NHL’s Regular Series is coming to an end and many of the pre-strong teams have been severely sidelined, writes Sport’s NHL journalist Tommi Seppälä.
The NHL is probably one of the most difficult-to-predict ball series in the world, and this season has made no exception so far. Sure, the top teams can be found in the top spots, but at the same time, some of the favorites have lost their grip at the end of the regular season for the worst time and one long before.
The biggest disappointment of the NHL season doesn’t need to be thought through for long.
In the New York Islanders season, almost anything that can go wrong has gone wrong. The team started the season with 11 away matches as its new home arena was not ready. This and the Korona wave that struck the group after a while confused the pasmas for the worse right away.
In the fall season, the Islanders were the fourth-weakest team in the entire series. Since then, the group has been in the upper middle caste, but the Surface Renovation came too late. The team that has been struggling with the finish line throughout the season is the latest reminder that you can’t sleep past your luck in the NHL in October-November.
The Islanders, who were supposed to play for the championship, didn’t even make it to the playoffs.
Intermediate knights
The NHL crisis team is currently at the Nevada gambling oasis. The Vegas Golden Knights started in the NHL in 2017 and has been one of the NHL endurance winners ever since. Now, however, the fertilizer is in the fan in a way that could, at worst, lead to the fate of even the Islanders.
The last few weeks in particular have been a gruesome tarpon for knights. By 2022, Vegas will be the fourth weakest team in the Western Conference. The Golden Knights, one of the NHL’s highest and most expensive teams in terms of player material, have won only 10 of their 27 matches in the current calendar year.
If the playoffs were distributed today based on points, Vegas would be left out of the big dance. Such a scenario, if realized, would be a giant bang.
Vegas has been struggling especially with the scoring in recent months. Only Seattle, San Jose, Philadelphia and Ottawa have scored fewer goals in Vegas this year. The best players have not been the best, as shown in the statistics. The average score per match for only one player will exceed 0.7 on the 2022 side.
Sure, the team has gone through an incredible injury chain.
Especially the soul player Mark Stonen the injury has eaten up the team heavily. In addition, the key players on the sidelines are number one Robin Lehner in addition Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith, Mattias Janmark, Alec Martinez, Brayden McNabb and Brett Howden. The list of injured is a crushing read.
Still, Vegas, which has lost its mojo, should be able to do better.
Sure, Vegas still has time, but how likely is it to find a common tone in the final meters of a totally broken regular season? The Golden Knights have not played a game with their best lineup. Now we are still trying to drive in a star center from Buffalo in a terrible hurry Jack Eicheliawho had not played before returning for ten months.
The lack of common experiences for this period cannot be overlooked in the spring.
Vegas was one of the big favorites at the Western Conference in October, but is no longer a member. It’s a big surprise.
Falling leaves
The third team with high expectations for the wind race is Toronto.
As a result, the Leafs are clearly in a better position than the Islanders and Golden Knights. Toronto is third in the Atlantic division, behind only eight points leading Florida. So superficially, everything is fine. Under the surface, however, it bubbles and is firm.
Toronto’s problems are in two sectors: the pentathlon and goalkeeping.
The problems of the goalkeeper game in particular have hit the face of a puck-crazy city in an unexpected way. First guard Jack Campbell started the season well, but for the sake of honesty, has caught virtually nothing in the new year.
Toronto has scored the sixth most goals in the NHL since the beginning of the year and the fourth most since the beginning of February.
If the limit is ten matches played, Campbell will have 46 percent of the goalkeeper in line 46 and a second goalkeeper Petr Mrazek on line 41 – to the extent that it is no longer possible to name a first guard. The situation is unsustainable from the point of view of a club thirsting for the championship.
With a goalkeeper game like this, Maple Leafs has no chance at all in the spring. In the last eight matches, the team has made at least four hits seven times. In five of these, the opponent made at least five hits and at worst seven.
However, not everything can be poured on the necks of the goalkeepers.
The biggest disappointment with Toronto is the lack of a head coach Sheldon Keefe have not been able to develop the team’s play virtually at all. There is a lot of individual skill and goals, but at the same time, playing the pentathlon is really tattered and careless, and the defense is often soft.
Toronto get into the playoffs, but the predictions don’t promise good again. Not least, if the goalkeeper and defense equipment is not reinforced before the transfer window closes next Monday. In addition to the guard reinforcement, the team needs a solid basic defense.