Yeah, pretty much my thoughts as well. Was worried about two things going into the playoffs -- the lack of experience and goaltending. The aggressive defense has definitely been a nice surprise. They mentioned it in the broadcast last night, everyone looks at speed as a great offensive weapon, but it's just as valuable on defense.

Well, this doesn't sound great.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A woman was found so intoxicated in Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin’s hotel room Saturday that a team doctor called for an ambulance to take her to a hospital, according to a Seattle Police Department report obtained Thursday by The Denver Post. <a href="https://t.co/Z6EHlGKWgR">https://t.co/Z6EHlGKWgR</a></p>&mdash; Denver Post Sports (@DPostSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/DPostSports/status/1651738447063953409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Note that he's married, and this wasn't his wife. It's possible this isn't a legal situation as the Avs had said, but it's not exactly a good look.

Unfortunately the Avs are married to him for 7 more years.

At this point, the question to me is whether he's "just" a cheating asshole or if there's more going on.

Not dead yet.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...o_2011.svg.png

At least she was alive, unlike that hooker with Senator Geary in Godfather part II.

Players cheating on the road is almost expected. They'd have to cut half the players if they wanted to punish all the cheaters.

I wasn't giddy about tonight, but Bruins/Panthers has been really good and the other game is in OT.

This game is nuts.

Lol, FLA whipping BOS. Love it.

It would be hilarious if BOS got knocked out in the 1st round.

Don't jinx it, but yes, yes it would.

Yeah, and would really flip that divisional on its head... it goes from "even if the Leafs finally win a series, they'll just lose to their rival" to the Leafs having a pretty decent shot at the ECFs if they don't completely **** it up again.

Of course, if the Lightning win the series, it's probably a lot less interesting.

My bad. Guessing BOS figures it out and wins game 7.

FFS. :facepalm:

Starting to think they might not repeat.

What a frustrating few games this has been for the Avs.

SEA has completely lost their composure.

Yeah, Seattle kinda fell apart. Hope renewed!

Such a weird sport. The Avs have largely looked like shit for the first 5 games of the series but completely dominated tonight. Hopefully they figured something out.

Far better energy and urgency, and even if their PP has sucked, it at least shortens the game so to speak.

I must have skipped past the hit on Cogs... that should be a few games DoP(e)S, right?!

Heh. He came back, so I seriously doubt it.

DoPS message to the players: If you don't want to get suspended, make sure the guy you're taking out is made of rubber.

Did you watch the end of game 5? Can someone explain to me how the Bruins can get away with a slash/swinging the hockey stick like an axe at the Panthers foot? It was one of the most obvious penalties that I've seen in a while that didn't get called.

Lets go Devils!!

He also cross-checked him after that lol. Go Devils!!

Cogliano has a fractured neck, so that's fun.

**** off, DOPS.

And he came back into the game. :eek:

I wonder if they could still review it, which would just look like more of a clown show, but damn.

Ouch. It was a bad-looking hit for sure. And completely unnecessary.

On a sidenote, hockey players are the toughest bastards on Earth. Came back and played after breaking his neck? Dude's a MAN.

Looks like Toronto is about to choke away another playoff series.

They could probably pick up a 4th captain in the offseason.

Uh oh. NJ on the board.

Leafs scored and made it 30 seconds (and counting) without giving up a responding goal.... nice.

They gave up 3 goals against Boston in Game 7 within a couple minutes, this isn’t over.

Yeah, they have a gorilla on their back, an offense that's crazy talented yet often reactive and doesn't dictate play, isn't known for stellar defense and goaltending, and TB will find another gear in the 3rd.



No pressure!

Well, it's not a TOR game if they don't give up the tying goal after they grab the lead.

Could see it coming from a mile away... once again they turtle after scoring and it even extended into the 3rd.

Do the Maple Leafs know it's the playoffs and not Week 1?

On one hand, it's history repeating itself year after year after year, so how surprised could anyone be, really.... OTOH, it's ****ing mind boggling.

I imagine that RoR has to be pretty frustrated. I mean, sure, he's in the playoffs again, but Holy crap, what are his teammates doing?

How do you miss that high stick...

RoR is 1 for 11 on faceoffs in this game. He's far from immune to whatever curse is plaguing this Leafs team.

No idea what his stats are. Just observing that he's working his ass off and not getting a lot of help. Guys are just standing around, half-assing passes that are getting intercepted, not communicating well . . . looks like a preseason clown show.

You don't watch the Leafs much, do you?

Yes!

We're going all the way.

LMAO

Good, I wanted to help those poor bastards with some reverse mojo.

Lol, really never. I'm a Blues fan. I picked TOR in this series only because of RoR.

Laaaaame, the Dallas Cowboys of hockey.

Yeah, they're the furthest thing from a gritty team and expect their talent level to carry them.

Maybe now that the monkey is off their back though...

They’re gonna be awfully dangerous now, although I’m not sure what to do now that I’ve got Leafs games to watch in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

LA/EDM game is nuts.

Nice to see you’ve got The Passion. Go Leafs go.

LMAO


Good one.

Another sloppy game. EDM is throwing blind passes in the neutral zone with predictable results. Predictable unless you're an EDM player i guess. Lots of scoring though, which is fun.

Holy shit, the Leafs won?

I kid, but that has to feel great. It wasn't that long ago that Alex led us to what was a major accomplishment at the time in winning a playoff game.

It feels very much the same way, a huge weight has been lifted. Unlike that Chiefs team that beat the Texans, I actually think this Leafs team can make a run.

The Oilers are scoring on over 60% of their power plays in this series.

Kings respond to score 2 PP goals of their own, only to give up a stupid goal after buzzing around.

Down 1, 1 period to figure it out. GKG

That EDM PP is ridiculous, I don’t envy that Kings penalty kill. McDavid gets all the press but Leon has been the real beast so far.

I shouldn't probably criticize; at least TOR got into the playoffs. My Blues couldn't pull their heads out of their asses this year.

I just watched these playoff games and said to my buddy one time "As talented as TOR is, they really shouldn't struggle this much just to get a few shots. Or get out of their own zone. Or damn near anything."

Hopefully they do get their shit together. Want to see them do well. Always fun to see another Canadian team in the playoffs.

And congrats to the Leafs on finally winning a playoff series again.

It's so dynamic. On the last PP, the Kings had a decent chance at a shortie and it looked like they had it stopped...one great entry pass, quick set up, pass across and boom. Just like that.

Yeah it’s unfair, reminds me of the Pens with Mario, Jagr, and Francis. You’ve been outplaying them 5 on 5 tonight though, stay out of the box and you’ve got a great shot at forcing a game 7.

Game tightened up. Kings need to slow this thing down. Get physical with these guys.

They absolutely should, but man, it’s gotta be tough to play physical against a team when you’re terrified of their power play.

Hell, saying it is one thing, actually being able too catch those guys at all is another. It wouldn't be easy to put some hits on those guys, but they need to try. EDM has way too much speed.

Here we go. Gulp.

Huge shorty!

Holy shit

Plot twist: Kings finally found the weakness of the EDM power play...the GOALIE

Now start laying some lumber.

This game has OT written all over it.

That was a wild 2 minutes. Gotta keep pushing. And don't try that strategy again.

Ice is tilted right now. Gotta cash in.

Pretty entertaining game. Though the Kings are playing really soft which is ticking me off a little.

This isn't Daryl Sutter's Kings team. And they are clearly terrified of the EDM PP.

Against a team you can’t play soft against or they will just kill you.

Big goal
UGH

They don't have to play dirty. Just be as physical as possible without taking a penalty. Constrained violence. Blues hockey. When they do it right, anyway.

I mean, in that last sequence i counted at least 5-6 times when a Kings player could've put a shoulder on a guy or a hip completely legally and instead the King went out of his way not to put a hit on the EDM player. To a Blues fan, that's just weird.