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GoldAppleCorps

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Posts posted by GoldAppleCorps

  1. We live this life in the Central. We've played the odds-on favorites to win the Cup (the Avs), and now play the President's Trophy winners. These aren't jagoff teams glad to be here. Last season, the Stars fought through a suddenly reloaded Vegas team, then drew the Avs with all their top guys going.

    It would be more comfortable to just roll over teams, but that ain't realistic. My nerves would be better if we could stop the shooting gallery on Otter, but so far he's holding up. You're going to need that to contend. Last night, the Jets knew this game was critical. Yes, they have 2 more games at home where they're tough, but Dallas already won there once. As such, they came out to play a ferocious tempo. They got nothing on the scoreboard, and watched Granlund toss one in from the middle of the zone.

    Dallas played a counterattacking style - waiting for the Jets to get caught out. The Stars PK is so thorough that they can afford to wait for penalties to even out (though that's no reason to take dumb ones). Robo is almost completely back up to speed. Miro got the plastic wrap off. Rather than struggling, the Stars are powering up. Just keep in mind they're doing so against the top points team in the NHL, and are respecting that power.

    Obviously I'd like to close it out on Thursday, but I'm expecting Hellebuyck to do his thing. The Stars can beat that thing, but he's definitely an equalizer when he's on. I know the rules are different than in the Hitchcock era, but there's still value in taking the air out of the game, and just believing that your squad's talent will carry the day when the variables are reduced.

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  2. As we saw Friday, Hellebuyck's performance pretty much dictates the game. Much like JS Giguerre, when he's at full power, it doesn't really matter how the other team plays because the puck isn't going in the net. The Stanley Cup is rife with goalies who, for the moment, were impenetrable. Frequently, it led to inflated contracts and disappointment later.

    I suppose, technically, Winnipeg has two more chances to try and steal back home ice. They've pretty much gotta think, though, that tomorrow is do or die. They also have to be completely mentally bollocksed up. Be ready to absorb pressure early (that's "absorb" - not "flail around the defensive zone while the Jets take shooting practice"), play loose and smart, and wait for the dam to burst.

  3. Two separate motions. The 'kick' (yeah, if the puck had gone in directly off that skate-effort, I'm pretty sure it would have been wiped off), and Helly deliberately making an effort to play the puck (not 'deflected' as in 'casually hitting an unrelated object') and putting it into his own net. The puck never reaches the net but for the intentional act of the goalie. Good goal.

    Also, this is something you kvetch about when you lose 3-2 in overtime. When you check out and lose by an honest 5-2 (no empty-netters), you forfeit the right to complain. Personally, I think the whinging is an attempt to make Hellebuyck feel like it wasn't him this time. He's clearly a different player on the road.

  4. 1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:

    was this the greatest playoffs comeback in dallas pro sports history?

     

     

    <edit>

    burn

    1999 west semis game 3 down to chicago fire 0-2 after only 11 minutes came back with deering on 55', zarco pk on '84 and graziani wininer on '86

    this was the most frenetic crowd in dallas soccer history and it was a nasty nasty match with 10 cards, fire's last 4 in the last 12 minutes trying to hold on

     

    <edit>

     

    I should still probably slewfoot Dema Kovalenko if I ever meet him. Not sure why the league catered to him so much, or why the players let him live.

  5. Dallas should get a couple of key contributors back after long layoffs. Sometimes, this isn't the immediate boon you'd like, and a playoff series doesn't allow for "get up to speed" time.

    Winnipeg has a couple of key pieces in doubt. Otherwise, they're fairly similar teams.

    Of course, who am I kidding? Hellebuyck will either be a cork or a sieve. That's your series.

  6. A lot of those "dumb luck" goals were scored when we couldn't stop the Avs from cycling the puck and attacking the net with just under 50 credible shots. There's having your 'keeper stand on his head to preserve a playoff game, and there's an utter failure to mitigate the opponent's attack. Colorado could have had 7 legitimate goals.

    I'll trade all of that for Bisch getting back in the game. I saw a collarbone or humerus fracture coming. We were about to give Mavrick Borque defenseman lessons today.

    I'd like to get Miro and/or Robo back. I'll just be watching through covered eyes hoping we don't get a "need some time to get back in the flow" game. Otherwise, we'll get the entire summer.

  7. Since Austin has apparently decriminalized possession of THC vape pens under 4 ounces, deferred adjudication should be on the table unless this is like his 5th time doing this.

    The charge is "possession" of drugs, not "ownership". If you're driving and it's in your car, you're "possessing" it. If it's in your shirt pocket, you damned sure are. Glad the cops found it and took it, since bringing it into a secure facility (the sallyport at the jail) is a separate charge altogether.

    Really, while I wouldn't advise a sober person to be quite so permissive about talking with the cops during a stop, there's not a lot he could have said or done that would have changed minds. The arrest record seems to indicate he was reasonably compliant (a mercy with such a huge dude).

    He made what could have been an ugly mistake, and seemed to own up. Take the deferred, take the classes, do the community service, and take the pee tests for a couple of years.

    That might put you square with the County, but Kyle Flood is gonna be a bit more hard-nosed.

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  8. Ah yes. The NHL is desperately trying to advance a team from Dallas with zero name recognition. MacKinnon, Makar, and now Landeskog don't present nearly as compelling a story.

    I like whinging about officiating as much as anyone, more so than most actually, but howzabout not skating with your stick at nipple height? For a big, strong skater, Manson sure went down easy when Daddy bumped him. Also, you're not allowed to touch MacKinnon - everyone loves to ooh and aah over his speed! My favorite is his drop passes where he skates forward to the net and just happens to shield away every defender coming to play the puck.

    Don't go 0-fer your power plays. It makes the other team hit harder and more often.

    Look, Dallas got some decent puck luck last night. They weren't 4 goals better than the Avs, but that's how the scoring reads. It still only counts as 1 win, and the Stars are going to have to earn the last one - hopefully in Colorado.

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  9. Look, the Western Conference, and in particular the Central Division, is just a war zone. The Jets are Cup favorites on talent, but they've been blasted by the Blues. Vegas is nose to nose with the Wild. 

    This was never going to be easy. Dallas has 2-1 home ice. Gotta be ready and get game 5. 

  10. I think I counted 5 cross ice passes by the Avs in our defensive zone. That's pucks that made it all the way across the width of the rink without us getting in the way. 

    Not giving up, but it'll take something truly stupid to get 3 unanswered in one period. Let's start with 1.

  11. The Avs are trying to use Nathan MacKinnon as a 90's era Michael Jordan. He gets the puck up high, and everyone else boxes out an opponent to let him drive and shoot or dish. This isn't a legal hockey play, but it's so pretty that no one calls it.

    A top notch penalty kill lets the Stars play like they do. Mason Marchment's game is the epitome of that. He plays to the edge of physical contact even though he's not big enough to be at all intimidating. He hacks at pucks, throws opponents around, and just generally tries to disrupt play. He breaks up the continuity a team like Colorado cherishes.

    Of course, the refs know he does this, so sometimes eyes are a little stricter on him. Not saying the double-minor was a bad call (I'm saying the goal scoring interference was blatant and inexcusably bad), but it's what you're going to get when a guy like Mush does the dirty work within the bounds of sportsmanship (see: Avery, Sean).

    I wish we were playing game 4 tonight. The Avs have gotta be mentally drained (playoff hockey is harder on your will than your body - and it's really hard on the body). The extra day of rest betwixt now and Saturday is to their advantage.

  12.  

    Our mission is to steal at least 1 of these two road games to get back home ice. Colorado is a bona fide Cup contender, which is all you get in the Central division. 

    Playoff hockey is a game of guts. We'll see who stays focused in the last 20 minutes.

  13. Frankly, I was waiting for the Stars to give up the next goal early in the 3rd so I could go to bed. I still gotta make it to the office in the morning. I was really resigned to more of what I'd seen for the last 2 weeks.

    Believe me when I say you wouldn't think it was the same team. The Stars had a stash of those Mario-Kart type star boosts that they started firing through. They just started wrecking shop, but in a controlled chaos way. The Avs held on by their fingernails and couldn't match the boost. Dallas was unlucky not to pot 3 more goals.

    We'll see if that was an exception or the end of a slump. We'll also need to focus on breakaways in practice. The Stars are generating a ton, and getting nothing for their efforts.

  14. 4 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

    I went to bed at the end of the 2nd period, disgusted by the Stars power play, where they not only couldn’t get shots off, they couldn’t even get the puck in the zone. It was ridiculous. 

    There is something very wrong with this team. Rantanen sucks. There isn’t enough team speed. The puck passing is slow and lazy. All this pops up after the trade. I’m pumped they won, but something has to change or it will be an early exit. 

    I can't disagree with anything you said, especially considering the time frame in which you said it. Our entire power play was skating across the Colorado blue line, then standing there like "now what?". The Avs would gladly nab the puck and fire it on down. It seemed the entire team was cruising at 90% speed, playing not to make a mistake, thinking while skating, and consequently being 2nd best to every contested puck. The first 35 minutes of the game were almost entirely spent with the Stars cobbling defensive efforts to prevent the Avs All-Stars from destroying them.

    Starting with around 12:00 left in the 3rd period, Dallas seemed to abandon all that and just start flying around the rink. If a white sweater got in the way, it got trucked. Otherwise, the puck was there for the taking, so they took it. Without their goalie standing on his head, Colorado would have given up 3 in the 3rd. Possibly the Avs thought they could nurse a 1-goal lead through a desperate 3rd period, despite that being an insane game plan. The Stars simply went into rampage mode, and kept it up for a period and a half, until the got the game winner.

    To temper expectation, that's 30 minutes worth of playoff speed hockey, after 8 straight games of confused, brain-fog level play. We'll have to wait until Wednesday to see if that was the end of a slump, or just an inspired moment.

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