Math

Sheesh, that was close. Now that DeBoer inserted Faksa makes him look like a genius. But that was a series of details in the middle of a chess game. Two brain farts lead to be a 1-1 tie after two periods, and then Faksa scored almost the same goal as the Hanifin one: shot that deflected on a body, going past over the shoulder of the screened goalie.

I still have a bittersweet taste about Bowness. The bubble run in 2020 was really nice when he took over head coach duties after the Montgomery firing, but the rest was often mind-boggling and frustrating. He never took any responsabilities when thing went wrong, it was always on the players and he had this bad habit to throw them under the bus. Seeing him in love with grit fourth line players like Comeau and Faksa drove me nuts several times. It's a bit severe but Alexandre Daigle called him an "outdated" coach not later than yesterday and he was right. Still stuck in the early 2000s and he struggled to be proactive and didn't really evolved with the game. I guess Winnipeg players (especially Scheifele) are very happy to send him their best wishes for his retirement.

DeBoer put him down on the second unit with Benn and Johnston, which is good. But my eyes are bleeding everytime he's on the ice. He's just the shell of himself.

As expected, this will go to the ultimate game. Game #5 Probably the most complete game from the Stars. They dominated in puck possession, scoring chances and special situations. Öttinger allowed a very bad goal for the Vegas tying at 2-2 but then he shut the door. The Stars missed an extraordinary numbe of odd-man rushed and breakaway with Dadonov missing the net on a 3-on-0. Vegas made many mistakes and lacked execution. Terrible game (and series generally by Pietrangelo) who constantly turned over the puck and took stupid costly penalties. Game #6 No surprises, Vegas came out strong but the Stars did a very good job in defending. A couple of posts on the Knights' side and again, some missed breakaways and wide open net on Dallas's side. All lines seemed to be a tone below but I'm very concerned about the first line: Pavelski is completely invisible (and done IMO, which is sad. He can barely skate), Hintz is apparently injured and isn't involved at all, which causes Robertson to be quite ineffective. Nothing to say about Öttinger, he had a solid game. It could have turned either way but this time it was for Vegas.

Boeser in full Hellebuyck mode, just told that the Canucks had their best game of the series.

That game sucked but the last 45 seconds were fun.

See, I'm telling this from the very beginning that Matthews was anchoring this team. Why put that dude from Arizona as your first-line center?!?

lol, and they also have Ekman-Larsson on the payroll until 2028-2029.

I think there's a project for a new arena and that's should be a done deal once an NHL is there. Bettman knows that the current Delta Center is not a perennial solution, the Smiths were aware of that and that was part of the discussion prior to the move. I think this team can really take-off. They have now an owner that is willing to spent, the core is talented, they have a ridiculous amount of picks that they can use for further transactions and honestly, I had the then-Coyotes as a WC team but the inconsistent goaltending coupled with an awful 12-game losing streak sealed their fate. What they need now is the addition of one or two big names though free agency or transaction to help the team on a marketing pespective, and to bring experience on the ice. I'm dreaming but if they could get a guy like Stamkos or trade for Marner, that would have an immediate impact.

Somehow, Hakstol paid for the fact that Seattle came back to normal. On the other I agree: I didn't think we would be the coach for many years. Not in a team that can barely make the postseason. I don't really bite into these allegations of players wanting him gone. If yes, who could be asking that? In a team without any superstar or dominant player, I don't see anyone having leverage to do that. Not to mention the few kids like Beniers and Wright who haven't proven anything yet. Some players complaining about their ice-time? Seattle has always praised a system with four equal lines playing more or less the same... So I really don't know.

Some huge opportunities for the Stars who dominate the game and had four times more high danger scoring chances. Hope that missed 3-on-0 won't bite them...

There's still a major hurdle, maybe the biggest issue for them: winning a game at home. They don't have the road ice advantage and this is a huge thing to overcome.

Well, that was unexpected somehow... The Stars have been dominated the whole first period and have started badly the second. The stupid back-to-back penalties to Pietrangelo and Stephenson made the momentum shift IMO. Dallas got more confident and Öttinger got better. The turtling praised by Bowness back at the time resurfaced and kept things dangerous but the Stars managed to hold the lead. Thompson has a large responsability though: he really struggles on shots on the glove side and with a tight angle. No way he should have allowed the Dadonov goal and he let a deadly rebound on Johnston's tally. I wouldn't be surprised to see Hill back between the pipes. I'm still worried about the Stars continuously playing with 5 Dmen. it's obvious Lundkvist is the weakest link there so maybe they will call up someone.

I have always in mind the OT goal from Marchant in game #7 following a 5.8/6 figure skating by Ledyard lol.

The Boston-Florida series will be a good re-match. Boston will be ready this time.

Actually, they played awfully in this first period and were lucky to be tied 1-1. But again, Hintz is invisible and Öttinger doesn't make key stops...

From an Adams finalist to a fired coach... I don't really know how he could've done better with this squard that came back on earth. Last year was kind of a nice story with a team without real stars. I'm more worried about their prospect pipeline that doesn't seem to be large

Chicago will win the lottery. Book it. No way the League takes any risk with a team like Columbus picking first.

And without any surprise, it's time for Bowness to throw his players under the bus in the typical finest Ricky style. Scheifele: "The Avalanche made adjustements compared to the regular season and we didn't". Translation: our dumbass coach didn't do shít when we started to get demolished by Colorado. Bowness: "Hellebuyck is not the problem. It's the players in front of him".

Ovechkin had his lowest TOI since 2012. I guess it's a good idea to let one of your best sniper on the bench when you trail 3-0 in the series and you have nothing to lose. That Sandin penalty had a 7/10 on the Marchment retardation scale.

Again, great coaching by Bowness. He inserted Jonsson-Fjällby to "strengthen" the PK (ok, that's the plan. Not to score more goals, not to try to change any momentum, but just defend the best possible way in the given case that the Jets will get penalties because that's so obvious). Colorado took a 4-1 lead with two PP goals, and Jonsson-Fjällby hasn't got any single second of ice time at that moment. But there's progress. He didn't proceed to a goalie change when trailing 12-1 with 2 mins remaining in the game... He did that a bit earlier. So far, 22 goals allowed for a team that relies heavily on defensive tenure and strong goaltending.

Michael Jordan won a series by himself while dealing with a mix of Ebola, Cholera and a 120°F-hemorragic fever... (I know, I know...)

Lots of energy, around 10 breakaways, twice more shots on goals and almost five times more significant scoring chance and Vegas making tons of mistakes. Score: 2-2 including a Vegas shortie... And again, no big save by Öttinger to keep his team afloat. Disappointing and frustrating. If the Stars lose this one, they will be obliterated 8-0 to complete the sweep.

Getting rid of the dead wood surely helped but the Stars should have taken a greater lead.