Playoffs — Who Do You Want/Don't You Want?

[BrooksBurner]

57 minutes ago, Abe Froman said:

If they play the Capitals, Sam can talk about the Lindgren brothers.

 

And how Dylan Strome is Ryan's kid brother

[Ozzy]

12 hours ago, LindG1000 said:

I got 5-1 odds that at some point he calls Charlie Lindgren Charles Lindbergh

 

No relation to Pelle, of course...  

[Dem]

Bring all comers. I am a believer in this lineup and the system/coaching at this point. When they are on their game w this crew they have a very good chance of prevailing in any series. 

 

 

[Kick save and a beauty]

Things are rounding into shape with the trade deadline additions, the Matt Rempe call up.  We are expecting all of our current injuries to return soon.

 

I think we will know a lot more about Matt Rempe after these next nine games as I expect that he will know a lot more about himself.  It is likely we will be needing his physicality more against the likes of Carolina, Boston or Florida and so not necessarily as much in the first round.  Injuries are in the lap of the gods and all we do know is that those are going to happen if you have a deep run.  We are not super deep everywhere but then again nobody is.

 

Goalie depth is stellar although ,like most here I hope to not need Quick very much if at all.

 

A couple of years ago Tyler Mott and Frank Vatrano both came up huge for us in the playoffs.  I wonder who the surprises might be this year (Kakko perhaps?)

[Kick save and a beauty]

The wild card is coming into a little more focus. It really looks like WC1  is either Tampa or Toronto, whichever of them does not net the Atlantic 3rd seed.

 

Same thing in the Metro, the 3rd seed will almost certainly be the Caps or the Flyers.  Let's assume it is the caps for a moment.  That leaves us down to  these 5 teams for the final WC with NJ and the Pens being real long shots.

 

Philadelphia

Detroit

Islanders

Devils

Penguins

 

Oddly enough 6 of out final 8 games are against this exact group of five teams (each of them once except the Islanders who we will meet twice).  We will have a really large say in which team we get to see in the first round.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 31 by Kick save and a beauty

[LindG1000]

2 hours ago, Kick save and a beauty said:

The wild card is coming into a little more focus. It really looks like WC1  is either Tampa or Toronto, whichever of them does not net the Atlantic 3rd seed.

 

Same thing in the Metro, the 3rd seed will almost certainly be the Caps or the Flyers.  Let's assume it is the caps for a moment.  That leaves us down to  these 5 teams for the final WC with NJ and the Pens being real long shots.

 

Philadelphia

Detroit

Islanders

Devils

Penguins

 

Oddly enough 6 of out final 8 games are against this exact group of five teams (each of them once except the Islanders who we will meet twice).  We will have a really large say in which team we get to see in the first round.

 

 

 

 

 

I think the easiest way to understand our current situation is this: it doesn't matter who we play in the first round, but the single most dangerous matchup for us is Tampa. We are literally a 4-1 favorite on ANY of the possible matchups aside from Tampa (who is oddly favored against Boston as things stand). 

 

So, just go win games. Carolina has 7 games left and is 3 points back. Boston has 7 games left and is three points back. With two wins and a little assist from Nashville, we could go into Thursday with BOTH of those teams 7 points behind us - and they're facing each other.

 

[RodrigueGabriel]

I don't want to see Tampa not because I don't think we can beat them, but because I think it would very likely take both: more games to do it and potentially more periods per game, i.e. overtimes. I want the best opportunity to get through the first round in fewer minutes played and I think PHI or WAS would provide that. This is almost literally a death march - as in death=elimination. The more games we avoid playing early, the more fuel we'll have in the tank for later rounds.

Edited April 1 by RodrigueGabriel

[RangerDanger]

8 hours ago, RodrigueGabriel said:

I don't want to see Tampa not because I don't think we can beat them, but because I think it would very likely take more games to do it. I want the best opportunity to get through the first round in fewer games and I think PHI or WAS would provide that. This is almost literally a death march - as in death=elimination. The more games we avoid playing early, the more fuel we'll have in the tank for later rounds.

Pretty much my line of thought as well. I also think we can go toe to toe against any team right now, but if we can take out the 1st round opponent quicker and not drag every series into a 7 game slugfest, giving the boys some rest between the next round, I'm all for it. Looking at first round potential matchups, I think TB has the experience to take the series longer than we want it to be.

[Kick save and a beauty]

11 hours ago, LindG1000 said:

 

I think the easiest way to understand our current situation is this: it doesn't matter who we play in the first round, but the single most dangerous matchup for us is Tampa. We are literally a 4-1 favorite on ANY of the possible matchups aside from Tampa (who is oddly favored against Boston as things stand). 

 

So, just go win games. Carolina has 7 games left and is 3 points back. Boston has 7 games left and is three points back. With two wins and a little assist from Nashville, we could go into Thursday with BOTH of those teams 7 points behind us - and they're facing each other.

 

 

We have played well enough to get ourselves into the driver's seat for this final stretch.  A 3 point lead and a game in hand with 8 games to go is really a pretty big cushion at this point.

 

It is a little unusual  that six of our remaining eight games are against the five teams vying with each other to be WC2 team.  We literally have a lot to say about which team we might be playing against in round-1.  That begins tonight against the Pens.  They have been showing some sign life lately. Even beating Carolina but tonight we can put them to bed I think.

[LindG1000]

1 hour ago, Kick save and a beauty said:

 

We have played well enough to get ourselves into the driver's seat for this final stretch.  A 3 point lead and a game in hand with 8 games to go is really a pretty big cushion at this point.

 

It is a little unusual  that six of our remaining eight games are against the five teams vying with each other to be WC2 team.  We literally have a lot to say about which team we might be playing against in round-1.  That begins tonight against the Pens.  They have been showing some sign life lately. Even beating Carolina but tonight we can put them to bed I think.

 

I don't think we need to overthink this, though. We also have a lot at stake - though, we can freely admit it is a lot of bragging rights and pride more than it is anything else. This team can break the franchise wins record if we win 4 of 8. We can break the franchise points record if we get 10 points from the remaining 16. Those are a big deal!

Then, individual accomplishments. Panarin can get 50 goals. Kreider can get 40. Trocheck gunning down his first point-per-game season. Lafreniere going for 30. 

 

I'd also go down the other path - we are a GREAT team. Not good. Not scraping in on a technicality like 2020. Not coming in like a dark horse in 2022. We're great. We have everything we need to win a cup. Why are we concerning ourselves with the team thirty+ points behind us that we're going to face in round 1?

[RangersIn7]

Im not wildly concerned about who they play in Round 1.

Obviously Tampa represents the biggest, most dangerous challenge, given that goalie, their experience, and the star power they have, but I think they’d beat them.

 

Though I will admit, it’s hard to have a run to the Finals without having a shorter, easier series at some point. 
They need at least one of those this year. 

[Kick save and a beauty]

28 minutes ago, LindG1000 said:

 

I don't think we need to overthink this, though. We also have a lot at stake - though, we can freely admit it is a lot of bragging rights and pride more than it is anything else. This team can break the franchise wins record if we win 4 of 8. We can break the franchise points record if we get 10 points from the remaining 16. Those are a big deal!

Then, individual accomplishments. Panarin can get 50 goals. Kreider can get 40. Trocheck gunning down his first point-per-game season. Lafreniere going for 30. 

 

I'd also go down the other path - we are a GREAT team. Not good. Not scraping in on a technicality like 2020. Not coming in like a dark horse in 2022. We're great. We have everything we need to win a cup. Why are we concerning ourselves with the team thirty+ points behind us that we're going to face in round 1?

 

First of all we are in.  The playoff seeding is all that remains to be decided so in one sense what else is there to think about and discuss between now and playoff game 1?

 

I am not "concerned" about our first round opponent as much as I find it interesting that we have a direct head to head say in who that opponent might be.  My concern, more of a preference really and to the extent it existed when I started this thread was to avoid the hot team (Tampa Bay) if possible.  That matchup now seems very unlikely given the mathematics involved.

 

We have a chance to directly shovel some dirt on WC2 aspirations given the way the schedule shakes out.  The first shovel full starts tonight for the Penguins. 

[LindG1000]

1 hour ago, Kick save and a beauty said:

 

First of all we are in.  The playoff seeding is all that remains to be decided so in one sense what else is there to think about and discuss between now and playoff game 1?

 

I am not "concerned" about our first round opponent as much as I find it interesting that we have a direct head to head say in who that opponent might be.  My concern, more of a preference really and to the extent it existed when I started this thread was to avoid the hot team (Tampa Bay) if possible.  That matchup now seems very unlikely given the mathematics involved.

 

We have a chance to directly shovel some dirt on WC2 aspirations given the way the schedule shakes out.  The first shovel full starts tonight for the Penguins. 

 

Now this, I can get behind.

 

Don't pick the opponent. Scare em all.

[Sharpshooter]

I think how we feel about some teams, those fans are thinking they want to avoid us. We're pretty damn good also. 

[BrooksBurner]

2 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

I think how we feel about some teams, those fans are thinking they want to avoid us. We're pretty damn good also. 

If I’m Tampa/Philly/Washington I’d want to take my chances against the Rangers when the alternatives are the Panthers/Canes/Bruins/Leafs

[jsm7302]

On 3/28/2024 at 12:08 PM, LindG1000 said:

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think the East has been this stacked in a while. Picking a favorite to come out of the east is near impossible. My opinion is Bruins, Toronto, Washington and Tampa will be first round losers no matter the opponent.

Edited April 1 by jsm7302

[LindG1000]

3 minutes ago, jsm7302 said:

 

 

I don't think the East has been this stacked in a while. Picking a favorite to come out of the east is near impossible. My opinion is Bruins, Toronto, Washington and Tampa will be first round losers no matter the opponent.

 

I don't think it's even that stacked. I think the Rangers, Panthers, and Canes are a step above. The Bruins are 15+ loser points in the hole here, and I'm not going to call a team that lost 32 games on the same level as a team that lost 24 because they got a bonanza of loser points. 

 

The west is going to be a far more interesting playoff if only because Vancouver is a paper tiger, 2-6 aren't separating, and the wildcards are legitimately threatening teams.

[Kick save and a beauty]

9 minutes ago, LindG1000 said:

 

I don't think it's even that stacked. I think the Rangers, Panthers, and Canes are a step above. The Bruins are 15+ loser points in the hole here, and I'm not going to call a team that lost 32 games on the same level as a team that lost 24 because they got a bonanza of loser points. 

 

The west is going to be a far more interesting playoff if only because Vancouver is a paper tiger, 2-6 aren't separating, and the wildcards are legitimately threatening teams.

 

Hopefully the west beats itself into a pulp and we end up winning the cup against a weakened team.  I suspect that Dallas may emerge from that side of the house.

 

With that said if we make it through both Carolina and then Florida after the first round we may well have some bumps and bruises ourselves.

[BrooksBurner]

20 minutes ago, LindG1000 said:

 

I don't think it's even that stacked. I think the Rangers, Panthers, and Canes are a step above. The Bruins are 15+ loser points in the hole here, and I'm not going to call a team that lost 32 games on the same level as a team that lost 24 because they got a bonanza of loser points. 

 

The west is going to be a far more interesting playoff if only because Vancouver is a paper tiger, 2-6 aren't separating, and the wildcards are legitimately threatening teams.

All that means is they kinda stink at 3v3 and shootouts. That doesn’t matter in the playoffs.

[Karan]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:08 PM, BrooksBurner said:

 

And how Dylan Strome is Ryan's kid brother

 

And also how Dylan Strome appears to be @Pete's doppelganger and brotha from another motha. 

[fletch]

There's only two good teams in the Metro (Rangers and Canes), so the idea path would be playing the Atlantic division once in the ECF and then the Western Conference, with as much home ice as possible.  In the Atlantic are the Bruins, Panthers, Leafs, and Lightning, so only having to play one of those teams is better than two of those teams.

[BrooksBurner]

Flyers can be a grueling matchup with a legend like this coaching them. Even if you like the Rangers’ chances to win, a Torts team would probably take a chunk of flesh on the way down. He’s never going to stop pushing his players to give everything they have.

Edited April 3 by BrooksBurner

[Pete]

36 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

Flyers can be a grueling matchup with a legend like this coaching them. Even if you like the Rangers’ chances to win, a Torts team would probably take a chunk of flesh on the way down. He’s never going to stop pushing his players to give everything they have.

I'm saluting this man with every fiber of my body.

 

Every single body part salutes this man.

 

Every part...saluting. Standing at attention. 

[Karan]

42 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

Flyers can be a grueling matchup with a legend like this coaching them. Even if you like the Rangers’ chances to win, a Torts team would probably take a chunk of flesh on the way down. He’s never going to stop pushing his players to give everything they have.

 

And more importantly, getting them to believe they can beat the Rangers. And as we've seen from our favorite mustachioed soccer coach, a team with belief can be a dangerous thing.

[Ozzy]

There are so very few, not only coaches, but people with the passion of that man!  Torts is still a guy I root for, even if it's "fuck the Flyers"!

 

Love his passion!  I wish it was available in a bottle!