The Hockey PDOcast - Game 1 Takeaways From This Weekend and Initial Impressions of Every 1st Round Series We've Seen So Far

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Thomas Drance to go through our initial impressions of every Game 1 that we watched this weekend. If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

dressing to the mean since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey-PedioCast. My name's Dimitra Filippovich, and joining me is my good buddy Thomas Trance. Tom, what's going on, man? Well, I'm doing very well because we got... Look, I've watched 10 hours of hockey the last day. I mean, just today.

Only? I watched about 10 hours of hockey. And then yesterday, I did something pretty similar checking in about halfway. Like, I clocked in. halfway through that Senator's Ottawa game, and I didn't feel like I missed that much, to be totally honest with you from the first half. The Senator's Ottawa game.

I did feel at times like the Senators were playing against themselves. You know what? It felt a little 19, or not 1990s, but it felt a little like early-a-ohs, you know, NHL. And I think that's- It felt like those Kings-Bloos series. With maybe a little bit less of an Irish rugby component. Yeah, a little more rush juice.

Yeah, a little bit more rush juice. Oh, way more rush juice, especially from the hurricanes and from Jake Sanderson too. I mean, I thought Jake Sanderson had an awesome game despite Ottawa's inability to manufacture any scoring chances of note. But generally, like, just take Sunday. We have four games. They're effectively all decided by a goal, right? The four, two score lines, the only one that is different. Now, you know, the King's one goal was kind of a cheap one with a minute left that you were,

pretty confident, wasn't going to influence the game. Likewise, the Boston Bruins' third goal was that weird pastor knack, you know, what, 35 foot backhand, which you felt very confident wouldn't matter and disturb the party in Buffalo, thank goodness, because those fans brought it and those scenes were incredible. Shout out to Sabers fans, but man, just this rocks. And, you know, in some ways, it's maybe because of the Olympic year.

I feel like I didn't get whiplash from playoff intensity this season. Yes and no. I think you could definitely see it in terms of two elements. One, all the post whistle scrums. Yes. And we're going to get more into that later because I've got some notes on that. Yeah, there are some funny ones. And then two, all the interference on dumpins.

Yeah. Which does happen in regular season hockey, but certainly maybe you're just not as like feeling like each one of them is going to play this outsized role in the impact and the outcome of the game. So maybe you're just not really. noting it as much, but it does feel like watching these games every single time there's a dump in. The defenseman who's not retrieving it is running a little interference play. They're blocking. Let's be real.

They're blocking. Yeah, I hate it. I actually think that it's a really, it's, if there was one thing I'd like to see the NHL call rigidly, it's this. And it's because if you called it consistently for like two games, everyone would stop doing it. I get that it does slow down hits, like to some extent. you can protect defensemen a little bit with it. But I can't stand the fact that by making life easier for defenders on the breakout, you're minimizing mistakes and thus minimizing scoring chances and minimizing

offense and minimizing the stress that is so good in playoff hockey. And sort of you contrast it with there was that weird call in the second between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning where Hague gets whistled for interference, but in the process sort of hits one of the house players sticks. I can't remember who it was. Katie Gullies, I believe, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Right into the face of, well, it was Hegel's face, actually.

He wasn't, it was surrounded. Anyway, whatever. You know what sequence I'm talking about in the second period? I've obviously spaced on the next. Yeah, it was right near the end of it with like 20 seconds left. I want a lower bar for interference when teams have the puck in the offensive zone attacking. Because some of those, like, fun pick plays and stuff, to me, that's part of offensive of creativity.

Right. And I want rigid enforcement on the breakout because that creates, like, pressure, forechecking pressure creates errors. And from that, we get better games. I thought, like, for example, Montreal, the Montreal Tampa game, as that game went along, Montreal just kept getting out of their own zone cleanly. It felt like Tampa was unable almost entirely to manufacture much of much forechecking pressure on them.

And I felt the same watching Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay was under a little bit more duress, but after making a couple extra passes, that's why there was nothing in that game, except for what both teams did on the basketball. 5-1-5 was... 5-on-5, there was nothing. There was no error in that game.

And, you know, I think the frequency with which we're seeing this interference is at least part of that story. So we're recording this. Let's set the scene a little bit. Late Sunday night. Yeah. And I've got to be honest,

pass my bedtime. Because I'm typically watching these games and then trying to get to bed throughout the regular season as early as I can to get up early and get back after it. But we stayed up. We watched the end of Utah versus Vegas here in studio and we're going to record after the first weekend

of the 2026 postseason. We've gotten seven of eight round one matchups already kicking off with the only one that hasn't. This Dux Euler series, which is going to serve as a wonderful little DJ Steve on Monday night. I think it's going to be the best one. I think this is the main.

It's going to be great. I'm excited for it. But we've got seven to work with. We're going to go through our initial impressions, through all these game ones, some quick notes. Try to get through all them, maybe focus on the more entertaining ones, a little bit more. But we're going to try to get through everything as best we can. Let's start with Sabres Bruins. Yeah.

Because it's top of mind. It happened very recently. Yeah. It was the second most recent game we watched. I've got a lot of notes on it. It was Buffalo's first playoff game, of course, as everyone knows, since 2011. And I thought they came out of the gate. Like, it lived up to the hype of the crowd.

the shenanigans pregame. I saw a video of them reenacting that vintage Rasmus Sister Linan meme with him getting knocked out by a puck being cleared along the boards. The Sabres came out and I thought despite not scoring held up there under the bargain. Like they were flying around throwing huge checks. Malenstein had one, Matina Samuelson, I don't know Kuznetinov. They were just bombing away every opportunity, especially off the rush. and then the Bruins get that goal

they go up early in the third I believe to nothing and I was like oh no this is going very poorly in the sense of the sabres are getting chances but they're not being rewarded for it and it's being a little deflating and it's not what everyone's tuning in to see and then Tage Thompson goes off in the final eight minutes scores two goals

which we can break down here sets up Tuck's empty netter that seals it and that's the story for me in terms of that breakthrough for them, right? And especially because we've spent so much of this season sort of documenting and highlighting the differences between this year's Sabres team and the ones that have fallen short in the past

that had those electric splash plays off the rush, but there wasn't that much substance beneath them. Now, we spent a lot of time praising Benson and Done for their contributions to achieving that. It was actually the top line that came through in this instance and both those goals came off of us eventually winning battles down low with multiple efforts, throwing the body, forcing turnovers,

and then Tage Thompson bringing it out front. The first one in particular was one of the most impressive displays of, like, athleticism you're going to see, because I went back and watched it a couple times and just, like, the combination of footwork and hands where Charlie McAvoy is beside him, and by the time you can turn around and sort of recognize where the puck is, it's already in the back of the net.

And he's right up against the back of the cage, essentially. He just brings it totally across his body, and then tucks it before Jeremy Swayman can come over to the near post. And so I thought that was just an incredible goal. It's one of those things where you're like, did no one see Superman go into a phone booth? You know what I mean? Like that's kind of, I mean, in a phone booth,

no space to move at his size, putting the puck across his body and pivoting. Because it's not just the McAvoy reaction time that lags. It's also Swayman's, right? I mean, he's literally going to the other post because it looks like Thompson's going to keep carrying the puck. And it had looked completely unbeatable up until that point. I think he stopped the first 30-plus shots he'd faced on the evening.

You know what it was, honestly, I think the best comparison, because I feel like I've almost never seen a goal like that. Like I sort of in real time, I was like, what just happened? Like you honestly, watching it in real time, I saw him kind of do it, but I couldn't believe what I'd seen. I needed to see it a few more times to have an understanding of, you know, him putting the puck across his body, him pivoting quickly, and then the quick move out front.

I think the closest analogy that I can come up with in terms of a goal that I've seen before that's even like it at all is the famous Doug Gilmore goal. But this was done with checkers behind the net pressuring him and at like four times the speed. I mean, just a preposterous piece of work for Thompson. Yeah, if you showed people this clip back then, they would have been like, I guess they didn't really know about AI at the time, but they would have been like, this is not actually real. Yeah, this is a simulation, which this was done. Yeah, that was a Matrix goal from Thompson, and then obviously kind of creates something out of nothing, some good interplay with Tuck,

but for the most part, he doesn't really have space. I mean, that's just a, you know, one of the best shooters in the world. Seeing him take over that game in the last eight minutes with that much pressure on his team, given how, you know, I don't want to say they looked dead because they had their chances all night, but the... But it wasn't working, right? They weren't being rewarded for it, yeah.

And Boston looked confident and in control. Like I wouldn't say Even on that Tage Thompson creates something Like in both instances I would say Tatech Thompson Created something out of nothing Where I don't even know that you'd like point to a significant Bruins error

In the lead up to the goal They did but comparing and contrasting The night before what we saw from the Philadelphia Flyers Right I'd talk more about it Where when they were sitting back and holding the lead They were still stepping up in the neutral zone And kind of every time the penguins were trying to build up speed

and pass their way through the neutral zone structure, they were cutting those plays off and then sending it back the other way, whereas in this instance it felt like the Bruins were sitting back much more, and partly because I just think they're not as fast and talented and deep enough as the Sabres team is. So it felt like the Sabres were kind of having a clear runway to at least build up speed and enter the zone. Unfortunately early in the game, a lot of it felt kind of one and done, and there were a lot of those like Alex Talk plays where he just flies in

and shoots a puck coming down the right wing, and Jeremy Swayman just either blockers it out of harm's way or just holds it for a face off and nothing was coming of it. There was a lot of one and done for them and a lot of attempts from the point, right? Like too much coming from a pie. I agree with that for sure until they broke through. I think more than anything, though,

the way that Tage Thompson took that game over was capital D dude stuff. I mean, that was, you know, are we looking at a guy? Because you think about him on that American Olympic team too and how vital he was as a source of offense for that team. He wasn't playing the top of the lineup minutes,

but he was definitely one of the most consistently dangerous performers for that team. I don't know. Are we talking about a top five four in the league? Are we talking? I kind of think we're getting close

to that conversation here in terms of how willful that showing was and how little space he had to operate and yet managed to sort of rest that game by its neck in his team's favor. Yeah, I think especially... Top-loss probably still too rarefied,

but I feel like he's getting into that top 10, like, how good is this guy sort of level of conversation here? I think regardless, it was just a huge development, seeing them score those goals in particular, not just within the context of the game and coming back to win this big game at home, but stuff wasn't working off the rush and then grinding out two goals down low,

which is like very mature playoff competitor type of stuff in their first game, I think that's huge. The third goal, it was awesome to see our guy, Matia Samuelson, come through one of those. We've spoken a lot about in playoff hockey. You make a nice skill play in the slot. You pass it out.

It always finds the guy that you least wanted to go to or the other team wants it to go to. And in this case, it's obviously not Mattae Samuzen because he's had an awesome season and he scored a ton of goals, but he just buries that shot. And comparing it to early in the game, Jason Zucker had a beautiful sort of flash screen. cutting across Swayman that I think took his eyes away. And so that was a huge development there. And then Benson and Donne are guys as well. You know, Donne had an awesome sequence earlier where Nikita Zadourav just absolutely laid him out.

And then Ray Ferrar was talking about this. He just like got right back up, retrieved the puck again, brought it out front, created a scoring chance for Owen Power. And then Zach Benson in his playoff debut, everything I was expecting. And then some, every one of those post-whistle scrums, even when he wasn't on the ice somehow, the camera. who just pans it behind the net and he'd be at the bottom of the scrum

with his helmet off and the last one was the best because he like comes flying in to defend the honor He's nowhere near the shot. He defends the honor of Logan Stanley and then winds up at the bottom of the scrum and then on his way to the penalty box

with the officials escorting him there he finds Tanner Janone and just lets him have it and Tanner Janice was just like laughing it off because it's admittedly hilarious and he's the best. He probably said some absolutely absurd stuff to

Genoa on his way to the bench. Yeah, hopefully ESPN didn't have him mic'd up. I had a really good exchange in a group chat where, you know, a guy working in the league had noted after the Tage Thompson goal, like that's why you need big guys in the playoffs.

And then immediately that sequence happened and I basically said Zach Benson jumping in to defend Logan Stanley. That's why you need big guys in the playoffs. So I had a perfect timing, great sequence. What a hilarious character.

This Buffalo Sabres team, and especially the way their fans brought it in the sort of six hours before the game, the shots of the absolutely crammed parking lots filled with Buffalo Sabres fans, looks like they're going to plow over the gates. Like it legitimately looks like one of those scenes in a zombie movie where you're like, whoa, that crowd's unruly. Like, things are going to get out of hand. Like, all of this looks completely out of control in the best, most charming way. I don't know.

How can the Sabres not have captured your heart by now? It was amazing. I thought from the Bruins perspective, you know, it was 1-0 before they even scored the second goal. Pasternak shook free behind the defense for two breakaways, essentially. Yeah. And didn't convert on them, and those were kind of big turning points. I thought a positive was in the third period.

I think pretty much up for every one of the goals against. Marco Stern just brought out that line of Minton, Kuzidinov, and Higgins. And they had pretty productive shifts every time they were given those. opportunities. So I thought that was really encouraging for the Bruins. I ultimately, it's undoubtedly a wasted opportunity to come playing an away game and steal game one when you're up two nothing late in the third, but you give up 38 shots against and kind of sit back the way they did. That'll happen. So yeah, there weren't any like, I thought the Sabres made good plays to create those goals. I guess the, was it the three-two goal where Hampus Lane home goes back to play the puck

and kind of just like fans under it turns it over and Jack Quinn jumps on it. That was probably the one you could point to as like the biggest self-inflicted mistake, but for the most part I thought it was the saber is just creating goals. Yeah, I guess Pek took a little bit too much time to play the puck when Tuck hit him on that,

that would be the other one, but it's such fine margins. And overall, like I'd say, Peek Zedorov and the job they did on Thompson was like probably a positive takeaway, you know, for this Bruins team. I mean, I worry that what we saw as that game went along was, you know, Boston had a good plan. They were executing their plan.

They were playing smart, disciplined hockey, and they got overwhelmed by a more talented team. And if that's what we saw, that's obviously a bad sign for the Bruins because you can't afford to waste a 2-0 lead with 8 minutes to go like that if you're the less talented team in a seven-game series. You know, on the other hand, I feel very confident that the sabres are going to be made to earn every inch of ice, given sort of what I thought was a pretty impressive game plan and playoff debut for Stern and, you know, his version of this Bruins team. Yeah, because the shots were very one-sided in the third period, the Sabres finally started getting quality opportunities. But I thought through the first 40, like, the shocklock wasn't necessarily as reflective of what the chances were. And the Bruins were getting some looks, and, you know, they only scored the one through those. first two periods. Do you want to get into Habs lightning next?

Because I feel like we've got to keep it moving. We already just did 17 minutes. Well, why don't you yada yada, Yada, King's avalanche? All right, let's do it. As you mentioned, a 2-1 final after the late goal. Although they came precariously close to losing by more than one goal because they had this sequence where they're down a man, they're trying to pull the goalie.

The bench is waving for him to come out. He stays in because he doesn't see them. and then Cadre sends it over to Naches who rings it off the bar, and it almost got away from them. But sure enough, as they've done all season, they found a way to lose by a specific 2-1 score line. And so, you know, they kept it close, certainly. I thought Anton Fosberg was awesome.

The abs just didn't convert on a lot of their opportunities. I thought there was some interesting stuff from a King's perspective of, like, that Kempai line certainly got loose in transition on a couple opportunities and burned. the abs in transition, as you'd expect from an underdog. And then a lot of their chances came off of like just throwing the puck on net and winning battles in front of the net and getting rebounds and second opportunities. And so I think the abs, because I'm viewing this from a Colorado perspective as like I'm watching this just to bank more information in terms of like them winning the right way. Because I don't really view the outcome as being in doubt, but more so like preparation for what's the common round two and round three and beyond for a team that should win the Stanley Cup this season.

and those are a couple things where you can get away with it against this Kings team, especially when it's your guy, Scott Lawton, taking one of those rebound chances. Yeah. If it's against Dallas or Minnesota in round two or against Edmonton or something in round three, I think they're probably going to burn you on those opportunities. And so I think shoring up some of the stuff, especially with the Burns, Manson-Parent transition, and then boxing out in front of the net, which have been, you know, weak points for them in past post seasons. I think those are things I'll be watching for from them.

Yeah. I can't imagine despite just giving up the one late goal, Wedgwood had to make some big time saves, and the Kings got a lot of opportunities and scoring chances. So I can't imagine Jerry Benner is too pleased with that defensive effort, despite the fact that they came within like, what, two minutes of a shout-out. Yeah, no, I think that's a really good summary. More than anything, what I'd say is just that it felt to me, like,

especially in that first period, but really all game long, like if the avalanche had trailed at all, I feel like we would have seen a totally different team, but it just felt like they were kind of playing as hard as they needed to play. You know, and then they kind of took advantage of a couple, what I would probably call bounces, and that made the difference. I thought what they did with the forward lines was interesting

because they scratched Ross Golden. Right. They bumped up Parker Kelly to play on one of those middle six lines. Yep. And then they used Niqua on the wing with Kadri and Nishkin, I think. And they did a ton of looks I think Nick Wallet might have led this game in scoring chances especially early on.

He was all over it, but they certainly, as we talked about, have a ton of optionality and versatility with the players they have and the centers they have. And so I'll be curious to see kind of how that shakes out for them and what the final combination is that they settle on in terms of like the line they're going to lean on for a lot of defensive assignments against the other team's top line

and then what the rest of that middle six is going to look like Because the first line and the fourth line feel like they're pretty set for the most part. Yeah, for sure. And, I mean, you know, at the end of the day, too, what the McKinnon line was able to do with Lekhinen and Natchez. And obviously, I mean, that looked great. That looked great even if they only managed to manufacture one goal off sort of that offensive zone draw. I mean, they were dominant.

They were dangerous. There were a couple times where the Kings felt like they were in good shape, and then they tried to sneak off Brian Dumlin or one of the defensemen for a quick change. And that neutral zone regroup is like an immediate 201 or a three on two coming back the other way.

The afts just pick you apart every time. Nick Waugh was playing with Landis Gogh and Goddry. That was a Natchewski with Nelson and Parker Kelly. Yeah, that's all I have on that. Do you want to... Yeah, let's move on. I wanted to just talk about that series

to get us back on track. Well, let's do one more before we go to break here. Sounds good. Before we dive into some of the meteor ones that we want to discuss. What's the... If you're ranking... these from one to seven in terms of like your interest level what's

oh what's next up from the bottom so that we can get through that one before we go to break i mean i i i but i want to say that we should do senators hurricanes because of how you feel i want to be clear it's how you feel i don't think it's fair this on me i don't think it's fair to have watched how the bruin's tried to hold the lead tonight or you know rick's receipts deployment of a zero zero five neutral zone four check against the pizburg penguins in the latter half of that third period. Yep. And then...

Zero-06. You even had Dan Vlodar joining it on the blue line. Yeah. And then we can't have watched that and then besmirch the Carolina Hurricanes as setting back hockey from an entertainment value perspective. But this game felt very much like a mirror image matchup between two of the great rigid systems teams in the league at the moment. And, you know, I felt like a mirror image matchup between two of the great rigid systems teams in the league at the moment.

And, you know, I felt like a. like Ottawa's depth didn't hold as we wouldn't have expected it to, right? Like at some point, if you're playing a team that, you know, very much resembles them, those Matt and Palo minutes become a little difficult if their version of the Matt and Palo minutes is the Alexander Niketian minutes. So. With Shane Goss's bear. Right?

And I just felt like you could feel that, you know, with 15 of 20 of their, with 15 of their 18 skaters, the Ottawa senators could hang, but there's the other three. And when it comes to like skater 12 through 18 in the lineup, I think there's a big golf between these teams. And I just felt like you noticed that in a game that was ultimately decided by the hurricanes having enough overwhelming possession and limiting what Ottawa was able to generate to such a level that eventually the dam broke for them twice. Yeah, listen, the senators finished this game with seven five-on-five scoring chances. Now they took a bunch of penalties, had to kill off a couple five-on-three sequences.

against before those seven came in the first period where I thought they came out decently and then as the game went along they just weren't really able to create anything and I think that's my biggest concern in thinking about this series kind of just from like a philosophical perspective maybe this series wasn't lined up as

a big favor of his underdog because everyone had talked themselves into a senators being such a trendy dark horse pick citing their defensive metrics but also the run they were on as one of the top teams for the final like 30, 35 games, and I think deservedly so. But still, the Hurricanes are one of the best teams in the league, if not the favorite in the East, I think.

And these two teams are so similar stylistically that if you're the second best team playing the exact same way or some close approximation to it, that's not really a recipe for success for winning that series. Typically, if you're the underdog, you win a lot of playoffs series by doing the exact opposite of the other team, whether it's like special teams versus 5-1-5,

or sitting back and playing possum and then countering opportunistically in transition, like you just have to do something a little different that exposes a potential weakness for the other team and playing right into their hands of like, we're going to play the exact same game, let's see whose best version is better. The hurricanes are probably going to come out ahead.

Now, this game certainly could look different if Fred Anderson doesn't make that remarkable save that gets called back and reviewed. And, you know, there's, it wasn't as decisive from a score perspective to make it seem like, all right, this series is over. But I do think, like, I'm curious to see how the senators are going to get around the fact that they're playing this team that's also going to limit their looks, and they just weren't really creating anything

during even strength play. It was a clinical defensive effort from the Carolina Hurricanes, too. I mean, it's one thing to go in and play, okay, we're going to have a weighted coin flip seven times, and we think we are a 48% shot of, you know, like, we'll take those odds and stick to what's gotten us here. But it's another if it looks like, we're going to, like it did in game one again where, you know, in terms of at least the preponderance of scoring chances both ways, it felt more like a 6633. Like, you don't like those odds as much. I think Travis Green's a pretty creative tournament coach.

I suspect that he'll try some stuff pretty early in game two, if not from the outset, to try and, you know, certainly limit what the hurricanes were generating off the rush, although with no Clevin, maybe no Zubb. I mean, things are getting, we know Shabbat's playing with like an arm fracture. I mean, things are getting pretty dire for them on the blue line, so I think that's part of it. But, I mean, other than Jake Sanderson skates faster than everyone down ice,

it just felt like they didn't have any meaningful offensive answers. And I don't really know what the solution is to that with their current personnel. Especially with the Hurricanes having this stank open line with Hall and Blake playing as well as it is. And I think they play like 12-5-on-5 minutes in his game shots on goal or 12-2. Stankhoven is back. Goals were 2-0,0, carrying over his production from the end of the regular season. And so I think that's huge because it obviously alleviates a lot of the pressure from the Aho line. And then you know that there's going to be moments where Nikla Euler just does something incredibly cool and creates a goal on a thin air.

And so now all of a sudden, I think the hurricanes are kind of stacking together, like, potential solutions for having outs offensively that they maybe didn't previously happen. I think this is, as much as they didn't, like, go all in. like Nick Deloree or not Nick DeLoree. Yeah, Nick Deloree was like their one deadline acquisition. They've done a lot of work, I think, to solve for, you know, what's ailed them sort of series by series over the last seven years that felt like it felt stylistically like it might pay off, even though it's not as if they were an offensive powerhouse in game one.

That said, Linus Allmark, what are his cons my thoughts today? I mean, they've got to be spiking after a sturdy performance in the first game of the series. So the proof ultimately is going to be in the pudding of them, you know, fill in the net when it matters. For sure. All right, that's all I got on this one. Let's take our break here. And then when we come back, we'll jump right back into it and cover the four series. We haven't yet.

You're listening to the HockeyPedio cast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network. Right, we're back here in the Hockeypedio cast. Jumping at Tom's Trans, Sunday special. Tom, we've done Sabers, ruins, Kings, Avs, sends, Hurricanes. I'll give you the pick. Do you want to start off part two with Habs Lightning or Flyers Penguins? I'm Flyers Penguins. I think we've got to talk Flyers Penguins first. The, I mean, what else can you say? Like, I think the Philadelphia Flyers put, I think we can say a lot. I agree. I think the Philadelphia Flyers put together as good a defensive effort, as complete a defensive effort

as you're going to see. And it was pretty much immaculate. You could eat. off of how clean they kept that ice sheet and yet. Except for the final play. Well, and yet for all of that being the case, Anthony Malth is right there in front of Vlodar with a chance to tie it with, you know, five seconds left. So if it takes that type of effort to win by that slimmer margin, that's probably not the most auspicious sign for Philadelphia big picture.

But I mean, I don't know what else to. say about that performance, like the defensive solidity that Philadelphia showed, just how little Pittsburgh was able to manufacture. I think they were ready for those sort of rim and then rimbacks that the penguins eat off of, especially with Crosby sort of attacking from a spot not dissimilar to where Leon Dressailles shoots from, that sort of down low slot right on that right side. We've seen Mews as penguins do just a ton of damage. It felt like Philadelphia was ready for that all night. And I don't know that Pittsburgh found answers when it mattered five on five.

I thought they were really disciplined about how they contained that sort of area game, that active support game that the penguins play. And it wasn't as if the penguins were sloppy executing it because the penguins sort of rely on being sloppy and creating some chaos, you know, creating some 50-50 battles where you know if they win the battle they're in a good spot if they lose it they're still in a good spot i just it felt like philadelphia was ready for that um yeah i mean and then obviously the port or martone of it all is very very cool like that i thought that was a lot of fun i actually really enjoyed the chess match it lived up to the it lived up to my expectations it felt like

philly was prepared for what pittsburgh was going to do it felt like pittsburgh started figuring out some answers, but then Philadelphia took the lead on an unbelievable Travis Sannheim play. Where was that when Team Canada needed it in the Olympics, by the way? Let Travis Sannheim cook. Let Travis Sannheim cook. I mean, that was an awesome deke. It was a great shot. Like, it was actually a really sick goal at a really big time in the game.

And then, I mean, Martone looking like Jason Robertson. I mean, very seriously. That cut back where he, you know, peels off just to buy himself some. space and time and then sees that he has more space to just step into a shot and then just rips it past Skinner who played an awesome game. He was really good. Um, was a remarkable goal. Yes. I'm with you. It was a clinical defensive performance. I had rush chances 10 to 2 in Philly's favor. That was going to be a key battleground for me in this series because the penguins create a lot in zone to your point. But when they're humming, especially with Chinikov and Manta, like they have

these guys who can just get loose and transition off quick passes and all of a sudden they're moving with a full head of steam and those opportunities were so few and far between because the flyers were just all over it in terms of like having a second or third wave and providing these like obstacles along the neutral zone to break some of that stuff up and then they created a lot of their offense off of turnovers near the penguins offensive zone blue line and that was going to be like a thing to watch for me because the penguins can especially with their defensemen can be loosey-goosey sometimes with them. that in terms of just embracing the chaos and throwing the puck around.

And they were all over that stepping up and then instantly creating either breakaways or two-on-ones going back the other way. And that was pretty much the primary source of their offense. And so the penguins are really going to need to tighten that up. I also thought the penguins, I can't speak out of both sides of my mouth because when it works, we praise the offensive ingenuity of like the passing up a good shot for a great shot and like trying to increase the odds that you're actually going to beat the goalie by getting I'm moving. And then when it doesn't work, like it didn't in this one, you can't be like,

oh, well, you just got to get the puck on net because there's going to be many nights, as there have been all season, where those lead to easy tap-ins and they score six goals. It might not happen in this series, but that's what they were trying to do. And so that's why their shot volume was down. And it felt like a number of times they had a good look. And then there'd be like a pass, an extra pass cross seam. And Nick Seeler or Travis Sandheim would just be in the way to knock it away or lift a stick or sprawl and block the pass.

and I feel like that ultimately did them in. And, I mean, you know, there's been a very few nights the season where the penguins have generated this little offense, beyond the goals, like in terms of just shot volume and chances specifically. They were really sharp offensive team. They've got a lot of sharp players. They've got players that you know are going to elevate when it matters, and we saw Malkin do just that.

You know, I mean, when we saw, was it a Rust do just that too? So, yeah, I mean, I think they're going to, find more chances. I don't think they should get away from attacking Vladar East West as much as possible. It is going to be hard. That's like this Philadelphia team creates a favorable environment for their

goaltenders, which is how they survived of Ladar-Ur-San tandem all season long, right? I mean, that's kind of what they do. But I don't think you can get away from it. Like you have to keep doing it. You have to keep taking the shots

that make Vladar uncomfortable. If you're just a attacking him downhill in straight lines, I think he wins that series. I think he can win that series in any event. That's fair. Maybe in the neutral zone, a little more diversity, or kind of some of more of those,

like, Florida Panthers style, like hard rim and just try to get the buck off your stick and then skate into it in a 150-50 battle as opposed to trying to either skate through traffic or pass through it specifically because it feels like the flyers are just all over that. Well, I also, I don't think it's a good option because it's a lower volume or a lower quality shot.

Right. But if they're going to try to take away those double rims and sort of, you know, the reason that play works, the reason Dryside will become so dangerous, or Crosby becomes so dangerous on those sort of plays, is that they're going to, you know, is that the defense usually expects the forward to be at the net front or moving to the net front. And when they camp out down low, that sort of creates some confusion, create some openness and then there's guys open as the defense sort of flip sides and overreacts.

If you actually just go to the net and sort of count on deflections and perimeter shots that way, that might be a partial answer. But, I mean, if Philadelphia defends like that, Philly's in for a long series, there's nothing else to it. They're going to have to find some answers. And at least some of those answers might be playing more direct or trying to manufacture shots through layered traffic. I think an answer Dan Muses is going to need to try to find is a work around this Latang-Garard pair because they were victimized in this game

and really had a rough go of it and there's been many nights like that despite playing slightly better towards the end of the regular season and I was thinking about the Sandheim goal I believe this was one of those instances you go back and watch it and for some reason like every time I look on the replay these guys are just standing right beside each other

and there's just so much space for anyone to skate into essentially because they're just not covering ground and so I don't know if it's a miscommunication or what or just Latang at this point just isn't as quick to make some of these snap decisions and cover his guy but they're just always like attached to the hip standing in the same spot and then all of a sudden an attacker just has plenty of room to skate into and it feels like that was something the Flyers were really exploiting here

you got anything else on this series or do you want to move on to Habs Lightning the uh Owen Tippett takes a hit but bowls the other guy down I thought that was awesome just want to note yeah he was flying around I thought him, Ziegress, and Forrester were really good in that game. Yeah, they were. I thought the Mitchkoff Barkie line held. Like, I was curious to see if the size would be an issue for them. In the playoffs, game one absolutely was not a factor.

I didn't think. I thought that line held their own. And then, yeah, I mean, what's your Martone comp? Like, I'm trying to come up with it as I'm watching him play more and as I'm just wildly impressed and taken with his game. Yeah, you were bringing up Dylan Gunther to me be a text. Yeah, he's not, he doesn't have the same. speed though. It's not perfect.

Yeah. But, yeah, jump-o-sized Gunther, Meiner, Jason Robertson. I mean, we've seen the playmaking from him and what he's done to kind of help unlock this Flyers powerplay. Since arriving, I thought there was that

one play early on where I don't think he even gets credit for a shot on goal because it kind of just like went through Skinner's legs and out the other side. But he gets it down low on the power play and he catches Skinner and leaning a little bit and he just like no look throws it towards the net trying to catch him at his feet and it nearly went in and like he's just doing stuff like that already like such like poise when he's in those attacking positions

and then all of a sudden if he's going to be ripping the puck the way he did on that shot and beating goalies cleanly like the goal scoring upside to go along with the playmaking we've already seen is just off the charts and I guess the only other thing I'd say is I thought um elmer Soder Blom had some excellent sequences You know, just like bowling guys over. Well, watching him along the boards versus Barkey and Mitch Cobb is pretty funny. Unbelievable. Yeah. And then, but I do think that Chinikov, like, Chinikov couldn't get loose.

I don't think it was like a lack of work rate or anything. Like, I thought he was working hard. So I'm not trying to do anything that's like, you know, old school criticize a Russian guy. Yeah. A Russian skill player, like, had an off-playoff game. Well, he had a couple downhill looks early and just missed the net, and then it kind of just went away from him after that. I just don't think he.

had it in terms of the level of, you know, game-breaking verve that he's had so often for the penguins down the stretch. And I think that's a big reason they struggled off the rush. If Chinochov stays bottled up, I think the penguins are at a significant disadvantage. But again, they lost very narrowly and a lot of things went wrong for them in that game. If they can get Chinochov going in this series, that's, you know, enough to tilt the balance. Yeah, despite the optics of this Game one, I imagine this series because of that chess match element is going to have a lot of adjustments and twists and turns. So I'm excited to see how that plays out moving forward.

Habs Lightning. We finally got an OT game. Yeah. We got a hat trick from our guy here Al-Slefkowski. Man, what an unbelievable game. That was a star making performance. Yeah, that was a statement. You know, the release on both of the first two power play goals is impressive, turning the puck

around that quickly and beating Vasselvesky, but the third one with that shot from that position of the ice is like. one-on-one, just this shot is going to be better than what you're going to be able to stop and he just wins the game outright. Unbelievable. I mean, that was yeah, that was like a plums shot. What a cool game from him.

I mean, yeah, I think the star-making performance, like the statement performance, I didn't like the flow of that game, too much special team stuff, but on the other hand, like that, the 2-2 goal that they score. which was the one where they were like absolutely snapping it about it. I think they had

five shots going into that power play in the game. You know, we're like midway through the second. I think, I mean, I was watching it with some friends and I commented like this actually feels, it's only 2-1, but this actually kind of feels like a boot stomping to this point. And that power play sequence, which starts with that unreal Lane Hudson entry

and like the quick pass sort of perpendicular, not perpendicular, a parallel with the blue line, you know, leads to some sort of scrambly chances down low and then, like, just the puck movement on that. Multiple retrievals from that Havs group and multiple cross-seem passes and then a beautiful finish from Slavkovsky. I mean, that was stunning, stunning work from the Montreal Canadiens first unit powerplay.

And from there, you know, that was the story of the game, like that power play unit, those five guys with Slavkovsky as the trigger man. they made the difference. See, despite the fact that shots on goal at one point, and this was like halfway through the game, we're like 14 to 5 in the lighting's favor or something, I never got the feeling that it was as one-sided as that would maybe suggest,

because I felt, especially at 5-1-5, and the final numbers kind of bear this out in terms of chances, the chances I tracked, expected goals, like there wasn't a lot of substance to it. It was a lot of kind of just like throwing the puck towards the net from not the best areas. And it wasn't like the type of ruthless precision that we see the Lightning typically pick teams apart,

winding up in a slot shot even at Even Strength. There just wasn't a lot of that. In this game, a lot of it for both teams was reliant on the power play, and I do think despite the fact that the Lightning have this awesome PK from the regular season and the power play, we all agree, is more dangerous than their full season numbers would suggest because of like the wasted opportunities by Bjork Strand at times

and they started the year with Hedman there before they put Rattish and he scores a powerplay goal in this one. I think that favors the Habs if the lighting are going to keep doing this act from the regular season of let's just each get five power plays and see what happens. Yeah. Like even though their special teams is good in its own right, if you're going to view it as the Habs are an underdog entering this series,

the Lightning had a whole mice to start and now they've lost it, I think the Habs are going to be perfectly comfortable playing a low end five-on-five game and then just seeing where the chips fall on their respective power plays. So I think the reason why I... It's not that I thought 14-5 was representative of the flow of the game. Like, Tampa had been that dominant. But I thought the five was representative of the level of threat that the Montreal Canadians had offered.

Right. The first Josh Anderson goal felt, you know, kind of... Just like that was a bounce, you know? I felt like they were getting very little of quality. And the thing that I expected from this series, which was that the Montreal first line was going to have, was going to pose real questions for this Tampa Bay Lightning Team and answer at that midway point of the game,

like I thought Sorrelli was basically eating their lunch. Again, not in terms of generating a ton of offensive zone, but in terms of-sufficating, like not giving them anything. And, I mean, they didn't have a shot in those head-to-head minutes, five-on-five against Sorelli, and it's like ten, had ten minutes. No, it's 12 of Suzuki's. 15 were against the Hegel line with Sorrelli and Gensel. Right. And shots were

5, nothing to happen. Right. So, I mean, that overall game flow gave me the impression that the lightning were steadily in control, even if it was just a 2-1 victory. After the game got tied, not just that the Habs then took the lead, but I thought

as the game went along, the cleanliness with which Montreal was able to consistently get out of their zone, I thought, sort of the defining factor of the latter stages of this game outside of Montreal's first power play unit. And like I thought Mike Matheson was excellent. I know the underlying numbers are ugly. I don't really care. The way that he was able to just consistently get out on the breakout and then also just out muscle and box out lightning defenders, preventing second chance opportunities. I mean, I thought that was tremendous. And then I thought they got a great game out of Carrier.

for similar reasons. I thought they got a great game out of Hudson, obviously, for similar reasons, in addition to what he did on the power play. So, yeah, I thought Montreal's ability to limit any pressure applied by the Tampa 4 check, to me that was the defining thing that the HABs did five-on-five, despite the fact that they really didn't have much going, you know, in terms of chances with five aside. Yeah, I thought Hudson beyond the offensive stuff,

and he sets up that overtime winner, was, awesome in terms of just battling defensively in particular and I love this about playoffs and playoff series like you see these head to heads atop the lineup and ultimately see who's going to win out and it felt like him and Hagle were engaging

at a race towards the Habs net with like Hagle like especially like off of some of those defensive zone draws where he flies the zone and then they rim it around and all of a sudden he has space to cut down and he usually wins that race and either gets into the net or gets a shot off the rush and there were a couple times where Hudson and met him there and got enough of his stick

or knocked it away or like disrupted it enough where it wasn't a real scoring chance. Yeah. And I just love to see that. Yeah, there were races he'd lose but he didn't lose them so badly that Hegel got inside. Yeah, he wasn't like being blown away, which Hegel usually does to most defense.

You're right. He was willing to suffer on those sequences. Like, that was really awesome. I thought that was really cool. I, like the 5-15, John Cooper won that match up with that line, the top of lineup. But the rest of it. But the rest of it, especially Kutrov, created some stuff on the power play, but he was very quiet.

5-1-5. I was kind of like doing a lot of whole plays, high in the zone. I mean, he barely played. Like, that's another part of this, right? The game was so interrupted. I mean, I think by the end of the game, you have Hagle playing eight minutes more than Kutrov. But that's what I'm saying. Yeah.

Like, I think the Lightning would be doing themselves a disservice. Not that they, like, went to this game and they were like, let's play a bunch of special teams, but they've been doing this all season. Yeah. Where by Hooker by Crook, like, they take a lot of penalties. they draw penalties, it evens out and so all of a sudden you get into this battle where you're playing only 43 minutes 5-15

and they're the deeper theoretically at least better 5-1-5 team they were this season and so I think it's to their advantage to keep it that way in these games Well they have to survive now now that you're down having dropped your first home game like realistically you've got to win a couple

just to get the series to the place where the whistles will stop regardless of how you're playing. Dobesh by the way I had a real struggle. I was figuring out my all-rooky ballot. And I thought Dobesh versus Walsh Stead was the only hard decision. Right?

Because, I mean, I thought the three forwards were obvious. I thought the two defensemen were obvious. But the goaltenders, I thought were really hard. And I ended up picking Dobesh. Now, both Dobesh and Walshstead won their playoff debuts. Or this weekend. So not like I'm taking a victory lap by any means. But I ultimately went Dobesh.

for the reason that I think the Minnesota Wild are a better defensive environment to play behind. And I thought that was especially true down the stretch after the Olympic break where Dobesh, I thought, you know, I don't want to say like carried the HABs because that first line carried the HABs.

But I thought he papered over some real mistakes as the, you know, Habs sort of cruised toward the end of the season. And, man, I thought he was exceptional in this one. Especially early. Yeah, there were a couple breakdowns. The Churnack chance. I'm thinking of the Churnack one, and he contested it.

He was out in the neutral zone, basically, trying to cut the angle off. Now, I think that'll be an interesting thing to watch because the last lightning goal, it wasn't the power play. But it was one catching him coming out a little bit, and then Gensel's sending it back door for Hegel to tap it in. And so I'm curious to see if they try to incorporate more of that or try to isolate those. Kuturov had him in the torture chamber, though, cutting into the slot. I actually thought Kevin Bax did a really good breakdown on how they, We're sort of trying to disrupt Kuturov, and that was kind of the answer. He was just like, okay, I'll cut inside and we'll just change the direction of the triangle.

I thought that was where he found the answer. And Dobesh, I mean, they had Dobesh cheating twice before that puck went in. I think that's just Kuturov finding, like, an elite answer to a really interesting tactical question that Marty St. Louis and the Habe's players managed to ask the lightning in this one. So I don't really fault him for it, even though it wasn't a great sequence for Dobesh. I don't think the Montreal Canadiens win today, obviously, if he's not immense in the first period. Yeah, it was interesting.

While we were watching the Utah-Vegas game, during one of the intermissions, they're showing the post-game interview. Yeah. The Slavkovs game, they ask him about the OT, Marty San Luis, calls early or the timeout early in overtime, and then they score shortly thereafter. And he sort of downplays that he's like,

yeah, we didn't really talk about it, and he just gave us a little breather. I did think it was interesting. Like, if you go back and watch that, I know they scored the two power play goals previously, but a lot of times they were just like getting the puck in and then all of a sudden the lightning were just pressuring up high and clearing the zone and like sending them back

and I thought they made a little adjustment where they like kept their forwards up high to support a little bit more and then all of a sudden you get Slavkovsky open in this like weird spot where typically you wouldn't be because everyone's all of a sudden kind of preoccupied near the blue line and so I thought that was Marty St. Louis like does a lot of really cool tactical stuff offensively and I thought that was another instance of that last note on this He's a damn good coach, man.

He is. Dominic James. Yeah. His first shift, and I was surprised to see him playing, because he hasn't played since the end of February after he injured his knee. Yeah. First shift sets up an immediate scoring chance, playing on a fourth line with Geeky and Perry. Which, by the way, let's go.

I text you about that. I'm watching on delay. Like 20 seconds later, he goes down holding his leg. Oh, I didn't realize you were watching on delay. Did you not see my text before? Well, I did see it, and then I was like, oh, my God, what happened? And then I then I wind up seeing. that and I'm like man this sucks like I love this player so much even in a four fine

rule he just like has so much juice and is always flying around yeah I think he's 100% expected cool shirt in this game by the way um leaves I'm like we're never seeing him again yeah this is catastrophic comes back his first shift back there's like this great scoring opportunity five-on-five one of the rare ones early from Montreal yeah it looks like I think it was new hook was probably going to score a tap-in and he just gets his stick on the back check and then they draw the penalty um coming back the other way, and so Dominic James rocks, and hopefully he stays healthy. Let's quickly end with Wild Stars and Mammoth. Golden Knights, which one you want to take first?

Let's do Wild Stars, because I feel like there's the least amount to say about it, right? And then we can really dig into Mammoth. It was the most lopsided game of the weekend, a 6-1 final. I honestly thought it didn't feel that one-sided. Now, maybe that's partly a byproduct of the wild going up for nothing in a blink of an eye, I think like 26 minutes into the game and kind of being on cruise control, I thought their best players were just better than Dallas is in this game

beyond Robertson's power play goal. Boldy, Caprizzed out that awesome games. Joel Erick converts to two opportunities he has to score twice. The top pair was making plays, and so they were just atop the lineup, I thought more efficient and taking advantage of their opportunities. My one issue that I did see recurring from the regular season that the stars are going to have to figure out a way around

if they're going to get back in the series, is their lack of pressure up the ice? Because I don't know if you noticed this, but it felt like the wild we're essentially moving the puck up the ice against zero pressure against the set defense the entire time. And I think the stars can get away with it

against a lot of teams. I'm not sure if they can get away with it when it's Quinn Hughes out there with either Capriza or Boldie because those guys have so many problem-solving skills, especially some of the like board-to-board east-west stuff they do in terms of passing to kind of get you moving a little bit, stretch you out,

and then all of a sudden attacking the middle. And so they burned the stars on a couple of those plays in this one, caught them, Caprizov caught them chasing behind the net on one of them. And so that would be my concern. Like I've been worried about the peripheries of this Stars forward group because they just don't have a lot of these dogs. They can go and, you know, forecheck and win battles and retrieve pucks and make life hell for defensemen.

I know you've been sort of talking a lot about this gauntlet in the central. of Hughes, Hayskinnan, and McCar, and essentially, like, who's going to be able to make life most difficult on the forecheck? Oh, I've been saying... Life is pretty easy for Quinn Hughes in this one, because I didn't see a single guy near him. Well, especially because it seems, you know,

he missed the last week of the regular season. It doesn't seem like he's going to be 100% at any point in this playoffs. Now, he is... Wait, you're talking about Miraheiskin. Well, Quinn Hughes, too. Quinn Hughes missed the last... Yeah, I think he's...

I think he's fine, too, but I don't think he's 100%. Yeah, I think that was mostly them... being locked into the third seat and being like, well, he said, I'm as healthy as I'm going to get. Like, he's not 100%. Right. Now he's going to keep playing and he's going to be fine. He's going to be effective and he was super effective in this game. That, the sequence leading to the, like, Hartman deflected off his body goal, right, between him and Faber,

there's, like, three consecutive, unbelievable plays between the two leading up to that goal. The goal ends up being, like, whatever. but the sequence setting it up was just insane from those two. So, I mean, I thought he looked great. But yeah, I mean, the way that I've been framing it is, if you're going to beat any of the Central Division teams, the key is who's going to hurt the other team's defender the most, and yeah, they have to find a way to get in on Quinn Hughes for checking on.

I think there's a school of thought that with these types of players, you don't want to send pressure because if they beat that first check, then you're at a disadvantage because all of a sudden you've got a guy caught behind the play and they're attacking downhill and now you have to like provide support and then all of a sudden they're going to hit the guy that you leave open and yeah but in this case like i feel like it's a mistake to sit back and let him essentially just decide where he wants to go with the puck and just be able to skate into that because the precision passing is there where like even if you feel like you have a guy covered as an anchor on the blue line he's going to like get it off the boards if it's boldy he's going to spin around and all of a sudden he's moving downhill despite the fact that you thought you were there and so i saw a lot of that in this game the stars that was an issue for them all regular season and I thought that really popped up on the tape in this one. Yeah, and just generally speaking, I think pressure is always

the right answer in hockey. It's just that... And if you get beaten, so be it. Well, and also, it's just that some guys, some McCar-Hughes, Hayeskin, and level for Echazzoids are going to make it so that whatever you choose, you're wrong. Right. Yeah, I think that's fair.

Mammoth Golden Knights. Let's go. It's one game. Yeah. I feel so disappointed. I mean, I thought it was a fun game. It was a fun game. Yeah.

It was a fun game. I thought Logan Cooley was exceptional. Logan Cooley was unbelievable. I thought every time... He was the best skater on the ice. There was an automatic zone entry to the point where the Golden Knights defenders were giving him so much space out of self-preservation to just enter the zone. And he would just do that move where he like gallops in and then stops on a dime and turns his back.

And then all of a sudden can make a moment. play from that position. And just time and time again, Gunther was getting so many looks off of that. And then the third guy on that line for most of the night is Kele Yamamoto, who I like and I think is a useful player, wildly underqualified for this specific role in terms of maximizing those minutes and taking advantage of the opportunities those guys create.

Right. And even then, that would be okay if Utah had other answers. But against this Golden Knights team, at least in game one, they didn't. at least in this game it was coolly Gunther and otherwise Utah was in a ton of trouble you know their first line the Schmaltz line comes out in a low event game

minus two and head-to-head minutes against Vegas's fourth line now this was the Cole Smith game this was the Coles he was well I was just thinking that too actually when you were talking about the Quinn Hughes four check thing right it's like when when Quinn Hughes was getting four-checked checked into oblivion by that Nashville Predators' fourth line in the first round a couple years ago.

We were like, well, that's not a very good performance from Quinn Hughes. And now it's like, Cole Smith was the most dominant force in this playoff game. Kiefer Sherwood's like a $6 million player and Michael McCarron's about to be. I'll raise you one. And now a lot of these guys are in the wild for whatever reason. Yeah. So they must love scouting the Preds. But I'll extend it further.

How about also, I believe, Matthew Libier. Yeah. And Yakov Trennan. Yeah, good call. The Predators' pipeline of these guys are just off the charts. Yeah, the Predators are very good at developing hitters. So, yeah, I mean the- And now we're going to get Zach Leroux, we're going to get Federer Svetchkov.

I think the lineage is going to keep going. Yeah, let's go. The, yeah, so, no, I mean, Cole Smith was all over the ice. It was awesome. But, yeah, I just thought nothing else that Utah had going worked. That fourth line, or sorry, that third line with, Putyrka and Carconi and Alex Kerfoot, I don't know. And then I would say as Vegas's push came, and especially after they took the lead in the third period,

it felt like they really kept rolling those all three lines, right? Like they really didn't shorten their bench quickly enough or lean heavily enough on Cooley. And it's too bad because it felt like in the second period, Turinier seemed to finally be doing what it's too often felt like he's reluctant to do, which is properly empower his best players to be the best players, right? That's been my concern about this Utah team all season and coming into the playoffs

was, are they willing to let Cooley be the guy to win them a series? Because if they are, I think they can be in the conference final, and then anything can happen. And if they're not, I don't think they can be. And so it's like today, we sort of saw them open the game, and there was like a lot of Lawson Krause versus Jack

Eichael had to head minutes that I thought were ugly from a Utah perspective. Second period, it felt like Turinney sort of figured it out, started to lean and ride the Cooley line really hard and it looked great. And then in the third, there was a lot of curfut, including notably a shift coming out of a TV timeout. Yeah, I think 230 left. 2.30 left. Offensive's own draw coming out of TV timeout.

Yeah. And it's the third line. Yeah. Like that has to be Cooley Gunther. And to me, that has to be Cooley Gunther and Keller. You know, like that has to be a loaded sort of shift. Especially in a series where you're seeing the other team go Stone Eichael, Marner.

Yeah, especially because if you also win the draw and are holding possession, like that's the time to pull the goalie. Because the other thing I thought Utah got wrong was the Vamelka goalie pull, and kudos to the Sportsnet broadcast. If you're not watching the Canadian Sportsnet broadcast of Vegas versus, Utah, Heinran Singh and John Garrett were electric tonight.

Like a great first game for that broadcast team. I've never heard them call a game before, but it was so conversational, dudes on your couch, great analysis. It was like a podcast in a very complimentary way. Yeah, in such a complimentary way. It was so fun. I love hearing John Garrett, a great guy,

personally a great guy, but also a broadcaster I grew up listening to like still has his fastball, still good as ever. I mean, that was an awesome, awesome game call from those two, enhancing the game. But the, yeah, I mean, they pulled the goalie. There's confusion on the bench about it, and there should have been, like, they didn't really have clear possession on a dump-in,

and he was also too late because they didn't have the extra guy to help on the retrieval, and it was just a very easy, clear and empty netter for Vegas at the death of a one-go- goal game that Utah had led going into the third period. Like, I think the last two and a half minutes, now look, it's Tourney's first NHL playoff game, so hopefully he can figure it out. But I thought that was a pretty poor performance from him, especially as that game got away from the mammoth. We may as well just skip the song and dance and see ourselves time, and Bruce Cassidy is

already in town. We may as well just get him in here to pull some strings for this mammoth team. Listen, I say this out of a place of love because I really understand. enjoy this team and I feel like their ceiling is as high as anyone's in the league, honestly, moving forward. I don't think, like, taking a season like this for granted of, like, well, we got into playoffs first time. Like, let's get some experience and reps and we'll build it from here.

Like, I think they have a very live shot despite losing this game one. They really could have and should have won this game. Yeah. I thought heading out of the second period. And there were some dicey moments at times, but every time something promising happened, it felt like it was Cooley and Gunther, despite not having an optimal third linemate. And I think the quicker they come to that realization of handing over the car keys, the better the organization is going to be, not just for the purposes of this series,

but moving forward as well. And it's four on four every time. First guys over the boards are Keller and Schmaltz. And then 30 seconds, nothing happens. And then all of a sudden, Cooley and Gunther get their opportunity. I just feel like stuff like that, even if it's symbolic, I think it actually functioning. functional value is like getting those guys out there to start because that's your most likely opportunity to not only control play but score and so I feel like that's something they're

really going to need to figure out and I hope they do at some point in the series but it's been going on all year so I'm not there was a sign that they might have been figuring it out in the second period and then they got away from it and it wasn't just that they got away from it in favor of Schmaltz Keller because that would have been preferable it's that they also were just overutilizing a third line that's way too shallow with Hayton sort of still day to day and working his way back and, you know, Danny Boot, Danny Butt out of the lineup.

I mean, they gotta get, like, not that Butt's been like super productive or even good this season, but they need juice. There's just too many minutes, especially against a pretty deep Vegas Golden Knights team, there's just too many minutes where they've got

guys that aren't a threat. You know, like, and that includes, you know, guys that are checkered in their top six, like with their most skilled players, whether it's Kraus, whether it's Yamamoto, you know, whether it's Kerfurt and Carconi playing with Peturka. You know, Stenland had a great game. Playoff, Stenland and playoffs Stankovin are back, which is great.

Love that this time of year. But, you know, I think there's some adjustments that they can make, especially if Hayton's back and ready to go. There's adjustments that they can make to take a more credible swing, you know, by by loading up a couple lines. Like make that line up skinnier and take your best shot with a top line that certainly if the game looks,

like if the rest of the series looks like it did in game one, has a gear that Vegas is going to struggle to hit. Yeah, I think it's a vulnerable defensive group for Vegas. Especially to what cool he does. And if you put them on the back foot, but if you allow them to lean on you, like they're still as good as anyone in the league of bottling that up and erasing those plays

and going back the other way. Yeah, and we've seen, I mean, not that Cooney's McDavid, but I mean, we've seen what can give them trouble and take over a series. And it's... I mean, that sequence, was it in the second period? Yeah. Where he, like, danced around Rasmus Anderson

and nearly scored a highlight wheel. Over did it a little bit, but still, it's like... Yeah, I think he had Carter Hart if he'd shot. He tried to go back end. But you know what? If you're cool enough to pull that dek off in the first place, you overdo it all you want. Yeah, I mean, Cooley looked like he was about to nuke in this series.

Well, you literally cannot. spell coolly without cool so i think he qualified it was a really it was a really impressive playoff debut for him and i hope they lean on him more because i think they have the juice to more than hang with this Vegas golden nights team i think they have you know a chance to win this series at the top of the lineup which is pretty damn impressive given the youth of their players all right buddy well i think uh overall a fun opening weekend of the 26 post season last i can't believe this is our life we get to do this for the next two months yes What do you want to put one on the way out?

Well, I want to talk to our listeners, the Sunday special listeners. Okay. I've got an unfortunate update for everybody. Obviously, I love doing this show, and it's been a highlight of my year to meet up with Dim every Sunday, to record this for all of you. The days that we're, like, slightly late, and we hear from all of you. I mean, honestly, you guys rock, and this show is one of the funest things that I get to do. And yet, at least for now, I'm going to be taking a bit of a hiatus from doing it on an every week,

I'm still going to be around. I'll come by. Yeah, we'll do some check-ins. Yeah, I'll come by and check in here and there. But the every Sunday, you know, in your earballs for your Monday morning commute show while the playoffs are going on, I'm not going to be doing them on a regular weekly basis. There's a lot of reasons for this. But, you know, the fundamental one is I've just got a lot going on personally that I need to spend some more time focusing on, especially as I sort of shift my focus. and coverage at the athletic to covering the draft more than covering the playoffs. So I needed to reclaim my weekend so that I had some more time to go through some

personal administrative stuff. And we'll sort this out and hopefully be back for you before long. But in the meantime, like, I'll be back every couple weeks and we'll talk some playoff hockey and do what we love doing together so much and love doing for you guys. So I just wanted to give all of our loyal listeners that sort of update. And yeah. Well, listen, it's a bittersweet programming note, no doubt. But I will say, you don't have to explain yourself because you've been doing the Omen's work this year.

You went through 82 Canucks games to go along with the double duty you've been putting here every week. So I think totally deserve now the Canucks season's done to take a little bit of step back, scale back. And as you said, we still will be checking in throughout the postseason. Before every round or after every round, I'll come check in with you. And you know what? The takes will be even hotter. They will be, yeah. I'll be, the pre-show rant will take up the whole show. Yeah, the monologue is just going to be 50 minutes and that's going all the time we have for today.

No, I'm looking forward to it. Also, don't worry because I'm not going anywhere. Yeah. So I'll still have you covered. We'll be having a ton of fun stuff throughout the postseason, round one in particular. There's so much to talk about and get through. So we're going to keep covering it as best we can. And a lot of fun stuff ahead, I believe it continues on Tuesday with Woodley. and so we've got a lot more fun stuff coming this week. See you back here soon.

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