Whatever you do for this winning goal, New York Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin is not to blame for either the game or the result of the series. Shesterkin played a great series. Tampa is just doing this to the teams: they have done it 11 consecutive times in the postseason in the last three years. Whether the Rangers were tired or not from the previous two series, which went to seven games, Tampa made them look tired. After Games 1 and 2, Tampa had outs, outs, outs and finally outs, the Rangers. New York was also without a coach – this has also happened a lot in teams facing Lightning recently. Jon Cooper has a lot of work to do, but he is also an effective communicator: more of a corporate manager than a classic hockey coach. Anyway, here’s how he played on the ice: After being the first team to win consecutive victories against Lightning goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy in three years, the Rangers stopped scoring. New York scored nine goals in the first two games, but only managed five more in the last four – only one of which was scored with equal force. He just is not going to cut it. Tampa Bay is just a very disciplined team, very willing to play hard defense when it counts, and has a very good goalkeeper to rely on your game to beat them. You have to be able to overcome them in all situations. You have to be a team like the Colorado Avalanche.
The avalanche is an aggressive machine
There were probably only two points during the regular season where the Colorado Avalanche looked like a regular hockey team: at the beginning, when they struggled outside the gate, and at the end, when they scored 1-6. last seven games. But this final straight was either a random or an elaborate fake. Either way, we should not have been deceived. The reality is that the Avalanche is a racing hockey machine. See what they did in Edmonton. Oh my god. And yet, here’s the thing: even though the Oilers were scanned, their offensive performance was pretty good! In most other cases, it would probably mean the victory of the series. Take a look at this comparison from JFreshHockey five-on-five to 60-minute situations. Microstat Series 5v5 Summary: #GoAvsGo Defeat #LetsGoOilers If you like the insult, especially from the rush, this was the turn for you. The Avs created a lot … almost everything, and while the Oilers produced enough aggression to win most series, they did not continue. pic.twitter.com/J6O0Cxq25X – JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 7, 2022 In fact, Colorado is already a historic power. As Neil Paine wrote this week on FiveThirtyEight, this Avalanche team is ranked 10th in the standings per game among all Stanley Cup finalists until the final round and is only level with the Edmonton Oilers 1982-83 for the second best win. . rate. The 2022 Oilers, for their part, are a pretty good hockey team. But the Oilers are not a good enough hockey team to beat the Colorado Avalanche. The team that is good enough to beat Avalanche will have to play very disciplined defensive hockey, have a clutch goalkeeper and the ability to finish a strong attack. Oh, and something else: they should be able to overtake Kale Makar. It’s not an easy thing, because if we learned anything from the Avalanche-Oilers series, it ότι
Makar can see the womb
The debate over the best player in the NHL usually focuses on two players: Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid. It is understandable, given their respective ability to score goals and their overall magic. Colorado striker Nathan MacKinnon gets into this conversation from time to time. However, throughout, perhaps the best player is actually his teammate, defender Cale Makar. We remind you that Cale Makar treats the NHL like Tuesday night, doing indifferent parts, eating cookies on the counter. 🍪 pic.twitter.com/USEvehgrhE – Bring Hockey Back (@BringHockeyBack) May 4, 2022 In the 14 playoff games that preceded the last round, Makar has scored 22 points. That includes 10 points during the Nashville Predators’ first-round sweep, most of which have been scored by a defender in four all-time playoff games. It also includes the five he picked up in Colorado’s last game against the Oilers, a number in a game that no defender has made in the playoffs against Al MacInnis in 1994. Makar’s closest defensive rivals this season after all, the defender of Rangers Adam Fox, had 23 points… but through 20 games. Without taking anything away from Fox, he was also not assigned to cover McDavid. Makar was. And he did it without even sweating. Makar sees the uterus and bends it according to his will. Makar is the One.
A touch of history
There is a superstition surrounding NHL convention trophies: that touching either the Clarence Campbell Bowl (West) or the Prince of Wales (East) trophy will curse your team into a Stanley Cup disaster. It is also common that if the team poses with any trophy, it does so with officials. The logic, if you want to put it that way, is that it is not the real thing. Of course, the theory is incredible: many teams that have reached any trophy have won the Stanley Cup. But the tradition reflects the fact that no one is really interested in conference hockey tournaments. Only the Stanley Cup matters. However, it is still fun to watch a group discussion in real time about whether or not you will collectively choose superstitious beliefs – or which version. Joe Sakic is clearly not interested in superstition. But can other coincidences make sense? As mentioned, this Avalanche team has the best playoff record of the 1982-83 Oilers that went to the Final. As it turns out, these Oilers confronted New Yorkers – and they were scanned. It was the islanders’ third consecutive Stanley Cup victory, the last time a three-peat happened. Before the series against the Islanders in the spring of 1983, Oilers general manager Glen Sather told the New York Times: “I do not see that we are very different from the Islanders. Only they have gone much further than us. And we would definitely like to replace them. ” Considering their loss years later, the Oilers saw what the differences really were. “They were a little more disciplined than us and probably had a better work ethic,” Grant Fuhr said in 2019. “As we walked through the Islander’s room that year, we realized how hard it was to win,” said Wayne Gretzky. “They were not even celebrating, I was thinking ‘They are exhausted, I guess there is more to give,’” said Paul Coffey. The Lightning proved this after the season because it is the first team after these Islanders to play for the third consecutive Cup. Now comes the Avalanche: a team with a high score, fast, dynamic from the West. The vibes of the 80s are loud right now.
Will we get a trip?
I’m miserable in the predictions most of the time, but this match is felt from the beginning of the post-season – perhaps because he feels the guard is going to change. But is now the time? Colorado will give Tampa Bay the toughest challenge so far. They will rest and starve. They are arguably the toughest opponent Lightning has faced in the final: they are a much better team than Dallas or Montreal. Avalanche can do whatever it takes to beat Lightning, no doubt. But I do not think they will. Tampa feels like the deepest team, mentally. And with Brayden Point likely to return, it will be deeper and more aggressive. Tampa will take over Colorado – or at least Vasilevsky, and that may be all that matters. A few months ago, my money was in Colorado. Now, I think Tampa Bay will make three peaks. But we will have six great hockey games before that.
