After 18 games, most series of the Stanley Cup First Round are tight. Only the Carolina Hurricanes and the Colorado Avalanche have developed a 2-0 lead against the Nashville Predators and the St. Louis Blues. In all other series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the intermediate result is 2: 1 or 1: 0. Surprisingly, Carolina and Colorado are also the only teams to win their first two home appearances. On Thursday the trend of home defeats in the playoffs culminated with successes for the away teams in all four games.
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“Anything can happen in this sport. Every team has the opportunity to win,” said Stürmer Brayden Point, whose Tampa Bay Lightning suffered their first loss to the Florida Panthers in their first home game on Thursday. “The fans can give you a boost at home and you can maybe coordinate the rows, but in the end you are faced with two strong teams who take advantage of mistakes. Regardless of whether you play at home or away, the following applies: if you make fewer mistakes, wins the game. “
Before the start of the playoffs, coaches and players kept hearing that it was important to secure home rights. Dean Evason, coach of the Minnesota Wild, for example, emphasized several times the importance of the last change that the home team is entitled to. In this way, the coach can deploy his strongest defensive row against the opponent’s most dangerous attackers and send his own star strikers onto the ice against the more vulnerable opponents. On Thursday, Minnesota suffered a 2-5 defeat in their own arena in their first home game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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“Part of the pressure the teams are putting on themselves at home,” said Vegas Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer, commenting on the hosts’ weakness in the playoffs. His team delivered the best performance of their three playoff games against the Wild in the second and third third on Thursday. In Vegas, Minnesota presented itself at eye level for long stretches and won game 1. In Game 3, however, the Golden Knights dominated the action with 40:16 shots on goal.
“I think it’s easier to play away,” continued DeBoer. “That is especially true this season, because you don’t play in a really hostile environment with 20,000 fans in the stands. I have no real explanation for it. But I know that the players in the dressing room as the home team often hide in game 1 Put pressure no matter what you say. That is sometimes counterproductive. “
In addition to the tactical advantage of the last move, home rights should actually also be a mental advantage. The players of the home team move in familiar surroundings and can prepare in their own arena with familiar procedures. They don’t have a long journey behind them and the fans, who are allowed at least in limited numbers in many stadiums, can give the team additional energy.
However, the numbers in this year’s playoffs paint a different picture. In 18 games, the home side won only eight times, ten times the guests went off the ice as winners. Of eight teams that had won at least 20 wins on their own ice in the regular season, six lost at least one of their first two home games.
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The prime example of the trend of diminishing home advantage is the Panthers versus the Lightning series. Tampa won the first two games at the BB&T Center in Sunrise 5-4 and 3-1, while Florida clinched a 6-5 win after extra time in the Amalie Arena on Thursday. The home advantage seems to have become a homicide.
“I’m not sure why that is,” said Tampa’s striker Anthony Cirelli. “When you play away you have less pressure. You just go on the ice and play your game. At home you should actually approach things the same way.”
Golden Knights coach DeBoer and Tampa’s striker agree that home law is being put at a disadvantage due to the pressure and stress the players put on themselves. As a result, coaches and management players are required to ensure relaxation and a relaxed atmosphere in the team, which is of course easier said than done.
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