ROUND ONE : C1 Chicago v WC2 Nashville

sseagle · Post by **sseagle** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:57 pm

Thursday, April 13, 7pm: Predators @ Blackhawks | NBCSN, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
Saturday, April 15, 7pm: Predators @ Blackhawks | NBC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
Monday, April 17, 8:30pm: Blackhawks @ Predators | CNBC, SN ONE, TVA Sports
Thursday, April 20, TBD: Blackhawks @ Predators | SN 360, TVA Sports
Saturday, April 22, TBD: Predators @ Blackhawks | TBD
Monday, April 24, TBD: Blackhawks @ Predators | TBD
Wednesday, April 26, TBD: Predators @ Blackhawks | TBD

Kerfuffle · Post by **Kerfuffle** » Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:45 am

At least games 1 and 2 by us have no 8:30pm start times - I freaking hate that. I should be at game 1 and wife taking game 2. Probably sell game 5.

glen a richter · Post by **glen a richter** » Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:50 am

Chicago in 5

WaukeeBlues · Post by **WaukeeBlues** » Sat Apr 15, 2017 8:15 pm

I don't know what the odds are but I doubt I even would've bet a single dollar on the Hawks not scoring a single goal through 1.6666 games of a playoff series where they open up at home.

Shocking.

I confess I haven't seen any of the series. Anybody have? Rinne just that good or Preds defense playing that well in front of him? Combination? Kerfuffle?

Kerfuffle · Post by **Kerfuffle** » Sat Apr 15, 2017 8:46 pm

WaukeeBlues wrote:I don't know what the odds are but I doubt I even would've bet a single dollar on the Hawks not scoring a single goal through 1.6666 games of a playoff series where they open up at home.

Shocking.

I confess I haven't seen any of the series. Anybody have? Rinne just that good or Preds defense playing that well in front of him? Combination? Kerfuffle?

It's not Rinne - we're really not even testing him. The whole team went south at once. No offense, no defense, no goaltending. The last 4 regular season games we lost too and in bad fashion - I know the last 4 were meaningless but I didn't like the effort. We're being outworked. But series is not over.

Toasted Oates · Post by **Toasted Oates** » Sat Apr 15, 2017 9:33 pm

Far from over. Hawks probably just trying to find new ways to keep it interesting. Can't chirp these guys till they're dead and buried.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Sat Apr 15, 2017 9:46 pm

Hawks look like a team with 2 relatively inexperienced lines - which is exactly what they are. Those young players haven't experienced how play ramps up in the playoffs and it's showing. Nothing new for any team which has 1 great line, 1 good line, and a bunch of inexperience after that.

Tyler Motte-Marcus Kruger-Ryan Hartman (Rookie-Vet-Might as well be Rookie 1st time in playoffs)
Dennis Rasmussen-Nick Schmaltz-Jordin Tootoo (1st playoffs-Rookie-Waste of Space)

Pretty simple when one realizes the playoffs aren't the regular season and playoff experience matters. We saw this with how poorly Jordan Schmaltz played in Game 1 and we are still seeing Barbashev going through playoff growing pains.

cardsfan04 · Post by **cardsfan04** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 6:27 am

This is the biggest shock of the playoffs so far. I expected a 2-0 Blackhawk lead heading to Nashville, but wouldn't have been shocked at a split. Down 2-0 without a single goal is really hard to fathom.

But, very much not over. Blackhawks are on short list for best team in the NHL (Washington, Pittsburgh, Chicago, in some order?). I won't be shocked if they win it in 6. If we can hold onto our series, a Blackhawk team that suddenly put it back together and won 4 of 5 (or 4 straight) will be a tough second round matchup that I won't be looking forward to.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:09 am

I don't see the comeback happening this year. They are being badly out-played and Crawford isn't a "steal the series" type of goalie to overcome them being out-played. Crawford has given up 6 goals on 49 shots (.877 SV%) which isn't good enough to win in the playoffs these days. Quenneville tried to mix the kids in with the veterans in Game 2 to "add a spark". It just didn't work. Trevor Van Riemsdyk was a mess defensively. Jonathan Toews is goalless in his last 9 playoff games. (Probably shouldn't have typed that). Kane lost his mind at one point cross-checking guys in the face and, while we hate Kane, he doesn't play like that ever. The Predators have gotten in the Blackhawks head and they are struggling mightily.

glen a richter · Post by **glen a richter** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 5:25 pm

No way Chicago is getting swept, nor does Q allow them to continue getting shut out. This one is still going 6 probably. Not that Nashville will necessarily lose the next four games, I think they're firmly in the driver seat right now. They're in Chicago's heads as much as Allen is in Minnesota's heads. But the Hawks are flush with offensive talent enough that they have to break through soon.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:31 pm

glen a richter wrote:No way Chicago is getting swept, nor does Q allow them to continue getting shut out. This one is still going 6 probably. Not that Nashville will necessarily lose the next four games, I think they're firmly in the driver seat right now. They're in Chicago's heads as much as Allen is in Minnesota's heads. But the Hawks are flush with offensive talent enough that they have to break through soon.

And yet Toews and Kane combined have 1 Goal in their past 9 playoff games. Two highest paid, best offensive players not scoring goals over that long a stretch should be a concern. They don't have the experienced depth providing scoring they've had in the past which forced teams to worry about more than defending the Toews and Kane lines. Meanwhile, every line for the Predators is contributing. These aren't the days when you can roll out 2 good scoring lines and expect to win in the playoffs - unless you're playing the likes of Minnesota.

Kerfuffle · Post by **Kerfuffle** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 1:55 pm

glen a richter wrote:No way Chicago is getting swept, nor does Q allow them to continue getting shut out. This one is still going 6 probably. Not that Nashville will necessarily lose the next four games, I think they're firmly in the driver seat right now. They're in Chicago's heads as much as Allen is in Minnesota's heads. But the Hawks are flush with offensive talent enough that they have to break through soon.

It's a weird situation - never seen this before with our team. That's the thing with sports though - always unpredictable. One thing I give credit to Nashville for though is hunger - they are playing with it and we have none. Don't let the story line about Rinne scare anyone for round 2 - we just suck right now and couldn't score on anyone. Lots of strange things happening around the league. Toronto is hanging in there with the Caps. And you guys are actually better without Shatty - who would have predicted that? Not me. The West is wide open this year - should be interesting to see who comes out of it.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 3:58 pm

What people fail to realize

1) Shattenkirk is an outstanding offensive defenseman
2) Shattenkirk is so-so at actually playing defense and if forced to do things on his off-hand side is pretty awful.
3) Pietrangelo working up the ranks was outstanding on the power play and now gets the chance to show that by getting the extra time Shattenkirk was eating.
4) Moving Shattenkirk has also increased playing time for Parayko who is better defensively. The Edmundson-Parayko pairing is a legitimate top caliber defensive pairing which wasn't the case when it was Edmundson-Shattenkirk. Edmundson with Parayko frees Edmundson's offensive game. When #6 was with Shattenkirk, he had to play defense first to be sure he covered for Shattenkirk's propensity to skate deeper into the offensive zone.

Did I think this was what would happen when Shattenkirk was moved? I had no idea. But that's what it looks like now.

On topic, Chicago isn't getting the offense from their back-end either. When Trevor Van Riemsdyk is leading Chicago defenseman in shots and he's played the least minutes, they aren't getting what they have gotten in the past from the defense in terms of offensive production. Hjalmarsson is playing almost 21 minutes a game and doesn't have a shot on goal. Colton Parayko has 11 shots on goal. All Chicago defenseman combined have 14. Not getting it done.

Toasted Oates · Post by **Toasted Oates** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:43 pm

Admittedly, tonight's game is the first I've watched in this series. I may have overestimated the Hawks, as their only good scoring chance was a clearing attempt that took a flukey bounce towards the goal. Otherwise, Nashville has dictated the play.

Chicago is generating next to nothing offensively and Johansen's line is taking Toews' line behind the woodshed. They came out of the gate firing, but that was very short lived.

Interesting times.

EDIT: Whoopsy daisy. 1-0 Hawks.

glen a richter · Post by **glen a richter** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 6:11 am

This series is reminiscent of the season I became a Blues fan... 92-93. 8 seed Blues of course stunned Belfour and the Hawks. The Preds are doing the same thing.

gaijin · Post by **gaijin** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:51 am

A Blues-Predators 2nd Round matchup is looking pretty likely. Who would have predicted that?

Kerfuffle · Post by **Kerfuffle** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:08 am

glen a richter wrote:This series is reminiscent of the season I became a Blues fan... 92-93. 8 seed Blues of course stunned Belfour and the Hawks. The Preds are doing the same thing.

Hunger and intensity are an intangible but extremely important - the Preds have it and we don't. They also got a very generous call in which Crawford was run over in a clear case of goaltender interference and they allowed the tying the goal to stand (probably because Crawford was outside the blue paint when it happened). That tied it, the momentum swung and then it was over. Call it cup fatigue or whatever but the Preds just want it more and we look like we're just playing out the string. They haven't clinched yet so we still have a chance, although very small one - need to just take one game at a time.

cardsfan04 · Post by **cardsfan04** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:56 am

Kerfuffle wrote:
glen a richter wrote:This series is reminiscent of the season I became a Blues fan... 92-93. 8 seed Blues of course stunned Belfour and the Hawks. The Preds are doing the same thing.
Hunger and intensity are an intangible but extremely important - the Preds have it and we don't. They also got a very generous call in which Crawford was run over in a clear case of goaltender interference and they allowed the tying the goal to stand (probably because Crawford was outside the blue paint when it happened). That tied it, the momentum swung and then it was over. Call it cup fatigue or whatever but the Preds just want it more and we look like we're just playing out the string. They haven't clinched yet so we still have a chance, although very small one - need to just take one game at a time.

I was watching that as it happened and the announcer was saying the same thing as you. I admittedly don't know exactly how the rule reads, but I didn't think it was interference because he was outside of the crease. The contact clearly impacted Crawford, but it also seemed incidental to me, and being outside of the crease, I thought that made it a non-call. That's just my perception though and not necessarily perfectly in line with the rules. I'd be interested to see a breakdown of that call that explains exactly why it was/wasn't correct.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 1:50 pm

cardsfan04 wrote:
Kerfuffle wrote:
glen a richter wrote:This series is reminiscent of the season I became a Blues fan... 92-93. 8 seed Blues of course stunned Belfour and the Hawks. The Preds are doing the same thing.
Hunger and intensity are an intangible but extremely important - the Preds have it and we don't. They also got a very generous call in which Crawford was run over in a clear case of goaltender interference and they allowed the tying the goal to stand (probably because Crawford was outside the blue paint when it happened). That tied it, the momentum swung and then it was over. Call it cup fatigue or whatever but the Preds just want it more and we look like we're just playing out the string. They haven't clinched yet so we still have a chance, although very small one - need to just take one game at a time.
I was watching that as it happened and the announcer was saying the same thing as you. I admittedly don't know exactly how the rule reads, but I didn't think it was interference because he was outside of the crease. The contact clearly impacted Crawford, but it also seemed incidental to me, and being outside of the crease, I thought that made it a non-call. That's just my perception though and not necessarily perfectly in line with the rules. I'd be interested to see a breakdown of that call that explains exactly why it was/wasn't correct.

The rule is incidental contact outside of the crease is allowed. Intentional contact outside the crease is interference. Refs judged the contact to be incidental.

Rule 78 (b) wrote:If an attacking player initiates any contact, other than incidental contact, with the goalkeeper, while the goalkeeper is outside of his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

Oaklandblue · Post by **Oaklandblue** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 2:26 pm

*starts assembling his brooms*

Let's Go Blues