GDT: JERKS IN THE HEART OF THE ENEMY

[Stickpucker]

Something that is likely to be underappreciated is that Carolina winning both of the first two rounds in only 5 games could be hugely beneficial for the team for the rest of the playoffs.

Being more well rested, and less banged up by injuries, and bruises, could really help tilt things in favor of Carolina for this year's deep playoff run. Something we haven't had the luxury of in other years.

Let's hope the Toronto-Florida series goes to game 7, and Winnipeg-Dallas too (since Edmonton already beat Vegas in 5 games). Hopefully all of our opposition become as worn down as possible.

Yeah, ngl the talk of how demanding Rods system is is starting to show. The guys do look like they don't have their legs at time but they've done a great job of bend don't break during those periods.

Here's to hoping for a lot of rest.

 

[Borsig]

you all know who to root for tonight....

 

[CandyCanes]

There’s a lot of stars aligning going on for this team that hasn’t happened in previous playoffs. A healthy and on fire Andersen is the biggest one by far. A healthy and rested squad through two rounds. Penalty kill hasn’t fallen off and is maybe even better than during the regular season. Svech showing when necessary he can be that guy to break through and be the difference. I like our odds in a seven game series against any team in the league as long as these circumstances keep up.

I still hold my breathe for this team. I've never seen such a hot/cold Canes team in the regular season. We had stretches this regular season where we looked like a top team in the NHL & then had stretches that looked like absolute dog shit out of nowhere. We're getting one of those hot stretches just at the right time. Let's hope they can riding that for another month or so.

Also shout out to all the guys that these boards were wanting to jettison off this team this offseason. They're all having monster playoffs now, you all really motivated them. Aka Burns, Svech, Anderson

 

[Stickpucker]

Just realized I haven’t changed my profile picture in 6 years and with that goal, Svech just avenged himself. Real full circle moment for me here.

It's like a Pokémon, you got to watch him evolve from a baby Svechnikov to a full grown man version Smechmikov.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

you all know who to root for tonight....

Not sure?

 

[robbieberns]

I still hold my breathe for this team. I've never seen such a hot/cold Canes team in the regular season. We had stretches this regular season where we looked like a top team in the NHL & then had stretches that looked like absolute dog shit out of nowhere. We're getting one of those hot stretches just at the right time. Let's hope they can riding that for another month or so.

Also shout out to all the guys that these boards were wanting to jettison off this team this offseason. They're all having monster playoffs now, you all really motivated them. Aka Burns, Svech, Anderson

I don’t know how much I agree with the notion that teams go on autopilot throughout the regular season, but I think after so many years of playoff frustrations this team really did hold back and save a lot for the playoffs. I also think we’re just seeing a continuation of the locked in team we had post Rantanen to Dallas trade. The way that all went down and the team rallied around squad full of guys with 100% buy in and were tailored to play the system really was that shot in the arm needed to boost the group.

 

[djboos22]

At this point...I would be happy with one win in the ECF.

 

[Nikishin al Gaib]

 

[Identity404]

I thought Burns was terrible in game two, and threatened him with physical violence afterwards. He really rebounded since then. I will take all the credit.

 

[CanesUltimate11]

you all know who to root for tonight....

The ice to melt?

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

 

[CandyCanes]

So are we winning a game next round? I gotta think our 12 game ECF losing streak has gotta come to an end.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

My biggest concern is we’ve been relatively healthy this playoff run, in large part due to who our opponents have been thus far.

The last few years, we’ve faced the Islanders in the first round and they were “sneaky dirty” in the same way Florida is. “Accidental” headshots, cross checks, slashes behind the play, etc. And we never came out of those series unscathed.

Assuming its Florida next round, it’ll be a completely different series than the ones we’ve had this run thus far.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

So are we winning a game next round? I gotta think our 12 game ECF losing streak has gotta come to an end.

Man, I'm just glad they made it. Getting to the semi-final 3 times in 7 seasons is a great track record. To put it into context, during Ovechkin's 20 year career, the Caps have only made it past the second round exactly once. These is the mother-bleeping times.

 

[CandyCanes]

My biggest concern is we’ve been relatively healthy this playoff run, in large part due to who our opponents have been thus far.

The last few years, we’ve faced the Islanders in the first round and they were “sneaky dirty” in the same way Florida is. “Accidental” headshots, cross checks, slashes behind the play, etc. And we never came out of those series unscathed.

Assuming its Florida next round, it’ll be a completely different series than the ones we’ve had this run thus far.

Well surviving Tom Wilson was a good start. I think the boys showed they can push back physically a bit if needed. The Panthers have a couple guys we need to worry about tho.

 

[CandyCanes]

Man, I'm just glad they made it. Getting to the semi-final 3 times in 7 seasons is a great track record. To put it into context, during Ovechkin's 20 year career, the Caps have only made it past the second round exactly once. These is the mother-bleeping times.

Yeah same. I think it’s safe to say that this season should already be labeled a huge success after last night. Every win onwards is just a huge bonus in my mind.

 

[Ole Gil]

I thought Burns was terrible in game two, and threatened him with physical violence afterwards. He really rebounded since then. I will take all the credit.

Burns was dominant. His weakness is he's lost a step, but Washington's stars play at his pace. Watching him physically manhandle OV and Wilson was enjoyable.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Burns was dominant. His weakness is he's lost a step, but Washington's stars play at his pace. Watching him physically manhandle OV and Wilson was enjoyable.

I think this is the biggest difference between the Devils series where Burns was terrible and this one where he was mostly great. Caps are a slow team overall so Burns' weakness like you said isn't nearly as much of a factor. Unfortunately the rest of our potential opponents are nowhere near as slow as Washington. But I do think Burns is playing his heart out as if it's his last chance at a Cup.

 

[Daeavorn]

I think this is the biggest difference between the Devils series where Burns was terrible and this one where he was mostly great. Caps are a slow team overall so Burns' weakness like you said isn't nearly as much of a factor. Unfortunately the rest of our potential opponents are nowhere near as slow as Washington. But I do think Burns is playing his heart out as if it's his last chance at a Cup.

Dallas likes to slow down their play quite a bit so theyd be an interesting matchup.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

My biggest concern is we’ve been relatively healthy this playoff run, in large part due to who our opponents have been thus far.

The last few years, we’ve faced the Islanders in the first round and they were “sneaky dirty” in the same way Florida is. “Accidental” headshots, cross checks, slashes behind the play, etc. And we never came out of those series unscathed.

Assuming its Florida next round, it’ll be a completely different series than the ones we’ve had this run thus far.

This is a huge part of the story, for sure.

The important thing is that everyone's in the war of attrition in the playoffs and we'll be starting the ECF as healthy as we reasonably can be. Florida's in the same spot in that their IR is more or less clean, but Florida fans on these boards have been saying Tkachuk's a shell of himself right now.

If it were a trade-off, I'd trade having "not quite himself Chatfield" to ensure we have "not quite himself Tkachuk" any day of the week. Tkachuk basically beat us by himself in 2023. We've done a pretty good job of taming the mini-boss of "getting under your skin" the last few years (Tom Wilson), but Tkachuk feels like the final boss there and will be the real test.

 

[The Faulker 27]

Regarding size (height/weight) and overall grittiness is it safe to say this team is bigger, maybe faster, and playing with more of an edge than previous ECF years 2019 and 2023? Maybe not, but it seems that way to me and I haven't really dug into the granular details.

For me there wasn't much if any disparity in size or physicality in the Washington series and there was plenty of chatter prior to that series that Washington's physicality would be an issue for us. Maybe Montreal "loosened the lid" on them and they just weren't as engaged. Martinook really stood out to me in this series. He was delivering some huge checks out there.

 

[Stickpucker]

Well surviving Tom Wilson was a good start. I think the boys showed they can push back physically a bit if needed. The Panthers have a couple guys we need to worry about tho.

My dream scenario for game 1 is Slavin lays the wrath of God cleanest hardest check in the history of hockey on Bennet, an eye for an eye, for 2 seasons ago that takes Bennet out of the playoffs and the Cats dirtiness would be largely neutered.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I think this is the biggest difference between the Devils series where Burns was terrible and this one where he was mostly great. Caps are a slow team overall so Burns' weakness like you said isn't nearly as much of a factor. Unfortunately the rest of our potential opponents are nowhere near as slow as Washington. But I do think Burns is playing his heart out as if it's his last chance at a Cup.

From an analytical perspective, Burns was very good in the New Jersey series, too. The issue is that Burns' impacts to the game aren't always evident with the eyes, especially when dealing with faster teams like New Jersey.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

My dream scenario for game 1 is Slavin lays the wrath of God cleanest hardest check in the history of hockey on Bennet, an eye for an eye, for 2 seasons ago that takes Bennet out of the playoffs and the Cats dirtiness would be largely neutered.

Didn't Slavin completely annihilate someone in the rags bubble series? Or am I misremembering? He's capable of big hits once in a blue moon.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

From an analytical perspective, Burns was very good in the New Jersey series, too. The issue is that Burns' impacts to the game aren't always evident with the eyes, especially when dealing with faster teams like New Jersey.

I don't put much stock into analytics, Burns was flat out bad against NJ.