OT Stars Hockey

[Bmurph]

Hold this lead and win tonight, and for just one night Go Blackhawks!

 

[RevSader]

Gonna need the St. Louis blues to fuck right off. No one likes you and I heard your mom and dad adopted you but really regret it...

 

[Bmurph]

Stars edge closer to clinching by beating Avalanche 4-2
DALLAS (AP) Jason Dickinson scored in his first NHL game, and the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Thursday night to move closer to the Central Division and Western Conference titles.

 

[ESPN Refugee]

Big game tonight in what could be setup for a really great and epic night that hasn't happened in quite a long time.

 

[RevSader]

Come back win to lock it up....nice

 

[Bmurph]

Come back win to lock it up....nice

Fast starts for Nashville and St. Louis didnt hold up, both up 1-0 very quickly. Stars clinch! Woohoo!

 

[WilltheThrill]

The Minnesota Wild might be the worst team to qualify for the playoffs in the last 20 years. Even with Parise and Haula they were on a 5-game skid. Without them, they pose no threat whatsoever. I think Kari might have had to make 3 tough saves the whole game. If not for Devan Dubnyk, that could have been 6 or 7 to zero.

Still 3 more wins to go, but this might be one of the biggest playoff mis-matches in some time.

 

[Nightcrawler]

the playoff hockey bracket is weird. Seems like the only reward for doing well in the regular season is a favorable first round match up. The higher seed should benefit from upsets by playing the lowest seeded team in the following round.

 

[Bmurph]

The Minnesota Wild might be the worst team to qualify for the playoffs in the last 20 years. Even with Parise and Haula they were on a 5-game skid. Without them, they pose no threat whatsoever. I think Kari might have had to make 3 tough saves the whole game. If not for Devan Dubnyk, that could have been 6 or 7 to zero.

Still 3 more wins to go, but this might be one of the biggest playoff mis-matches in some time.

Yeah should have scored a few more but Dubnyk was stoning them in the 1st. The Wild appear totally overmatched though, should be a fairly easy series for the most part and a good tune up for the next round

 

[RevSader]

the playoff hockey bracket is weird. Seems like the only reward for doing well in the regular season is a favorable first round match up. The higher seed should benefit from upsets by playing the lowest seeded team in the following round.

or you should win your division. It's better than winning your division and facing another division winner like in baseball.

 

[WilltheThrill]

the playoff hockey bracket is weird. Seems like the only reward for doing well in the regular season is a favorable first round match up. The higher seed should benefit from upsets by playing the lowest seeded team in the following round.

Prior to last year, that's how the NHL playoffs were set up- 3 divisions in each conference, with the 3 division winners being seeded 1-3. Seeds 4-8 were decided by best record, regardless of division. So 1 played 8, 2 played 7, etc. in the first round. Then they re-seeded each round after that.

Last year, to switch things up, they realigned divisions (moving Dallas from the Pacific to the Central). They made it just 2 divisions per conference instead of 3. They wanted to create intense divisional rivalries, so they made it to where the first 2 rounds of the playoffs were all in-division. So the Central Division is all on one side of the Western bracket, with Dallas (#1) vs. Minnesota (wild card) and St. Louis (#2) vs. Chicago (#3).

I prefer the older system too because I think having St. Louis vs. Chicago in round 1 is ridiculous. Using the old system, this year's playoffs in the West would have been:

(1) Dallas vs. (8) Minnesota
(4) Chicago vs. (5) Los Angeles
(3) St. Louis vs. (6) San Jose
(2) Anaheim vs. (7) Nashville

Really, though, any way you slice it the West is just brutal. #1-7 are all scary good teams. Dallas got the only easy opponent in the bracket.

 

[ESPN Refugee]

Prior to last year, that's how the NHL playoffs were set up- 3 divisions in each conference, with the 3 division winners being seeded 1-3. Seeds 4-8 were decided by best record, regardless of division. So 1 played 8, 2 played 7, etc. in the first round. Then they re-seeded each round after that.

Last year, to switch things up, they realigned divisions (moving Dallas from the Pacific to the Central). They made it just 2 divisions per conference instead of 3. They wanted to create intense divisional rivalries, so they made it to where the first 2 rounds of the playoffs were all in-division. So the Central Division is all on one side of the Western bracket, with Dallas (#1) vs. Minnesota (wild card) and St. Louis (#2) vs. Chicago (#3).

I prefer the older system too because I think having St. Louis vs. Chicago in round 1 is ridiculous. Using the old system, this year's playoffs in the West would have been:

(1) Dallas vs. (8) Minnesota
(4) Chicago vs. (5) Los Angeles
(3) St. Louis vs. (6) San Jose
(2) Anaheim vs. (7) Nashville

Really, though, any way you slice it the West is just brutal. #1-7 are all scary good teams. Dallas got the only easy opponent in the bracket.

Even a fully healthy Minny team is pretty good and scary enough to be afraid of an upset. Dallas is fortunate to get a team that is completely over-matched at this point.

 

[WilltheThrill]

Seguin needs to sit. He clearly isn't right at all, and him being out there hurt his line big time tonight. They had far and away the worst Corsi % of any line tonight, as they spent the entire game (minus the Benn breakaway) hemmed in their own zone. Janmark was scratched for Seguin, and a 100% Janmark is a much better player than a 50% Seguin. Let Seguin practice some more and get back up to full speed first. He was a total non-factor who looked slow, awkward, and often way out of position. I realize that it will take some actual game action to knock off the rust, but he was way more than just rusty tonight. We will need him in Round 2.

 

[ESPN Refugee]

Seguin needs to sit. He clearly isn't right at all, and him being out there hurt his line big time tonight. They had far and away the worst Corsi % of any line tonight, as they spent the entire game (minus the Benn breakaway) hemmed in their own zone. Janmark was scratched for Seguin, and a 100% Janmark is a much better player than a 50% Seguin. Let Seguin practice some more and get back up to full speed first. He was a total non-factor who looked slow, awkward, and often way out of position. I realize that it will take some actual game action to knock off the rust, but he was way more than just rusty tonight. We will need him in Round 2.

Ya most definitely Seguin was not right. Just wonder how long it will be til we truly get a 100% Seguin regarding his injury specifically.

What did you think about the Roussel goal? I've read/heard everything regarding it and conclusively based on the rules and what I saw it was a good goal. I really did not see a kicking motion and more of crazy deflection/redirect off the skate. I did not think the goal would be allowed in the first place but after the rules clarifications it looks like it's changed here in the last year or two regarding the net moving but the moorings still attached.

 

[WilltheThrill]

Game 4 was NOT good for my anxiety or blood pressure. Major credit goes to Niemi for standing tall that whole 3rd period and for Ruff for making the call to start him tonight.

And anytime Jamie Benn feels like showing up and playing like their captain and the elite all-star he is would be fine with me. He has been virtually invisible in Minnesota. He just simply isn't having any effect on the game and he should be taking over.

Lastly, ENOUGH with the lob passes and Hail Mary stretch passes! Razor said it best- they are WAY too pass happy and eager to get rid of the puck. Skate the puck!!! The Stars are at their best when they play their strong possession game and control the pace by turning it into a track meet. Instead, they've been trying to attack the Wild with long passes and poor attempts at dump-ins that are resulting in easy turnovers and icing calls. The Wild have dictated the pace and turned it into an ugly and bogged down mess of turnovers and broken plays. If the Stars use the last change to their advantage back at home, get the matchups they want, and start using their skill and speed to their advantage like they did in Game 1, this series ends on Friday in Game 5.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Goligoski needed a good tail kicking on that turnover that led to the 2nd goal. Hard to believe they won that game.

 

[RevSader]

Goligoski needed a good tail kicking on that turnover that led to the 2nd goal. Hard to believe they won that game.

Niemi got destroyed on that one...It was so hard to watch...man that was some effort by Coyle.

 

[romeo212000]

Welcome to the playoffs Jamie Benn

 

[romeo212000]

Stars trying to lose this one in the third.

 

[romeo212000]

Holy Christ. Dallas was up 4-0 heading into the third period. 4-3 with 11 left.