Your NHL Semi-Final Preview #1 & Monday Evening Open Thread

NFL Nuggets:

All quiet on the NFL front today, so let’s take a look at why athletes should stay off social media:
- Le’Veon Bell aired some laundry about his feelings for Andy Reid.
  - “I’d never play for Andy Reid again … I’d retire first.”
  - That then led to current Chiefs piling on to Bell.
    - For example, the Honey Badger:
      - “These fellas will blame everybody for their lack of success. That’s how I know I’m built different.”

- Russell Wilson was disappointed that all the Seahawks drama played out in the press & on social media.
  - “Obviously I love Seattle, I love playing here. I’ve had a great career here so far. I’ve always wanted to play here for my full career, obviously. I think there was some unfortunate frustrations after the season… and I think, unfortunately, I think it got a little blown out of proportion a little bit.”

- Von Miller would like everyone to ignore social media, because the Broncos have Drew Lock! Until they don’t!
  - “[Y]ou don’t want to get too emotionally attached to the rumors. . . . You start thinking, ‘Oh, we’re going to get Aaron Rodgers or Deshaun Watson. But hold on, wait a minute, we’ve got Drew Lock. That’s who we’re running with. That’s who we’re going into the season with until anything changes.”

NHL Semi-Finals Preview: Montreal vs. Vegas

Look, I’m the first to admit that this is not what I expected. The whole isolated divisions thing made the playoffs harder to predict. I wrote off Montreal twice in my North previews, and I picked Colorado to come out of the West. The only picks I had right from this conference were Vegas & Colorado winning their first-round matchups. This is why I write on the internet instead of live in Vegas & eat at the sports books.

The hat makes me look sophisticated.

So, it’s with that amount of humility

Montreal has every conceivable disadvantage up against them. They are a defensive team, which plays best when counterpunching. Their leading regular season scorer, Tyler Toffoli, finished 20 points behind Vegas’ leader, Mark Stone. On average, Montreal’s top-6 finished 16 points behind Vegas’ best players. Mind you, it hasn’t mattered as much in the playoffs since the Habs defence has been lights out since they started mounting their comeback halfway through Game 5 versus the Leafs. Shea Weber has been ridiculous since the playoffs began, finally justifying the decision to part ways with PK Subban three years ago. Third-line guys like Brett Kulak & Erik Gustafsson have contributed valuable third period minutes, keeping Montreal’s backline from breaking down late in games. And there’s nothing that can’t be said about what Carey Price has done. The man has carried this team further than their talent pool had any right going. I’ve said it before – when Dryden won, he had guys like Lafleur & Robinson to help him win six; Patrick Roy might have been a rookie in 1986, but he still had crafty vets like Larry Robinson & Bob Gainey to help drag a young team across the finish line. Carey Price has literally no one who could crack Vegas’ top-9, and yet here they are. This has been Hall of Fame worthy netminding at exactly the right time.

Coming at him will be the buzzsaw that beat down the Avalanche, most people’s consensus pick to take the Cup. Stone, Marchessault & former Hab Max Pacioretty just kept going at the Avalanche, eventually giving Grubauer the case of the yips people expected Fleury to have had by that point. Throw in William Karlsson and you have four quality forwards that keep their foot on the gas the full 60 minutes. Vegas also has the luxury of three solid defensive pairings, led by Alex Pietrangelo & Shea Theodore, who proved more than capable of keeping Nathan MacKinnon & company out of their end. And that was helpful, because the lack of pressure kept Marc-Andre Fleury from losing his marbles during the second round. Robin Lehner was the one who took that 7-1 beatdown in Game 1 versus Colorado, so the needle is still at 100 – for now.

It looks like a no-brainer on paper, but the way things have gone so far you can’t assume anything will go according to plan.

Prediction: Vegas in five.

Tonight’s sports:

NHL:
- Montreal at Vegas – 9:00pm | NBCSN / Sportsnet / CBC
NBA:
- Philadelphia at Atlanta – 7:30pm | TNT / TSN4
- Utah at LA Clippers – 10:00pm | TNT / TSN4
MLB:
- Cubs vs. Mets – 7:00pm | ESPN / TSN2
- Blue Jays vs. Red Sox – 7:00pm | Sportsnet1
Futbol:
- Copa America 2021:
  - Paraguay vs. Bolivia – 8:00pm | FS1 / TSN3 / UniMas
WWE:
- Monday Night Raw – 8:00pm | USA / Sportsnet360