@@kodakcourage7255 Yea I realize that but the Bruins, Leafs and Canes are a better 3 teams than the Kings had to face and either Vegas or Dallas are a tougher finals match up than the 2012 Devils were.
I spent most of these playoffs rooting for Florida, Carolina, Vegas, and Seattle, and said I'd be ok with any of these 4 winning.. And while I wouldn't mind Vegas or Carolina taking the cup, I think I'm mainly cheering for Florida right now. They are a scary good team right now
Only team i don't want to see win the cup this year is the Stars. Can't stand them! I'd be happy if Florida finally got their first. Every fanbase deserves it at least once. No better feeling as a hockey fan.
Having moved from Boston to Tampa years back, it’s amazing what the Lightning have done for hockey in Florida. The kids here are of an amazing skill level, and I know a lot of them go up north to tournaments and win. Regardless of what people think, these playoff matchups are amazing for hockey. In fact, my wife has been convinced because of these playoffs that hockey is the best sport. Whoever wins this cup will win over fans and future players. That being said, go Florida. I’m pumped to see if they win and what that does for hockey in the sunshine state.
Gretz speaking facts. The traditional between the legs isn’t even impressive anymore, it’s a legitimate move every player should have in their repertoire in tight situations where that move is literally the best option. But the fake between the legs? That was a thing of beauty.
I wouldn't say that Raanta froze, it just wasn't humanly possible to flex any more, he had nowhere to go because Barkov smartly delayed the shot long enough for Raanta to have fully committed.
My pens didn’t make it this year but this has been one of my favorite postseasons in a while. Some really entertaining hockey especially coming from Florida
Everyone keeps saying 6th OT in a row for the Panthers, but that's just this year. They've actually won 9 playoff OTs in a row if you go back the last 2 seasons.
It’s even better than it first appears. Notice after the fake, he needs to hang onto the puck for juuust another moment. That patience is what makes this goal absolutely insane (beyond the actual dazzling move he had the balls to pull off in a Conference Finals game). One of the dirtiest goals we shall ever have the pleasure of witnessing. Filth.
@@JackBirdbath yeah, that was what got me, too. Not just the fake between the legs but the long pause and the negligent backhand to flip it over the frantic attempt to correct by the goalie.
@@imulippo5245 Did you know someone very talented can be underappreciated? Everyone knows Barkov is a stud, but he's never in the conversation for top guys in the league. Then he pulls off a goal like this and everyone remembers. He's insane. And underrated.
People quickly forget that the Panther's were the best team in the regular season last year by far. They didn't live up to their potential last playoff, but now they are making up for it. Eerily similar to what happened with the Lightning after they choked their record breaking season, only to follow it up with back to back cups.
JVR did this vs the Senators in his last season as a Leaf. There is a phenomenal overhead shot of the puck going in, Anderson reaching back and failing to save and 3 Senators all trailing the play, sticks outstretched, trying to help.
Nice to see Giroux get some credit for that goal, which I always feel is under-appreciated for one big reason: most people forget that the night right before that goal, William Karlsson scored an OT breakaway goal through the legs and it was all over the highlights, and Giroux took advantage of that
Tkachuk really reminding me of John Leclair with these clutch goals Glad to see him thriving, I think he learned a bit after last year when he was dropping the gloves every chance he got
As a Canes fan, I wasn't even mad at Barkov's goal. Seeing what he did in real time with the small amount of space he had was impressive. I just hope the Canes fight back after 0 - 2.
If Carolina fans want extra pain for this loss, just look at Burns and Slavin in the corner prior to the OT winner. Slavin's stick somehow gets stuck THROUGH Burns' skate blade, effectively taking both of them out of the play and resulting in the net front being wide open
Credit to Raanta, he actually played a great game as well but was just (understandably) overshadowed by Playoff Bob ascending to the 5th dimension in net on the other side of the ice. Also, the Canes did dominate in the first period, but only really for the first half of it. There was a stretch of about 15 minutes (last 8 minutes of the first and first 7 minutes of the 2nd) where they didn’t get a single shot on goal
That Giroux goal was Easter 2018. Bergeron actually tied the game with like 5 seconds remaining in regulation after Simmonds couldn’t clear the zone, it was insane. Lol
If you've seen Barkov in overtime shootouts you already know he has mad skills, especially with phenomenal displays of one-handed wrist strength, but to pull something like that off in an overtime game of a Conference Semi Finals is something I've never seen before. And I got to watch the Russian 5 and Pavel...
It’s funny you mention who else would do a fake through the leg shot… immediately I’m thinking “Giroux scored one against Boston” and a second later, there’s the clip. Good job on your research.👍🏼 There was also a Bruins player maybe five or six years ago pulled a similar move on a defenseman. Coming in off the left circle. He put the puck back through his legs like he was going to make some crazy deke, the defenseman bit and tried to poke check, but then he pulled the puck straight back out and I believe he scored on a backhander.
the Canes always do this. They come out flying and dominate possession but by the end of the game they run out of juice, so if they haven't built up a nice lead they are vulnerable.
Tbh, what is keeping Carolina from playing better is their transition game. They do to much dump-and-chase, they don't try to give themselves more options than just that. I see a lot of other teams rush transition using a lot of momentum plays from passing back to the defenseman so they can punch a hole through the blue line and get through into the offensive zone. This forces the other teams blue line trap to fall back or loosen up. Button hooks in the rush create time and space to give options to outlet pass trailing players, pass back to the point, or allow everyone to get down low for board pass\dump. Alternatively getting a shot that is not meant for scoring but it's meant for getting an offensive zone Faceoff so that way we can set up offense with fresh legs. The problem with the dump and Chase style that Carolina has is that it's very predictable and often times leads to big stretch passes for the other team and the other reason why it's bad is because it always ends up with probably all 3 forwarss our team at the boards and no passing options generally speaking almost every shot come from the point and it causes problems for our offense to even cycle the puck and get good scoring chances. It also leads to too many to puck battles and we lose them.
The most shocking thing about the 2023 NHL playoffs for me has been no one has told Rod Brenda Moore that Lord Stanley would never let anyone with frosted tips touch his cup.
Can you talk about the Western conference finals. The last 5 videos have either been about eastern finals or Eastern conference teams. Quick correction: 4 of 5 videos. The solo one was about the IIHF.
On the ot winner just some bad luck as one of the Canes players has their stick stuck in a teammates skates thus preventing him from getting to the net to make a play. Though i agree the games between these two has been phenomenal. Hopefully we get more but it looks like Florida has a stranglehold.
The clearing the ice thing is so funny. I just feel bad for Bob who is literally carrying this team skating down the ice by himself and not getting his props after the buzzer. I'm sure he doesn't care just always like the tradition of giving your goalie a head pat after a big game when they've held you in there.
This will be the last time we will watch ESPN's NHL coverage because on July 3rd, ESPN will opt out of the remaining 5 years of a 7-year contract to hold the first half of the NHL's media rights and sell the remainder of the contract to CBS Sports.
That's exactly what I thought... "Holy crap did he FAKE going through the legs?" Just shows Florida isn't all about hitting and pounding they have skill. Let's go Cats!
I just don't get it. Was it a good goal? Of course. But why are people calling this one of the greatest playoff goals of all time? Without the slight fake between the legs, it's a pretty standard goal that we see every night. So just the action of slightly pulling it between his legs for a split second suddenly elevates it to one of the best ever? It just doesn't make sense.
It's phenomenal hockey, sure. I'm just sad that Canada seemingly will never see a stanley cup brought home again outside of players who went to sunny states bringing it back to show off xD... I'm just disappointed man. I can't always watch hockey, even if it's great. Three decades. THREE. DECADES >.
Makes perfect sense that if you're going to get beat, you might as well lose to the eventual champs. And since Florida beat my team, guess i'm rooting for them now to go all the way. Go Cats. Yay.
@@wakemiamigreatagain when he said the words “he does something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before” he didn’t add “in the playoffs”, so no, you’re wrong lmao
@@austink-v8261 I misquoted but the meaning is exactly the same. He literally said "Giroux actually did something like this a few years ago but it was in the regular season and on a breakaway". Meaning it wasn't in the playoffs. The distinction is still the same, so, you're still wrong. 🤣
@@wakemiamigreatagain I know he did, but if one is to make that distinction, one needs to clarify that in the FIRST sentence. He should’ve said “in the playoffs” at the end of the first thing I quoted. Otherwise they’re backtracking and it’s obvious they’re just trying to say something that’s more dramatic/shocking despite knowing what they’re saying is not technically true. That’s why I’m calling him out. What am I wrong about? Literally nothing I’ve said is wrong.
Considering the situation, it certainly is one of the better goals scored in recent playoff history based on the guts it takes to do it alone. To have that much poise in that situation is very uncommon.