(beeping) With your MX card entertainment benefits like special ticket access and pre-sills to select camp miss events while supplies last, make every tap music to your ears. (upbeat music) - Welcome to the "Tell It Abs It Is" podcast. You're home for everything Colorado Avalanche on the hockey podcast network. Here's your hosts, Griffin Youngs and Christian Boulay. (upbeat music) - Hello everybody, welcome back to another edition of the "Tell It Abs It Is" podcast on the hockey podcast network. I'm Griffin Youngs joined by Christian Bolay as always, and we finally have our opponent for the second round after a week of waiting, the Avalanche will play the Dallas Stars in round two. They beat the Vegas Golden Knights in game seven. They win that series in seven games, and they get a grand total of one day off before they got to host the abs in game one of the second round, and I'm very excited for this series. This was meant to be. This has been coming for a long time. This is the second time these teams have met in this era of the abs. Obviously last time was 2020. Dallas won that in a game seven over time, but these are still different teams in that way, where there are a lot of changes have been made. The Avalanche have won a championship since that series. Dallas has brought in a lot of new franchise faces during that time, and you are set up now for what is in my opinion, not just the second round series, but battle for supremacy in the central division, taking over the crown as the team to beat in the central. - Yeah, first off we're going, it's good to see it, man. I mean, it's rare when we're in the playoffs that we haven't talked in like a week. I haven't seen your face, it's weird. That's probably the longest we'll go in between episodes, even during the season. That's an off season thing where you take a week off, but this was meant to be. These two teams have battled it out for the past four years. They haven't matched up in the playoffs since the bubble, and I would be lying. I was cheering for Vegas to win just because I wanted home ice advantage, but in all actuality, I don't think either of these teams is an easy matchup for the abs. None of them are. - They're in the playoffs. - Yeah, you're in the second round of the playoffs, like it's going to be a difficult opponent, and you have to face a Dallas team who last time you played them was not great. You kind of got your ass kicked by them, but like you said, the stars just had to give everything they had to beat Vegas in seven. And in a weird way, I do think they're going to have an advantage in game one just because they'll be in like a good, like, what's the word for it? - It'll be in a rhythm. - Yeah, it'll be in a rhythm 'cause it's just a day off and then they bounce back. The abs haven't played since it'll be a week since they last played. So I do look at that going into game one as a slight advantage for the Dallas stars. And the way the abs were playing offensively in the first round, you have to feel good, but the way Jake Ottinger played in the first round against Vegas after game one, that's also a concern. Jake Ottinger looks like he's back to the Jake Ottinger we know and love. - Yeah, the Dallas looks like they've found their rhythm after starting slow in the first two games against Vegas. The abs looked incredible in their five game win over Winnipeg. These are two fantastic teams meeting at the peak of their power in a series that I'm calling anyone underdog or a favorite feels disingenuous. Like this is a true genuine push of a series where I am stunned if either team wraps this series up in less than six games. I cannot even fathom a situation where that would happen. I know we said that about Winnipeg last round two. Dallas is better than Winnipeg. They're a better opponent than with at a base level. Dallas is not gonna have the same level of meltdown that Winnipeg had at several points in that series where there are gonna be points where the abs are rolling and the Dallas is just gonna do a better job at stopping them. Winnipeg could not do that. They just didn't really have the guys to do that. Dallas does. They have those guys that can at very least match some of the foot speed of the average, have a lot more skill, a lot more talent, better structure, better coaching, just a deeper roster. This is a fantastic team. This is going to be a fantastic series between, again, two teams at their best. But I agree with your point that Dallas, probably like maybe the first period of game one is gonna be a little fresher. But I think rest does matter in the playoffs. - Oh, it does. It does. That's what I'm saying. I think game one will be a little surprising, like maybe the first period, 'cause the abs, there's gonna be a rhythm. But I do think as this series goes on, you will see the benefit of the abs having a week off. You will see it. - Exactly. And like Dallas, yeah, they're gonna have a rhythm, but that series against Vegas. Dallas was the better team in that series. The right team won that series, but that was a close series. There was not a lot separating those teams. Like for any other team, you'd say you almost feel bad for Vegas, but you don't feel bad for Vegas in this situation at all. But it's one of the situations like that could have been a best in nine series. Like this series, it probably should have been longer with how close those two teams were. Dallas did have the edge, but they had to fight and grind in that series. Come back from 2-0 down and win two games on the road, and then not be able to close it out in game six and come back home for game seven, where it's like, yeah, you're gonna be in your rhythm right away, but playoff hockey is taxing. And that kind of playoff hockey is taxing as you get deeper into this series. Like the mileage is gonna start to add up for Dallas. I don't know how big of an advantage that's going to be for the abs. It might not mean anything in this series, but I do think it is something that's going to add up. And the abs are a team that if your legs are a little bit behind, they're not gonna make you feel any better. The Avalanche loved to push the pace. And if there's one thing Vegas did not do against Dallas in that series, that was push the pace. - Oh, I don't think Vegas is built to push the pace. - Exactly. When Colorado is a very different opponent for the stars to face, where pushing the pace is their thing. That's like what they do best. So Dallas is going to have to very rapidly adjust to how the abs play hockey and how are they going to muddy up the neutral zone and how are the abs going to take advantage of that in that series. And another interesting part too is watching Nils Lundquist's "Ice Time." - Wait, what, like four minutes? - Like almost playing like five defense men in that series. I wonder how long that lasts in this series against the abs because the abs, the way they played Winnipeg are going to drive that team to exhaustion quick. That's the case. - Yep, and it's, if the abs do have one advantage, it's, I think the one weakness that Dallas stars have is their decores is kind of shit, but it's not shit. I take that back. They have some good players. - It's good. - They have some good players, Tannif's good, Mira Hayskunden's top 10 defense men, Ryan Suter's old. I mean, you can take advantage of Ryan Suter. I don't know if Yanni Hawkepop is going to be back. I don't know. He's missed. They were expecting him back. And then Lindell, Essel Lindell, he's okay. And Chris Tannif is good. Like, it's a good defense core, but if the abs do have an advantage, it's there. The decore matchup against the abs is not pretty for the Dallas stars. - I will say this, it is better than Winnipeg's decore. This Dallas decore, I think matches up better with the abs decore, but the abs still definitively have the edge. - Yeah. - Kayle McCar is in a class of his own in terms of tiers of defense men in this series, where Thomas Harley had a very good regular season. He was one of my saviors on my fantasy team this year, picking him up off of waivers. And against Vegas, he had one assist. Like his points have started to crash down a little bit. Hayskunden was good. He had five points in a goal. Lindell had nothing. Chris Tannif I think was exactly what they wanted him to be. When they traded for him, where they were, I think it was five nothing when Tannif was on the ice, in terms of either goals or scoring chances, they don't have that stat in front of me, but Tannif was very, very good in that series and exactly what that defense needs. And then they're also playing Ryan Souter out there and not Nill's love quest. So the abs at very least are playing six defense men. You could say what you want about Jack Johnson, but they play him. - He'll play 10 minutes. - He'll play 10 minutes and take some minutes off of the guys on the top. I'm very interested to see how long the Nill's love quest thing last, whether they actually start to play him or just replace him at all. 'Cause it almost feels point, like he averaged 430 in that series against Vegas. - It was like every time he was on the ice, it felt like Vegas scored. - Yeah, but at a certain point, you might as well just play an extra forward or something and just play with 5D rather than lie to yourself. - Yeah, I don't know, but it is going to be interesting what happens with the Ani Hawkenpuff. 'Cause if he comes in, they do have 60. And Hawkenpuff is, he's a big guy. - He's a big guy, but that feels like it could be a Logan Stanley situation where you go. - Oh, I completely agree. I don't think it's much of an improvement. It's still better than what Lundquist isn't putting up for him though. - Yeah, and defensively, the abs definitely have the edge. I think Dallas is better than Winnipeg defensively where a Meryl Heisken in much like a Josh Morrissey is going to be able to stand up to the abs. Whether or not he does that well will yet to be seen, but Morrissey was able to do things against the abs, not a lot, but things. Heisken is probably going to be in that same boat just a little better. And Thomas Harley, I think, is an experienced guy that the abs can probably go out and target in that series. Lindell and Tannev is gonna be a tough pair to go up against, they're probably gonna line match that against the abs top line and their top pair whenever they can. But the abs, we don't have to spend a ton of time defensively, I think that's their silver bullet in this series, none other than Kilmercar and all the guys they got beneath them. - Yeah, and it's where the abs are gonna have to improve because you can put out McCar and Taves against one of the Dallas' top three lines, which are all very good. But it's gonna come down to Josh Manson, Sam Girard, how they match up against potentially probably the Sagan line, Sagan and Duchenne. That's gonna be interesting. And then you have the Sean Walker and Jack Johnson line going up against, I know Marchman's still out, but that third line of Wyatt Johnson, Jamie Ben, like that. The stars have four really good lines. Like they are a very deep team and through five games in the playoffs so far, we've seen the abs have been able to match with their depth. It's just going to be can the depth continue to produce? Because I know what we're gonna get from McKinnon and Ranch and into McCar. I know what we're gonna get. Can Casey Milestag continue to do what he did against Winnipeg? I think so. I think his playstyle matches up well against Dallas. Arturi Lekinen, we know when Arturi Lekinen is, he's gonna be great. And Zach Parisi/Mileswood/Duhane, maybe Jonathan Druand later in the series. The abs can match up better with Dallas than they would have I'd say since the cup year with depth. It's just going to be can that depth continue to produce like they did against Winnipeg? Yeah, I think you're gonna get enough from your depth in this series. Based on what we saw against Winnipeg, you don't have to worry about guys not showing up. I don't know if you get the same caliber of depth scoring that you got in the jet series where it just felt like every single line was in all the time. But I look at a guy like Trenen where that's gonna be a big factor in the bottom six as a guy who's just gonna constantly outwork you, a guy like Duhane, I am a little concerned about the health of the forward core right now. Obviously you still don't have Jonathan Druand. There's already talks of Chris Wagner might. I don't like that. I don't like that. I don't like it. I get why because Kovalenko, he made some mistakes in the Winnipeg series, but Chris Wagner is kind of a nothing burger to me. Yeah, there's just like, it's safer. It's a, Chris Wagner is probably not gonna have that mistake Kovalenko didn't get involved. He loses his position and gives that up. I can't, it's such a round the margins kind of thing that you can't nitpick it too much because that's Kiviranta's spot. When Kiviranta comes back healthy, that's his spot. And he was great against Winnipeg in that series. And that's just another storyline that you carry into this series is Kiviranta. No introduction needed. Game seven winner back in 2020 for the other guys and now slotting back in for the abs against his old team here. And if they can get Kiviranta back, I think that's a good kick to the bottom six. And Jonathan Drewann is a total wild card right now. He's traveling with the team to Dallas. I don't think that's much of a surprise. He means the playoffs where else would he be right now. He's gonna be with the team. I don't really know if he's gonna play the first two games. I don't know if he even plays the first four games just based on the lack of practice footage we've seen. As of late, there's always stuff going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. But I think he might come back in this series. I'm not certain, but if he does, that's just a free top six forward that the abs are throwing right back into this. And I think the way Winnipeg was playing the abs, set them up to get away with that a little more. I do think to push this over the finish line, getting Jonathan Drewann back is going to be a vital part of that. - You're adding a 50-point player back into your lineup. We saw what he did all regular season. Based on the language, for those who don't know him, if you don't know him, I haven't been on Twitter, but he suffered a laceration to his leg in that Edmonton game in the fall game the regular season. It was said it would be a four to six week timeline. So we're right up on the four week timeline coming up. I agree with you. I think there's a 0.1% chance he plays in games one and two. I would say there's a 30% chance he plays in three or four. And I think game five, if it goes to five, would be the earliest we see him. - I got a pretty good inkling this series is gonna hit five games. - I mean, I do too, but you just never know. - You never, never know. If this series is a sweep for either side, I don't know anything about hockey. - Yeah, well, we've proven that. We don't know anything about hockey. - It's just like, okay, I can't even act anymore. I can't keep up this beside. I don't know. - And I mean, if you think about Dallas as an overtime goal away from being down three nothing in that series in Vegas, like it's a game of inches. And I just, it's gonna be a really fun series. I think the abs match up well, they've had pretty decent success against the stars in the regular season, granted two of them worth multi goal comebacks, that the stars really just blew that game. I don't think that's gonna happen in this series. It's just the abs offensively were a wagon against Winnipeg. The post game or the post season presser for Connor Hellbuck, I felt kind of bad for him. The way he was talking about, like I felt kind of bad for him. My favorite part was I felt like I was on the top of my game. Like the game was coming easy to me. And then I played the abs and- - He couldn't see the puck is what he said. Like on half the goals that win the net, I couldn't see the damn thing. The abs did a good job of getting in front of him. And I think going back to your earlier point of talking about Jake Ottinger, think he was the second best goalie of the first round statistically is what I saw. He was a 9.25. Yeah, he was a 9.25 in that series against Vegas. And that's well and good. Like that's, Jake Ottinger's a really good goalie. Like the numbers he had in the regular season were weird for a reason, because you know that he is better than that. And so I'm not surprised that he's coming into the series pretty good and hot, but I believe Connor Hellebuk, when he said he was playing the best hockey of his career, it just, it didn't matter all that much when the abs really just win after them and push them off of their game. Like I still think Jake Ottinger is gonna be a very important part of the series. He'll steal a game too in the series. Like he's, we're not having the five goal thing again. No, that's not, like that's not happening here. Where five straight games, they're scoring five or six goals a game. Like this series is gonna get dragged down a lot more into the, you gotta win a game two to one. You gotta, a four or two game almost feels high scoring in a sense kind of games. Like Dallas is going to do a good job at neutralizing what the abs do, but I think what's getting lost in translation from the Winnipeg series is that the abs can't do that. The abs didn't need to do that against Winnipeg because the Jets did not do a good job at neutralizing their game. So the abs just kept scoring. They didn't have to shut the game down all that much. And then the times that they did, they did a pretty decent job of it too. Where I think a lot of people are looking at what the abs did and saying that, well, the abs can't score, they're not gonna be able to win the series. The abs are gonna be able to neutralize the stars. - They're gonna score, it's just not five goals game. - Yeah, not five goals game. - There might be a couple times they score five goals in a game, I'm not gonna discount that at all, but there's probably going to be very important swing games of this series where it goes to overtime, it's two to one. Or like the last several days, nothing, nothing going into the third period. There were several of those over the last several days where probably it was three in a row that were zero zero going into the third period. There might be some of those games in there where it just is gonna take someone just making the right play at the right time and making the right decisions being in the right place to ultimately swing that game. Where you look at the Vancouver Nashville game six, Nashville gets a bounce their way, that series goes seven. Dallas gets a bounce their way in game six, they don't even go to game seven. In the Toronto Boston game seven, if Hampus Lindholm doesn't make that perfect pass off the boards, we could be talking about Toronto being through 'cause that's just what the playoffs are. The Winnipeg series is almost an anomaly in that sense where it was stressful a little bit, but when it really got down to the end of the games, the results were never that much in doubt. - No, the most stressful we were was game one. And that was just because they were scored three goals and almost came back from a seven, three deficit. - Yeah, like it's, I don't think that was a proper introduction to a playoff hockey is gonna be like we, we as app fans, we've been living the good life for the past week, like it's been great. Like life's been good, we haven't had to take, yeah, we haven't had to deal with the playoff overtime game yet, which will happen. - It's going well, trust me, you will get that back in spades coming up. - Like it's going, it wouldn't surprise me if this has three overtime games in the series. - These teams are that close. I really do think these teams are neck and neck. Dallas has their advantages, but the abs have their advantages in this series. And someone's gonna have to lose this series. So a really, really good Stanley Cup contender is going to bow out before the final four here. And it's gonna come down to probably who gets the bounces their way in this series, who gets the player that just carves through the defense, deep into an overtime, deep in the series and makes a play. I think the abs have the facilities to do that. They have the guys that can absolutely take over a game. And one thing that Dallas should be very concerned about is like, yeah, Nathan McKinnon and Micho Ranton had nine points in five games in that series. There's still another level where they can reach in the series. And they know that there's another level that they can reach in this series. And is bound to choosing to tour seven goals in five games again? It'd be nice, but I don't think so. - I think he's gonna at least get five. - I think Val is gonna have an outstanding series. Like Val and Lecky, it's almost a given that they're gonna be very important players in this series. And they're gonna have very timely goal. Like these over times we're talking about, I'd be shocked if either one of them doesn't have at least one. And overall game winners in this series, they're incredibly clutch players that know how to play in the playoffs. And yeah, back to the point, McKinnon and Ranton, they have another level to reach and they were almost two points a game in that series against Winnipeg. And Cal McCar is back to his old bullshit and just torturing guys over and over again. And I think even defensively, there's another level that he can reach in his game in this series. And when everything else is so close in this series, the difference is going to be that. The abs are going to need their top guns to be special. They're gonna need them to probably have maybe not two points a game, but like 1.8 against the stars feels different than 1.8 against Winnipeg in a way. - Oh, if Mico and Nate have nine points again in the series, they're winning the series. - That's my point. Overall is that to push this series over the finish line, they're gonna need that extra kick from their top guys. But I have faith in everyone else that they're gonna pull their weight enough to keep this series close enough to set up those moments from their stars. Like game five against Winnipeg. The abs, they got enough from the rest of their guys. They got a depth goal from Trenen. They got Val to set one up in the first period. They got an own goal that ends up being given the leki, sets up the moment for Mico Ranton in the score two goals. Nathan McKinnon to speed up the ice and put the dagger in for the fifth goal to Rantonan. And they're gonna need more of that in this series. And Dallas has those guys. But they do not to this degree. And it's not an insult to say. - Dallas has a lot of star players. They don't have superstar players. - Dallas has a lot of top tier talent. They are a deep team. They have good players up and down their roster. They have Jason Robertson, who had a very good series against Vegas, but he had five points. He had three goals in that series. He had five points. McKinnon and Rantonan had an off series and had nine. There is a level to this. And that's not an insult against Jason Robertson, who I really enjoy as a player. But Rope Hintz needs more than one point in this series. For Dallas to not only advance to do well, if their top line center is gonna end up being Wyatt Johnson, who had seven points in that series. - I'm gonna say it right now, Wyatt Johnson's the player. I'm most scared of going into the series. - He's such a wild guard. I mean. - He scares the shit out of me, man. That kid's good. - He's awesome. - He scares the shit out of me. - I was really banking on the playoffs, being really daunting for him coming into it. And that's just not true. - That dude scares the shit out of me. - He has played two game sevens in his life and has scored in both of them. Kid doesn't give a fuck. The kid's a monster. He had four goals in that series against Vegas. He had seven points. He led the entire team. Pretty sure he led the entire series as well. And clutch goals, like he had the overtime goal that got Dallas back into the series. He opens the scoring off the turnover in game seven. Like, that's a guy you just, you don't have a lot for right now. Not a lot of film. You don't have much idea on how to stop him. He's 20. That's a really different guy that you haven't had to deal with a lot on this Dallas team in the past where Rope Hintz having one goal in the series didn't matter all that much. - It's kind of bullshit. The stars have done a great job in building this team. I honestly think this is the toughest playoff opponent the abs have had in this run. - Yep. - Like, you can say what you want about Tampa Bay. I thought the abs better than Tampa Bay. This one, like you could convince me that Dallas is better than the abs. Like, this is the first time in a long time. I feel like the abs are the slight underdog here. And that's just testament to how good Dallas is. Like, this is going to be probably the toughest opponent the abs face. - And even then it's like slight. Again, like I think total push right down the middle. If you're, if I'm making the betting odds, it's completely even on both sides. Cause I can see arguments for Dallas being better. I can see arguments for the abs being better. And for the stars to not be able to handle the abs pace of play after playing Vegas. And I can see how Dallas would be able to slow them down and grind this series out, draw it deep and bring back those game seven demons and ultimately win the series. Like, there are multiple ways for each team to win this series. And, but when depth, like I said, is kind of a wash like it is. Like maybe you give Dallas right now the edge where Drew Ann is out. There's no Logan O'Connor coming through the door. Obviously no gay blandace God coming through the door. - Oh dude, is this not a gay blandace God series though? - It would be a gay blandace God series. A hundred percent it would be a gay blandace God series. But this is not where we are right now. Based on the footage that I've seen from him in practice, like it just doesn't strike me as a guy who's coming back not just this series, but these playoffs. - It strikes me as a guy who may play in December. - It strikes me as a guy who needs an off season to not be rushed out of this. Just to fully get this conversation out of the way where they've done so much work rehabbing this injury. By the time-- - They have to get it right. They have to get it right. - By the time the Stanley Cup has handed out, it'll have been two years since his last game and two years rehabbing this injury with surgeries and like they can't get this wrong. This is not the kind of situation where it's like, all right, we need a boost. Landy, do you feel like you're getting, no, like they're not gonna do that shit. - They're almost, I feel like they're gonna have to hold Landy back and that's gonna piss him off, but you need a healthy gay blandace God. And it's just, you're right. You see the videos of him. He looks like a guy who is getting close, like not getting close, like he's getting better. - It's just as a guy who is getting his strength back in his legs and is gonna need five more months, probably at least with a full off-season program and probably a training camp to ramp back up. And like, I just can't imagine they throw him out, even if they win this series, throwing him out there against Edmonton, the Western Conference. I just can't imagine that's the case. - I think earliest we see him as maybe December next year. Like they have to get this right. And he needs to be like 110% before he comes back. But regardless, I agree, it's a gay blandace God series, but Valentin Tushkin is kind of filling in for what gay blandace God does. So it's a good thing problem to have. And the way Casey Milestack played last series, that's a thing we haven't had since not as a cadre. And if Casey Milestack can continue to do what he's doing, and I'm not expecting, 'cause what was he? Like a point and a half per game in that series against Winnipeg or clothes do it? - Yeah, he was in 1.2. He had six points in five games in that series. - Like I'm not expecting that. If he can be 0.75 points a game, just don't he? - Be a second line center. - Yep. - Be the second line center, take the heat off the top guys, 'cause there was a point in the Winnipeg series where it was pretty like the top line for the ad is not the one that's super dangerous right now. The Jets have no answer for the second line. - And they're-- - And the lines for the second or third line. - Yeah, they're tearing them the shreds right now. The Casey Milestack line is destroying Mark Schifley, where if you can get that again and get that boost from your top guys, the thing about the abs is that their fastball is better than everyone else's. - 100%. - And they're on, there's nothing you can do about it. There's nothing-- - There's no team that can beat 'em in the league when they're playing like they did in game. What was it, game four against Winnipeg? There's no team that can beat them. - There's nothing that they can do about it. Like Dallas can fight all they want. The abs play like that, it's over. Edmunds, when they play against the abs going like that, it's over. Every team in the East, the abs are playing like that. They can't beat 'em. The abs when they have their fastball are unstoppable. But it's just a matter of how well can Dallas enforce their game? And how well can the yabs respond to that and continue to push the pace? - I'm gonna make a bold prediction here. I don't think it's Jamie Bim. We're gonna hate most of this series. I think it's gonna be Tyler Sagan. Like he's just, I feel like he's just gonna be like, he's gonna just fucking piss me off this entire series. Like Jamie Bim, I know what Jamie Bim is. Like his father is Josh Manson. So I'm not worried about Jamie Bim. But Tyler Sagan's gonna piss me off this series. I just have a feeling it's gonna be fucking Tyler Sagan's bitch ass who's gonna piss me off. And he got under the skin of Patrangelo. And what was that game five? Or was that game seven where Patrangelo took that elbow to elbow to him or high stick him in the face? I think it was game five. - I think it was five. - Yeah, 'cause he's in an elbow game. Sucker punched him. - Yeah, like Tyler Sagan's gonna do that shit and gonna piss me off. But it's just gonna be a good hard-fought series. And the biggest thing going into this series, 'cause I know the abs are gonna show up offensively. I know they're gonna show up defensively. What Alexander Giorgiiv are we getting? And there was a little bit of panic today. I know you felt it. At my new job, I have no self service. So it's like I wasn't able to check Twitter. And just seeing the timeline of fans like freaking out and then finding out, Jerry Bednar said it was just maintenance for Giorgiiv today, that was fun. I enjoyed that. But what Alexander Giorgiiv are we getting? 'Cause if we're getting the one we got in Winnipeg, I think the abs win the series. If we're getting even a 910, I think the abs can win the series. But you can't get by with the 880 of the series. - Yeah, I mean, that's just the elephant in the room is gonna be the gold-ending in the series where Giorgiiv is gonna have to outdo a outinger in certain game. And he was able to do it against Connor Halibuk 'cause the abs forged Connor Halibuk multiple times. But going back to, there's gonna be those two, one, three to two games. Like you're gonna need big saves and you're gonna need more of them in this series. Like you look at game seven with Boston and Toronto. Samsung have only led in two goals, but the one he led in and regulation kind of sucked. - Too bad. - The one he gave up to Hampus Lindholm, that's a shitty goal to give up in that situation where you can't have that kind of thing in the playoffs where Giorgiiv, he was really good in the final four games of that Winnipeg series. I gave him the first star of the series. He's the reason that series turned around the way that it did and allowed the abs to be comfortable. That's the thing. If Giorgiiv keeps it up and allows the abs to play their game, knowing that he's got him, like you're not gonna stop every single thing, but one mistake is not automatically going to end up in the back of your net. That's gonna keep the abs in their mindset that they can just play their game. Do their thing, their goaltender's got their back. If he's reverting back to that 900-ish level where it's just not enough, it's going to affect their mindset and it's going to slow them down. You're gonna see the defense stop trying to play the transition game and that's going to allow Dallas to enforce their game a lot more. A lot of this is just a mental chess match in this series where it's gonna be Jared Bednar going up against Peter Boor again, a coach that beat him a couple of times in the playoffs and they're just gonna be sitting at that chess board going back and forth all series. But if Giorgiiv is just okay in this series, that's definitely advantage Dallas 'cause Ottinger is gonna be fine in this series. I think the abs are going to bring down the safe percentage by the end of it. I don't think Ottinger is going to finish with what do you have in 9.25. I don't think he's gonna finish with that in this series. That safe percentage is going to go down because that's what the abs do. What they did to Connor Hellabuck, very few of those I feel like were on Connor Hellabuck where the abs are gonna be able to push the game below the goal lines and block his site visions, make some nice passes cross-crease that he just can't stop. And much like the Winnipeg series, they're gonna need saves. That same they got from Giorgiiv in game three on Tyler Tafoli that kept it a 2-1 deficit. They're gonna need more of those. And if they get those, we're talking, we're really talking at that point that Dallas just doesn't have a ton where they're that much better than the abs. - Yeah, I do believe that the abs are going to score some goals on J. Gottinger. Just the way they play is going to be tough for Ottinger to handle. It's just gonna be, like you said, can Giorgiiv make those big saves? And I kind of think he has his mojo back. I kind of think that series was against Winnipeg. We saw his rock bottom and he's slowly climbing back up. And again, we're not asking for Giorgiiv to be perfect. If he's nine, 10, nine, 15, I think he asked him on the series in five or six, but it's just going to be what Giorgiiv are we gonna get. We hopefully have a healthy use to sand in him, which is gonna be nice. And I'm not saying I think Giorgiiv has made his leash a little bit longer. A lot longer, but there is still a chance we see you to sand it in the series. And that's gonna be tough because and it hasn't played now in like almost three weeks. - I think that is a big thing more than anything else. Like if Giorgiiv's not going to have a game one again, like that was historically bad. But I also don't think if Giorgiiv is struggling in this series, I struggle to see them now turning to Ananan, where now it's been several weeks at this point. Giorgiiv went through a full playoff series and you know that he can do it on it. Like they're not gonna press the nuclear button and throw Ananan in there to catch the blame instead and start a goalie controversy going into the off season where I agree. I think Giorgiiv has his mojo back and it can be fickle at times. All it takes is a bad game and all of a sudden the mojo is gone. But I think having such a great series and I think everyone's on board now because there was frustration late in the season. Like there's that video that was circulating. I think it was the first game that I'd mentioned that they won were ranting it. Like Giorgiiv said something to ranting it and he freaked out on him in overtime. And the one I always point to is the seventh goal against Winnipeg, Kyle Connor scores that goal and Lacon and throwing his hands up kind of thing where I think that all got worked out. I think everyone is on the same page now and they're all here to support each other and like make sure that we all get through this because this is an experienced team. It is kind of a weird thing to say because we've got so used to so long this being like the inexperienced unrooving team that still needs to show it. But what we saw in the Winnipeg series was kind of the first example of this team has now been through it a couple of times. They know the difference between not giving enough and giving enough and seeing the direct difference in the results where they against Dallas just couldn't get that series over the finish line even though they came back from down. - Oh, granted they were down to Michael Hutchinson. - Yeah, they're down to Michael Hutchinson in that but they still have that game in their grasp and they know the difference and they know the sting of defeat from San Jose and Dallas. And like I think the Vegas series was the ultimate turning point for the maturity of this team where it's like, okay, we won two games in a row and then Vegas pushed us around for four games in a row. That kind of effort's not gonna cut like they're trying hard but the details were not there and Vegas was enforcing their game in that series. - That abs team that lost to Vegas may be one of the greatest abs teams to accomplish absolutely nothing. - Yeah, that team was so fucking good. - And that's just the thing where they go into the next playoffs and they had mental problems in that run. They probably should have only lost two games, that entire run, but they game five against St. Louis, they blow a four to one lead. - They almost killed you, you literally almost died. - Literally almost passed out and died at the game, not even because like from winning. Like, can I assume a cannon that just won that game at that point, right, a pass out and die. Like, I don't know if I've ever even told this story on the show, but I was like nervous in overtime. It was like, this thing goes deep. I might be in some trouble here. Like this could get really bad. - It was, they almost killed you. How quickly does this series, how quickly will abs fans freak out that the second round demons aren't gone? Like, how quickly do we hear that? - Okay, because here's my thing. Okay, well, you said second round demons. I thought you were referring to Dallas here, but just, Dallas-- - Well, both. I mean, the Dallas demons real thing. Like, they haven't beaten Dallas in a playoff series in forever. - But that's the thing. They've only played Dallas like once over the last couple of years. - Yeah, no, it's mostly a '90s and early 2000s. - Yeah, mostly '90s, early 2000s. It's three, two. Like, Dallas just won the recent one, and now it's three to two, but like, that's the thing. That was one series where you didn't have your goalies. Seven game series, game seven overtime, painful. Absolutely. I think demons getting thrown around a little liberally here, where it's, Dallas is a team that you have to overcome. And a team that you would like to get that series back. Demon, I think, is reserved for Boston, Toronto. Like, capitals, penguins of the older. Like, if Dallas wins this series, I'm on board with that. This is a team that you have to overcome at a certain point. But I fully believe that they can. Nothing from the previous series makes me believe that Dallas just has this team's number. The regular seasons between these two have been ready even. And I don't know if Dallas's style is just such a hard counter for the yabs that they just can't beat them. And, again, like, I think demon is a little strong. Like, they are a competitor, absolutely. This is a team that, regardless of if you play them in 2020 or not, this is not the last time you're seeing them. There are going to be several runs to the Stanley Cup that you're gonna have to go through Dallas. And Dallas has built this team, knowing at some point you're probably gonna go through the yabs. And probably, like this, in an alternate universe, this is the third year in a row we see the series. Where the cup year, if not for Nashville blowing, what, for nothing lead in the final game, it would have been Dallas in round one. And then if the yabs were not injured to shit or didn't have a goal taken away in game seven against Seattle, Zabs Dallas in round two last year, it just would have been the third year in a row. We almost got robbed of it for a third year in a row if game seven against Vegas went differently for Dallas. So yeah, like, yeah, you want that 2020 series back. It'll make you feel a lot better to win this series and be able to put that in the rearview mirror. But you want a title since then. - Yeah. - Like just, I've seen that thrown around. I'm not pointing this at you, but like, I've just seen it thrown around a lot lately that Dallas is this demon that needs to be slayed. - Well, you already know that's gonna be the ESPN narrative. But it's, we all, we don't have to talk about that. It is a sad day because there's no more out to two games to watch. We are stuck with the national broadcasts. And I think ESPN has what, like four or five of the games, which blows, like I would each rather have the TNT crew, at least TNT, like they produce a good game. Having to watch it on ESPN is gonna fucking suck. And all I hope is that we get, why am I blanking on that guy's name? The not Sean McDonough, who's the second guy? - Bob Schusen. - Bob Schusen, if we get Bob Schusen, I'll be happy. That's all I want. Or Steve Levy, just not Sean McDonough. Just not Sean McDonough, please. - Yeah, yeah, ESPN, they've got a rough set of announcements. Bob is the best of the best, in my opinion, but the rest can be pretty brutal. - Like even like, I felt like Sean McDonough's call for the Bruins Leafs game was good, but like, can you imagine Bob Schusen in that moment? That would have been bad. - Like, you compare that to old Doc. - Yeah. - Kenny, like, it just, it lacks the same, um. - Yeah, and we've talked about, I think Sean McDonough just, he's a football voice. He's a football- - He's a football voice, but also Bob is a football voice. So there's no excuse. - Yeah, I don't know, Sean McDonough's good. Like, I like Ray Ferraro, but regardless, having to go to ESPN broadcast after I was able to watch altitude for the whole first round is gonna suck, mostly because that channel's always behind on Fubo. Always, like, I'm gonna be a good 30, 40 seconds behind people. - Yeah, yeah, so. - I'm gonna have to not check Twitter as often, 'cause I know Evan and Jesse and Megan are just going to just be minute ahead of me. So I'm just gonna have to mute it, but-- - Welcome to my world. - Hi now, hi now. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be a late night series, which not great for me and you with our jobs, but we're ready for it. Saturday, especially that game starts at eight, at least it's a Saturday, so I'm really not upset about that one. The joy of everyone thinking more West Coast team is gonna be great. - Yeah, I guess they just think we're in California. The game was game three starting at nine o'clock in Texas. What fucking genius thought that was a good idea? 'Cause it's eight o'clock in Colorado, it's gonna be nine o'clock in Dallas. Ooh, the fuck thought this was okay. - Yeah, and are we playing the same days as the Bruins Panthers or the-- - Carolina, New York. - Oh, that's even worse. Because the other-- - Yeah, 'cause we just got total second billing. - Yeah, New York's gonna get fucking blown by the entire series, the league. But I think we covered everything that we wanted to talk about in here. Let's get into the meat and potatoes. Series prediction, I'll go first because I don't want you to steal mine. I think it's going to be a very close series. Again, if the abs can go into Dallas and win one or two, I feel pretty good about the abs. Worst case scenario, two, two going back to Dallas. I think the abs get it done in six again. I'm gonna say the abs win in six. I think your game is rock solid. I think Ottinger's going to play well, but the way this abs team was playing, man. It's kind of a shame. They played so well, they got a week off, but they're going to have the advantage as the series goes on because Dallas, that was a tough series against Vegas. They had to fight and claw for everything they got. I think the abs, they may lose game one just because I think they're gonna be a little rusty. I think they're gonna bounce back game two and I think they win both at home and I think they win it on home ice in six. Yeah, I also have the abs in six games and it's again, I think this is a fantastic series. I think this is gonna be an incredibly close series. There are going to be several key points in this series where if Dallas gets a bounce their way, that can very easily swing the other way. There's gonna be some overtime games mixed in here. There's gonna be some key saves and some just superstar plays mixed in that ultimately make the difference. And I'll even do you one better, I'll go game by game. I think the abs win game one, I think Dallas wins game two. I think the abs win game three and Dallas wins game four and the abs win five and six. I think they're gonna split the first two home sets on both ends and the abs are gonna go into Dallas and win probably what we're gonna look back on as one of the most important games of the playoffs game five and Dallas and they're gonna finish the series at home. I agree, I think I just have a feeling the abs on home ice. When you get in ball arena and that crowd's going, it's really hard to beat the abs. And again, it's gonna be tough. So I just think it's gonna be three, one. I think Dallas wins game five and then game six, the abs win in like overtime. I think Ross Colton gets the game winner a series. So you're seeing a very similar series to the abs and blues in 2022. Correct, correct. It's just the abs are gonna be on the road for game five. I think that's kind of really the only difference is the abs are on the road for the series instead of being at home. Dallas is kind of built very similarly to that blues team where it's like they got the eight 20 goal score is narrative going for them. I think Dallas is definitely better than that. Same that we played, but it feels like a very similar series where they have more high end talent than the blues did and the better in goal than the blues are and a better top end defenseman than the blues had in that series. But I think this is an incredibly close series. It's just, it's so hard with the recency bias 'cause we've seen Dallas play what three times since the abs laughs played and you can't forget how good the abs were. I think that's been the problem whereas like it's been a slight edge in fan. I think the J fresh fan boot had at 55 45 Dallas. I think if you did that a week ago, it's very different. I think it's literally just attention span problems. Like that's a very real problem today. Like that's not a joke like attention. Without a team playing in the playoffs is basically like a month. Right, where like a week ago we're talking about the abs were the first team to score five plus goals in a five game playoff series every single night torch counter hella buck. Nothing the Jets could do kind of thing. And then Dallas beats Vegas, the defending champs in game seven, narrative switches back. That's just how I went. Recency bias 24 hour news cycles kind of thing. I really wouldn't read into those things all that much. And I think going seven against Vegas and having that series be as close as it is where the game went in goal in that series is a blind backhand from the. That's as awful but I think it was Martinez goes in. Yeah, it's a blind backhand from the fourth line in Radik Foxa who comes in to play that game. And like that that's the difference in the series. Like that's an exhausting series where I think the first four games are splits in the abs they win game five and Dallas and that game six coming back to Colorado. Round two is where it starts to be a grind where the adrenaline of the first round wears off and you really start to understand what you're getting into. The rest for the abs I think is going to come through later. And the potential addition of Jonathan drawn back into the lineup is huge. Yeah, like they, I think they just have to make it to that point and just get the reinforcements back. This series is going to be close. I think if any team wins two games in a row in this series that they're going to be hard pressed to lose it. Yeah, agreed, agreed. And also I, we love Raj on this show but when he pointed out just how bad the sightlines are at Dallas's arena, that's all I saw in game seven. And I was like, God damn it, Raj. Like now I'm good. That's all I'm going to be thinking about. The thing is is like how can you not notice it at this point? Like when everyone in that arena is standing up you cannot see. You can't see like the last minute of game seven I couldn't see the near side of the ice. It's the one time ESPN when they have the name plates that's actually useful because that's the only way you can know what's happening at that point. Like Raj pointed out to me, I'm like, damn it, Raj. That's all I'm going to see in these games. And it was just that pissed me out. Like I was watching game seven. I'm like, God damn it, he's so right. Like this is bullshit. Like you couldn't see. I thought Vegas was passing to a vacant point. I was like, what are you doing? Oh, there's there's someone that's buried behind there. You don't even know. Yeah. And I think ultimately just going back to the Vegas series is I think it's going to be a tough adjustment for Dallas to go from playing Vegas. A team that just didn't have a lot of pace to their game. Like that was my big complaint about Vegas was like, they're playing hard, but man, they're slow. Mark Stone, like that guy. He's already setting up the injury for next year. He's already doing it, but like little fishy, how it all went out, guy was like 70% in that year. He was not a hundred percent. And like Jonathan Marsha so looks slow. I call like the whole team just looks slow. And they tried to slog that series out with Dallas. And Dallas just took over at certain points. But I think it's a tough adjustment to go from okay, game seven, slow grinding series against Vegas. One day off, here come the rested Colorado Avalanche with 30 mile an hour burst Nathan McKinnon. Like that's a tough transition to making one day. They're professionals and they know how to play the app. Like they've done all this before. They're going to have their film sessions. But I think it's going to take them a little bit to get where the abs, they've had a little bit to look at this. Like yeah, they had the same time to prepare for Dallas as Dallas had, but they've definitely had their meetings about both teams and how to beat both of them. I think that is going to be an advantage for them in this series. - A hundred percent. So I'm going abs and six. You're going abs and six. We're going to do a little different pathway. But we do have some mailbag questions that we will do. And then we'll do our rest of the playoff recap. We've kind of touched on it. But while we're still talking about this series, let's do these mailbags. - Yeah. We got some good mailbag questions coming in today. I think we got about six of them that we can answer here right now. We'll start with a question from Austin, asking how does Manson screw this series up for us? - Ah, I don't want to be me to Josh Manson, 'cause I thought he actually played pretty well in Winnipeg. There are still moments where you just get used to it. Josh Manson treats the puck like a live grenade sometimes. And he will do that, but then he'll follow it up and make some good plays. - If Josh Manson can only treat the puck like a live grenade once in the series, I'll be happy. But I do know the way Josh Manson plays, he's a little reckless. But there's also some positives to his recklessness. Like he can be very good offensively and he can contribute. What do you have five points in that series against Winnipeg? - It's a surprising amount of points for Josh Manson. He finished with two goals and three assists in that series. - Right. Like I think you take the good and the bad with Josh Manson, you just hope the bad isn't catastrophic like it wasn't game one against Winnipeg. - Yeah, I think Josh Manson knows this too. I mean, he said in his availability after the Winnipeg series is that he does still need to get back to his game a little bit. Like that Winnipeg series is not Josh Manson. Whereas like he made a lot of mistakes, did a bad job in front of the net at times, but also was very good offensively. - Right. - Like just kind of a weird series. - I think it's gonna help having Sam Gerard back pair. - Yeah, like having his partner back, I think it's gonna do a lot for him. And I think a big thing you need to see from Josh Manson is a lot more of those defensive details where he's gonna need to be the guy that cleans the front of the net. But this series is gonna be won and lost in front of the net. You watch that Dallas Vegas series and you tell me how many of those goals are a direct result of work being done in front of the net. It's a lot of them. So Manson needs to do a good job of clearing guys out from in front of the net and doing a decent job on the penalty kill. And he's healthy and he was good in the Winnipeg series. There are things for him to be better in. There's gonna be times in this series, like you said, where you're gonna have the Josh Manson experience that just it needs to be a fun roller coaster. Instead of just going up the whole tie, like this is fucking brutal. - He's a big factor in it though. He's a big factor. He's like, you need Josh Manson to be good. - 'Cause the abs have the advantage on defense in large part because Josh Manson is a very good second bear to bench them. And Dallas, they don't have that same capability that when Josh Manson is on with Sam Gerard that Dallas just, they don't have that. They can't match that. So Manson does need to be on in this series and he does need to be big. - Great. - Cool. So moving on to the question from Jim asking, do you think anyone not named Joe Pavelsky or Matt Duschen scores a goal against the abs this entire series? - We talked about Wyatt Johnson scares the shit out of me. I do think JB Ben's gonna score a couple. Weirdly enough, like Robertson and hence, I think they're gonna be pretty quiet. It's just, you know Matt Duschen's probably gonna score four or five goals in the series. That's just not his. - Matt Duschen, he needed to be better in that series. - He needed to be better, but he always scores against the abs. - He always scores against the abs. But just Joe Pavelsky also had goose eggs in that series. Matt Duschen, like for Dallas to win the series, like they need more from him. And they do need more from Jason Robertson, not, I meant from Pavelsky, but also Jason Robertson. Five on five, I think the abs are gonna do a good job shutting them down. They're gonna need to watch a lot of film on the power play. Jason Robertson and do not give that boy any room to breathe. Cause Vegas did three times and three times it ended up in the back of the net. You give that guy any space whatsoever. And he just has an uncanny ability to find a hole in a goalie. - Yep, yep. Wyatt Johnson scares the shit out of me. I'm gonna be honest with you, right? I think Stan Colvin could have a big series too. - Yeah, but again, like the, it's weird to say about Dallas, but like they're, these guys are a little untested. I feel like Johnston's a little bit of an exception to that rule because he's been a very important guy, but like Stan Colvin had two points, all assists, Thomas Harley struggled a bit in that series. Like they, now is the grind of the playoffs. Like the first round is its own entity or going up against the defending Stanley Cup champs. But then there comes a point where you win the first round, whether you win in five, like the abs or you win in seven, like Dallas did. There comes a point where you realize that was only a quarter of the job, where now we like, you're in the second round against a harder opponent to only get to the conference final at this point where I am 23 and Wyatt Johnson is three years younger than I am. And thinking about where I was at 20, like your brain is simply just not developed yet. You've like, I got a good five years left before your brain's done cooking. And so for the younger guys in this series, they're going to have to be able to handle the grind of it. And I'm interested to see how Stan Colvin, Thomas Harley, I think to a lesser extent Wyatt Johnson, but just I want to see how those guys respond as the series shifts to Colorado, as the series starts to get worn down a little bit as Miles Wood takes a chunk out of you in the second round after you just bought your ass off in the first. I want to see how those younger guys respond for Dallas. - Agreed, agreed. But yeah, Joe Pavelsky and Matt Dushan will score goals. - Just single score goals, it is in their job. I think part of the reason Joe Pavelsky is still on the stars is that he's just good for a goal every game against the abs. Cool, so moving on to our next question from Jake C, another question about Matt Dushan, asking how do we feel towards Duchy or is that over? Who's D core gets the advantage in this series? I think production from back end wins this series. - Great point, we've been long aboard the train of Let It Go with Matt Dushan. It's been like six years, seven years. You won a championship, you got Sam Gerard. - And you beat him in the playoffs already. - Right, you got Bobar who you then turned into Casey Middleset. Him wanting a trade was one of the best things that happened to the Colorado Avalanche. So I still think he'll be booed just because fans want to boo and I'm not going to tell fans what to do, except don't do the wave. - Yeah, that's for my moral high ground end. I got no tolerance for the wave. - Yeah, no tolerance for the wave. But yeah, I mean, I've always loved Matt Dushan. I literally named my dog Dushan. Like that's my dog's name is Dushan. So yeah, I think it's time for it to be over, but you do you, man. And your point about the D cores, I 100% agree. I think the abs have the advantage of the D core and that D core is going to need to score like they did all regular season. - Yeah, the Dushan thing doesn't really bother me all that much. It's just kind of like a tradition at this point more than just like hard feelings. 'Cause like we've gotten our licks in on Matt Dushan over the years. The team immediately gets better. The moment he leaves ends is like that, that's the turning point where you split the errors of Avalanche hockey before and after the Matt Dushan trade where Matt Dushan gets traded. Team immediately makes the playoffs. Nathan McKinnon becomes one of the best players on Planet Earth. - Yeah, and like it has not missed the playoffs since that point and has won a championship beat Matt Dushan, swept Matt Dushan in the playoffs against Nashville when they went on to win the Stanley Cup. Not only did they win, they beat Matt Dushan to do it. Whereas like if they win this series against Dallas and beat Dushan again, like it's just too at this point. Like it had not possibly be more over. It's now just really funny. - It becomes joke at this point. Like if you go like in search of that. - It kind of is at that point. Like if Dallas wins this series, that's like the first victory Matt Dushan like truly gets over this team in like seven years. (laughing) - And yeah, I think it's I think it's water into the bridge but fans are gonna be fans man. I still think he'll get booed. It's toned down this year. It's toned down. - It's toned down. Like the games are gonna be interesting enough where I think people are just gonna forget at a certain point. He's gonna score a goal and they're gonna remember like, oh, right, fuck this guy. - Right, yeah. - But like, there'll be like some scattered boos every time he touches the puck. But it's like, I don't think it's a big deal anymore. I've never really had any ill will towards Matt Dushan. I was annoyed at him at the time when all that started going down. But when the trade package comes through and you see it's Sam Girard, what turns into the fourth overall pick which turns into Beau Byrom and everything else they got in that package. It's really hard to be like, yeah, still fuck this guy. - When it turned out to be one of those lopsided trades in next three. - Although it still hasn't recovered from it. - They still have not recovered from it. They're probably gonna hire Travis Green by the time we're finishing this episode. They have still not made the playoffs since that point. So again, one of those lopsided trades, if he like forced his way out and sat out and left an unrestricted free agency, different story, he got traded, everyone got what they wanted and they've kicked the fuck out of him for the better part of the decade. - Yep, so yeah, you do you though, when it comes to it. I want people. - Yeah, do whatever you want. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you what to do. If you enjoy booing Matt Duchain, all the power to you. All right, moving on to our next question from Matt Mariah. What is your level of confidence in Colorado being able to match Dallas's general physicality and how important will that be in order to win this series, if at all? Matt, you're my boy. He's the one who sits behind me at the games. I do think the physicality is gonna be important. It goes back to that point with Josh Manson. He's gonna have to be physical and not stupid physical, but physical enough. Devontaves doesn't need physicality to play good defense, but he can do it if he wants to. And we all know Kill McCarrick can hit the shit out of you if you don't suspect it. Sam Girard's been a little bit more physical this series as well and Sean Walker can do it and so can Jack. I'm not worried about the physicality. I'm worried about the if they try to be over physical, if that makes sense. 'Cause when they try and hit everything that moves, that's when the abs get in trouble. 'Cause that's not the way their decore plays. It's other than Josh Manson, that's really not how they play it. - That's not the abs game. That would be an example of Dallas drawing them away from their game and that could help. - And you have Miles Wood and Ross Colton that do a lot of the hitting as well. - Kindly I know. - You got Trenton and Duhaem. Guys you don't think of as super sandpaper guys 'cause they're not in the heavyweight division in terms of the league, but they'll throw knocks if they have to. - They'll knock like it. I think the physicality I'm not super worried about, it's just if the abs try and be something they're not. That's when they start to worry. - See, I think when people say physicality, they're referring to the hitting, like laying massive hits again people off their game. The physicality in the series is in front of the net and that is 100% going to be important to win this series where Dallas does a really good job at net front presence and in the regular season, that's something the abs really struggled with. They got better with it against Winnipeg. That was something I was worried Winnipeg was going to exploit in that series. The abs did a really good job of pushing them out of the way, most of the time. That's where physicality is going to have to come into play. I'm not worried about the center ice stuff, laying big hits on the boards and like setting tones. The abs can deal with that just fine. They've won a fucking cup. They've done all this before, but they need to be physical in front of the net where if you've got Jamie Ben standing in front of your crease, you got to move them. Where if you've got, any of these got Joe Pavelski, old man, move him. Any of these huge guys like Rope hints who's six, three, you got to move them. You got to get them out of your gives way, you got to be physical with them because Dallas is going to do that to you. And Dallas, if you're trying to camp out in front of Jake Gottinger because that's where the abs have a lot of success against Winnipeg, Dallas's key point is going to be do not let them block his eyes and they're going to do their best to move you. You got to win those net battles. So in terms of the general physicality of laying hits and set in tempo, they're going to be even. Whoever has the puck less is going to have more hits. That's just always how it works. But net front presence is probably going to be a big turning point in this series. Agreed. And I think it was like, wasn't game two or three against Winnipeg, the most hits combined in an abs playoff game ever. So the abs can do it. It's just, it's, I don't want them to get away from the way they play the game. Like Devontates doesn't need to hit you to take the puck from you. He's just that. The abs hit you when they have to. Like if you're setting yourself up to it for a hit and that's the best way to separate you from the puck, they're going to do it. Like the abs are not uncomfortable playing any sort of game. If Dallas wants to drag this into a, we're going for the hit first puck second, the abs will take that series because no, they'll do this. Just go right past them. Yeah, that's a lot of boards. Great, Yani Hockenpah wants to try to track down Nathan McKinnon for an open ice hit. He's just going to, whoop, just go right around and score on a breakaway. So if Dallas wants to play that game, then I more than welcome it. More than welcome it. But yeah, Fiskow's going to be important. It's going to be a fun series. I can't wait for it. Yep. We got our next question from Katie saying, will the abs have similar success against Atenger as they had against Helibuk? Are there any changes that they need to make offensively to have success against him? I don't think they have to make any changes because what they did against Helibuk is what you do against any good goaltender. That's kind of the way you beat good goaltending. Do they have the same amount of success? I'm going to say no just because what we saw against Winnipeg was just as perfect of offensive hockey as you can play. Yeah, it's like an unparalleled amount of success they had against Connor Helibuk. It's like if there's more than that, we don't need to play the other two rounds. Right. If they continue that, the NHL's fucked. It's cool. Like no one's beating them. No, I don't think they will because Dallas is good. But the game plan doesn't have to change. Just keep doing what you're doing and just keep deflecting home pucks. Yeah, where again, I'm going to go back to the net front thing where that's where the abs did a really good job in that series. They scored skilled goals in that series against Winnipeg, Cal McCar's goal, the Ranton and goal that clinched it, the first goal of the series from Val, like they're going to have those goals off of the rush. But again, the difference in the Winnipeg series was getting in front of Connor Helibuk, taking his eyes, cross crease passes, making it impossible for him to make saves. That's a good recipe against any goalie. And the thing is, again, I said it earlier, Connor Helibuk did not have a bad series. Numbers wise, he had a bad series, but he was there and he made saves when he could. But the abs didn't make it possible for him to make saves at several points in this series. And Jake Odenger is good. But if the abs do that again, there's only so much that he can do. I think he's going to have a much better series than Connor Helibuk did on paper. But ultimately, what the abs did is very conducive to success against any goalie. And Jake Odenger has had his struggles this year. And it might take the abs maybe lighting him up for him to maybe go back down to that point that he had towards the end of the right, or in the middle of the regular season. 'Cause towards the end and in the first round, he was very strong. And that this is a strong goalie, take away his eyes, win the net front battles, and be good in transition game as well. When you have the shooters that the abs do, like Rantonin, like McKinnon, like Nachushkin recently, like you're going to be able to beat him. You're going to be able to put pucks by him. I think it's just also, you got to be able to get saves on the other end. - 100% agree. So it'll be fun. I'm looking forward to it. It's just going to be, can you continue to do what you did against Winnipeg? Even 80% of that you'll be fine in this series. It's just that what happened in Winnipeg is an anomaly. That doesn't happen in playoff hockey. Just play as simple as that. - You get three quarters of what you got in the Winnipeg series. Offensively, you are taken care of. You are fine, where you look at several other teams in these playoffs where Toronto hasn't scored more than three goals since game four against Tampa last year. Went through two entire playoff series, never scoring more than three, and most of the time only one or two. The other consistently scoring three, four goals at night. They're going to be in really good shape in this series. Getting five is gratuitous. - Not going to have it. So, all right, was that the last one? We got one more. - We got one more coming from our boy, Alex Martin, saying, "Hey, bros, not much of a question, "but couldn't stop thinking of a better way "for the series to end than for Keeby Ronta "to score the series winner against Dallas "for some good old-fashioned revenge." - I think everyone wants that. That would really make me question reality. - Yeah, it'd make me think we're living in a simulation. - I'd be like, "That's too good." Like, that's a little too perfect, where it's just like, "Hmm, "the scriptwriters are taking some time off here. "They mail them." Like, that's too easy. I would-- - In the show "Rigged" will be a big thing. - Yeah, like, I would love it, make no mistake about it. But in the back of my mind, I'd be like, "How real is our existence?" - Right, it'd be a little crazy. It'd be a little crazy. - I do think he scores in this series. I don't know if he scores the series winner. - Yeah, it'd be, statistically, that's the best way for this series to end, is for Keeby Ronta, game seven over time, scores the winner, and like, that's just hilarious. That's the objectively funniest way for this series to end. - Well, it happened, probably not. - I mean, I will say, if Val scores the series winner, I feel like that's just as good. - That's just-- - I mean, but Val's been here longer, and his NHL career is as an ab. The Dallas thing was so long ago. It'd be nice, but Keeby Ronta is funnier. - Yeah, I would, I would just laugh. I don't even think I'd cheer, I'd just laugh. - Yeah, 'cause like with Val, how hard, how much harder can you rub it in? Like, that's like the only way, feasible way that you could rub this in harder, that like, you fucked up bad and gave him to us for free. - Yeah, I mean, it would also be funny, Freddie Olsen just scored a goal. - Yeah, Freddie Olsen just comes back from the dead and scores a serious win goal. What if we just have a clinching game where it's Val, Freddie, and Keeby Ronta? - Yeah, maybe throw Riley Tufti in there too. - Yeah, you put Tufti back in the library. We're just having fun at that. We're just having a grand old time. Where's Yuviano back in there too? - Why not? - Yeah. - They were just having fun at this point. - Just have some fun. - Just torturing you. - Torturing you, but great questions. Really looking forward to tomorrow night. We're gonna be back tomorrow night. But quickly, quickly, let's do the playoff recap. We've hinted at it. Toronto can't be Boston again in game seven. And it's kind of a shame because I thought they should've won that game. - How many times can you say that? - I know, it's the truth. We're not gonna spend too much time in the Maple Leafs. Jeremy Swamin was unbelievable that entire series. And in the most Leafs thing ever, we called it after they went down three-one. They're going to win these next two games and then lose in utter heartbreaking fashion. And after two games, game five and six, they dominated the Bruins. They dominated them. - And it set up what was probably the funniest game seven ever. - Yeah. - Where either way, either the Leafs lose again to Boston in game seven or the Leafs or the Bruins are the first team in major sports to blow two consecutive three-to-one leads in back-to-back seasons. - And Jim Montgomery's probably fired. And Jim Montgomery's probably fired. Big changes are coming. Like either way, you were getting top-tier comedy. And I gotta say, the way it worked out is pretty funny. It is pretty, I'm not disappointed with how it went. 'Cause I don't like either team at the end of the day. And Florida is gonna boat race, either one of them and gonna boat race Boston in that series. But the way it's gone in Toronto over the last several days, like, man, this is just fantastic. - Well, you know exactly what they were like, "Yep, we're gonna lose too." Okay, you win game five. All right, like maybe they can win game six and then they were all the way back in for game seven. Just to have their hearts broken again. - And again, the goal that Justin Wall gave up with point one seconds left, I said at the moment, that's gonna matter a lot. It didn't go the way I thought because that broke the shutout streak. So that's not on anyone's mind in game seven. It like hurt him trying to get that save. So he didn't play in game seven. And it's Samsonov who gives up a stinky goal in the third period, who was fine in the game, like gives up a bad goal in the third period where now you have the end of season availability. I have never seen a man more fired than you all in my life. That man is just, he's got his feet up on the desk, his stuff already packed. He knows he is unemployed tomorrow. - Wasn't his extension kicking in like next year? - Doesn't matter. - Yeah. - MLSC has so much money that they can just throw that shit around really nilly. And for the Leafs where seven of eight years out in the first round and the one year they make it killed in the second, like the worst series they got killed in the second round where I was talking about this earlier on Twitter where it's like winning last year was kind of bad for them because it showed that it's not a curse. Like this team's not cursed. They just don't have it at all. They do- - William Nylander has it, but no one else does. But like it's never at the same time. Matthews, Nylander and Marner never do it at the same time. Tavares doesn't do it at the same time. It's all worse. - It just doesn't do it. - Man, two points in the series is fucking ridiculous. - We're a $11 million player. - Yeah. - Marner with three points in the series. And the comment he had earlier today is like, yeah, it's nice playing in Toronto. What kind of seems like gods around here? Like what a fucking bizarre comment that is. And like it's done there. It's so done. - Well, they're saying Matthews played with like Taren is MCL. - Yeah, he's probably fucked up his knee on that hit. He probably had like the virus that's been going around the country over the last several weeks or so. So I don't envy him in that position, but Marner has to be gone at that point. We're not going to- - He's in a move clause. He's in a move clause. - But like- - Brad's your living branch and what the fuck do you get paid for? - He was like, oh, it's hard. Can you imagine if Joe Sackick and Chris McFarland ever just came and be like, oh, it's hard. - They got out of Ryan Johansson in 60 games. - Right. - They got like there are ways to do this. Like you just have to do your job and just be like- - Greater Marner to fucking Pittsburgh. I'm sure Dubas would love to have him. - Right. He has a no movement clause. Do you think he's happy? Like do you think Marner's enjoying this? - It's just going to piss off Leaf fans more because I think once Mitch Marner gets out of Toronto, he's going to be very good. - Yeah, he's going to be fine. But this can't continue. Like you have to rework probably half of your defense and to bring in like, not just like, oh, we're getting value at no. You like you need true genuine- - You want to know how bad the Leafs Decor was? I thought Joel Edmondson was their best defenseman in that series. - Yeah, he was fine. I thought Jake McKay was good. - Yeah. It's just, and then the goal that beats him that one by posture knock, like that is just the most Leafs way to lose. Marner just falls asleep. Doesn't realize David posture knocks behind him and it's a perfect board pass. - I mean. - And stance it off almost makes the save, but. - But that's the Leafs favorite word is almost again, but like before we just rag on the Leafs so much, that play by Hampus Lindholm. He was probably the best player on the ice in that game seven. And that play is one of the best like, serious clinching plays I've ever seen. - Yes. - Like such a beautifully calculated play finished perfectly by posture knock. And for the Bruins, like they survive what would have been the end of their aura. And aura that I just don't believe in at a base level. - They want to stand the cup in 50 years. - 50 years, that was 13 years ago. And they've been one of the biggest chokers in the last several years. Like their aura should already be gone, but because they specifically own the Leafs who are bigger chokers than them, they get the aura from the Canadian media that builds up the Bruins as this big bad demon. They're going to get smoked by Florida. Smoked. - Yeah. - Swainman was phenomenal in that series. The Panthers are just a better team than the Leafs and significantly better. They are going to get, especially if posture knock plays like he did until game seven, they're going to get smoked. Charlie Coyle was non-existent. Pavel Zokka, I didn't even hear his name in game seven. Like they're going to get smoked by Florida. - Yeah, it's gonna be a rough series for them. Florida just does everything so much better. And it's a fun storyline series because a year later of the Bruins being the best team in the NHL, blowing a 3-1 lead and getting out in the first row, you're getting a rematch in round two. Like there's a chance to run it back and that's going to be a vicious series to watch. I think Boston's going to do a little better than we're giving them credit for, but I don't see any way Florida loses this. Like they are, they-- - They just beat the lightning four to one and Bogrowski was in 885. - Like, come on, man. - That's what I mean. Like they just, they've got so much, so much. Yeah, Bob was in 896 in that series for Haggie had five, Barkov had five points, could chuck at nine, but you look up and down this line. Christian, the only guy who doesn't have a point is Dimitri Koolakov. It's just a good team. - This is a very good team. And they're going to get Sam Bennett back at some point during the series too. Like Florida's going to, I think they're going to win that comfortably. But that'll be a fun series. We already had game one of the Hurricanes and Rangers. And I just, the fucking Rangers have been so lucky these playoffs, man. Like in my opinion, like they, they should have lost that game yesterday. They should have, like if Freddy Anderson doesn't turn into the Freddy Anderson, we know and love, the Hurricanes win that game. Like I still, like the Rangers could be in the Stanley Cup final, but the team's not that good. I don't think they're that good. Like I'm watching that game. I'm like, the Hurricanes are going to win the series, I hope, because I just want the Rangers out of my life. I just think they're one of the most overrated teams in the NHL. - Yeah, again, like their power play, their power play is excellent. You can't take anything away from that. Their power play is fucking brilliant. And the Hurricanes just for some reason did not seem ready to go. And Anderson had a really shitty night. And if Freddy is not ready to play in the series, the Rangers are going to win because they have to be Gorsha Sterkin, who was fine in this game, but better than Freddy. And he's going to win that goalie duel a lot more than he's going to lose it. So I'm taking the Hurricanes to win that series in seven. I'm taking the Panthers to win the first series in six. - I got Panthers in five and then I go Hurricanes in seven. - Yeah, I'm going to say the Hurricanes win in seven, but I also, I am very cautious of the Hurricanes because this has to be it. They can't lose this series. - They're done though. - Like not their teams. - But they're frauds at that point. Like they are now not taking seriously ever again because every time you go up against a good team in the playoffs, you lose. - I'm going to save that energy for another time because I can rant about how much I hate that team for genuinely hours, but-- - And then there's three good series and then you get Vancouver and Edmonton. It's not a super close series, but it's a fun series. - It'll be fun. Vancouver, like they beat Nashville, but that was the most boring series I think I've ever watched in my life. Like those games were brutal to watch. And I know they have home ice. I don't think Thatcher Dumpko is going to play in the series. - He's not playing in the playoffs. - Yeah, I think the Oilers win in five. There may be some close games, but this is the easiest path to the conference finals, I think in NHL history for the Oilers. Like it's kind of a joke. Like you should beat the Canucks pretty handily. - Yeah, like the end of the day, the Canucks bait in this series rests on the shoulders of Elias Pedersen. He had three points, all assists in that series against Nashville, he was a minus two. If they even have a prayer of winning this series, Elias Pedersen needs to at least be close to McDavid. McDavid had 10 points in five games against the Kings. If that happens again, they need Pedersen to have at least seven or eight in that same amount of time. Like he has to come through. The guy just signed an $11 million extension. You cannot be half a point a game, no goals, but Brock Besser had four goals. Three of them all came in the same game. Like they need more from their guys here to- - You can't rely on Elias Lindholm, Anthony Joshua. And I forget who the third person is on that line. You can't rely on him to win that series. - But like Nikita Zadorov, second leading goal scorer. - Yeah, he was great in that series. - He was great, but like that can't happen. That like JT Miller had six points, five assists in that series. Okay, pretty good. Besser, six points, four goals in that series. Okay, pretty good. Lindholm had an overtime winner in that series. Okay, pretty good. But like they need a full turnaround. And like they, regular season, again, they swept the Oilers. They won the three games early on when the Oilers were bad. I think two of them were like the first two games of the year. And then the last one, they won. So I don't feel like we ever got a really good, good enough sample size of these teams playing each other. And also it doesn't matter when you get to the playoffs. The Oilers are playing well. And if Demko was in this series, I'd feel- - I think it's a totally different series, but this kid, he's been good. - He's a nine, he's a nine, 38. Artors, Syllabs, I believe is how you pronounce his name. He had a shutout in a deciding game six. And that's really all you can ask from a third string goalie, but you're not going up against Phillip Borsberg anymore. You're going up against Conor McDavid and Leon Dreyseidel. So I wish you luck. - Good luck. I got the Oilers in five. - Yeah, I have the Oilers in five. I want to see this one go deep because what we lacked in the first round is eight. There's not been enough eight these playoffs. This series, you can really start to see some eight, which is some true classic hatred. But I just, I have my doubts about the Canucks. They're heavy underdogs in this series, even though they won their division and they have home ice because the Oilers, they're more built for this. They've been through this enough. The Canucks haven't, the Oilers have a lot of advantages. And I want to see Stort Skinner have a strong series. He was decent against the Kings. He had a couple of good games. He had a couple of bad games. And the Oilers, they can't allow this series to go deep because the Aves and the Stars are going deep. That's gonna be a series where they beat each other up for a while, whether it's six or seven, even then it's five. That's a series that's gonna take a lot out of you. The Oilers cannot allow themselves to get dragged down. They have to finish this up. They have to get out of there. They have to get their rest in because whether it is the Aves or the Stars on the other end of them, that's it. Like that's the test right there because I think whoever wins Aves Stars beats the Oilers. I think they're better teams than the Oilers. So they need to... - They won't have played in one of these playoffs. It's like this is not... - Whereas like if it is Dallas on the other end, they'll have played the defending Stanley Cup champs and the Aves. Whereas if the Aves, they took out Winnipeg in round one and then take out Dallas in round two or it's like the Kings were not good and the Canucks have the potential to be out of here pretty quickly. I hope for our sake that the Canucks hang around. I want the Canucks to do while I want them to win. I'm rooting for the Canucks. I want them to win this series. I didn't see enough in the Nashville series that suggests that's... - They will watch those games. I'm sorry 'cause they were little watches. - Yeah, for all the Canucks fans, they were like, yeah, that series is pretty slow. You're getting your wish. It is about to speed up very quickly. - Very, very quickly. But that's just a quick little prediction for the second round. We're going to be back tomorrow night and there will be an episode coming out on, will that be Wednesday morning? But I don't think I have anything else, man. - Yeah, I think we've covered everything. We need to cover coming into this series. Again, this is just going to be a great series. Two of the best at the peak of their power. One more can you ask for the playoff series? In terms of storylines, you got to beat the best teams. Like Dallas right now, they're the ultimate obstacle standing in the abs way. I think right now, this is the test between a successful season and an unsuccessful season. If you can't beat Dallas, I'd classify this as an unsuccessful season. They've been the test the whole time. If you can beat Dallas, get to the Western Conference final and be a final four. No matter what happens the rest of the way, I'm willing to classify that as a success. You're not going to win the Cup every single year. I'd like if you did, but just on a base level, this is the lowest I'd go to call it a successful season. I'm just beating Winnipeg is nice. It's not enough. You have to be able to beat Dallas because that's what it's been the whole time, the whole season. It's been who wins in a playoff series the after the stars. And we're about to find out. - About to find out. But I'm excited for tomorrow. Can't wait. It's going to be a late night for you and a late night for me, but an even later night for you. So let's rest up and get ready for game one tomorrow. Let's get rested. Let's just get ready for this. This is going to be fun. It's going to be stressful, but it's going to be fun. We're going to get right into it tomorrow. So we are going to wrap this one up here. Thank you also very much for tuning in to another edition of the Teladabs of this podcast. As always, you can use promo code Teladabs. It is on Seakeek for $20 off your first order of $50 or more. It's going to fall on Twitter. You can follow me @gyoungs and @shell. You can follow Christian @ Christian_balay. And you can follow this show @tellitabsit is. But again, thank you also very much for tuning in. And we will catch you all next time. But until then, let's go apps. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
