Eastern and Western Conference Finals
- Thread starter Boston Brawler
- Start date
Regardless of which of these two fanbases you are talking about, the answer we are hoping for is an infinite number of times.
Solidly pre-2004 ... to lose a game like this and squander a 2-0 advantage you built on away ice.
Ever more creative and frustrating ways to lose. Been going on here since the 1980s
Washington is 7-1 on the road in the playoffs. Who the hell knows what's going to happen, but I'd guess it goes 7.
That Capitals arena must be built on an indian burial ground, they are truly cursed.
All they needed to do was win 1 of 2 at home and they couldn't even do that. Granted they pelted the Tampa goalie tonight, he stood on his head, that's the rub with hockey, if you run into a hot goalie, you're toast, just ask the 1971 Bruins or the 2011 Canucks, it happens.
It's a best two out of three now, home ice be damned.
Media here so forgiving. Narrative this morning: the dominated and ran into hot goalie.
No shit. That’s part of the game. You know that possibility going in. Ken Dryden.
Which is why you can’t afford to no-show in game 3.
The Lightning PDO’d an insane 113.3% in the 2 games in Washington. Incredibly lucky to win 1, let along both. But that’s the sort of thing that can happen in the playoffs.
Caps were the better team in both games.
Caps were the better team in both games.
Exactly; they let up on the gas in game 3, then they played in game 4 like they should have in game 3.
Was hoping for a Capitals/Jets final, the whole "can the Capitals finally win a cup" narrative vs the Jets and their rabid fan base; both series are far from over, but sorry, Vegas/Tampa would be totally unwatchable for me, I could give two shits which team wins.
Sorry, I don't get the whole "the LVGK story is so wonderful" line of thinking, but to each his own.
Tampa in the finals seems like the worst situation for the NHL. Not many people in the US care about Winnipeg, and Vegas isn't drawing anyone in. To the casual fan, it's like a super men's league team is beating all these professional teams.
Washington has Ovechkin and the drought. The best situation for them is the Caps make the finals, and it's in a larger market.
Washington has Ovechkin and the drought. The best situation for them is the Caps make the finals, and it's in a larger market.
Not sure I agree with you here - Knights are getting tons of media coverage and I know a lot of people who are on their bandwagon due to the uniqueness of their situation.
I certainly don't disagree with your core point re: Tampa, of course, though if the NHL cared about that it should've told its refs to stop calling ridiculous penalties against the Bruins in the previous round.
If PDO excludes power-play goals, then that's not luck -- that's Lars Eller and his five penalties.
That’s all situations. Tampa shot 18.6% in games 3 and 4 and received .947 goaltending. Those are unsustainable percentages, but of course in a 7 (and now 3) game series you can’t wait around for regression. That said, the Caps have been the better team through 4 games. They haven’t really played poorly, I don’t think they no-showed. Through 4 games they have outscored Tampa 10-5 at even strength, controlled 52% of the shot attempts at ES, 58% of the shots, 57% of the scoring chances and 54% of the high danger chances. They need to keep the game at 5x5 because they have basically dominated...which means....
Special teams are the problem. They have allowed 6 PPG’s against and only scored 3 PPG’s for. They were fine starting game 3 and then took a couple of penalties and found themselves in a quick 2-0 hole. Last night they allowed the Stamkos PP goal to give Tampa a 2-1 lead, then received 6 minutes of almost continuous PP time to end the first period and couldn’t generate anything.
Special teams are the problem. They have allowed 6 PPG’s against and only scored 3 PPG’s for. They were fine starting game 3 and then took a couple of penalties and found themselves in a quick 2-0 hole. Last night they allowed the Stamkos PP goal to give Tampa a 2-1 lead, then received 6 minutes of almost continuous PP time to end the first period and couldn’t generate anything.
Yeah, Winnipeg needs to do something quickly.
Also, think of this preseason prop: Kunitz, Bonino, and Fleury all left the Penguins after last season. Who had Fleury as a favourite to three-peat with his new team?
Also, think of this preseason prop: Kunitz, Bonino, and Fleury all left the Penguins after last season. Who had Fleury as a favourite to three-peat with his new team?
I get the ref hate during the Bs - Bolts series, but their biggest gaff led to a Stamkos goal that TIED game 4 with 7 minutes left. A championship caliber team shrugs it off and scores the next goal. Regardless, the Lightning were the best team by far in the series and despite some missed calls the team that deserved to advance did..
Stop if you’ve heard this before...
Laine scores on the PP, then the Knights score within a minute.
Laine scores on the PP, then the Knights score within a minute.
I mean, outside of the first period of Game 1, have the Jets looked better than Vegas at all this series?
Ha, hadn’t thought of that.
Still team ‘Peg, but I’m warming up to the Knights.
The one thing about Vegas is that they are on their game most nights and their spells of crappy play don't last long.
I don't understand the outrage. VGK got to draft, for the most part, non-top 6 forwards and bottom pair defensemen. They only got to take 1 player from each team. They got no superstars, (Fleury looks to be close this season), and they turned all of those bottom feeders into a pretty great team. What team really suffered because of the expansion rules? Serious question. Without all of the side deals no team suffered, IMO, because they were going to lose 1 3rd pair defenseman or one 3rd-4th line forwards... Did it hurt? Some teams maybe but how much? I know the rules were better, but it is overstated how much better it was. If the team didn't make the playoffs, nobody would care.
I'd venture to say, and to be honest I haven't had the time to look, I doubt many people were screaming about unfairness immediately after the draft.
Tampa's been playing with fire since they went up 3-1. They just got singed. Let's see if they get burned.
There is a very important group Vegas has drawn in - young fans who have never seen an expansion team before are gobbling this up. My 8 year old was rooting for a Bruins-Knights final, and as soon as the Bruins were eliminated has been entirely on Team VGK, and I know thats the same with all his friends. Maybe doesn’t pay immediate dividends but is good for the long-term prospects of the league to be drawing youth interest like that.
I will be very interested in how the ratings compare to past years if Vegas and Tampa make the final.
Eh, I don’t know. Orlov screwed the play up by pivoting forwards the boards. There may have been some contract, but I don’t think it was egregious. That puck was getting turned over regardless, he had no where to go with it and the 2nd Tampa F was bearing down on him.
Tampa has a strong TV market and the area definitely supports the team. Certainly less than a major metro like DC or Chicago, but not by as much you might think. Vegas is a smaller city too but can't be much smaller (if at all) than Winnipeg. I guess more Canadians would care if there was a Canadian franchise involved. Hockey junkies will watch regardless. I guess we'll find out.
The WCF has been drawing huge ratings despite being two small market teams who supposedly wouldn’t draw. I would imagine that bodes well for the Cup final regardless of which team makes it.
http://awfulannouncing.com/nhl/vegas-winnipeg-western-conference-final-highest-non-chicago-wcf-ever-on-nbc-networks.html
Tampa Bay is one of NHL strongest markets. 12 is a big number in any market. Boston, Chicago, NY included.