2024-2025 NHL Playoffs

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Mr. Chainsaw

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I'm not sure how many others are interested in the NHL playoffs. Hoping that some of the buzz from the Four Nations tournament generated some interest in those that like (or don't like) sports. I'll try to do a general recap of each day or after a few games in each series.

First Round Matchups:

East:
Capitals vs. Canadiens
Hurricanes vs. Devils
Leafs vs. Senators
Lightning vs. Panthers


West:
Jets vs. Blues
Stars vs. Avalanche
Golden Knights vs. Wild
Kings vs. Oilers

I'll do a bracket after the first games are done so I can get a better look at everyone.
 
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Ok I didn't realize the Battle of Florida wasn't gonna start until today so I'll give intial thoughts:

East:
Capitals vs. Canadiens - Apparently teams forgot the #1 rule when playing the Caps this year: you don't leave Ovi open. It extended into the playoffs as well (I didn't realize Ovi never had an OT winner in the playoffs until this past game). Caps faultered a bit in the third though. The Canadiens have nothing to lose making the playoffs this season, so the Caps are really going to have to clean it up to finish this series off early. I think their lack of team playoff experience might hurt them if they make a deeper run.

Hurricanes vs. Devils - I have Carolina sweeping this series. No Jack Hughes is too much for the Devils to cope without. They are playing well but Carolina's tendency to shut teams down has started to take effect. The Canes are going to need to get that PP going though at some point if they want to last in the playoffs this year. I think Dallas might regret trading Stankoven he's going to be really good in the future, even if they got Rantanen out of it.

Leafs vs. Senators - Even though the Sens lost game 1, I thought they played fairly well 5 on 5. Too many penalties sunk them. They played better in game 2, almost had a chance to win at the end, but poor defense on the OT goal. Very curious to see how they play at home, no playoff hockey for a while has got to get the fans going. Toronto looks much better defensively than they have in recent years. Matthews is going to have to do more than collect assists though if they want to thoroughly start breaking their curse.

Lightning vs. Panthers - Missed most of this game. I saw the score and was like uhhhhh what happened. Tkachuk is back and makes an immediate impact, Marchand looks like he's settled into the roster, PP is chugging. Tampa looked disoriented from general highlights. They had some great plays but too much of the Panthers caught them earlier in the game. Florida looks ready to continue where they left off after winning the cup. I still think this series has potential so let's see how game 2 is.

West:
Jets vs. Blues - Very close games, the Jets just find a way to win but the Blues are hanging right with them. Both teams settled into game 2 after the goal fury in the first period of the first game. Really think it's gonna come down to the goalies, can Hellebuyck make up for last year's debacle and settle in?

Stars vs. Avalanche - The pace in this series is unreal, both teams want to play up-tempo. If the Stars had Heiskanen and Robertson healthy, I think this series tilts more towards Dallas. Seguin makes an immediate impact back in the lineup. Wedgewood getting some playoff game experience with the Avs but not sure if he can handle the load in net. Landeskog would be a big boost for Colorado if he can go. I'd say this is the series to watch if you're going to pick one to follow (if the Lightning don't wake up in their series).

Golden Knights vs. Wild - Bit of an odd series, wasn't sure what to expect going in. Vegas ended up taking their division but Minnesota held out for a wild card spot. Vegas has a scary roster but not as much playoff experience as when they won their cup. Minnesota getting Kaprizov back is huge for them, he made his mark in game one. Game 2 is heading into the third as I type this, missed most of this game but wasn't expecting so many goals for the Wild. Haven't had much time to watch either of these teams this year, but if Minnesota can regain the form they had before Kaprizov was injured, they could cause some issues for the Golden Knights.

Kings vs. Oilers - What a game. LA in full control, then proceed to let McDavid do his thing, and we almost have a hell of a story until a janky goal goes in with not much time left in the third to lift the Kings. I have them winning this series as I think they can finally get over the hump, but they can't let Edmonton's big guys contribute as much as they do. (Jeff) Skinner finally gets to play in a playoff game, but (Stuart) Skinner didn't look all that great. If Edmonton can shut down LA's speed they might be able to be carried like they have in previous years by the star players, they got really close last year, but at some point they're going to need more contribution from their depth guys.
 
Byfield with the dumbest play by far in the playoffs. You can't try to skate the puck out, up 1, from your own zone, with <30 seconds left, when literally anything else was a better option. If Edmonton wins this game...

Edit: and there it is. Kuemper stood on his head and them some but can't give Edmonton a PP in OT. If the Kings end up losing the series, that play by Byfield is going to be what sunk them.
 
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7pm tonight I'll be watching the Leafs vs Senators. Lifelong Leafs fan here. Who do you want to win the Stanley Cup @Mr. Chainsaw?
 
BLUES ARE GONNA WIN IT ALL. WINNINGTON IS LOCKED IN AND THE JETS ARE FUCKED. DIE SLOW, THE CUP IS COMING BACK TO STL AND I WILL KISS IT AGAIN
 
CDawg said:
7pm tonight I'll be watching the Leafs vs Senators. Lifelong Leafs fan here. Who do you want to win the Stanley Cup @Mr. Chainsaw?
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Hmm well my team isn't in it this year (Pens). Avs are my backup but I don't think they have the depth that they did when they won a few years ago. I've been picking Dallas the last few years in brackets, I feel that they had the best team on paper (at least in the West) until Roberston and Heiskanen went down.

Tough being a Leafs fan rn, seems like they're imploding again. I plan to post many memes if they lose game 6 :D.
 
Devils held on as long as they possibly could, Markstrom stood on his head after they choked their lead away but they just don't have the personnel healthy enough to take on the Canes. Carolina still has some question marks though, not confident in their PP and they're gonna need Andersen back for a deep run.
 
Mr. Chainsaw said:
Hmm well my team isn't in it this year (Pens). Avs are my backup but I don't think they have the depth that they did when they won a few years ago. I've been picking Dallas the last few years in brackets, I feel that they had the best team on paper (at least in the West) until Roberston and Heiskanen went down.

Tough being a Leafs fan rn, seems like they're imploding again. I plan to post many memes if they lose game 6 :D.
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It's been really hard watching the last two games. Giving me PTSD like Boston from years ago. I still have faith. If not; next year will be different!
 
Starting to finish out round 1, East teams weren't much of a surprise although I really thought Tampa would put up more of a fight against Florida. Jon Cooper has another year left on his extension but I think he'll be gone if they don't make it to next year's cup final. No first round memes for Toronto 😢.

Winnipeg does well at home, the Avs with a big win tonight at home forcing the first game 7, Vegas taking care of Minnesota as well. After that loss I mentioned earlier it gave Edmonton too much momentum and they end up closing out their series at home. At the moment I still like the winner of Dallas/Colorado to make it to the final, and I'm going to say the Panthers somehow make it back again.
 
Couple of game 7s for the weekend, great way to close out round 1. The Stars/Avs series has lived up to what I thought it'd be, and the Blues haven't gone away.
 
What a game holy shit, Rantanen taking over late and carrying the Stars in that third period. Unreal storyline for him to win against the Avs, with a hat-trick, in a game 7.
 
And another insane game 7, Blues choked that one away. Goalies were beast, I think the Blues should've shot the puck more in OT had lot's of chances to get the puck to the net. That post in the first OT should've been it. Will have to do another write-up for Round 2.
 
Second Round Matchups:

East:
Leafs vs. Panthers - This is going to be the big hurdle for this Leafs team. Can they actually get into the Conference Final and play like a team that deserves to be there? They punished Florida early last night but almost lost it after Woll had to come in*. Florida needs to start better if they don't want a repeat of the cup final last year where the Oilers came after them quickly and made it interesting.

Capitals vs. Hurricanes - Game 1 just finished. I don't think this Caps team has the experience to go that far in the playoffs this year. I had them losing to Carolina in my bracket. Stankoven continues to be a great pickup and the Canes outshot the Caps heavily. Carolina played better, although I don't think either team was that great, and their PP was abysmal, but their defense generally makes up for it. Thompson was solid for the Caps and Andersen didn't have much to do. Caps will need to start crashing the net and getting shots to grind those wins out, otherwise Carlolina will outlast them.

West:
Jets vs. Stars - What pair of game 7 victories for these two teams. Absolutely nuts. That being said, unless Hellebuyck magically found his regular season form in those game 7 OTs, I think Dallas is going to be too much. Winnipeg is missing some key players and it took some serious desperation for them to get some chances against the Blues. If the Jets get Scheifele up front and Morrissey on the backend then they have a shot, but will come down to goaltending and if they can play some stronger team defense then they have so far in the playoffs. Rantanen is a beast

Golden Knights vs. Oilers - Well I had LA winning so this is a bit of a bummer for my bracket. Golden Knights are sneaky good and have close to although not the same depth as when they won their cup. Edmonton picked up some secondary scoring but again will rely on their big guys for points every night. Vegas tends to be better defensively but if the Oilers can rattle Hill and make every night a barnburner they have a shot. LA was not able to keep up the scoring and stop Edmonton, Vegas will need to be solid defensively to win the series.

*For the record, despite Bennett's history, I don't think this was intentional. First off, people were calling it in elbow when it was actually his glove that made some contact with the back of Stolarz's helmet. Stolarz apparently likes to wear the back plate of his helmet fairly loose (idk why, feels off if I do it). Bennett is still allowed to make a hockey play as he had the puck and was watching it as it bounced around and the play continued. What I think happened is that Bennett knows this, he knows he doesn't have to avoid Stolarz as he has the puck and continues his path while continuing to make a play. He doesn't have to move out of the way. This happens a lot more than people want to realize, and it usually doesn't result in concussions for goalies. I really doubt that contact alone gave Stolarz a concussion, but it did likely contribute to some injury he had and that nudge finally pushed it into a concussion. I don't see a whole lot of force or anything in the contact. Good to see Stolarz was release from the hospital, hopefully he'll be cleared to play.
 
Rantanen taking over again another hat trick, he's goin. Jets are staying in it though.
 
Pretty pumped to see toronto being competitive against the Panthers. Not a leafs fan, born and raised in tampa, so hate those guys down in sunrise lol.

Skinner looked good last night against the knights, shame that one squeaked by him with less than a second to go.
 
camg813 said:
Pretty pumped to see toronto being competitive against the Panthers. Not a leafs fan, born and raised in tampa, so hate those guys down in sunrise lol.

Skinner looked good last night against the knights, shame that one squeaked by him with less than a second to go.
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I'll actually go against this and say he didn't have a great game in general. He's been subpar these playoffs compared to last year. The Oilers were playing better with Pickard in net but his injury might make that series with Vegas a nail-biter. Although, that last goal wasn't his fault, defense shouldn't have let Karlsson beat them on the dump-in and throw the puck out in front. Then 2 Oilers players in front decide to go for the block, and that leaves Riley Smith time to skate around and go 1 on 1 with Skinner whose already out trying to challenge a would-be shot. Skinner played it right afterwards, continued to come out, took down the angle and forced a really tough angle pass/shot that wasn't going in, but Draisaitl isn't generally known for his defense and he misplayed it. Crazy to watch it happen though, some unreal moments these playoffs.

I really thought Tampa was going to make the final with how the last 1-2 months went, wasn't expecting them to get beat in 5 in Round 1. Florida is looking like the team that won the cup last year, complete shutdown of the Leafs tonight. Toronto is gonna have to start playing with some more desperation and find another gear to make the conference final, they're starting to get bullied around again.

Speaking of subpar goalies :D , Hellebuyck continues to be abyssmal on away games. I can't recall exactly who but I remember more recent playoff series' with goalies that were great at home and absolute shit on the road. I think coaches in general like to roll with their #1 guy, but I think that loyalty rarely pays off if they're so 2-sided. Wonder if they go to Comrie for game 4.
 
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