The Official National Hockey League Appreciation Thread

[aurik]

On 4/19/2025 at 9:41 PM, KarateKen said:

The first day of the 2025 playoffs are in the books.  Jets beat the Blues 5-3 but don't stress yet @aurik the Blues played tough and were ahead for more of the game than they were behind.  Plus, the last two seasons the Jets won the first game then lost the next four.  Long way to go, we are just getting started. 

 

I'm not too worried about my Blues @KarateKen -- they made the mistake of finding themselves up 3-2 and took their foot off the gas.  If they can play all 3 periods like they played the last 2, they should have a really good chance to win this series.

[KarateKen]

Four games on Monday, two game one's and two game twos.  Game 1 went to Washington in OT.  Caps got off to a 2-0 lead, Canadians came back to tie it, and Caps won in OT 3-2. The Kings were also game 1 winners, 6-5 scoring the GW with under a minute left.  LA was up 4-0 and 5-2 before the Oilers came back to tie, but they come up short and LA has a 1-0 series lead. 

Game 2 in Dallas went for the Stars, another OT game 4-3 Dallas wins it and ties that series.  The Jets win against the Blues 2-1 and are up 2-0 in the series as they got to St. Louis.  The old saying is that you are not in trouble in an NHL playoff series until you lose at home.  If the Blues win game 3, they can turn this series around in a hurry, though a loss would put them in serious trouble.  

Four more games coming up on Tuesday, game 1 of the Panthers/Lightning and game 2 of Devils/Hurricanes, Senators/Leafs, and Wild/Golden Knights. 

 

It's that time of year 

 

[sensei8]

My Knights take a lead, 1-0, in their playoff series against the Wild. I’ll remain optimistic but guarded because the Wild are no pushover.

GO KNIGHTS!!

[KarateKen]

6 hours ago, sensei8 said:

My Knights take a lead, 1-0, in their playoff series against the Wild. I’ll remain optimistic but guarded because the Wild are no pushover.

GO KNIGHTS!!

 

It was an exciting game one.  I picked Vegas to win this series and think they will do it in four or five games, I hope the Wild can remain competitive like they did in game one. 

[KarateKen]

Hurricanes beat the Devils and now lead the series 2-0 as they go to New Jersey.  Two games live right now, both 2-1 scores.  Panthers up on the Lighting and Leafs up on the Senators.  I will post when they go final.  Wild and Golden Knights start at 11pm eastern and is unlikely to start on time due to broadcasting the earlier games, so it will be a late night of playoff hockey! We could have live hockey past 2am on the east coast tonight. 

[KarateKen]

Panthers defeated the Lighting 6-2 and have a 1-0 lead in that series, Leafs were an OT winner against the Senators, and they take the two games at home, now headed to Ottawa.  In the late game the Wild bounce back with a good win against the Golden Knights.  Wild were up 4-0 and win it 5-2, two goals for Kirill Kaprizov tonight, now 13 career postseason goals for him in his young career.  Minnesota ties the series 1-1 with game three in Saint Paul on Thursday.  It is rare to see the Wild get postseason wins; they missed the playoffs last year and have not won a series since 2015.  I don't want to get overly optimistic, it is only one game, but they looked good tonight.  Vegas got some heavy pressure late in the second period and again in the third, but the Wild defense held strong.  Nice win.  The final game of the night ended at 1:41 AM eastern time. 

Mood:  Too excited to sleep...LET'S GO WILD 

[sensei8]

Yeah…last night for my Knights was…WILD…and not kind!! Knights were spanked by Wild by the final score of 5-2.

Wild scored 3 to the net before one could even say…THIS IS WILD!!

My Knights travel to Wild ice this Saturday…puck drop will be 1pm pacific time.

GO KNIGHTS!!

Edited Wednesday at 02:29 PM by sensei8

[KarateKen]

12 hours ago, sensei8 said:

Yeah…last night for my Knights was…WILD…and not kind!! Knights were spanked by Wild by the final score of 5-2.

Wild scored 3 to the net before one could even say…THIS IS WILD!!

My Knights travel to Wild ice this Saturday…puck drop will be 1pm pacific time.

GO KNIGHTS!!

Don't forget about game three.  It is Thursday at 9pm Eastern.  The rare one day off between changing cities.  Usually there are two.  Big game three for both teams, Vegas wins and they regain home ice advantage, if Minnesota wins they are up 2-1 with the momentum at home for game four on Saturday.  I don't know the actual numbers, but it feels like in a 1-1 series, the team that wins game three usually wins the series. 

Mood: Cautiously optimistic  

Three games on the schedule for Wednesday.  Capitals and Kings both winners, both up 2-0 in their series, Stars come back and beat the Avalanche and have a 2-1 series lead. 

 

[KarateKen]

Leafs get the OT victory, can sweep the Senators if they win the next game.  Panthers win both games in Tampa, take a 2-0 series lead back home.  Wild win again, 5-2 over Vegas in a game where Minnesota dominated.  Wild have not trailed in the last two games, outscoring the Knights 10-4.  Blues are about to get back into their series, beat the Jets 7-2 in a blowout, Jets now lead the series 2-1.  

Games on Saturday - Capitals/Canadians Kings/Oilers Hurricanes/Devils 

Mood: LET'S GO WILD!!! 

[sensei8]

Mistakes cost my Knights in game 3 on Wild ice…5-2. Knights better wake up soon.  Things looked promising early after the puck dropped, but the dogs of havoc returned and what was once promising, quickly turned into a nightmare.

Wild, I hate to say, have figured out my Knights across the board…and I hate that. But I got to respect Wild because they’re here this playoff for a reason.

Wild leads the series 2-1, game 4 tomorrow at 1pm pacific. Game 5 on April 29th on Knights ice…game 6 and game 7, if necessary, Minnesota, then back to Las Vegas, respectfully.

GO KNIGHTS!!