What a bunch of quitters. And I'm not talking about the Stars. Grow a pear. We are a great road team and have a great chance of tying this series up by Monday night. JFC.

We can't crack the code with the way they just stack bodies in front of their own net. If not for that soft goal allowed by Thompson late in game 1, we are talking about 3 legitimate goals in 2 games...

We've lost each game by essentially one goal and it's been back and forth the entire time, and I don't care about last year. They are right there this year. Vegas has just finished one more chance than us.

Vegas isn't lighting us up by any means either.

Tksymm7 said:

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We've lost each game by essentially one goal and it's been back and forth the entire time. And I don't care about last year. They are right there this year. Vegas has just finished one more chance than us.

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Sure seems like they are getting better chances than us and more consistently. We got the game we wanted (needed) from Otter tonight, but it didn't matter because we have no idea how to attack their wall of bodies.

Seemed like Vegas had a lot of grade A chances and we might have got one or two.

I hate this Vegas team so much. I wish eichel / marchessault / stone would get injured.

We had plenty of grade A chances tonight, but we didn't finish them off. Vegas has simply been more clinical than we have. Hannifin tucking that puck between otters pad and glove bar in is clinical. Eichel making a great move for an open net tapper is clinical. Wyatt and Harley had great looks in the slot and shot them right off of Thompson collarbone. Those need to be better shots in the playoffs.

I had season tickets for the golden years from 97-01 and just want to experience that again. I will remain an optimist and hope for the best in the next couple of games. Being down 2 games isn't optimal but it's not a death sentence either.

JWinTX said:

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Starting to feel like when the Mavs got the Warriors as their first round matchup as the top seed or when the Rangers got Toronto in the first round. Each time, those opponents may have been the only teams that could beat our guys in the playoffs…and we drew them each time in the first round.

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Seems like we have the worst luck ever with the #1 overall seed. The mavs losing to GSW, rangers to blow jays, I guess you can add this one to the list. Even if we somehow come back and advance, it will have been way more stressful than a series should be for a #1 seed.

Also….mavs had the don Nelson connection where Nellie used to coach us and he exploited all of our weaknesses.

The rangers threw at Bautista at the end of the last series of the regular season so the jays couldn't retaliate.

Our current coach used to coach the knights. So they know him and his style well.

All are just really bad first round matchups that unfortunately happened when we got #1 seeds.

shack009 said:

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Roll the Bones said:

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I had season tickets for the golden years from 97-01 and just want to experience that again. I will remain an optimist and hope for the best in the next couple of games. Being down 2 games isn't optimal but it's not a death sentence either.

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I would normally agree, but we can't beat this team to save our lives. We have 2 wins against them in the past year, and those were games that basically didn't matter because the series was already over at 3-0. Now we have to win 4 out 5 against them, 3 of which will be in Vegas.

Never say never, but...

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I will say this team does seem to play better on the road than they do at home, so going to Vegas doesn't scare me. We need to shake something up or get a change of scenery.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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JWinTX said:

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Starting to feel like when the Mavs got the Warriors as their first round matchup as the top seed or when the Rangers got Toronto in the first round. Each time, those opponents may have been the only teams that could beat our guys in the playoffs…and we drew them each time in the first round.

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Seems like we have the worst luck ever with the #1 overall seed. The mavs losing to GSW, rangers to blow jays, I guess you can add this one to the list. Even if we somehow come back and advance, it will have been way more stressful than a series should be for a #1 seed.

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This feels worse. That Warriors team was not even that good, just a bad matchup for the Mavs.

This is worse because VGK has the best team in the league, on paper, when fully healthy. Travesty that we have to play the defending cup champions and what is now probably the current cup favorite.

Come on guys, throw me a bone here. Lol

Roll the Bones said:

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Come on guys, throw me a bone here. Lol

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I'm all for optimism, but the time for that has passed. Time for some good ol fashioned hatred until the series is over, however it may end.

Roope is also not skating 100% at all.

There's NO chance he's 100%. He looks like an absolute shell of himself.

This. I bet as soon as they're done we hear about a surgery within three weeks. He's a shell of his best self.

BassCowboy33 said:

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As I said before the series started, I think a healthy Vegas is the best team in the West and an awful matchup for Dallas. It was unfortunate the Stars were slapped with this series. I think Dallas would've swept LA and spanked Winnipeg.

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I'm a bit confused by it all.

I thought we were better than last year and Vegas was worse than last year.

Vegas' goalie is standing on his head. Doesn't seem to matter who's between the pipes vs us… they play like allstars.

At some point the players have to make great shots and bury chances. I mentioned it last night, but Wyatt and Harley had two grade A chances that they shot into the goal tenders upper chest/collarbone area. Those need to be either bar down upper 90, or slipping it on the goal tenders side under his arm.

Oh I know. We're not doing anything. Vegas is just smothering us. We can't get cleanly into their zone.

Lots of guys totally neutralized. Pavelski, Seguin, Hintz is trying but can't keep from going offsides.

Without stank, Wyatt, and Robo, we'd be absolutely crushed in both games.

Certainly hope for the best, but down 0-2 and going to Vegas is not ideal.

This is pretty much par for the course for a Deboer team, have a really good season, make the playoffs, but in the end, not be able to climb to the summit. I think Pete's a really good coach, but over the span of his NHL coaching career, he has not been able to win it all.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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shack009 said:

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Roll the Bones said:

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Come on guys, throw me a bone here. Lol

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I'm all for optimism, but the time for that has passed. Time for some good ol fashioned hatred until the series is over, however it may end.

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If we take game 3, then game 4 is interesting again.

I just really don't want to get swept and embarrassed. Our regular season was too good for things to end that way.

If we get eliminated, we need to get some other teams together and file a grievance with the league about Vegas keeping players on the long term injured reserve before the playoffs then mysteriously bringing them back for game 1. It's shady and not a good look at all.

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I hate this practice because it's dishonest. But it's not cheating - it's within the rules. So, either the rules need to change, or the Stars need to take advantage like the Bolts and Knights have. Of course, this means ownership has to be willing to spend the extra money.

The cliche is that your best players have to be your best players. Eichel and Marchessault continue to be Vegas' best players. It sucks, but give them credit.
They forced Dallas to play dump and chase a lot last night. Dallas is a team that needs to generate speed through the neutral zone and carry the puck in. Much more so than Game 1, Vegas dictated play in Game 2. And while the hitting picked up for Dallas, much to the delight of everyone at the AAC, the Stars took it too far, IMO. Vegas wants us to play that game. Too many times, we had guys going for the hit instead of the puck. That isn't our game.

I wanted to give Pete DeBoer the benefit of the doubt in Game 1 with starting the 4th line. After all, Vegas was starting their checking line, and Pete didn't want to "waste" a shift of one of his top lines dealing with that. BUT, he did it again Game 2, and it makes no sense for this teams identity. This team is supposed to be 4 lines of relentless attack. Dictate play. You don't dictate play by matching line-for-line. You dictate play by saying, oh you're starting your checking line? Here's my most dominant line from Game 1. Why is Pete DeBoer the only person on the planet who thinks Dadonov is better on the 4th line than Smith? It makes no sense. Why did it take 5 periods to realize you only had 1 line that was fully functional? Why do you have Miro and Harley paired together? Why are you short-shifting Nils Lundkvist? It forces more minutes out of your other defensemen and forces odd pairings (first goal had Suter and Harley together). There is plenty of blame to go around, but Pete deserves his fair share. Bruce Cassidy has demonstrated that he knows how to consistently beat Dallas. Pete has demonstrated that he has no answers for Vegas.

Robertson is playing well, but Pavelski being on that line limits Hintz' effectiveness. I would just chalk it up to father time finally catching up to Pavs, and that is partially true. But Vegas is making an overt effort to take the slot and middle away when Pavelski is on the ice. It has clearly been part of their strategy coming into the series. It's working. So either Pavelski and Hintz have to figure out how to counter, or DeBoer has to stick with changing the lines up like he did in the 3rd. I think changing things up is the answer. Because as much as we all like Pavelski, he's getting outclassed out there.

The Johnston line continues to play well. It's why I hate breaking the line up. But you can't just have one line plus one other guy (Robertson) carrying the offensive load. Stankoven looks to have regressed terribly based on the graphic, but eye test wise, I thought he played ok. He definitely didn't play as well as Game 1, but that's an awfully high bar. His tenacity is what I think could be beneficial on that top line. Stankoven and Robertson seem to have something. And you can't tell me that pairing won't open things up for Roope.

Matt Duchene continues to be nonexistent. It's been a pattern going back well into the regular season. He was so good for a large chunk of the regular season, so it's incredibly frustrating for him to disappear. Marchment and Seguin have been the class of that line through 2 games. He has to step up.

4th line. Faksa is hurt now. Don't know how bad, but Smith probably plays by default now. That line wasn't good before Faksa went down, and I blame DeBoer. You took a strength of the team (4 attacking lines) and neutered one of them.

Defensemen, Miro played better. The others were solid, except Harley. He played better but was still bad. I don't know what has happened to him, but it seems Vegas just has his number. He doesn't struggle like this against anyone else. It's like Vegas has him rattled.

Otter played great last night. Gave the team what they needed to win. Just didn't get it done in front of him.

Marchment left the game, so he may be out Saturday. The best thing this team could do would be to call up Bourque for offense (he's still tearing it up in the AHL), but they probably won't. We'll likely see Dellandrea, if necessary.

This series is far from over, but my confidence is shot after last night. But get Game 3, and things can change really quick.

If PDB and the Jim Nill call up Dellandrea, they deserve some major backlash. He gives you absolutely nothing on offence and even less finishing in front of the net, which we are already struggling with. I hope and think it will be Bourque and Smith in if both Mush and Faksa can't go. Losing Mush blows because I think he's been great in this series.

Agreed on all counts. Dellandrea is so offensively inept, it's offensive (pun intended). I just worry they'll go that route.

I hope Marchment is ok. He's been playing really well, even before this series.

I could see them rolling out something like:

Robertson-Hintz-Stankoven
Benn-Johnston-Dadonov
Seguin-Duchene-Pavelski
Smith-Steel-Dellandrea

Not crazy about it. In fact, gives me even less confidence. But it is what it is.

He did score two in game 5 last year against this pos team.

Most of this checks out with what I see, but I don't get Stankovens composition. Granted, I'm no expert but he seems to be one of the few playing well and creating chances.