Topic: Hockey Discussion: The Leafs Would Like To Borrow Taylor Hall's Horseshoe

[NWR_insanolord]

And suddenly we have ourselves a series.

[Khushrenada]

I've wondered that too. It's just kind of been grandfathered into the sport at this point. They've got rules about it. People have talked about eliminating it for a long time but there are other people who say it's part of the game and support it. That said, fights in games have been dropping off because teams and the league are starting to realize that it is smarter to have a skilled player take that spot on the roster than a guy that is good at fighting but pretty poor at scoring. Because of this, skilled guys don't fight as much because then it puts the team at a disadvantage if they are in the penalty box for fighting and there's also the chance of injury in a fight which they probably want to avoid.

[Khushrenada]

And suddenly we have ourselves a series.

Yep. You could have had a grand ol' time today talkin' up the Flyers in Discord and how much the Penguins suck. Pens were just snake-bit today. Flyers were way better obviously but this time it was the Pens that were off their game. Stuff like Letang not paying attention and running into Giroux and having to go off to the locker room from his fall, Crosby missing his scoring chances and a few posts. Add to the the refs doing a poor job for both teams and it was a long slog of a game. Will not be remembering this one.

Too bad. I really enjoyed reading some of the reactions from Flyers fans after the blowout loss of how upset they were about the team. Even better was reading reactions from Capitals fans today. With the Capitals fans losing the first game to Columbus, so many of their fans are already writing off the team and complaining about how terrible they do in the playoffs. They're so pessimistic that even if the win, they still expect to lose to the Penguins in the next round and so many fans were comparing the Penguins Game 1 victory to the Capitals Game 1 loss and talking about how great the Penguins are in the playoffs. It was great. That franchise and their fans have developed a real inferiority complex to the Penguins. Now, they may all start to feel better about themselves. Ah well. On to Game 3.

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, the refs were all over the place, sometimes letting lots of stuff go and other times calling some pretty soft penalties. The key for the Flyers, though, was Brian Elliott. After giving up 5 goals in game 1 before getting the hook a lot of people thought Dave Hakstol was crazy to start him tonight, but he was incredible. It was a good team performance, but without Elliott standing tall this would have been a very different game. Also nice to see two young guys get their first career playoff goals, especially Konecny's spectacular tally.

[NWR_insanolord]

Fun fact: Sean Couturier has played two playoff games against the Penguins that have fallen on Friday the 13th. He had a hat trick in the first one in 2012 and then he had three points tonight.

[Khushrenada]

Also, changed my stance on the Letang/Giroux collision. Thought it was accidental because the views were from the back side of the players but today they showed views from the front on the collision and Giroux clearly sees Letang is coming up behind him and levels into him. Still don't get how he cuts his hand open from his stick through his glove but considering how dangerous the fall could have been for Letang I'm glad that was the only damage done out of it. Nice to see Pens get their revenge.

I was reading some Penguins fans comments during the game and people were making jokes of how lost Hakstol, the coach for the Flyers, looks during the game. I will say that he looks like a guy who is surprised he's still coaching and wondering why a replacement hasn't come to take over for him. I was also laughing at his comment after that game where he said he should have taken a time-out after the third goal to settle things down (which could have prevented the fourth goal five seconds later). Apparently he wants to try and channel some of that Laviolette Time Out Magic.

I thought I made a comment about it here but maybe it was on Discord or elsewhere that Brian Elliot is one of the most bi-polar goalies in the NHL. He has had playoff series where he is nearly invincible and almost winning it by himself and others where he is a leaky sieve and completely sinks the team. This series has now featured both Elliots but I'm hoping it stays more the latter version. If just to get more images like this one:

[NWR_insanolord]

We had to wait until game 5 for a non-blowout, but it was a hell of a game. Michael Neuvirth, who hadn't played a full game in over two months, brought some of his playoff magic from two years ago, including an absolute robbery of Sidney Crosby right at the end, and a clearly still injured Sean Couturier stepped up big time, playing through it and scoring the winning goal. This is what I expected this series to look more like, not necessarily the Flyers winning but the hard-hitting grind it out kind of game we got tonight.

[Khushrenada]

Ugh. I get that you're happy to see a win but after Game 4 I was wishing this series was over already since it really didn't seem to be much of a series. Yeah, it was closer today but that's basically because of Neuvirth. Of course, Malkin got tangled up with a Philly player and may have tweaked his leg/knee early in the game which is what I was afraid might happen with having to play more games in a series that felt like it should have been over after Game 4. Now Pens have to play another game opening the door for more potential injuries to take out the Flyers who I just don't see winning this series and being able to win 3 in a row against the Penguins. I'm restless with this series and want to move on to the next round already.

[NWR_insanolord]

It most certainly should not have been over after game 4. I don't know if you're familiar with how hockey works, but in this format you have to win 4 games to move on, and at that point Pittsburgh had only won 3. Easy mistake to make. Expecting the Flyers to just roll over and not try to get back in the series with their backs against the wall wasn't a good plan.

[Khushrenada]

When one team has beat the other in 3 of those 4 games by a score of 7-0, 5-1, and 5-0 then, yes, I'm going to wish the series was already wrapping up by that point. Watching the Flyers get stunned over and over in those 3 games is entertaining at first but it's also means the game is pretty much decided halfway through and it's just a lot of waiting for the rest of the game clock to play out which isn't that exciting either as you just hope no one somehow injures themselves in the rest of the time remaining. So, yeah, wishing the series could have been wrapping up that point is a valid feeling. I didn't say I expected the Flyers to roll over but with the exception of Game 2, the Flyers have seen little success in this series despite controlling the game for portions here and there and having the Penguins unable to push back in some stretches. It just didn't seem like the Flyers were going to be much of a threat to win this series. To their credit, this is the first game where they seemed to be equal to the Penguins but I don't think it's going to last and it just seems to be prolonging the inevitable.


But congrats on the Colorado Avalanche and the Hamburgler pulling off the Game 5 robbery against Nashville. Speaking of series with a seemingly inevitable conclusion being prolonged, I did not expect this series to see a Game 6 either. I figured there was a chance Colorado might pull off one win and prevent a sweep but I didn't think they'd be able to take the Preds to 6. Helps that they decided not to play Bernier. After losing Gibson last year, Bernier proved he couldn't stop the Preds in the conference final last year but it took Colorado a few games to realize that also.

[NWR_insanolord]

As they say, there's a reason they play the games. Sometimes things go in unexpected ways. For what it's worth, the Flyers are 1-17 all-time in series where they trailed 3-1, with the lone win coming, oddly enough, in a series they actually trailed 3-0, against Boston in 2010.

[Khushrenada]

As they say, there's a reason they play the games. Sometimes things go in unexpected ways. For what it's worth, the Flyers are 1-17 all-time in series where they trailed 3-1, with the lone win coming, oddly enough, in a series they actually trailed 3-0, against Boston in 2010.

Yeah, that stat was mentioned at the start of the game on the feed I was watching which is surprising considering how long they've been in the league. Part of what helped was that Boston got injured as the series went on while Philadelphia had guys come back from injury and kind of got stronger as that went on but you probably already knew that. Of course, Boston also lead 3-0 in that game 7 only to still lose the game for a double 3-0 blown lead irony. With Hornquist currently injured and Malkin now fighting through something suffered this game while Neuvirth now back and Simmonds maybe getting healthier (everyone suspects he is playing through with some kind of injury but were commenting that he seemed a bit stronger in this game), there's a possibility history could repeat itself. Gudas injuring Couturier in practice upsets that narrative a bit.


Anyways, I didn't bother posting anything after the Game 4 win because I wanted to wait for the series to be over to lay in a couple more jokes at Flyers expense so here's to a better result on Sunday. (And further reason for Insano to really root for the Flyers.) Defeating the Flyers at home in 6 games was also the first step in the Pens winning their first cup in the Crosby/Malkin era so why not do it again this year since we are talking history.

[Shaymin]

It was 4-1.

Thank Naga it stopped at 4-3.

[Khushrenada]

I thought it was cruel of Jim Hughson to say that a 4-1 lead in Boston is never safe or something to that effect as the Bruins scored one to make it 4-2 and attempt the comeback. So, take that, memories of 2013! Still, the Leafs seem much more overmatched than I thought going into this series and I just don't see them pulling off the series win. I would like to be proven wrong but, man, Boston can really dominate these games.

[Khushrenada]

I'm going to let Insanolord go first on this one. Lot's of legit grievances I'm sure.

[NWR_insanolord]

I actually wasn't able to watch the game until the last few minutes, so I don't have much to say as all I saw were the score updates on my phone.

[Khushrenada]

Probably for the best.

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, it sounds like it. Couturier getting three goals and two assist despite a torn MCL would have been interesting to see, though.

[NWR_insanolord]

So we've got Penguins and Capitals again. Columbus was up two games to none going home and then lost four straight. At least the Flyers didn't give me much real hope during their series so it wasn't as much of a letdown when they lost as it must have been for Blue Jackets fans.

[Khushrenada]

Yeah, it's probably tougher for Jackets fans especially since the third game went to double OT. Had Jackets scored then they'd have been up 3-0 and Capitals are probably done. Still, Game 5 also went to OT and, again, if the Jackets score then they are up 3-2 in the series. On the flip side, had Capitals won the first two games in Overtime then maybe it would have been a sweep and not a six game series. Still, to have 4 games in OT shows the Jackets were close but since Capitals had 2 victories by a 3 goal margin they were still the better team.

That said, this Penguins/Capitals match-up could be a tough series even though most people have been writing off the Capitals and this match-up since the playoffs began. Ovechkin told the media the Capitals would come back to Washington tied at 2 after they lost the first two and the team came through. I highly doubt the players on that team want to lost to Pittsburgh for the third year in a row. Right now, Malkin is sidelined for who knows how long and Hagelin was also injured so that's 2/3 of the second line currently injured. If there's another injury for the Pens, that could weaken their offence or defense a bit more. Of course, it's possible that Malkin and/or Hagelin can recover for the start of or soon into the series and they're back to full strength.

Do I think the Capitals will do it? Not really. Their best chance was probably last year and they couldn't pull off. Capitals had leads and lost them in Games 1, 2, 3, and 5. In Game 5, the Blue Jackets crumpled them in the third period but were only able to score one goal to tie it and take it into overtime. This was after the Capitals were able to even the series 2-2 and were in real danger of falling behind to the Jackets again if they had been able to score that go-ahead goal in the third or overtime. Capitals have some good talent on the team but they don't have the sort-of gamebreakers the Pens have been fortunate to accrue over the past couple years and who have the postseason success of now winning a couple Stanley Cups. I do feel bad about Ovechkin because the guy is stuck in a cruel postseason joke of not even getting a chance to play in a Conference Final but the Capitals have been unable to find the right combination of players that could succeed in the match-ups they've faced.

Still, I'm actually rather interested in all the second round match-ups this year and that's pretty rare. Obviously, I'll be watching all of Capitals/Penguins. The Vegas Knights are appealing to me because of Fleury and since Vegas is new I've really got no hard feelings against them or their fans. Seeing them succeed so much is kind of funny as well when you think of teams like the Oilers, Coyotes, Panthers or even the Blue Jackets who still haven't won a playoff series through all their years of existence but Vegas has and they swept the series to boot!

Jets and Predators are the top two teams in the league already facing each other which is kind of messed up that it is happening in the second round like that. That said, there's no guarantee that they would have both still been around for the conference final if this was the old playoff seeding. There have been a lot of upsets to a number one or two seed in the playoffs in the old format. However, this year, with the teams that have made the playoffs in the west, I don't think there are any teams that would have upset them and prevented a match-up in the Conference Finals. Of course, that theory will be put to the test when the winner faces the remaining Pacific team for the Conference Final but, for now, I think whoever wins this series is going to the Stanley Cup Final.

And there's Tampa versus some team. Either Boston or Toronto and this is very much a bit like the Jets/Preds series. If it is Boston then it is the top two Eastern teams facing each other in the second round and if it is Toronto then it is like the first and third best team. Personally, I'd prefer if it was the Maple Leafs that make it to this match-up but it should be another hard fought series either way. There is a bit of intrigue to all these series. Looking forward to it but for now it's waiting for about 3 - 4 days until that happens.

[Khushrenada]

On that note, way to go Maple Leafs on making it a seven game series against the Bruins. I think the expectation for a lot of people was that this would be a six or seven game series because Bruins and Leafs were a couple of the top teams in the league this year but, with how Boston played those first two games, it didn't seem like an even match-up at first. Even when they've won games, there are times where it looked like Boston was going to come back or had the Leafs under siege at times. I'm not sure Toronto can pull off the upset because the Bruins are going to be playing pretty hard to avoid a first round exit. But Babcock has been able to coach underdog teams to succeed at various times. I've been a fan of him since his first year coaching in the NHL when he took the seventh seed Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. (Then he left and coached Detroit making it much harder to root for him.)


I think Anderson is going to be the biggest decider in this and I've always thought he was a great goaltender. I liked him in Anaheim and I'm still not quite won over to Gibson who they kept over Anderson even though Gibson has been doing a good job in net. Anderson just seems able to make a bigger difference when needed especially in the playoffs. I'll be tuning in Wednesday and not just because it's the only game in town.

[Khushrenada]

This Game 7 of the Bruins/Leafs is really good. Once again, the Leafs are in the lead going into the third. Will they avenge 2013 or will the Bruins overcome another first round Leafs scare? Third period about to start.

Go Leafs!

[Khushrenada]

Nope. A 4 goal third period for the Bruins. Too bad.

[Khushrenada]

Well, another win for the Pens. Really wish there were more people willing to watch the Penguin games with me but Discord seems to have dried up fast with a lot of people's teams dropping in the first round. Too bad. Still great stuff happening.

Like in Vegas. Fleury gets another shut-out as Vegas completely routed the Sharks tonight. Not only does he get the shut-out, he also decided to join in the wave the fans were doing during the third. It's awesome. I'm glad Fleury is having a great year in Vegas.


Wish there were more people wanting to chat up hockey. It's Jets and Preds tomorrow. That's a big series. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

[ShyGuy]

Did somebody win Stanley's cup yet? The weather is warming up and the ice is going to melt.