***NHL Hockey Thread***

AZRaiderH8r said:
We were at a Rangers bar in Denver on Saturday (home of the Mile High Blueshirts), and that was a blast. The game sucked unfortunately, but still a really fun place and a good opportunity for my wife to meet more of "her" people. Looks like our marriage isn't going to be put to the test after all.

I don't think the finals go any less than at least 6 games. I am very concerned about the Avs ability to score on Tampa because their goalie is ridiculously good. And, we know that Frankie or Darcy will give up some soft ones. Tampa's offense doesn't scare me, but the Avs goaltending does. Plus, I can't stand the way Tampa plays hockey, mucking up the neutral zone. It's certainly effective, but here's to hoping for there not being a 3 peat. Avs in 6. 
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Not that prior reg season means much but Avs won both games, 4-3 in a shootout and 3-2. Keumper had a better save % than Vasilevkiy in both games.  This is me convincing myself my wagering is well founded  :lol:

 
JJ Husker said:
Cup Finals; Avs-Lightning

Who ya got….series wins?

I’m going with Avs 4-1. Vasilevskiy will probably steal a game for them at some point. Could slip to 4-2 but I don’t see Tampa taking this to 7 games.
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I'm a huge Avs fan, but Tampa was the last team I wanted to see. They'll be happy to sit and clog lanes and let Andrei make it difficult for us and counter attack. This will go 6 or 7 unless Kuepmer/Francouz stand on their heads.  Tampa is much better than any of the three teams we've faced so far, especially on defense. They may be the best defensive team in the whole league. Best D versus best O usually goes for the defense, but luckily CO is pretty darn good at playing defense as well.

I would be shocked if this is over in 5.

 
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runningblind said:
I'm a huge Avs fan, but Tampa was the last team I wanted to see. They'll be happy to sit and clog lanes and let Andrei make it difficult for us and counter attack. This will go 6 or 7 unless Kuepmer/Francouz stand on their heads.  Tampa is much better than any of the three teams we've faced so far, especially on defense. They may be the best defensive team in the whole league. Best D versus best O usually goes for the defense, but luckily CO is pretty darn good at playing defense as well.

I would be shocked if this is over in 5.
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I agree 6 or 7 is more likely. 4 or 5 is just my bravado talking. However I do think the Avs finally have figured out an answer for teams that want to gum up things in the neutral zone. If Tampa can take away our transition game, it may be painful. I think the Avs D is every bit as good as Tampa’s so I think, in this situation, the advantage goes to the better offensive team….unless Keumper or Frankie hit some extended rough spots. I expect Vasilevskiy to cause us some problems and probably steal a game but he will see a s#!tload of shots.  Here’s hoping there is no rust in game one. The Lightning haven’t seen team speed like this since we last played them. Playing the Rangers and the surprisingly hapless Panthers did little to prepare them for the Avs.

 
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Great first, rough second, decent third, short and sweet OT. Overall they played well. Need to tighten some things up in the defensive zone as two of the three goals were results of defensive lapses. But a win is a win, three more to go! 

 
AZRaiderH8r said:
Great first, rough second, decent third, short and sweet OT. Overall they played well. Need to tighten some things up in the defensive zone as two of the three goals were results of defensive lapses. But a win is a win, three more to go! 
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They’ve had those D zone lapses all year. I’ve come to expect a few untimely turnovers with wide open pot shots on our goalies. I think it’s a byproduct of how quickly they want to get up ice….and spells of not being able to clear the zone for whatever reason.

 
JJ Husker said:
They’ve had those D zone lapses all year. I’ve come to expect a few untimely turnovers with wide open pot shots on our goalies. I think it’s a byproduct of how quickly they want to get up ice….and spells of not being able to clear the zone for whatever reason.
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Agreed. I was really surprised at the turnovers and defensive miscues by the Lightning though. Really contributed to a lot of scoring changes and even goals in game one. Hopefully there will be more of that in game two. 

 
Mavric said:
Tampa Bay:  Has a goalie or nah???
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Vasilevskiy could’ve been better for sure but his team provided no help whatsoever. Avs played lights out and Bolts didn’t show up at all. Most dominate performance I’ve ever seen in a Stanley Cup playoff game. Three periods of an absolute butt kicking.

 
Tough game, but it was bound to happen. I didn't see it getting that out of control, but the Avs did not do Kuemper any favors. Terrible turnovers led to goals, not keeping the puck in the zone on a simple play led to a goal being taken away, etc. They played one of their worst games that I've seen in a long time, and I expect them to rebound next game. Game four will be interesting. 

And screw Corey Perry... :)

 
AZRaiderH8r said:
Tough game, but it was bound to happen. I didn't see it getting that out of control, but the Avs did not do Kuemper any favors. Terrible turnovers led to goals, not keeping the puck in the zone on a simple play led to a goal being taken away, etc. They played one of their worst games that I've seen in a long time, and I expect them to rebound next game. Game four will be interesting. 

And screw Corey Perry... :)
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Yeah Keumper could’ve been sharper but Avs were horrible in their D zone and were just plain out hustled all over the ice.

Finally got a little animosity working in this series. I’m still not sure I understand how the refs handle these things. 3 Lightning players jump one guy, nobody breaks it up quickly, so the one guy takes a swing and he gets the only penalty or they issue matching minors. What’s the guy supposed to do, take an a$$ kicking and just like it? I will say Toews hit on Kucherov was a bit intent to injurish.  He knew exactly what he was doing and that isn’t typical for Devon. Maybe he was making up for playing like crap the last couple games. Will be interesting to see if Kucherov or Point can play next game, as well as Kadri and Burakovsky.

 
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