Morphinity 2.0

(1P) Vancouver Canucks vs. (1WC) Nashville Predators REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: Canucks: 50-23-9, 109 points Predators: 47-30-5, 99 points SEASON SERIES: VAN: 3-0-0, NSH: 0-3-0 GAME BREAKERS: Canucks: Quinn Hughes arguably was the most dominant defenseman in the NHL this season, leading players at his position with 92 points (17 goals, 75 assists) in 82 games, and was plus-38 while averaging 24:41 of ice time per game. The 24-year-old did some of his best work at even strength, with his 54 points in such situations first among defensemen. He was on the ice for 108 goals at even strength, second among defensemen to Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers (112), and his plus-41 even-strength goal differential was fourth. And when Hughes was on the ice the Canucks averaged 56.4 percent of the shots at 5-on-5. Simply put, whenever Hughes was on the ice, the Canucks had the puck and likely were creating something offensively. Predators: Forward Filip Forsberg had the best offensive season of his 12 in the NHL, setting a Nashville record with 48 goals and finishing with 94 points (46 assists), a personal high. He also scored an NHL career-high 11 game-winning goals, tied with Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett for second in the League, and his three overtime goals were tied for the lead. GOALTENDING: Canucks: Demko looked ready for the postseason after returning to the lineup with 39 saves in a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, his first game since March 9 because of a knee injury. After struggling last season with a groin injury that kept him out for more than two months, Demko has been mostly healthy this season and played like a top goalie in the NHL, going 35-14-2 with a 2.45 goals-against average, .918 save percentage and five shutouts. Backup Casey DeSmith was reliable at times, going 4-5-1 with a 2.94 GAA and .888 save percentage while starting 10 of 14 games Demko was out, but the Canucks' fortunes will ride with Demko's play. Predators: Juuse Saros had what could be considered an off season but only by his outstanding standards. Discounting his one game in 2015-16, Saros' 2.86 GAA was the highest of his nine-season NHL career, and his .906 save percentage was the lowest. He also allowed eight goals on 48 shots in losing both of his starts against the Canucks. But Saros has the ability to raise his game at big moments, with a .914 save percentage in the playoffs that's not far off his .917 regular-season percentage for his career. Kevin Lankinen was solid (11-6-0, 2.82, .908) in 24 games (17 starts) as the backup, but the wild card could be rookie Yaroslav Askarov, widely regarded as the NHL’s top goalie prospect. In his only start this season he made 26 saves in a 3-2 shootout win against the Washington Capitals that included saves on Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin in the tiebreaker. If Saros struggles, could Brunette turn to the 21-year-old for an energy boost? X FACTORS: Canucks: Forward Elias Lindholm has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 26 games with Vancouver after being acquired in a trade from the Calgary Flames on Jan. 31. Lindholm has bounce-back potential during the playoffs as he had 32 points (nine goals, 23 assists) in 49 games with Calgary prior to the trade. He at least finished on a bit of a roll with five points (two goals, three assists) in six games to close the regular season and is seeing top-six ice time and significant power-play usage. Predators: Gustav Nyquist was third on the Predators with an NHL career-high 75 points (23 goals, 52 assists) in 81 games. He has been a fixture on the top line with Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly, who was second to Forsberg with 26 goals. With Predators having struggled against the Canucks during the regular season, Nyquist being effective on their top line and first power-play unit will be necessary for Nashville to offset Vancouver's elite offense. WILL WIN IF: Canucks: They don't get caught up in the moment. Most of the core was in place in 2020 when they made a surprise run, but there were no fans in the bubble. Now they'll be the favorite and under pressure from what certainly will be a sold-out Rogers Arena, packed with fans with huge expectations. It can be a bit much for a group that's never experienced it, but the focus will have to be on staying even-keeled through the highs and lows that come with postseason hockey. Predators: Saros can carry his strong play from late in the regular season into the playoffs. He was 15-3-3 with a 2.51 GAA and .916 save percentage in his final 21 games, allowing two goals or fewer in 13 of them. The Canucks can attack in waves, so the Predators will need their No. 1 goalie to play like a star if they are to have any hope of advancing. MORE:

Thanks fellas. Good season. As always, thank you to @Phil for commishing and for being a doormat for the final series of the season.

If you watch the video or read what people are saying here, no one is blaming Gallant for everything.

I don't want to call it "gifting" minutes, but 1st overall picks usually go to teams with more ice time to spread around. Connor Bedard wasn't going to be playing 3rd line minutes on the Blackhawks this year because they have a borderline NHL roster. These top level players just develop better with more ice time, more puck touches, and more freedom. Unfortunately the AHL wasn't available to him because that really should have been the move. We've discussed this ad nauseum though.

Yeah, a lot of it is pointing out how many more puck touches Lafreniere is getting vs. his previous years. And he credits that to a) playing with Panarin and b) getting more leash from his coaches. I don't completely blame Gallant. As they said in the beginning of the video, he's a kid coming onto a team trying to win right away with a logjam at LW ahead of him. So he's already behind the 8-ball in terms of optimal development for an elite talent. Some of it falls on Quinn's and Gallant's coaching style for sure, but I'm not sure how another coach would have squeezed even more out of him early in his career.

Dimitri Filipovic had Daryl Belfry on and they broke down Laf's improvement aided by a sizzle reel:

If this happens, I'll buy your plane ticket for the parade.

Retired: https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/former-coach-alain-vigneault-retired

And Clear Sight focuses mainly on scoring chances and actual quality of shots whereas something like Sportlogiq drills down on a lot of smaller stats like puck retrievals, zone entries, etc.. There's a lot of variety out there depending on philosophy of the company. Pretty much across the board I've heard that public models/data is garbage.

Rangers in 6 because nothing is ever easy for this team. I fucking hate the Capitals and their stupid goal siren, cheer horn, and mouthbreathing fans. At least Braden Holtby isn't around anymore.

Kaapo Kakko is third on the team in points and scores 6 goals to go with his 5 assists.

Yeah you know how this goes. There's no in between.

The Red Wings still have no idea who their goaltender is. Give me that team.

Yes, absolutely. Went from Verizon to Mint to Google Fi without losing my number.