Stanley Cup Playoffs 2019

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Anyone else here following the Stanley Cup playoffs? If so, what are your thoughts so far on things like:
  • The chance both Pittsburgh and Tampa may be swept? (I’m writing this as Columbus is up by two in game three.)
  • Kucherov only getting a one game suspension?
  • The possibility that the Capitals may win two Stanley Cups in a row?
Of course, the most important things are who do you want to win and who do you expect?

As for my own thoughts on all of that:
  • It seems good. While sweeping a team is hard, both the Islanders and Blue Jackets have looked in control of their series, minus Columbus requiring a major comeback in Game 1.
  • It should have been two games. Yeah, it could have condemned the Lightning to getting swept, but superstars shouldn’t be allowed to effectively get away with dangerous hits just because a harsher punishment might severely impact their team’s chances of moving on.
  • I’m hoping the Capitals don’t. Not only would I prefer seeing a new team win, but seeing a team win twice in a row brings back bad memories of Chicago almost doing in 2014 but losing in Game 7 to the Kings. However, I don’t really have reason to believe the Capitals don’t have a chance.
  • I would like to see Columbus go to the finals from the East and either Vegas or San Jose in the West. I don’t have strong preferences among those three teams.
  • It’s hard to say. Right now, the Islanders, Blue Jackets, and Capitals all look really strong, but it’s hard to tell if that’ll continue as they start facing each other.
 
Not really following it the way i used to, just rooting for the Pittsburgh Penguins!!
 
I think they effectively lost their chance at a comeback today. Being three games back is pretty much a guarantee to be knocked out in hockey, and the Islanders looked completely in control as well.

With that said, they at least didn’t look mentally defeated, which I can’t really say for Tampa right now.

Edit: Of course, right after I say that, Tampa scores a goal.
 
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I’m a Leafs fan. I think they’re good enough to beat the Bruins. Nazem Kadri might get a suspension for a dirty hit that he did. It won’t be the first time he’s gotten a suspension.
 
Don’t know why, but I just have zero interest in the playoffs this year.
 
drac16 said:
Nazem Kadri might get a suspension for a dirty hit that he did. It won’t be the first time he’s gotten a suspension.
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Looks like he was suspended for the rest of the series. Funnily enough, that might actually turn into a relatively lenient one if the Leafs can win the series quickly.
 
The Penguins aren’t doing real well. The Islanders hired last year’s Stanley Cup wining coach and they are three ahead of the Penguins after three games. We’ll have to see if the Penguins can turn things around in the next game.
 
Looks like Joe Thornton is joining Kucherov and Kadri among those who have gotten a suspension this playoffs. Next game won’t be the same without his epic beard. 🧔
 
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Tampa is out. I only got to see the end of the game, but Tampa at least never let up. Columbus was just really good at taking the puck away, which helped them score the few empty-net goals that sealed the deal. Hopefully Columbus is as entertaining next round as they were this one.
 
And Pittsburgh joins Tampa in watching the rest of the playoffs. They at least kept up an attack while their net was empty.

I also don’t think I’ve ever seen icing cancelled out by a leftover broken stick. It was a bit humorous to see.
 
Last night was a bit wild.

Most notable, Calgary is now out. That means the top placed teams in both the East and West were knocked out in the first round. At least Calgary didn’t get swept, but even then, they only won the first game. It’s also hard to believe that the team to beat them was Colorado, who was the laughing stock of the league a couple years ago, only getting 48 points (which was 21 behind the next lowest team) and having a goal differential of -112! With that said, I doubt this broke any brackets, given that they were already decimated by both Tampa and Pittsburgh getting swept.

Out back East, one of Toronto’s two goals, which helped them win 2-1, came on a controversial review, which you can see here:


What’s not shown in the video is some discussion that took place afterwards. The theory by the announcers was that either:
  • They determined the contact didn’t matter enough to believe it would have made a difference. Or…
  • Because Rask was partially outside the blue paint, and the contact occurred there, they determined it shouldn’t be goaltender interference.
Overall, I doubt there will be an uproar on the level of what happened in the NFL this year, but this might be the type of call that gets talked about for a while, especially if Toronto wins.
 
Another will night!

In the West, Dallas won their series against Nashville, making them the third wildcard team so far to advance to the second round. The only other wildcard team left is Carolina.

Speaking of Carolina, they forced Game 7. Most notable in the game, though, was Ovechkin getting thrown out near the end after a string of outbursts that started after a review confirmed a
(very obviously correct) no goal call.

But for anyone still following this thread and who saw the game, do you think Ovi’s display was passion? Childish? A bad show? And most importantly: Would your answer be the same if this were Crosby?
 
Well, round one is over.

Boston/Toronto wasn’t much, but it gave us this hilarious article.

The Caps/Canes was a bit more interesting, being the third-longest game in Game 7 history. I was a little frustrated with how inconsistent delay of game was handled in OT, but oh well, Carolina won regardless.

Most interesting was the Sharks/Knights game. That comeback by San Jose was epic, and Vegas tying the game in the last minute made the whole game better. And now Vegas has their worst season in team history. Hopefully Pavelski is OK, but I’m a bit concerned we may not see him next series, if at all for the rest of the playoffs.

Also, with Carolina’s win today, every #1 team was knocked out. In fact, San Jose and the Islanders were the only two teams who won as the better-ranked team. So lesson learned: Try to be a wildcard team!

Anyways, if anyone is still following this, who do you think is going to win this bracket-breaking playoff season? Personally, I’m wary of guessing, but if I had to, I’d say this round will be:
  • Islanders - Because, well, did you see what they did to Pittsburgh!
  • Dallas - I think St. Louis will win in goaltending, but Dallas already beat Nashville, so they clearly have the offense to take on such teams. Of the teams that lasted more than four games, they also looked the best, even if Bishop seems a bit rusty compared to his Lightning days.
  • Boston - Honestly, I still think the Blue Jackets were less a dominant team and more that Tampa just didn’t know how to handle adversity and adjust when things were going bad. The fact that Tampa was left speechless and guessing even after four games sort of shows how much their loss was on them seeming to be victims of their own success. I don’t see Boston giving Columbus that exploit.
San Jose/Colorado is way too hard to call. San Jose looked pretty bad much of last night, and their goaltending isn’t getting any better. I’m also suspecting Colorado will be skating circles around them before long. At the same time, though, San Jose has a ton of experience at this point, and they have more depth and overall talent. That series should be interesting.
 
Well, my Nashville Predators got taken out by the Dallas Stars. :cry: Now I going to have to root for our former coach Barry Trots and the New York Islanders. 😈
 
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Hunho said:
Well, my Nashville Predators got taken out by the Dallas Stars. :cry:
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I didn’t watch Nashville a lot this season. How reliant are they normally on Pekka Rinne? To me, it seemed like he was the main reason they were even keeping up with Dallas, which seemed odd.

Then again, the unbelievable seems to be the norm for this playoff season.
Hunho said:
Now I going to have to root for our former coach Barry Trots and the New York Islanders. 😈
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Speaking of unbelievable, I was really surprised to see Carolina keep up with the Islanders in Game 1, even winning it. Given how relatively well-rested the Islanders should have been, and given how easily they handled Pittsburgh, I expected at least a game or two before Carolina could start keeping up with them.
 
Yep, Pekka Rinne is a critical part of winning for the Preds. We do have defensemen that really help Pekka Rinne, but my constant gripe is how little our shooters seem to do against the other team. Ultimately, that’s why we lost; we couldn’t score against them.
 
After the First Round, all four Wild Card teams are still in the hunt for the Cup. After Monday (4/29)
Carolina Hurricanes (WC1) are leading 2-0 over the NY Islanders, the Columbus Blue Jackets (WC2) are tied 1-1 with Boston Bruins, the Colorado Avalanche (WC2) is tied 1-1 with the San Jose Sharks, and the Saint Louis Blues lead 2-1 over the Dallas Stars.
 
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Hunho said:
all four Wild Card teams are still in the hunt for the Cup
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Yeah, and this hasn’t happened since 1967, which was a major expansion year.

And honestly, all four look like they have a chance of moving on. Carolina has been handling the Islanders pretty well. Columbus and Colorado seem to be keeping up with Boston and San Jose respectively, but the San Jose series has been really weird to watch so far given how much the momentum can swing.

The Stars/Blues series is the one I’ve followed the least, but every time I turn it on, it looks like the Stars are at least even with the Blues. If Bishop didn’t struggle so much getting down, we might have a very different series.
 
So with tonight’s win, the Hurricanes have taken a 3 - 0 series lead against the Islanders. To give context of how bad things look for the Islanders, only four teams in the history of the NHL have come back from being down 3 - 0.

With that said, one of those teams was the Islanders in 1975. They also did it to the Penguins, the team they swept to get to the second round this year.
 
And right now it doesn’t look like Barry Trotz and the Islanders are going to be the fifth. It’s the top of the third period right now and Carolina is leading 4-1.
 
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