It’s the only game that matters.
Hear! Hear! I’d say that there usually aren’t any bad teams in the modern NHL playoffs. It’s a tight league, these days. The Caps vs. Leafs is the matchup with the widest regular season points difference, and that’s just slightly over 10 games wrt to wins.
I didn’t think that Nashville and St. Louis would have their opponents on the ropes so quickly, but I knew they weren’t pushovers. Even Calgary has lost each game by 1 goal. If those kinds of results don’t convince you that luck has a hell of a lot to do with even a 7 game series in the NHL today, I don’t know what will. All the teams are good, who can string together a series of good nights determines who wins the whole shebang. That’s what makes this consistently an exciting playoff series.
And really, all a team has to do to win a Stanley Cup is make the playoffs, and win 16 out of their next 25 games. They’re going to be qualitatively different from the regular season games, and different skills are rewarded; so you never know who’s going to muddle through. But everyone else has to go through the same slog against similar sets of determined opponents. Even an 8th seed can make it through that mess if they get rolling.
And so with that said, I don’t really think you’d see largely different results if the playoff qualifiers were matched at random from a hat. If your opponent could make the playoffs, they can potentially beat you. Once you hit the playoffs, craziness and drama are your watchwords.
But yeah, it would have been better if the Stars had made the playoffs, kayT. I’m rooting for the Blues, atm. Heck, at this stage, I can root for someone in almost any game. Last night was heaven with all of the games going to OT, even if they didn’t all fall the way I wanted.
When you get to the the playoffs it usually comes down to the goalies. You need a goalie to take the team on his back, deliver and give the defense and the forwards the confidence to do their thing.
A hot, confident goalie can make all the difference. I think that is what the Blackhawks are trying to solve. That doesn’t mean that Crawford is not doing his job. He is, but Rinne has been amazing and he is not considered an “elite” goalie.
I don’t think you necessarily need the goalie to play a larger part of the game than he normally does, actually. I don’t subscribe to that argument.
What changes is that the quality of your starting goalie matters more because you don’t have to rest him. In the course of a regular season you need a backup goalie, because you can’t start your best goalie every game or he’ll burn out. IT’s seriously pushing it to ask your starter to make 70 starts; usually the very best goalies are in the 60s, assuming they don’t get sick or hurt at all. Edmonton pushed Cam Talbot pretty hard (73 starts) but that’s quite unusual.
In the playoffs, you never rest your starting goalie. He only comes out if he’s hurt or just blows up. There are no back-to-backs, and you’re throwing all caution to the wind. So having Carey Price is actually a bigger advantage in the playoffs, when he plays 100% of the time, than it is in the regular season, when he plays 75% of the time.
Woohoo! CBJ avoid the sweep! But rest assured, almost zero fans expect this series to go to game 6.
I understand your point and it has merit. I still think having a goalie that who elevates his game in the playoffs can be a huge factor in bringing home the Cup. In 1997 Vernon was the backup to Osgood but when Osgood struggled late Vernon stepped in. He was magnificent in the Western Conference finals giving up only 6 goals in a four game sweep and then a sweep of the Flyers. He was a brick wall again giving up only 6 goals.
If you want to build a hockey team you start from the back to the front. Get the best goalie you possibly can, then get some really tough defensemen. With that in place you find some scorers. Building front to back, as tempting as it is, can be perilous. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems to me that the teams that make it deep into the playoffs are riding their goalie.
It’s like the World Series. Hitting is great to have but the pitchers often dictate the outcome.
I find this a very strange example, given that Vernon wasn’t a particularly highly regarded goaltender (there’s a reason he was the backup), and Osgoode led them to the Cup the following year.
You are missing my point. Vernon was a back-up and stepped up his game to a level that wasn’t expected. No knock on Osgood. Rinne was considered a weak point going into the series. So far, he’s stepped up. Holding the Blackhawks scoreless in 8 out of 9 periods plus OT is no small feat. Yes, there is a lot of hockey to play and who knows if that will hold. Still, goaltending (in my estimation) means everything in the playoffs.
This is a very clear explanation of why the Dallas Stars are currently on vacation. (sob) I feel fairly sure this will be the same explanation for why they miss the playoffs again next year. Get a goalie dammit Nill!
The problem for Dallas is that they’re already spending, what $8-million on goaltenders already? They’re in a tough spot.
Karlsson with a ho-hum night. Just one amazing assist is all.
Especially if the Blue Jackets get another 2+ goal lead and try to sit on it instead of continuing to play aggressively.
After the 1st period of game 5 with a 2-0 lead, I heard the Columbus radio announcers talking about about how the team should now concentrate on defense and only be opportunistic on offense. In practical terms this usually equates to sitting back and letting the other team take it to you (is there any sport where playing “prevent” backfires more often than in hockey?).
A more likely scenario for game 6 would feature the Penguins jumping out to an sizable lead, then CBJ staging an exciting but doomed rally.
So, the whole offside review thing is just bullshit. My team benefited massively from it last night, as it wiped out Boston’s only goal in a 1-0 Ottawa win, but the rule is terrible. Boston was several inches offside 30-60 before scoring, and that wipes out the goal. It’s nonsense. I’m generally fully supportive of video review in sports, but the offside review has taken it to ludicrous extremes.
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So, the whole offside review thing is just bullshit. My team benefited massively from it last night, as it wiped out Boston’s only goal in a 1-0 Ottawa win, but the rule is terrible. Boston was several inches offside 30-60 before scoring, and that wipes out the goal. It’s nonsense. I’m generally fully supportive of video review in sports, but the offside review has taken it to ludicrous extremes.
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I’m also a Senators fan and I happen to agree. That was a questionable overturn, it did not appear the offsides (if it even was offsides) gave the Bruins an advantage towards scoring in any way, and it saps momentum and fun from the game.
The Wild managed to win last night and take away the only joke I had left for this season. Thanks Dubnyk.
The rule was correctly applied. It’s purely black-and-white (was the play offside), with no subjective component like “did the offending team gain an advantage from the violation”. The problem is with the rule itself.
I stand by my comments about the Predators, goaltenders and the playoffs. Preds sweep the Hawks giving up only 3 goals in 4 games including an OT. How much could you have made on that bet? Now, no disrespect to Crawford but the Preds defense and Rinne doing everything he needed to do took the Hawks completely out of their game. They are looking for the plate number of the truck that hit them.
Good for the Preds. Good for Nashville. Good for Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood. Good for Rinne and the Preds defense.
Well, you’ve got to have an off side rule obviously, or else it would just be an exercise in cherry-picking.
So, now that you have established an off side rule, you need to enforce it and it has to be a clear and enforceable rule. Now that it’s a clear and enforceable rule perhaps you can verify infractions by replay video.
It sucks that the Bruins were disallowed a goal for that, but the only remedy is to remove video replay for off sides. And I would totally support that for the reason you state.
ETA: If it’s so close then there’s likely zero advantage to the scoring team, so what’s the point in enforcing it by video replay.
You could practically see the spittle flying from Tortorella’s mouth. One down three to go! 
And Marc-Andre Fleury, with 57 play-off wins, has set a new franchise record, breaking the previous one held by Tom Barrasso.
Did I call it or what?
I’m also available for stock picks. 
Sure, Vernon was excellent in 1997, and Patrick Roy was excellent in 1993. Sometimes a goalie is the Conn Smythe winner. But sometimes they steal regular season games too, and I can cite lots of Stanley Cup winners who did not ride on the backs of their goalies.