RD1 GM5 04/25 vs Mild (7PM CT) - Best of Three

[Troy McClure]

Best of three. Home ice advantage restored. But the Stars need to be able to win two in a row to win the series. Trading wins isn't enough.

The Wild put up their mildest effort in game four. Even in the game two blowout, we saw a lot more wreckless energy from the Wild. I don't know if this was just a down game for them or if they've already exhausted themselves a bit.

Expect the first period to start with the Wild trying to overcompensate for last game by being excessively aggressive.

[Troy McClure]

Same lineup as game four because DeBoer makes no changes after a win.

Pavelski skated again but not in the drills.

[The Frugal Gourmet]

Based on my expert medical opinion, Pavelski has healed now and should start the game.

This game and series feels like basically a toss up.

[dyhp]

I feel like every series in the West now and going forward will be a toss up.

[The Frugal Gourmet]

I feel like every series in the West now and going forward will be a toss up.

Truth be told, there is rarely much difference in hockey these days.

Even in Colorado's case, about 4 wins separates the top and bottom seeds. That's possible to overcome in a 7 game series due to standard deviation.

3 wins separate Dallas vs. the Wild, but it's mostly due to a hot start and hot finish. I don't really think there's a significant talent gap between the two teams.

[5minmajor]

So far this playoff year home ice is not an advantage.

[Math]

I think the whole concept of the so-called "home ice advantage" is totally overrated and overhyped nowadays. If you took the last playoffs record of the last five years let's say, the home team as a record varying between .450 and .550. Nothing truly significant. It's even more evident this year where home teams are 12-32 as of today. Every team has its game plan, every arena behaves the same (raucous when your are leading and having the momentum, silent when nothing's going on and/or you're losing).

Playing at home both have advantages and pitfalls. Toronto started at home and they were *fargin'* paralyzed by the pressure in game #1. All analysts predicted a huge boost of energy for the Jets in front of their so extraordinary noisy fans, they came out flat and lost in a place that sounded like a cathedral. At home on the road, doesn't matter. Score the first goal, win that *Dang all Get out* game #5 and get two pucks of match.

[ScubaSteve]

Last change used to be a huge home advantage, but last change is dictated by zone now, right? That pretty much eliminated any tangible home ice advantage.

[Troy McClure]

Last change used to be a huge home advantage, but last change is dictated by zone now, right? That pretty much eliminated any tangible home ice advantage.

Last change is still the same.

The whole reason it no longer matters is the death of clutching and grabbing means most coaches no longer bother with the idea of a checking line you stress about matching up against the other team's top line because you knew your checking line could get away with bear hugging them up and down the ice. Hitch looked like a genius for matching Carbonneau up against Forsberg because Guy could get away with mugging on ever shift.

But we saw Bowness still trying this *poo poo* with his darling Faksa line. He was rolling out 90s hockey up against 2020s rules. This meant Faksa wasn't able to mug opponents. It also meant Faksa's line ended up playing more minutes than they deserved. *f-bomb*, I'm so glad he's gone.

[slaps]

DeBoer's system certainly has some shortcomings, but at least he generally plays the personnel he's been given in the appropriate roles and for the appropriate amount of minutes.

[B Kat]

DeBoer's system certainly has some shortcomings, but at least he generally plays the personnel he's been given in the appropriate roles and for the appropriate amount of minutes.

Pretty much everyone the same. Maybe that results in Benn and Seguin playing less, good, but Robertson and Hintz are also playing less. It's good in general b/c no one is overused to depletion and it promotes a team game. I think that's important. You rarely see any player with less than 10 minutes no matter the line. Only Miro has high minutes. I've not seen a forward with even 20 minutes this season.

Mainly it's the defense pairs that coaches would like to match. So home ice is still somewhat advantageous.

[B Kat]

So what happens tonight? We've had two close games and two blowouts, 1 for each team. I don't really know what to expect.

[The Frugal Gourmet]

nothing would surprise me at all.

[Alyosha0999]

Well, it's going to come down to whether Miro can have a monster game and SCORE...give the forwards some help for a change. He had a good game 2, but every other game he's been nearly invisible. His confidence is so shaky that it seems to inhibit him from taking the next step(s) that he needs to take. I think his nervousness and uncomfortability may account for the acne?
And of course as shaky as the whole teams confidence is without Joe...it's going to take another great game from Oetter.

[Archangel972]

I would like to see more from Robertson but also Marchment and Domi. The latter 2 have yet to register a point in this series and are a combined -7.

[Troy McClure]

Focusing on even strength contributions from guys paid for offense, the following guys have zero five on five points this series:
Seguin
Robertson
Domi
Marchment

The only players with more than one even strength point:
Dadonov
Hintz

The PP is humming. Hopefully, the Wild keep being idiots. Foligno already has five minor penalties.

[Math]

Looking forward to the dull intermission interviews. I don't know if there's a similar thing here but we used to have a website in french that change every noun, adjectives, verbs, etc. into random words, leading to something completely absurd and stupid looking like this:

“Two backhoe loaders have been stolen from us! It’s an electrical outlet, this thing!”

The attack couldn't be clearer. In the compulsory fields of the altar boy, the Minnesota Wild coach ejected his hexagonal coffee table. The object of his garbage collector? A car bomb that the referee did not report on the dab. His castrations have also earned him to join the garden chair in advance.

On a little bit of freshness from Jani "talk to my ass, my head is sick" Hakanpää, Minnesota's Foligno slugged the happy fool's patchouli towards his sternum. The power forward, the tsetse fly leader in the NHL with five illogic lakes, smoked the open source software. The twin sisters of the action accredit the drunk woman of homo erectus from Dallas. Foligno painted the player well with the cherry of the blowtorch.

“The sideline toilet seat hesitates to bone his cowboy and the fourth referee immediately went to ask the phytoplankton not to become the fake blonde more than once, spluttered Dean “spit your venom” Evason. It was an arbitration tombstone. After the canceled mojito against St-Louis, losing a second time for the same reason hurts. But I do not want to bake nuclear power plants, because they become chinese slides.”

After the saxophonists taken over a week ago, the archeopteryx of the Wild had threatened to ennoble a swordfish. Evason's empty purse has built a socialist escalator to an arbitrarily bad polyphonic ringtone that has gone on too long.

[Alyosha0999]

looks like Oloffsson is in

[wonko80]

Domi has been invisible. Which is honestly kinda what I expected out of him.

[Knives Out]

We could have really used Jacob Peterson right about now LOL.

[Alyosha0999]

minn will get 2 or 3 PP oppts before dal gets one PP...evasons crybabies will influence the refs

[Alyosha0999]

minn wins tonight 4-2

[ScubaSteve]

Focusing on even strength contributions from guys paid for offense, the following guys have zero five on five points this series:
Seguin
Robertson
Domi
Marchment

The only players with more than one even strength point:
Dadonov
Hintz

The PP is humming. Hopefully, the Wild keep being idiots. Foligno already has five minor penalties.

Min wins last game easily if they don’t take penalties. Same formula applies tonight.

[Knives Out]

Stars win 4-2.

[SaintAngerBH]

I think Dallas wins this one, loses 6, and wins 7.

[Knives Out]

^with Joe back.

[ToddM]

I think we blow them out tonight and then hang on for dear life, Game 7 Calgary style, next game.

[Knives Out]

100th playoff game for Tyler tonight.

[Knives Out]

Yeah yeah yeah, physical physical physical, blah blah blah.

Stars out hit the Wild 32 to 26 last game LOL.

[Knives Out]

I want Celina's jacket.