Yeah, if they go down 3-0, then statistically it’ll take a miracle for Minnesota to get to the next round. Colorado can be beaten, though. So I have some hope.
Damn. Thought Minnesota had figured something out with game 3. Avs defense was stifling on the blue line. Wild looked hapless trying to set anything up. Only positive was that Wallstead still looked competent.
Hehe, right now the NHL site lists Colorado scheduled to play the first finals game on May 28th against “TBD”. I know Vegas has a tough row to hoe, but Colorado hasn’t beaten them yet. 
I am astonished at how ordinary Colorado has looked against Vegas.
I missed the game because of band practice, but wow. Colorado down 2-0 was bad. Down 3-0 is just about dead and buried, statistically.
Does anyone know what the odds that Vegas wins the series were, before the series started? Trying to figure out how big of an upset this could be.
Wow, I don’t know how big of an upset it would be, but Colorado is apparently only the 5th President’s Trophy winner to be swept in the playoffs. I knew they were beatable, but I would have never imagined they’d go down 4-0. Vegas surely knows how to come back from a deficit, and they know how to smother a team that lives on the rush. Good luck to whoever wins in the East.
And wow, I doubted the wisdom of Vegas’ choice of grabbing Tortorella near the end of the season. Shows what I know.
Depending on which book you were looking at, Colorado was about -250 to -275.
Vegas was +200 to +220.
So, (if my understanding is right, I am not a gambling expert) Colorado had about a 71.5% to 73.5% probability of winning the series.
One book before the series started had a Vegas sweep going at +2500.
That’s a 3.8% probability.
Pretty amazing that it happened that way. Who do you like in the finals? I’m thinking Hurricanes will get past the Habs and then win it all. Or, hoping that, anyway.
I don’t know. For the past few years the Canes have had a great regular season and have done well in the playoffs until they had to face teams like Boston, Florida or Tampa. While they have been good this year and should be in good shape going into the finals, Vegas is the type of team that has given them problems in the past. However, that is why they play the games…
WTH? Claude Lemieux is dead at 60, apparently by suicide.
Looks like a Vegas vs. Carolina final. Not all that fond of either team but the way they dominated over the Avs and Habs should make a good Cup series.
On a side note I loathed whomever were the TNT came callers. Just call the game that’s going on. Every series they couldn’t stop with “this team needs to do this”, “that team has to start doing that” “that player needs to stop doing that”, “this player has to this”. STFU already! These are pros who have been playing and practicing for the past 8 months. Pretty sure they know what they NEED to do.
I was cheering for the Habs and this is disappointing. But I had to turn off the Carolina-Habs game after the Habs were down 5-0 in the 3rd period not only because it was hopeless for them, but because of the incredible flood of commercials.
Honest question: how can you guys watch this, when I’m sure that at least 50% of the air time has to be commercials? It’s relentless, especially during period breaks. And even when the game is on, there are commercials and commercial pop-ups all over the place. It drives me nuts!
I normally have Wikipedia or something open to read during the commercials.
Don’t get me started on the ads along the boards, that only TV viewers can see, and which sometimes may glitch the view of the actual on-ice action.
For a few of the playoff games I have recorded them then started the playback an hour after they started. I skip through commercials and period breaks and usually end up finishing the game live.
The family said it gave the CTE Center permission to publicly share any findings with Lemieux’s name, adding that no conclusions should be drawn regarding any diagnosis. “Claude dedicated his post-playing career to helping the next generation,” the family said, referring to Lemieux becoming an agent. “By allowing his name to be connected to this research, we hope his life can contribute to greater understanding, more honest conversations and better protection for athletes and families in the years ahead.”
Last night (game 3) was just compelling. 2 called back goals followed by Mitch Marner’s explosion. The fastest hat trick in Finals history and the only 4 point period since 1919. In his years with Toronto his best playoffs netted 3 goals and 14 points. He got 3 goals in just over 6 minutes last night and is up to 28 points. That noise you hear is probably Leaf fans grinding their teeth.
The Canes comeback in the third was amazing as well. Coming back from 4 down is a hell of a thing at anytime, never mind the finals.
I was at the bar doing karaoke and they had the hockey game on, which I was paying minimum attention to, especially when I saw that it was 4-0 going into the third.
Then later I heard someone at the bar saying “They were down 4-0 and now it’s all tied up,” and I was like, “Wait, WHAT?!” So I moved my chair so I could turn my head to the right if I wanted to keep up on the game, and to the left for karaoke.
Yep, both of the last two games were pretty crazy. Vegas seems unable to shut down the Canes’ offense and sit on what should be a “safe” lead at the moment. Here’s to hoping we get seven games of this stuff!