I was surprised to see Carolina as bigger favorites than the Avs. Maybe Vegas is docking Montreal for all the extra games played.

Our top line is right there with them haha. It'll be interesting to see how both play in the series.

Our 2nd line has been insane.

I'll be at game 1. Should be a blast.

Your 2nd line will be a big key. Habs can usually take away 1 line, but then 2nd line could feast.

That's awesome, have fun!

At least I was able to watch the game and not think it was over just because it was 2-0. Gut punch in OT but what a fun ride.

Rooting for Habs now (ugh)

wooooooooooooooooooo

couldn't celebrate yesterday cause got a temp ban.

Habs sucked once up 2-0. Played reasonably again once it was 2-2. We gotta be better with the lead.

Housenuts!

Stop being naughty, some of us come here for your Montreal posts,lol.

your ban was something

If you like Carolina, wait to bet them until after they (maybe?) lose Game 1.

yeah the history of winning game one after such a long break does not favor them

i have hopes that now that it's so much better known and studied that the team has been doing stuff to better negate that disadvantage

I thought you were perma banned

Lol no just 24h

History not favoring CAR

How many of those teams had two straight sweeps?

Funny that we’re responsible for two of the wins.

couldn't find any evidence as it pertains to hockey, but i would imagine that the results are similar. i doubt that the long layoff will negatively affect the canes, either in game 1 or for the series. if the market thinks otherwise, i'd bet against.


edit:

this was just from 1 season, but i suspect a larger study would also show that rest isn't disadvantageous

Isn't the thing I just posted of 7 games (no rest) vs sweeps (rest) evidence in hockey? Yes small sample size, but it's something at least.

Just did a quick search and it seems at least that the rest should favor Canes in game 1. My intuition was the opposite. Thought it would favor Habs in game 1, but Canes throughout series. Data wasn't quite clear about post game 1.

didn't see that before i posted, yeah sure. but like you say, the sample is so small idk

Just sort by who's got the best goalie

While I get the rhythm versus rest argument, the Habs coming off of two 7 game series where they weren’t the home team and the Canes here to avenge a lot of recent failure against an inexperienced team, is pretty important context. I’ll be shocked if they come out rusty and don’t play with urgency and focus from the start.

That said, game 1 is house money for the Habs and basically a must win for the Canes. The recent failures and pressure can build quickly.

Game one definitely not a must win for either team.

It’s impossible to have the intensity of playoff NHL hockey during practice. Canadiens have been dealing with it on a nightly basis and Canes haven’t experienced it in over a week, that’s the advantage imo.

If anything, Andersen was on a massive heater and he's not a great goalie, so time off interrupts his rhythm and will trend back to his normal poor quality. Won't be surprised if we see Bussi this series

When your team is 1-16 in the last four conf finals, and 1-12 in the last three under the current coach and core, and as heavy favorites at home in the rest versus rhythm argument, this game 1 is a must win.

I don’t really care about missing out on playoff intensity over the last two weeks compared to Montreal. This team understands playoff intensity. It’s time for our experience to payoff.

For a typical goalie, you’re probably right. But Freddie is someone who thrives on rest. That doesn’t mean he won’t let us down and we’ll have to turn to Bussi. Freddie is high variance. But if he lets us down, it won’t be because he’s out of rhythm due to having time to rest.

See: Lyon, Alex

Although I guess he was still good in G1 after a long rest, but he was absolutely horrific the rest of the series. Luukkonen and a zamboni door nearly saved them.

Makar out for Game 1

Totally agree