Stanley Cup Bracket 2018

[flatbutt]

Ovie v Knights...speed v experience...youth and skill v old age and treachery?

MAFs two saves on Schiefele late in the 3rd just had me shaking my head. The first one off of the toe, OK nice lateral movement. But the second one...sacred feces...unless you've ever tried to get back onto your skates from the butterfly AND move laterally the other way then it's hard to appreciate how great that second save was. Wheelers pass to Scheifele was dead nuts on for a perfect one timer and I think MAF saw it coming but he failed to steer the rebound away from the slot and I'd bet when he saw Scheifele there in the high slot he let out an "OOOh sheet!"

BTW Netflix has a show called 360 that features sports interviews. I saw one with my goal hero Ed Giacomin. He echoed my sentiments about the current style of goalkeeping perfectly. There is also a nice segment with Mike Eruzione.

[Por_sha911]

If you aren't excited about tonight's games someone needs to check to see if you have a pulse. Vasilevskiy's stealing the show. Without his miracle saves it would be 4 or 5-2.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye's-911T

Hey Flat - your man, M.A. Fleury stole that one for Vegas last night. Ya gotta love the guy's "compete level"
Both tenders were pretty much dominant save Hellebuyck 's brain cramp on Neal's goal.
The Jets were not all that great in the first but that 3rd period was something else.
Two fast teams playing the game at about Mach 2.

Tis the season gents - let's hope T-Bay & the Caps can measure up to last night's contest although it might be too much to expect.
Ovie vs. The Knights - anybody??

Cheers
JB

Never count the Jets or the Bolts out but I'd love to see Ovi versus MAF.
MAF ROBBED last night's game away from the Jets.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I saw one with my goal hero Ed Giacomin. He echoed my sentiments about the current style of goalkeeping perfectly. There is also a nice segment with Mike Eruzione.

Wow if you remember those guys, you must be an old geezer like me!
My all time fav Goalie was Dominic Hasek (aka slinky). After him it would be Tim Thomas. Both men were entertaining to watch.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

If you aren't excited about tonight's games someone needs to check to see if you have a pulse. Vasilevskiy's stealing the show. Without his miracle saves it would be 4 or 5-2.

Caps 0/4 on PPs is gonna haunt them.

[Por_sha911]

Only if they lose. Either way, I guarantee I know what they will be doing in practice tomorrow morning.

[flatbutt]

True, absolutely. But make that 0 for 5 now and giving up the third goal after having #5 killed. It is only 1 but it's a big 1.


edit:OOOFA that one hurt. Best of 3 now.

[Por_sha911]

When Killorn scored I said that the Caps need to pull the goalie immediately (with over 7 minutes to go). There was no way they were getting another one past Vasilevskiy.

The better goalie won that game.

[rfuerst911sc]

Last nights game another thriller now a best of 3 series . Will someone finally win at home ? Some great goal tending . Looking forward to tonights game my gut tells me Vegas will win tonight but time will tell . I wonder if Ovi/Caps are going to start wondering " uh oh here we go again " . That would be bad if Tampa has gotten into their heads .

[VincentVega]

That was pretty exciting. I missed the first ~10 min so I basically saw the caps on offense for the rest of the game. Caps look like they have an extra man most of the time, so much pressure but not much to show for it.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

Last nights game another thriller now a best of 3 series . Will someone finally win at home ? Some great goal tending . Looking forward to tonights game my gut tells me Vegas will win tonight but time will tell . I wonder if Ovi/Caps are going to start wondering " uh oh here we go again " . That would be bad if Tampa has gotten into their heads .

It would be extraordinary if Ovi wasn't feeling the pull of history at least a little. Is he strong enough to keep that doubt from defeating him? We shall see. Next game in Tampa is going to be a real tell.

Meanwhile LeMans FP is on. What a great time of year.

[flatbutt]

Vegas...impressive. Jets tie it up in the 2nd, Vegas goes ahead again seconds later. Dayum!

[rfuerst911sc]

Yeah I enjoyed last nights game it's amazing how quick Vegas responds to an opponent scoring . And what's with MAF he is a solid wall in the net ! He has really peaked at the right time and is a huge boost to this team . For today's game if Tampa wins I think Washington might mentally collapse and past demons will get in their heads . I'd like to see it go 7 .

[flatbutt]

Don't we always hope for 7? Few sporting events compare well to a game 7.

[Hawkeye's-911T]

The Jets loss of the game last night was predicated on a number of things. The 2 most obvious could be uncharitably called 'soft goals".
I am not in any way suggesting the loss be placed on Hellebuyck's shoulders. Quite the contrary, he has been playing his a$$ off.
Any goalie worth his salt would have those 'bad' ones back in a heartbeat. I feel for him as he is watching the guy at the other end beating him.

At the very least, as a skater, you're not the last line of defence. The Jets have to solve Fleury & that's it.
They can obviously match the Vegas guys in team speed - the difference being - the Vegas guys are deadly on the turnovers.

Are T-bay in the Caps heads? Should be good.

Cheers
JB

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye's-911T

The Jets loss of the game last night was predicated on a number of things. The 2 most obvious could be uncharitably called 'soft goals".
I am not in any way suggesting the loss be placed on Hellebuyck's shoulders. Quite the contrary, he has been playing his a$$ off.
Any goalie worth his salt would have those 'bad' ones back in a heartbeat.

If you want to win the Cup you don't have the luxury of allowing soft goals. A decent goalie will get you into the playoffs but only a super human effort gets you the cup. Fleury is playing cup hoisting hockey. I'd love to see both east and west go 7 but I'm rooting for Ovi to add a cup to his resume.

[Esel Mann]

Sidebar. Winnepeg, at home, they all seem to wear the away white jersey vs colors. Haven't noticed that elsewhere. Q'est que wtf?

[rfuerst911sc]

I was not able to watch last nights game but from the highlights I saw Tampa looked good and scored quickly . Washington will have to fight the mental demons to pull out a game 6 win . I have no gut feel for today's game but would kind of like to see Vegas close it .

[rfuerst911sc]

OMG........... how can you bet against Vegas ??? Congrats for a fabulous season and good luck in the Cup finals .

[Por_sha911]

There are some bookies that are experiencing a nervous twitch about now. The odds of Vegas wining the cup were 500 to 1. I bet there were some "stupid" Vegas fans that were so excited that they had a pro team that they took those odds.

As much as I would love to see Ovi win, Holtby is NOT playing well enough to hoist the cup. He earned the trip this far but he hasn't elevated his game to the next level to get to the finals. He has one more shot to get there (and stay there) Monday.

In other news, Marchand has all summer to be ashamed of his goofy licking in the post season.

Crosby is out but you can't take the two back to back cups away from him. I hope he grows up as well and stops being such a whiner.

Since I've got my wish list out, I'd also like to see an improvement in the officiating. Stop giving the golden boy a pass and stop looking the other way when the opposing team gets slashed, cross-checked, and tripped. In the second round Marchand had at least 5 or 6 penalty worthy actions imposed upon him but there were no calls. Not my opinion: the TV announcers were incredulous about it. I don't doubt the refs were tired of his antics and were teaching him a lesson.