NHL Thread

[surfndestroy]

Miller is a big loss. I hope it just looked worse than it is and that they can wrap this up Sunday so they're all healing for round 2.

I can’t see Miller being back. I think he had to stay healthy for Bruins to have a realistic chance at the cup. Hoping they finish off Washington tomorrow.

[elliseamos]

Miller is a big loss. I hope it just looked worse than it is and that they can wrap this up Sunday so they're all healing for round 2.

I can’t see Miller being back. I think he had to stay healthy for Bruins to have a realistic chance at the cup. Hoping they finish off Washington tomorrow.

That fact that he played this year at all is a pretty cool story. Super sad way for his year to end.

[elliseamos]

A lot of lopsided hockey today.

[surfndestroy]

A lot of lopsided hockey today.

Feeling good about the Bruins win. The Caps were pretty lifeless overall with next to no offensive push from the d-men. You have to be more than a half court team.

[elliseamos]

I'm shocked that Tuukka could stand tall in that 3rd period and close this series. Bring on NYI/Pitt!

In other news, who saw this from Edmonton? Up 4-1, lose 5-4?! Now they're down 3 games to none?! Pack it up, head home.

[Mickey]

A lot of lopsided hockey today.

Feeling good about the Bruins win. The Caps were pretty lifeless overall with next to no offensive push from the d-men. You have to be more than a half court team.

Yeah I'm not at all shocked by the Caps' early exit. Top heavy and aging. I'm definitely surprised that the Jets who went 3-7 to close out the year are so thoroughly dominating the Oilers.

[Mickey]

Which of the teams on the brink is most likely to fall tonight? My best guess would be Minnesota, then Florida, then Edmonton, but could easily see all three gone, and at least one is out for sure.

[Strat]

Which of the teams on the brink is most likely to fall tonight? My best guess would be Minnesota, then Florida, then Edmonton, but could easily see all three gone, and at least one is out for sure.

Was off the grid for a few days camping. Glad i missed the games.

However, knowing MN sports, the wild will dominate tonight and will give me hope only to get blown out in game 6.

[Mickey]

Which of the teams on the brink is most likely to fall tonight? My best guess would be Minnesota, then Florida, then Edmonton, but could easily see all three gone, and at least one is out for sure.

Was off the grid for a few days camping. Glad i missed the games.

However, knowing MN sports, the wild will dominate tonight and will give me hope only to get blown out in game 6.

Maybe not dominate, but you are correct so far.

[Strat]

Which of the teams on the brink is most likely to fall tonight? My best guess would be Minnesota, then Florida, then Edmonton, but could easily see all three gone, and at least one is out for sure.

Was off the grid for a few days camping. Glad i missed the games.

However, knowing MN sports, the wild will dominate tonight and will give me hope only to get blown out in game 6.

Maybe not dominate, but you are correct so far.

That was an abortion of a game, especially the second period. My god I can't believe we managed to pull off that victory.

MN Sports really know how to shit the bed in playoffs.

[Mickey]

Florida over Tampa Bay 4-3

Wrong!

[surfndestroy]

Florida over Tampa Bay 4-3

Wrong!

I thought Tampa would have issues fitting Kucherov into the lineup, and that the game or two it would take would be the advantage Florida needed to take the series.

Tampa is looking great.

[Strat]

Incredible wild game last night.

Gonna be an exciting game 7 at a townie bar up at the lake here in Minnesota!

As long as they stick to their game plan and talbot once again plays solid we could do this.

[Mickey]

Florida over Tampa Bay 4-3

Wrong!

I thought Tampa would have issues fitting Kucherov into the lineup, and that the game or two it would take would be the advantage Florida needed to take the series.

Tampa is looking great.

They looked pretty lazy on Monday but they played lights-out last night. I've been thinking throughout this series how much Ekblad's injury hurt Florida. Would he have slowed down the Tampa powerplay enough to win, or helped solve the goalie problem? Maybe not, but I think it would have been a lot closer.

[Mickey]

Gonna revise my picks for the second round:

Colorado over Vegas, 4-2
Tampa over Carolina, 4-3
Boston over NYI, 4-2
Winnipeg over Toronto, 4-2

[elliseamos]

My picks:

Toronto over Montreal 4-2
Edmonton over Winnipeg 4-0
Vegas over Minnesota 4-0
St. Louis over Colorado 4-3
Hurricanes over Nashville 4-2
Tampa over Florida 4-1
Boston over Washington 4-3
New York over Pittsburgh 4-0

I eneded up 6-2 with my series winners, but my 2 misses were horribly wrong.

I'll offer up more bad betting advice and go with:
Colorado over Vegas, 4-1
Tampa over Carolina, 4-1
Boston over NYI, 4-3
Winnipeg over Toronto, 4-0

[Mickey]

But otherwise I agree:

Toronto over Montreal 4-1
Edmonton over Winnipeg 4-2
Vegas over Minnesota 4-1
Colorado over St. Louis 4-1
Hurricanes over Nashville 4-2
Tampa over Florida 4-2
Boston over Washington 4-3
Pittsburgh over New York 4-2

6/8 series (assuming Toronto wins tonight or Monday), 2/8 in terms of games.

[elliseamos]

I didn't mean to overlook Tor/Mon. I do hate Montreal, though.

[Mickey]

I suppose we shouldn't count out Montreal, since losing to their biggest rivals in the first round after being up 3-1 and having like a 20 point advantage in the regular season would be peak Maple Leafs.

[elliseamos]

I suppose we shouldn't count out Montreal, since losing to their biggest rivals in the first round after being up 3-1 and having like a 20 point advantage in the regular season would be peak Maple Leafs.

Right. It's basically Toronto's thing to mess this up. And when it happens, Mike Babcok on NBCS will probably be giddy.