NHL 2023-2024: Conference Finals. Stars/Oilers and Rangers/Panthers

[gmillerdrake]

Toronto fires Sheldon Keefe.........enter Craig Berube in say less than a week.......and I'll give a "big" trade between Toronto/StL about a 50% chance, most likely involving Binnington and whoever Toronto wants to scapegoat the most.

[SchecterShredder]

Well, the Oil vs. Canucks game last night hurt. Blowing a 3 goal lead is bad. Blowing it like that in the 3rd is worse. I'd like to say the Oilers deserved a better fate, but they really didn't. It was a pretty close game until the final 10 minutes when the Oilers started getting badly outplayed. Hoping for a win Friday to take a split going home. As they say: "it isn't a series until someone loses at home".

[pg1067]

First, kudos to the Canucks for a great comeback.  That said, for the first half of the game, I was thinking, "did they not watch any footage from the Oilers/Kings series?!"

Second, I despise singular team names.  Most of the names in that Tweet are downright stupid.  "Utah HC"?  WTF is that?  "Utah Hive"?  Go with "Bees" and call the building "The Hive"!  "Utah Ice?"  "The Ice ice the puck...."  "Utah Glaciers"?  If they lack team speed, that will make for a bunch of puns and jokes.  Honestly, the only name on that list worth a damn is "Outlaws."

[Anguyen92]

I was amazed that the Oilers in that 3rd period did not get a shot on goal until 16 minutes in.  I understand that Draisaitl had some cramping issues, but McDavid did not register a shot at all in this game.  You just hope it's a rare anomaly low shooting game for the Oilers and hope they'll force the offense the other way in the future games so that they do not need to play defense as much.

Utah HC, I presume, will be short for Utah Hockey Club (ala the Washington Football Team).

[Stadler]

WOW.  I turned off that Oil game about halfway through the first period not just thinking the game was over, but thinking "WOW, the Rangers (my pick in the East) is going to have their hands FULL with this team in the Finals."  I thought it was a foregone conclusion.

I guess I should know better.

[pg1067]

Utah HC, I presume, will be short for Utah Hockey Club (ala the Washington Football Team).

I thought Washington was going to change that, but that makes sense, but...BO-RING!

Honestly, the Utah Nomads would be great!   

[Anguyen92]

Well, Washington did change that.  To the Commanders.....  I'm just saying that the Utah HC suggestion seems to be something along the lines of the Washington Football Team era or what you see European football teams name their clubs (those that are named FC).

[axeman90210]

Toronto fires Sheldon Keefe.........enter Craig Berube in say less than a week.......and I'll give a "big" trade between Toronto/StL about a 50% chance, most likely involving Binnington and whoever Toronto wants to scapegoat the most.

I've heard Berube might end up in NJ.

[gmillerdrake]

I've heard Berube might end up in NJ.

Yep….heard that as well. I think either one is a good fit for him.

[TAC]

Trying not to be negative, but I have a bad feeling about last night's Bruins game.  They got shellacked in a way that I'm not sure they can recover.  That was a statement game, and the Panthers outplayed them at every position and in every way.  They were out-shot, out-hit, out-face-offed, out-coached, out-fought... even out-goaltended, if you want to be honest.

I meant to get back to this. I thought two things happened simultaneously. The Panthers found their legs and the Bruins lost theirs. I expect the energy level for G3 to be much more balanced.

I realize Tkachuk isn't technically a fighter, but him challenging Pasta is a pussy ass move. Good on Pasta to accept. Hopefully it inspires his teammates, as it should.

It was no more of a statement game than G1 was for the Bruins.

BUT....the Bruins will need to match the physicality and the energy to win this series. They'll need to play flawless though and not let any early chances escape them.

[SchecterShredder]

I needed that 


Canucks fans will undoubtedly be upset about the missed high sick on Hughes. And they have every right to be.

[gmillerdrake]

Canucks fans will undoubtedly be upset about the missed high sick on Hughes. And they have every right to be.

Yeah, they can be upset. BUT....there are plenty of things 'missed' in every game. For the most part, the refs set a tone of what they'll tolerate....especially in the playoffs....and they stick to it. There are the off shot things that get missed/not seen and it is what it is. It sucks for the team who should have/could have benefitted and is just a 'break' for the team that got away with it. 

[SchecterShredder]

Yeah, they can be upset. BUT....there are plenty of things 'missed' in every game. For the most part, the refs set a tone of what they'll tolerate....especially in the playoffs....and they stick to it. There are the off shot things that get missed/not seen and it is what it is. It sucks for the team who should have/could have benefitted and is just a 'break' for the team that got away with it.

100% true. Salt in their wounds when it's a missed call that would've been a 4min double-minor

[King Postwhore]

WTF!!!  What a fucking joke.

[TAC]

WTF!!!  What a fucking joke.

Sorry I missed it.
Not sorry. 

[pg1067]

I haven't seen a bunch of Bruins games, but they looked like garbage in the portion of today's game after I turned it on.

[KevShmev]

After seeing more replays after the game, I can kind of see why they allowed the Panthers second goal to stand.  Coyle's momentum didn't change at all due to the shove Bennett gave him, so it's not like he got violently cross checked and saw his momentum suddenly lurch forward.  I suspect that is what they saw on the replay and why they let it stand. 

That said, if I were a Bruins fan, I am sure I'd still be ticked this morning, especially since you could argue Bennett was lucky to even be playing in the game after his punch concussed what's-his-name.

[Stadler]

Let me be clear: it's not why the Bruins are down 3-1; that's because they are playing a better, deeper team.   But the officiating in that series is crap.  VERY inconsistent. I thought the goal should have been disallowed.  Bennett pushed Coyle into Swayman, who then couldn't react to the basically open-net shot.  You've got to give the goaltender the opportunity to make the save.  We don't know what Coyle or Swayman would have done without the shove, that's immaterial.  We got the shove, we have to call the shove.

Look, the Panthers are just playing smarter.  I don't necessarily blame Montgomery; other than Maroon, Marchand and Coyle, you've got a young team many of whom are just finding their playoff legs.  We just aren't deep enough.

We have Marchand. McAvoy.  Coyle.  Maybe Maroon, though he's not a skill player exactly.   Pastrnak has been invisible.

They have Bennett, Tkachuck, Verhaeghe, Reinhart, Barkov, and Tarasenko.  We have no one to square off against Barkov on any consistent basis.  At the blue line they have Ekblad, Montour, and Forsling.  No one on our D scores like Montour.  Not even close.  Bobs is vulnerable, the Panthers know that and they are stifling us; doesn't help that we almost always opt for the pass when we can shoot (that IS a Montgomery problem and one that we've been dealing with for two seasons now).  Shot mentality!!!! 

By the way, Darren Pang blows.  It's so clear he's enamored by the Panthers - which is fine - and thinks they are the better team - which his true - but he doesn't have to be so open about it.  He was describing Barkov last night and it sounded like he was describing one of those beefcake fireman calendars.  Bobs made a save and it was as if Patrick Roy just stuffed Gretsky on an overtime penalty shot in game seven of the Stanley Cup finals.   He was all up Bennett's ass with that goal, and only after a later break in the action, coming back from the TV time out did he allow that "he thought it should have been overturned".   Look, I get I can't have my guys - Jack!!  Brick, Billy, Razor and Sophia - but at least give us Sean "Say 'If the Bruins would have lost that game seven they would have been the only team in professional sports history to blow 3-1 leads in consecutive years' five times fast" McDonough and Ray Ferraro. At least Ferraro is more interested in the game itself than the teams he's calling.

[gmillerdrake]

I did a backflip when I heard Pang was finally leaving the Blues broadcast. Tons of people love him but his Schtick gets old real quick.

[TAC]

I did a backflip when I heard Pang was finally leaving the Blues broadcast. Tons of people love him but his Schtick gets old real quick.

So you were....holy jumpin'?

[SchecterShredder]

So you were....holy jumpin'?

Or standing on his head spitting out wooden nickels

[SchecterShredder]

Bit of a wild finish to the Oilers game last night. I'm very glad it didn't spill to overtime (mostly because I didn't want to stay up any later). This series has been the most intense series for Oilers fans since the Oilers v. Kings 3 seasons ago that went 7 games. Even though Pickard got the win last night, I believe the Oil will go back to Skinner for game 5 with the hope that sitting for a game lights a fire under him. If he were able to put up even a 0.88 save pct, this series would have been over by now. The scores make it look like a close series, but the Oil have outplayed the Canucks in just about every game.

[Nick]

An Oilers playoff run spoiled by subpar goaltending and/or defense? Say it ain't so!

[DTwwbwMP]

LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TAC]

NY is going to have 2 teams in the NHL and NBA CFs, and possibly playing Boston in both.
(Probably Florida in hockey though)

[cramx3]

That was an epic third period hat trick from Kreider, wow!

[gmillerdrake]

Toronto fires Sheldon Keefe.........enter Craig Berube in say less than a week.......and I'll give a "big" trade between Toronto/StL about a 50% chance, most likely involving Binnington and whoever Toronto wants to scapegoat the most.

Looks like I missed the prediction by a day or two....but it's no surprise.

https://www.mapleleafsdaily.com/nhl-team/toronto-maple-leafs/craig-berube-to-be-named-the-41st-coach-of-the-maple-leafs

[pg1067]

So...I think Boston wins tonight but won't be able to take game 7.

I think Dallas closes out Colorado tonight.

And I think the home team will will the remaining games in the Vancouver/Edmonton series, although that one is hard to call with the goaltending uncertainty.  Who starts for the Oilers?  I heard that Demko is close to being ready, but I have to assume that Vancouver will stick with Silovs unless he craps the bed in game 6.

I assume the NHL is salivating over the possibility of either the Rangers or Bruins against the Canucks.

[Anguyen92]

Back to back nights where a winning goal is decided in the final minutes of a game.  That's a big suckerpunch to the Bruins there to give up a goal with two minutes left in an elimination game.

Don't know where they go from here.  Got to re-sign Swayman and he's not going to be cheap.  They also need a more higher-end center.  Who do you guys want in that front?

[gmillerdrake]

Man…..Dallas just got screwed…..I’d be fuming if I were a fan if they end up losing this game.

[Dittomist]

Yeah, I can't believe they called that goaltender interference!! WTF?!? I really hope the Stars can pull this off in 2OT because it would be a travesty if they lose the game and then the series because of that.

[gmillerdrake]

Yeah, I can't believe they called that goaltender interference!! WTF?!? I really hope the Stars can pull this off in 2OT because it would be a travesty if they lose the game and then the series because of that.

Well…they got the W. Dallas will be tough to beat in a 7 game series.

[Anguyen92]

In the eye of the storm during that disallowed goal (like that was nothing, he barely got bumped into the goalie if you call it a bump), it's Matt Duchene (former Avs) that gets the game winning goal in Double OT and finished this Stars/Avs series.  It was a pretty hard fought series that had little controversy except for this disallowed goal.

[Dittomist]

Such a great victory for the Stars! Now they've eliminated the previous two champions in consecutive rounds. If Vancouver wins, then the final 4 teams will have all placed 1st in their divisions, and it seems like that's such a rare thing these days. Does anyone know when the last time that happened was? It seems like there's always at least one major upset in the playoffs.

[Stadler]

Back to back nights where a winning goal is decided in the final minutes of a game.  That's a big suckerpunch to the Bruins there to give up a goal with two minutes left in an elimination game.

Don't know where they go from here.  Got to re-sign Swayman and he's not going to be cheap.  They also need a more higher-end center.  Who do you guys want in that front?

Ullmark for Dreiseitl.   Right now.