Phil Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 (D1) Dallas Stars vs. (WC2) Vegas Golden Knights REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: Stars: 52-21-9 113 points Golden Knights: 45-29-8, 98 points SEASON SERIES: DAL: 0-1-2; VGK: 3-0-0 GAME BREAKERS: Stars: It starts with Jason Robertson, who led them in scoring for the second straight season. Robertson's numbers are down from his career-high 109-point season (46 goals, 63 assists) in 2022-23, but you could probably credit the Stars' balanced scoring to that more than any drop-off issues. Robertson had 80 points (29 goals, 51 assists) in 82 games. He also led the Stars with 28 power-play points. At 24, Robertson, born one month after the Stars last won the Stanley Cup in 1999, continues to be one of the most dynamic young players in the NHL. Golden Knights: This is a close argument between leading scorer Jonathan Marchessault and Jack Eichel, who's next, but let's go with Eichel. Despite missing 19 games this season, Eichel has 68 points (31 goals, 37 assists), second to Marchessault with 69 points (42 goals, 27 assists) in 82 games. Eichel leads Vegas with seven game-winning goals and 11 power-play goals. He also led the 2023 playoffs in scoring with 26 points (six goal, 20 assists) in 22 games. GOALTENDING: Stars: Jake Oettinger had some rough spots earlier in the season, but found his game late in the season. He was 35-14-4 with a 2.72 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and three shutouts in 54 games (53 starts). Oettinger was spectacular in the 2022 playoffs, with a 1.81 GAA and .954 save percentage in seven games but had a 3.06 GAA and .895 save percentage in 19 playoff games last season. Backup Scott Wedgewood went 16-7-5 with a 2.85 GAA and .899 save percentage in 32 games (28 starts) during the regular season. Golden Knights: Vegas has gotten similar strong work from each of its goalies. Logan Thompson is 25-14-5 with a 2.70 GAA, .908 save percentage and one shutout in 46 games (42 starts). Adin Hill, who led the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup last season, is 19-12-2 with a 2.71 GAA, .909 save percentage and two shutouts in 35 starts. Who gets the nod in the playoffs? The Golden Knights alternated between the two over the final six games of the regular season. X FACTORS: Stars: Jamie Benn had 60 points, including 21 goals, in 82 games this season and has sneaky upside heading into the playoffs on a strong third line with Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven. The Stars captain is one of six Dallas players to hit the 60-point mark this season. He additionally has significant lineup placement on their top power-play unit with Pavelski, Robertson, Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen. Benn ranked second on the team in power-play points (22). Dallas ranked third in the NHL in goals per game during the regular season (3.59) and had the sixth-best power-play percentage (24.2). Last postseason, Benn had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 17 playoff games. -- Anna Dua Golden Knights: Tomas Hertl has played only six games with his new team after being acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a trade on Mar. 8, but has four points (two goals, two assists). The forward had 34 points, including 15 goals, in 48 games with San Jose this season prior to the trade. He has proven production ability that increases the depth of the Golden Knights, having had back-to-back 60 points seasons between 2021-22 (64 points, 30 goals) and 2022-23 (63 points, 22 goals). Hertl also had 15 points, including 10 goals in 19 postseason games with the Sharks in 2018-19 when they reached the Western Conference Final. He is seeing top unit power-play time with Eichel, Marchessault, William Karlsson and Shea Theodore. -- Anna Dua WILL WIN IF: Stars: They keep doing what they did at the end of the regular season. The Stars were playing complete games through the final weeks, getting great contributions from goaltending on out. They're going to need that against the Golden Knights. If this series is anything like last year, the Stars need to be able to win overtime games. They were 1-4 in overtime last postseason, including losing each of the first two games against Vegas. Golden Knights: Health is on their side. Stone had 53 points (16 goals, 37 assists) in 56 games in the regular season and was a big part of the Cup-winning team last season with 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 22 games. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has missed seven straight games and 13 of the past 15 with an illness. Forward William Carrier, who was out the final 11 games of the regular season with an undisclosed injury, has been skating. If the Golden Knights get them back, it would certainly give them a boost against the Stars. MORE: https://www.nhl.com/news/dallas-vs-vegas-2024-playoff-preview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe Froman Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Stars in VI Let's Go Stars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siddious Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Stars are incredible I don’t see themloosing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karan Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Stars in 7. A fully healthy Golden Knights are going to be a tough hurdle, but the Stars superior depth and goaltending should have the edge in this one. Will be a fun series either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieNextel305 Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 I hope Dallas kicks the shit out of these cheating bastards. Fuck them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 How is it cheating if no rules are being broken? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieNextel305 Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 3 hours ago, Pete said: How is it cheating if no rules are being broken? Because fuck Mark Stone. Fuck Vegas. Dallas in 3. Giddy up! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieNextel305 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 (edited) I get it’s not breaking any current rules. And that’s all that ultimately matters. But this is a joke. I know players get hurt and then heal in time to play playoffs. I get it’s a slippery slope when coming up with a way eventually in the next CBA to combat this because so many scenarios exist and you can’t penalize them all under one blanket. But this has gotten to the point it’s just outrageous. Same player. Same team. Same shit for how many years now? This isn’t what should be discussed coming into the playoffs; an elite team bending the rules. It should be all about the playoffs. This really is unfair. I don’t know what the answer is, but it will be something that needs to be figured out at some point in the next CBA. Edited April 22 by RichieNextel305 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsm7302 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 10 minutes ago, RichieNextel305 said: I get it’s not breaking any current rules. And that’s all that ultimately matters. But this is a joke. I know players get hurt and then heal in time to play playoffs. I get it’s a slippery slope when coming up with a way eventually in the next CBA to combat this because so many scenarios exist and you can’t penalize them all under one blanket. But this has gotten to the point it’s just outrageous. Same player. Same team. Same shit for how many years now? This isn’t what should be discussed coming into the playoffs; an elite team bending the rules. It should be all about the playoffs. This really is unfair. I don’t know what the answer is, but it will be something that needs to be figured out at some point in the next CBA. It's the old adage; Someone has to ruin it for the rest of em. Vegas has blatantly taken advantage of the rule gap multiple times and the NHL will be forced to close the gap. You gotta believe the Kuch scenario was a one off because Tampa isn't rubbing everyone's nose in it annually. It'll be interesting to see how they address it but I think it is inevitable that they do address it with an integrity issue being raised. It is utterly ridiculous I get it isn't a rule but there is no doubt it should be. It's like an asterisk should be placed next to any further cup wins from them should there be any in a year they play cap games like this. It's BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 So many fans and others dislike Vegas so much. It's pretty funny for a team that's still pretty new. I don't really care who wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieNextel305 Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 And look who scores the 1st goal of the series? Captain Circumvention! And the wild celebration to boot! But be careful, he had a dangerous injury! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodka Drunkenski Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 4 minutes ago, RichieNextel305 said: And look who scores the 1st goal of the series? Captain Circumvention! And the wild celebration to boot! But be careful, he had a dangerous injury! And the players they were able to acquire because of him are contributing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieNextel305 Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 2 minutes ago, Vodka Drunkenski said: And the players they were able to acquire because of him are contributing I honestly hadn’t seen yet to be honest, haha. My cousin threw money on Stone for anytime goal and put it in the group chat and then I looked. See Hertl has one too. No one saw this coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodka Drunkenski Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 1 minute ago, RichieNextel305 said: I honestly hadn’t seen yet to be honest, haha. My cousin threw money on Stone for anytime goal and put it in the group chat and then I looked. See Hertl has one too. No one saw this coming! Hanafin with 2 assists. No one would’ve spleen this coming. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieNextel305 Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 3 minutes ago, Vodka Drunkenski said: Hanafin with 2 assists. No one would’ve spleen this coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe Froman Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 They've been known to blow third period leads so maybe there's still some hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valriera Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 People who evade taxes by donating to their own charity aren’t breaking any rules either, doesn’t make it acceptable. This is an easy fix which is that the salary cap applies in the playoffs too. Problem solved. in other news it doesn’t matter what either team does since their goalies suck shit. Does any team in the west want to win? You will need a goalie who doesn’t let in wrist shots from the blue line. Yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieNextel305 Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 24 minutes ago, Valriera said: People who evade taxes by donating to their own charity aren’t breaking any rules either, doesn’t make it acceptable. This is an easy fix which is that the salary cap applies in the playoffs too. Problem solved. in other news it doesn’t matter what either team does since their goalies suck shit. Does any team in the west want to win? You will need a goalie who doesn’t let in wrist shots from the blue line. Yikes. I don’t disagree. Keep whoever you want on the roster. But your lineup at game time must be cap compliant. I don’t get why that’s so difficult. I’m sure they can come up with some solution. I mean listen I get it. Injuries happen. Teams go on runs. Hockey players are hockey players and if they see their team on a run, and feel they can go, they want to go. They’re a different breed of athlete. I understand that and the whole concept of why the cap doesn’t come into play in the playoffs and all of the situation. I get it. But this is the same team. The same guy. Over and over and over again. I’m sorry, but at some point, this needs to be fixed because it is ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieNextel305 Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 The goalies in the West have been just awful so far. Awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 3 hours ago, Valriera said: People who evade taxes by donating to their own charity aren’t breaking any rules either, doesn’t make it acceptable. This is an easy fix which is that the salary cap applies in the playoffs too. Problem solved. The other GMs don't want this. There are too many injuries during the playoffs. The GMs want taxi squads. The teams aren't complaining. Only the fans are. Would I like to see the loophole closed? Sure. Are rules being broken? No. Would anyone complain if Chytil, Wennberg, or Roslovic score a Cup clinching goal? No. As for knocking Stone, that's kinda crazy as I'm sure if it were up to him he wouldn't have lacerated his own spleen and sat out. There's a serious lack of perspective on all this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 2 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said: The goalies in the West have been just awful so far. Awful. It doesn't matter if your goalie sucks if you're scoring 7 goals a game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5thxBhgBYd/?igsh=MWlwc251dzhqYzZibA== 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flynn Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 I'm rooting for Dallas for their goal horn/song and that alone. Outside of the Rangers, its the clear 2nd best in the league simply due to the Pantera song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Vegas is basically Pittsburgh 2.0 to Bettman and the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe Froman Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 Leah Hextall. Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now