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Carolina may get swept. Their play looks like a team who doesn't belong. Tentative, no confidence.

Florida is quite possibly the 5th best team in the East. But, that's why there's a playoff system. Let's be real. The time off cost Carolina. They lost their legs after the 2nd OT, the lines weren't clicking at all and the entire team didn't look like themselves. There were comments during the game alluding to how good Carolina was. I didn't see it. The Canes would have been better served to have the OT goal count and go home with a loss. Playing another 2 hours or so only makes the loss worse than what it was. I think RBA got out-coached last night and he overthought tweaking the lines, thinking he could create matchup issues much like what he did against NJ. Florida is not NJ. I don't think the lines need to be tweaked. Tkachuk was invisible last night until a defensive mistake was made. Barkov is who he is and will get his against Carolina- he always has. Florida's blue line is not good. Their best defensemen is no better than the Canes bottom pair. And, it's not a complicated defense. They pack the middle and play house. Canes need to cycle more and stop with the cross ice passes that always seem to be intercepted or tipped. Outside in and top to bottom. Regardless, I said the Canes were thru Round 1 and out in Round 2 and here they are. So anything positive in this series is okay with me. I have no expectations.

2 total defensive breakdowns. 2 goals.

Canes looked like a team who didn't play for a week. That said, Canes D was strong in the 1st. Now, figure out Florida's forecheck.

Anyway... 1 banner at a time. They're above the limo. This was last Friday at the Stevie Nicks concert.

Radio is real time and tv is like 7 seconds delayed...

How do you guts get them to sync? Radio & TV?

Nope. Oh well... find something else until 8.

Is there a pre-game on Bally? If not, I'm not watching pre-game garbage on ESPN or TNT.

Friends with 4 seats to game 5 have reached out. We'll be there Friday night if there's no sweep.

Staal's been on the doorstep a couple games now. He might get one tonight with his line. Bob will be bobbing for pucks tonite.

Here are the lines (that's a pretty healthy-sized 2, eh?) Forwards: Noesen - Aho - Jarvis Martinook - Kotkaniemi - Fast Teravainen - Staal - Necas Drury - Stastny - Stepan Defense: Slavin - Burns Skjei - Pesce Gostisbehere - Chatfield Goalies: Andersen Raanta

If TT sees the ice during this series, what's the over/under on how soon he gets slashed on the hand.

It's safe to come back from your trip and tell us all about space travel. I assumed that's where you went as you claimed you wouldn't be able to keep up with the games and I'm not sure where on this planet that can happen.

The lines RBA built for the NJ series were instrumental in the scoring surge. Not sure it was intended that way, but a defensive approach to creating those lines resulted in a type of offense we hadn't seen the last month of the season.

Wouldn't it be nice to be in a position to put Pool Party on the ice with the sole mission of taking out Bennett, just like the old days when teams had hired enforcers?

Again, he was here for half a season. And, yeah, I get he might not have appreciated RBA's approach to the game, that's his loss. Had he gotten onboard and committed to the system, he might still be here with a really nice career instead of bouncing from one place to the next. But, it all seems petty at this point. After all, it was a few years ago.

Nice. The Canes might be off for another week. Or, they could be playing Wednesday.

So, will the ECF not start until all the 2nd round games are complete and the WCF matchup is set?

In all honesty, I don't understand why Canes fans have such a dislike for the guy. It's not like he told everyone to fug off and wanted out. He played 41 total games for Carolina and the Canes gave up Oscar Plandowski and Nicholas Roy. Within 8 months the Canes traded him to Florida for one Vincent Trocheck in February 2020. The Canes were on the best end of both deals and Haula contributed 22 points in those 41 games. He was a rental. WTF, peeps, he's playing his game and having a good career. Let the man be.

Followed by the handshake line, which was cut off to show the other game:

He's signed thru next year, but extending him now to get him at a reduced price and save some cap room for the 24-25 season when a bunch of forwards will be UFAs would be nice. But there is a lot of cap room to be created without having to make tough decisions. I think unless they have someone in Chicago ready to start on the blue line next season, signing Ghost becomes a necessity as well. I'm not thrilled with Max LaJoie, Coghlan is an RFA and DeHaan is a UFA and neither of them will be resigned. Burns-Slavin; Skjei-Pesce; Chatty-Ghost. Bring up a couple guys and sign a UFA.

Unfortunately, the next series, regardless of who it is- Florida or Toronto- will be more of the same. Auston Mathews, Barkov or Tkachuk, take your pick. ESPN, TNT or TBS will be slobbering all over these guys as well.

He may not be an offensive threat like Burns or Skjei, he has had an outstanding defensive post-season. In the 11 games played so far, you'd be hard-pressed to see 5-6 mistakes those entire games. And he's not missing any ice time. He's flat even for the NJ series, but a +23 for the regular season. Leaps and bounds of progress from last year. Oh, yeah, his 27th birthday is next Tuesday.