2024-25 Playoffs Thread - series, opponents, players and team discussion

[Sticksandsun]

2 random stats of the day.

At 5 on 5,

Panthers have 2nd fewest blocked shots.
Panthers are 1st in hits given

 

[Gentle Man]

https://media.nhl.com/public/news/18770

OZEMPIC OR WHAT?

 

[Ghoste]

Guess you’re going to have to go back to playing 25 mins a night Seth.

 

[CHGoalie27]

Goalie is def a QB type position where you get all glory or all the blame and no inbetween

If bob was off we lost, if bob was on we won. Think some people forget the absolute insane goals he saves, you swap goalies that series and its over in 4 or 5

What playoff game did we have that bob was off and we won? (Maybe game 6 vs boston in 23) McDavid can have a great game and a quiet/bad game and doesnt get blamed as much for that quiet/bad game as a goalie would.

Oilers somehow managed to shield skinner well in the finals while we gave breakaway after breakaway especially on the powerplays.

Dont think he was the de facto Conn Smythe, but man people act like he wasnt even close for some reason.

zactly!

Bobrovsky is 36 years old. He was obviously good enough last year and his sv% has been going up as the season progresses this year.. but players at his age can fall off very quickly.

Look what happened to Pavelski last year.. had a decent regular season then struggled mightily in the playoffs to the point he retired. Not saying that will happen to Bob, just an example of how quickly a decline can happen, especially when your closer to 40..

Of course but goalies tend to last a little longer if they're built a certain way and I feel Bob is more likely to break the age record and keep his game than lose his game in the next four years.

 

[IdleTraveller]

Article from the Athletic giving us the best odds of winning the cup at 16%. Those bastards are obviously jinxing us - I blame them entirely for Ekblad's suspension.

Nice to read but I'm pretty wary: a strong roster on paper does not always translate to results, particularly when you won't have had much time to build chemistry. And we're not really sure just how healthy Tkachuk or Marchand are, or Ekblad's weight when he returns for that matter . Thoughts?

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The favorites​

The best chance to win it all: 12 percent or higher



Florida Panthers
Stanley Cup chances: 16 percent

The Panthers went huge at this year’s deadline, adding Seth Jones and Brad Marchand. No other team added a top-six forward and a top-pair defenseman, and it’s created some massive repercussions in the Stanley Cup field.

Before the deadline, Florida looked likely to finish in the dreaded 2 vs. 3 matchup with some lineup holes that left them vulnerable to an upset. The top six could’ve used another impact winger, and there was still a massive void left from Brandon Montour’s departure. The Panthers are now arguably the deepest and most star-studded team; they have an extremely good top end matched by very few weak links. Florida’s Cup chances have basically doubled over the last couple of weeks.

Jones is the prize pickup here, an offensive catalyst from the back end and a perfect fit for what the Panthers needed. That was a point of weakness without Montour (and Oliver Ekman-Larsson), one that Jones’ presence likely solves. His ratings may not look as stellar as his reputation, but it feels likely that Florida will be able to maximize his value in a second-pair role. He’s a do-it-all type with strong puck-moving ability.

Marchand is a luxury that considerably beefs up an already strong top six. Florida is right there with Tampa Bay and Edmonton in that regard, though the main draw is arguably Marchand adding to the second line’s already tenacious identity. Marchand, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk could be one of the most annoying lines in league history. Marchand’s presence also pushes Evan Rodrigues down to the bottom six and Jesper Boqvist to the fourth line — both areas in which they grade out favorably relative to league average.

With this lineup, Florida’s lone potential Achilles heel is Sergei Bobrovsky in net — which is hardly a significant weakness, if one at all. Even if his play has dipped a tad this season with age, the Stanley Cup winner has been incredible in back-to-back runs to the Final.

This Panthers team is the team to beat, looking every bit as dangerous as the one that went the distance last season. There’s a very good chance the Stanley Cup stays in the Sunshine State this season.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Thoughts?

Maybe this PEDblad debacle was exactly what the doctor ordered (pun intended) for this team to rally together and win the division.

Jones is gonna get more TOI and special teams opportunities. They will bleed goals with a top4 dman missing so their forwards have to step up by either supporting the dmen or just score more goals.
If Marchand thinks that he's worthy of a pay raise then this would be a good opportunity to show that he's still a ppg player.
I'd reckon that Pulju will be called up at some point before the reg season ends.

The Panthers are gonna win another Cup this season.

 

[Sticksandsun]

@IdleTraveller touching on the article you posted.

We had some decent runs at start of year in 10-15-20 game stretches but as Maurice stated the other day, he noticed a change in Mid January.
This is when they dialed in and turned it up knowing the last 35 games is time to prep the body and mind for the war ahead come mid April.

January 18th to March 12th:

14-5-0
65 GF [3.42/game]
33 GA [1.73/game]

658 SOG [34/game]
484 shots against [25/game]

20.3% PP
87.7% PK

We still kind of suck at faceoffs but I prayed to the hockey gods for a PK and Maurice also stated it was a huge reason for their success in winning the Cup.

I'm really starting to believe the hockey gods are setting up for a 1st round vs the Sens. They have the 2nd easiest schedule left according to some sites while Jackets, Wings and Rangers have a tougher end to their season.

We have 11th easiest schedule and I think the guys push hard for 1st in Atlantic to force Toronto and Tampa into a 6 or 7 game war.

 

[Evilhomer]

Does Florida really care who they play in the first round? I feel like the Panthers won't overly push themselves down the stretch, especially without Tkachuk and Ekblad, and let the Leafs take first in the Atlantic. The Panthers should be able to beat Tampa in the first round whether they have home ice or not. I don't like Tampa's chances of beating Florida or Toronto in the first round.

 

[Sticksandsun]

Coaches crave home ice for last change before a faceoff.
The last 3 years, home ice produced more wins and points in the standings for 28 of 32 teams.

Home teams see less penalties on average vs road teams as well.
26 of 32 teams the last 3 seasons have been assessed fewer penalties while on home ice.

I think it's 59% [IIRC] of the time in NHL, the home team wins.
Players love playing at home, the crowd can and will shift/add momentum with a hit, goal or fight.

As for who they play, maybe they don't say it out loud but playing an inexperienced Sens/Wings team vs Tampa?
I'm taking the Sens or Wings everytime.

 

[pantherbot]

We have the best, most balanced team in the league...assuming we are healthy and in sync. The Ekblad suspension is a blessing and a curse in that he'll be healthy, but he won't be game-ready. Same with Tkachuk, hopefully he'll heal up and the rest of his body gets the rest its needed since 18 months ago, but he'll need to ramp up fast. Same with Marchand, who knows what game shape he'll be in. The good thing is these guys know what it takes to win, so I have hope they'll be ready.

If we are healthy and ready to go, we're the team to beat. Still have to win four series and weird shit can happen, but agree with that article that we have on paper the highest chance to win this year.