Rat Trick

Something needs to change on the PP for the Panthers before the next game or there will be more of the same going on. They have a top goalie and they just can't be hapharzardly throwing the puck at the net and think that is going to do it with Vasilevskiy in the net. 

1 minute ago, FireDillabaugh said:

Another blown call.  It was minor, but it falls into the goaltender interference rule, where Bob didn't have the time to reset and play his position with the goal scoring immediately when the contact is made.

 

But, nonetheless, Florida can not win this series if they give Tampa this many power plays.

Absolutely a blown call. Obviously there was contact with Bobs head and he was not able to reset and play the position and shot correctly. Does it make a damn bit of different, No but the call was blown as were several in this game. 

As much as I hate it, that was the correct call. 

Just now, FireDillabaugh said:

But, y

But, you're right.  Florida better not keep their path to the penalty box.  Because, the Tampa power play can win them games.  Like that goal by Perry.

As you can see it just came up and bit them in the ***. Now that was an incredible move by Kucherov to make that play happen, but it was started by the penalty by the Panthers. 

1-1

1 minute ago, FireDillabaugh said:

Not sure how they can have any power play advantage.  It looks like the same anemic power play they had in the first round.  No changes at all.

It looks like they have zero assemblance of a plan on the power play. It looks like all they are attempting to do is shoot the puck on the net and hope for a redirect to sneak passed the goalie. They need some sort of actual set up instead of just throwing the puck around and hoping. 

Huby to Duke!!!!!!

1-0 Panthers!!!!!

Second penalty killed by the Panthers early in this 1st period. This is not the game plan for sure. 5 on 5 play I think the Panthers offense has the advantage and of course the power plays, but they cannot keep on having penalties that they have to kill off. 

The guy still has something left in the tank. He had a total of 65 points in 74 games played this season and tallied 25 goals and 45 assists. I would definitely say he has some game left.

The 2023 NHL draft there is going to be a special player to target at #1 and that is Connor Bedard. Whoever is lucky enough to win the Draft lottery next season is going to end up with a special player. 

2 minutes ago, Math said:

 

They mananged to sneak into the postseason thank to the division realignment that made the north division by far the weakest in the League, not to mention that there were only seven teams and being in the top-4 secured a play-off spot. Then they faced Toronto who ****ed up big time, and the Jets with their atrocious D. The SC final was one of the worst in history. I only give the Habs credit for their series vs. Vegas but all the rest was a pure fluke. Unfortunately for them, they were about the only one who actually believed they had a squad to be in the playoffs again. I ranked them 7th out of eight in their divison and everybody I know jumped on me, claiming that I was not objective (not true), that I didn't see Montréal's full potential (not true) and that was a Habs hater (ok, true) who's giving a false prediction (also true: they finished dead last).

 

Now they are convinced they will have a Connor McDavid #2. Seems to be that it would be more of a Nugent-Hopkins 2.0. A good player but definitely not a franchise-changing guy.

Shane Wright is definitely not Connor McDavid. Hell,  I am not even sure if he is Nick Suzuki. 

So many people in this world today are complete idiots. 

I am extremely glad that Mitch Marner came out of this unharmed and I hope that these criminals get caught quickly and justice is served on them. 

As a fan you are reserved to vote with your heart for sure. That is what makes us true and loyal fans. 

This series is going to be one fantastic series and even though my team is looked upon as being favored they still have a lot of work to be done to get past the two time defending champs. 

It is most definitely going to be what I believe is the most exciting of the 2nd round series games and I look forward to it.

12 minutes ago, CoachX said:

We have Laughton 

 

Um, I really don't know what to say about that. I still think there could be a major upgrade at that position just glancing at the players that currently are there. 

Baseball is almost as bad as watching Golf for me. It is literally players just standing around most of the time. You are also correct that the games are way too long. 

Football I will also watch and I have been to one Dolphins game in person and it was horrible. I spent most of the time watching the game on the jumbo screen. There are way too many commercials.

I will also watch basketball mostly because the Miami Heat is very popular down here and they are usually the talk of the town. What I don't like about basketball is the same teams win practically every season. It is the teams with Curry, Durant, Lebron, Harden, Giannis, Chris Paul,Tatum and Embiid. In hockey it seems like there are different teams going for the Cup each year even if the Lightning have won the past two seasons. 

Trotz is waiting for his phone to ring at this very moment from Vegas.

I also think DeBoer will have another head coaching job before next season. 

9 minutes ago, fan4ever said:

 

Believe it or not, I hear that people don't like the game because it's too fast, they have trouble following the puck (hence the previous blue streak they tried), etc.  So what we love about it, they can't get used to.  Go figure!

 

I have heard that as well, but I would rather have some difficulty trying to chase a puck around the rink and it being fast pace then watching something like paint drying such as an outfielder standing out in a field or in football watch a play then a bunch of players standing around. Basketball there is some spurts of excitement with a huge dunk , but most of the time it is just running back and forth down the court and they shoot the ball through a hoop. The NBA players are so good at it they hardly ever miss too. 

So I'd much rather have to concentrate a little harder on a fast moving puck and watch all the action continually moving around then watching paint dry anyday. 

9 minutes ago, FireDillabaugh said:

This just isn't an option when you have things like NCAA Women's Hockey and the Junior Women's Hockey League playing during the normal seasons.  There's plenty of room for both leagues to be successful and profitable.  The market is there, without a doubt.  And, as women's hockey grows in other countries as well, it's only going to continue to succeed.

 

The fact that their regular season games are already on ESPN+ is the step in the right direction they need.  It's only a matter of time before ESPN is televising more of these games on their other networks.  The step towards ESPN being their exclusive network for their regular season instead of just ESPN+.

ESPN being onboard is a major plus for the growth of the sport. I agree that there is room for both leagues to succeed. In many ways, especially here in America when it comes to the Olympics and Ice Hockey the team that the fans get more excited about is the women's team as they almost always make it to the Gold Medal game. 

The women just like the WNBA can be ambassadors for the game of Hockey for younger girls coming up and wanting to play in college and possibly even have a career in the sport after college. What an opportunity for many young girls growing up who love this sport. 

The rivalry between the United States and Canada on the international level in Women's Hockey should prove to many people that there is a place in sports for a professional Women's Hockey League to thrive. One major thing for this to happen is to have a television network to go out on a limb and broadcast some of these games across America and Canada. Not only does each organization in this league need to heavily promote themselves, but the league seriously needs to promote itself. The league may also think about not going directly head to head with the NHL and having the majority of their games being played within the Summer months while the NHL is off. 

Things like ESPN coming on board for playoff finals is a huge plus for the sport. 

The more and more the sport is promoted the more it can develop into something. 

I love the idea and I think these women are extremely talented. 

Everyone looks at this team as an offensive juggernaut and with putting up 340 goals in the regular season I can see why they would do so.

This team however is a well rounded team from the Goalie in Bobrovsky out to the Defense in Weegar, Ekblad, Chiarot, Forsling, Montour, and Gudas. Yes the offense is very impressive, but a lot of this comes from the back end from the likes of Weegar and Ekblad. Shutting down offensive stars like Barkov, Huberdeau, Verhaeghe, Bennett,Reinhart, Duclair, Hornqvist, and the addition of Giroux is a mighty tough task for any team. Even the ones with the best defenses and goalies. The Panthers have great depth at every position and even in the net with a capable back up in Spencer Knight. 

I think we can all say or at least most of us say with maybe some New York Rangers fanbase that Vasilevskiy is the best goaltender in the NHL. He has already in his young career won awards and has taken the Tampa Bay Lightning to two straight Stanley Cup Championships. In the first round of this year's playoffs he was a key contributor to the Tampa Bay Lightning getting through to the 2nd Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs and shut down the likes of 60 goal scorer Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and the rest of the Maple Leafs offense. 

Now he is up against one of the top prolific offenses in the NHL this season the Florida Panthers which tallied a league leading 340 goals during the seasons. He will have to shut down the likes of Sasha Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Jonathan Huberdeau Aaron Ekblad, Mackenzie Weegar and the rest of them. It will be a tough task for sure, but with the help of Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh if anyone will be up for the task it is him. 

This series is going to be an epic one for sure and not onlt because it is going to be played within the State of Florida, but I think this series is going to give us some fantastic plays both on the offensive side and defensive side. 

I love series like this which almost seems like this should be a Stanley Cup Final series and it is a 2nd Round Series. 

Just like the other three 2nd round series this one I think will be extended to the brink. McDavid and Draisaitl will provide some offense for the Oilers , but it will be the physical play and the defense of the Calgary Flames and the play of Johnny Hockey and Matthew Tkachuk who will make a difference in this series. These goalies in this series can also be inconsistent so there could be some scoring in this series. 

Flames take this in 7 games. 

From what I hear there is a need at the Center position in Philly. Having a player that can play multiple positions such as Slafkovsky is a plus. A guy like Cooley even though he is committed to the University of Minnesota is fine because I don't think any of these players are actually ready to contribute right away. Then there is Savoie which seems like a consensus selection at where the Flyers pick. 

Also selecting a Defense player could also help the Flyers and that player would be Nemec. 

Another series to go 7 games and the Blues will give the Avalanche all they can take. Watch Parayko, Leddy, and Faulk frustrate the Avalanche. They may not completely shut down the Avalanche offensive attack, but they will slow them down. Jordan Binnington could also be back on track which also could mean headaches for the Avalanche. I still see the likes of Mackinnon, Rantanen, Landeskog, and the rest getting the job done and will win the series in game 7. 

I think the 2nd round is going to be full of game 7's.  This one is going to be a back and forth series. I think the defense of Carolina is going to come up big in this series and they are going to have to because the Rangers have the advantage in the net. 

Carolina in 7 games. 

1 minute ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Who gives a #$^$%$(@....i hate Montreal and their fans.

 

He they sold the farm to get to where they are bravo. Tanked like a seasoned pro.

 

Also welcome to the board good to have some Panther fans here your next task will be the toughest you'll face all season. I am pulling for you guys and Giroux.

Giroux was a great late addition to the club and I think he is going to help the club throughout the remainder of the playoffs.