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What a game last night. Smith was absolutely insane, 5 or 6 amazing glove saves. Agree with @Surrealplaces though, this one will be difficult. They had lots of good chances and that top line is scary. That being said, we have so much depth - our top line wasn't even really going yet, except for Lindholm. I haven't found the specific number yet, but he must've had about 8-10 hits in that game and played really well. That Landeskog slash on him, down by 4 with 7s left, was stupid though. Shows how frustrated the Avs were by the end of this one. Most of them looked deflated and exhausted halfway through the third and it boiled over late. I read somewhere (i forget where) a point that I totally agree with. One of the reasons we're so good in the third might be Peters' system. The way we're relentless on the puck, back and forth, fast paced, in the offensive zone, that's gotta be exhausting for the defending team. You see that often in Flames games, where by the team they reach the third they're out of gas and collapse. Happened last night too.

Just curious, anyone lucky enough to go to any of the upcoming playoff games? I probably can't because of the price, but it would be cool if you could snap a quick video of the atmosphere in there. It's something I have yet to experience, just really getting into hockey a few years ago. Thx :)

In other news, we signed 4th round draft pick Adam Ruzicka to an ELC today, and he looks really good. In the first three years in the OHL he scored 46pts in 61 games, 72 points in 63 games, and this season 78 points in 65 games, including 24 goals in 30 games with the Sudbury Wolves, who he was traded to mid-season. He's 19 years old, 6'4, and 203lbs. If he continues in his development he could absolutely turn into a top 6 forward and an absolute steal at 109th overall.
 
It'll be interesting to see how tonight goes. I think the Flames played well enough they deserved the win, but in this day and age, it's not often that one team is dominant in a playoff round, and yeah, that Av's top line was dangerous, as it has been when all three are healthy. Interesting to see the line matching when it goes back to Denver. Right now the Backlund line has been solid matching the Avs top line. The Flames fourth line has been very good the last while, I wonder if the Avs will put a checking line on them?

All the playoff games I've watched so far have looked even where either team could have won.
 
Big ooof.
 
Spudski said:
Brodie...
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Terrible play from what I saw. Fantenberg too though or whatever his name is. Saw at one point puck loose he is the only one around and just stood there looking at it. Followed up by like 2 minutes of hard pressure by the Avalanche.

I went to bed after the first goal though so missed the rest of the game.
 
Rollerstud98 said:
Terrible play from what I saw. Fantenberg too though or whatever his name is. Saw at one point puck loose he is the only one around and just stood there looking at it. Followed up by like 2 minutes of hard pressure by the Avalanche.

I went to bed after the first goal though so missed the rest of the game.
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You're lucky you missed the rest of the game, it was the same all the way through
 
Bleh. What a disgusting game. In all honesty I shut it off when it went 3-0. Turned it back on when we scored making it 4-1, then it became 5-1 soon after and i went to bed. Just a horrible effort. Bennett and Smith have been the only two guys giving it their all in this series imo, and you can't blame that 50+ shot game on Smith. Some absolutely horrible calls from the refs too, but our effort was so bad it makes that seem negligible.

The only silver lining I see, and it's one that will dissapear very quickly if we don't come out guns blazing tomorrow, is this: The avs laid an egg in their first game too, losing 0-4 was dissapointing for them. They came out and played exceptionally well the next two. We split our 2 games at home, we just have to split our 2 in Denver and it's all even again, then just carry that momentum forwards. Additionally, we've done a good job coming back the next game after lopsided losses, the 9-1 Pittsburgh one comes to mind. We went 17-5 or something in the next bunch of games, if I'm not mistaken. This should be a resounding wake-up call that we weren't good enough, and we haven't been good enough all series. If we lose tomorrow, I'm afraid this is as good as over. Fingers crossed. Let's go flames.

Also holy crap if the Flames and Jets are both eliminated looks like I'm cheering for the Jackets, what a story.
 
Seeing Tampa Bay being eliminated makes me feel better about the Flames not doing well. At least we managed a win, also I'm pulling for the Bluejackets
 
Damn, I bought a new jersey for this playoff run after growing out of my old one. Imma be hella choked if they get eliminated in the first round. They're playing nothing like how they played in the regular season.
 
The refs that game were absolutely horrible, they've been bad all series and really all season but this game especially. Seems like they were making every soft call they could on the Avs but obvious highsticks, hooks, and trips on Flames players were ignored. I don't like being THAT guy, and obviously if we blow a 2-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the third we kind of deserve to lose. I'm just saying it's ridiculous how such a large and seemingly innovation-focused league (with the new puck tracking and all that) can't figure out how to make basic calls. That goes for all teams, not just ours. I also hate how a penalty in October isn't a penalty in March or April, justified because "it's playoff time." 2 points is 2 points, a win is a win, please officiate consistently. It's made even worse when the officiating fluctuates drastically from game-to-game in a playoff series. One game they'll put away their whistles and the next every little tap is called. Ridiculous.

We sucked in this series so far, minus game 1. Only a few players are free of blame in my opinion, those being Smith, Bennett, and Andersson. Valimaki in his 1 game looked really good too. However this series goes, whenever we lose, it's on every single other guy's shoulders. And in the now unlikely event we somehow pull out 3 straight wins and take this series, that'll likely come on the shoulders of all those guys too.
The top 6 have been invisible (though i've loved Lindholm's physicality). We haven't been able to contain MacKinnon all series. Like, at all. I feel for Smith and Giordano, as this might be their last good shot at a cup. Smith especially, who's played his heart and soul out for every single second of this thing.

That being said it's not over, there's still a chance. Don't give up yet. And, as a preemptive measure for if we do lose, remember that we're still young. If we were San Jose or Pittsburgh right now, we should be panicking. But our window is just opening. We'll most likely be back here next year, take this experience in the playoffs and use it to drive us forwards. Remember that a great portion of our team had never touched the playoffs in their entire lives. Lindholm, Hanifin, Ryan, Andersson, Mangi, Valimaki, coach Peters too. Everybody's been introduced to it now, we'll step forward next year. Hold your heads high, have faith until that clock reaches zero. GO FLAMES GO.
 
I'm not hopeful for the Flames this series, but I'm hopeful for the future. They have some good young players, and if they are in the playoffs next year, I think they'll do better. I'm not overly surprised that the top line isn't producing....they weren't playing well toward the end of the season, and it's not uncommon for top lines to struggle in the playoffs. The difference is Avs top line has been dynamite, just like they were early in the season (when they were the league's top line)

I'm not sure why, but the Flames look slow compared to the Avs. They just can't get any flow.
 
Yup.
Refs are the most inconsistent bunch of bastards i've ever seen. That disallowed Gaudreau goal? The exact same play happened for Toronto today, and it counted. Not only that, Bennett was pulled by the Avs guy into his goalie, his goalie moved towards the net, had some time to get back, the shot went in after. It was the Avs player who initiated contact with Grubauer. Earlier this year, in OT vs. Dallas, Jamie Benn rolled straight through David Rittich, knocked him way out, Rittich battled to get back just like Grubauer did here, they called it a good goal. The level of inconsistency in this league's officiating is bonkers. DEFINE. THE. RULES. Tell me what's interference and what isn't. Then follow it. If we can make puck tracking and glowing pucks and all that we can edit probably 100 year old rules to match today's hockey.

Tkachuk's penalty was the exact same thing an Avs guy did to Gaudreau at about 18 mins in the first. No call for Gaudreau, call against Tkachuk though.

Although we're 99% out now, down 1-4 in the 2nd intermission, I'm happy with our season. This post-season has been depressing, but the entire regular season was spectacular. I worry about it being a flash in the pan year, I definitely think some guys over-performed but others under-performed too. We shall see. I envision us finishing 2nd in the Pacific next season, probably behind Vegas. And that's fine by me. I think the expectations got to us this year, much the same they got to Winnipeg and Tampa. All-told we've probably added about 125 games of playoff experience to our young roster, we'll be back next year more headstrong and prepared. Honestly, think of the Avs. We're built similarly as teams. They were in over their heads last playoffs, newbies, they put up a fight but just couldn't win it. We're in that same boat. This year they've come out and dominated the 2nd best team in the league. We will hopefully do the same thing.
Is it October yet?
 
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