player in the franchise, goalie Juuse Saros, has such an easily adaptable name. Also, the fact that we’ve gotten two groups of “Top Gun” pilots without one of of them actually having “Juice Box” as a call sign is shocking.
Record: 26-48-6 Last week: 29 Dom rank: 29 Sean rank: 29
Call sign: Sockeye
That’s the species of salmon (stuffed animal) Kraken stars toss into the stands after wins at Climate Pledge Arena — not that they did it all that often this season. It should also be the team’s actual nickname, but that’s another issue.
Record: 25-45-11 Last week: 30 Dom rank: 30 Sean rank: 30
Call sign: Coupon
They’re going to need some serious discounts if they actually want to follow through on this “retool on the fly” thing. Not a lot of cap space to go around. Also … Flyers. Coupons. Get it?
06-01-2022, 04:03 PM
and scandals... 
@ Evander Kane on his dirty hit on Kadri...