Random 2021 Playoff Talk

[glen a richter]

Watching this series is just making me more angry the Islanders couldn’t get it done in game 7. They would have trounced Montreal. Oh well.

[theohall]

Heckuva a finish last night. Interesting to see part of the lineup changes worked for the Habs - moving Anderson onto the line with Caufield and Suzuki along with bringing Romanov back into the lineup, while Kulak got beat up the ice by Maroon on the GTG in the 3rd.

Rutta and McDonagh both got flat-footed facing the offensive zone on the Habs OT GWG as the PP expired and Gourde turned the puck over just inside that offensive blueline. Caufield made a great play stopping in front of the net, which completely fooled McDonaugh who wound up skating right past him. It's pretty clear McDonagh didn't expect Caufield to stop. This goal and the Bolts GTG are both great examples of why you should "get the puck deep" if the blueline is being aggressively defended. If you turn it over there, your defense is likely screwed, unless they are playing ultra conservative and not really supporting the forwards.

Savard, who I've complained about before, was on the ice for the Habs 1st goal and wound up only playing 11:11 as Cooper essentially benched him and tried to only play him in "safe" situations, afterwards. Don't be surprised if Luke Schenn slides into the lineup for Savard in Game 5. Savard just doesn't have the speed to matchup with the lineup changes Montreal implemented. Rutta can barely keep up, but is fine as long as he isn't caught off of a change or bad turnover. No, Schenn isn't any speedster, but he's played better defensively when he's played.

Caufield and Suzuki - man - without those two, the Habs aren't even in the Final and they keep showing why they belong. Interesting, the Suzuki/Tatar for Pacioretty trade looks like a win-win for both teams in the short run (the past 3 years), but Suzuki is only 21 and Montreal is going to have him for a LONG time while Pacioretty is 32. Yes, Pacioretty has been key to Vegas making these last two playoff runs, however, he's not going to stay that effective going forward considering how forwards tend to decline after 30 with very few exceptions.

[WaukeeBlues]

Watching this series is just making me more angry the Islanders couldn’t get it done in game 7. They would have trounced Montreal. Oh well.

Right there with ya. Yea, I've thought about that the last couple/3 days. Just couldn't find a way to score when they needed to. Getting your doors blown off in one of the games doesn't help either.

...
Caufield and Suzuki - man - without those two, the Habs aren't even in the Final and they keep showing why they belong. Interesting, the Suzuki/Tatar for Pacioretty trade looks like a win-win for both teams in the short run (the past 3 years), but Suzuki is only 21 and Montreal is going to have him for a LONG time while Pacioretty is 32. Yes, Pacioretty has been key to Vegas making these last two playoff runs, however, he's not going to stay that effective going forward considering how forwards tend to decline after 30 with very few exceptions.

Yea assuming the Bolts wrap this up and win the Cup there are exciting times ahead for the Habs for sure. Those 2 are leading the pack. Hard to believe Caufield dropped to 15th overall in his draft year. IIRC, it was a surprise even at the time.

Quite the irony that Vegas got bounced by the team they traded picks/prospects to, in order to get more veteran scoring to "win now" and then needed a dynamic center, who was the prospect they traded away, but kept their other center prospect, who's has stagnated. *head spins*

Why was Tomas Tatar not playing last night!? Glad they won but sheesh.

[theohall]

Tatar isn't playing because he disappeared in the playoffs.

2 GP vs Edmonton, 0G 0A -3 with 3 SOG
5 GP vs Toronto 0G 1A -2 with 3 SOG

And hasn't played since Game 5 vs Toronto.

[gaijin]

Tampa is 20 minutes away from back-to-back Cups.

[theohall]

If you'd told me Savard would assist on the Game 7 GWG, I would've argued against it.

Ross Colton scoring it - not that surprising given what he did during the regular season.

[WaukeeBlues]

If you'd told me Savard would assist on the Game 7 GWG, I would've argued against it.

Ross Colton scoring it - not that surprising given what he did during the regular season.

Coincidentally the only 2 "full timers" on the Bolts that didn't win it last year score the GWG 1-0 in cup winning game.

I really wanted someone else to win it but that's the way it goes sometimes. Happy for the guys who hadn't won it before. Kinda cool the Lightning get to "actually celebrate" this summer now with the cup since they couldn't really last year.

Now on to the trades and expansion draft and free agent signings

[glen a richter]

When engraving the Cup, will they be able to go over the allotted size to fit everyone's name? They got away with being way over the cap space so they may as well take up extra cup space too.

[theohall]

This over the cap space thing - Tampa wasn't over the cap in the regular season. Blues were "over the cap" during the playoffs all 3 (yes, including the Cup year) of the past 3 playoffs. Penguins were over the cap during the playoffs both of their most recent Cup years. We all know about the Blackhawks.

The rules are such that being over the cap in the playoffs is accepted, since there is NO CAP once the playoffs start. Why Blues fans keep bringing it up seems ridiculous, considering the Blues did the same thing, it just didn't work out for them in 19-20 or this season. It did in 18-19, though. Yes, the Blues were over once the playoffs started when the majority of the roster was available.

If there were a cap in the playoffs, things like allowing Black Aces to play, wouldn't be possible in many cases.

What could screw the Bolts next season is bonuses. If a team is over the cap at the end of the season after incentive bonuses are calculated, they face a penalty the following season which is usually a reduced cap.