Three Up | Three Down: Playoffs Round 3 - Your Home for Everything NHL Esports. Good morning y'all, Wzia here. Now THAT'S what the playoffs are all about! We saw 17/32 games end as just a one goal game in the main stage, with Contender's having an even more impressive 11/16 ratio. The pressure is mounting, and it's time for Round 3. ALSO My dumb ass accidentally posted this in the CHL forum on accident. I suck, reposted in correct spot. ================================================================ Wzia's Prediction Record: 18-6 Main (6-2 Round 2) | 7-5 Contender's (3-1 Round 2) Definitely a good week, in terms of predictions, but I want perfection. The further we get, the harder it'll be to pick. But I'm up for the challenge. I'm gonna have a bit of personal bias to contend with, but it'll still be quite the entertaining round of Esports tonight. ================================================================ Main Stage ===== (12) vs. (1) The Underdogs While I was hoping for a /IslesGT rematch from Pacific Cup, we'll have to "settle" for /Underdogs instead. has been rolling so far in the playoffs, with their 6-0 record being evident of just how dominant they've been. @Tendy is on FIRE with 14 goals in 6 games at a 53.8sh% and the passing has been pinpoint throughout the entire lineup (everyone at 74.3% or higher). But for as much as is rolling, The Underdogs have shown that those statlines are just another day for them. They're also undefeated at 5-0 (plus a FFW), but @BoilyxHP and @LoKO CRuStY are performing just as well. When these two teams met in week 4, The Underdogs took it 2-0, but needed to grind out a game two that didn't see any goals between the end of the 1st and the OT GWG. might've learned some valuable information in that game 2, but I don't think it's gonna be enough. Series Prediction: The Underdogs in 5 ===== (6) One Nation vs. (5) Caps Gaming Speaking of players rolling, @Ethancy has shown throughout the Showcase how big of a pickup he was for Caps Gaming. Through round 2, Ethancy is now up to almost 30 points and a 74.4 SF%. But even more impressive, has been Caps Gaming's play on the special teams. Despite going a man down on the PK 18 times already, Caps Gaming holds an 88.9pk%, good for just 2 PP goals allowed. On the other end, Caps Gaming are at 53.3% on their powerplays. Among Main Stage teams with at least 10 PP chances, Caps' PP% is 1st place by 26%. Their gap with the field is a respectable PP% in of itself. One Nation is still a highly competitive team, but for every strength they have, Caps seems to have the edge. One Nation's biggest chance is gonna come in the defensive end, where they're gonna need a hell of a performance from @racc2000. His .833sv% and 2.19 GAA have him at a decent advantage over Caps' @Vaynx, but we're gonna need to see some truly memorable performances for One Nation to pull this out. Series Prediction: Caps Gaming in 4 ===== (10) Scary Hours vs. (2) IslesGT This is the main event of Round 3, with IslesGT opting for a rematch of the Pacific Cup Semi-Finals. IGT has had Scary Hours' number in a bad way as of late, going 5-0 in their last 5 games. While IGT has been cruising with relatively no quarrels or qualms about their games, Scary Hours just had to endure a 4 game series against Momentumm that saw 11 of the 16 goals scored in the 3rd period or later. I fear that if this cardiac buzzer beater style continues, it's not gonna go well for Scary Hours. IGT has not given up more than one goal in the third period of a game since their 4-0 loss to Never Unlucky back in Week 4, bringing that streak up to 11 games. Scary Hours has talent, nobody's saying otherwise. But unless we see something different come from this matchup, I think it'll be IGT all the way. Series Prediction: IslesGT in 4 ===== (4) SJSharks Gaming vs. (3) Never Unlucky This will be my personal series to watch, as it has some of my favorite storylines going. On one side, we have a Never Unlucky starting lineup who's been dying to win an Esports title. Among their starting 6 players, they only have one title since the end of NHL 19 (@Odieeeeee's Pacific Cup Season 1 title with Composure in January 2021). A highly experienced group, Never Unlucky's roster has gotta be dying for a title in a bad way. But on the other hand, SJSharks Gaming is run by @Roseart2, a very good friend of mine. This SJS team has also shown themselves to be an amazing playoff contender, as evident from their 3-1 victory over IslesGT in the IGT Open earlier this year. That victory over IGT was bittersweet, as in RA2's eyes, that event could've easily been won by SJS if they put up a better performance against Caps Gaming. To top off the drama, these are two extremely even matched teams. Both teams have very impressive balanced scoring (SJS has all 5 skaters between 11 and 14 points, Never Unlucky is all between 7 and 18) and an elite showing on the defensive end (@Hxdman at an .851sv% and @JT13 only having to face 8.6 shots a game in the playoffs). When you can't decide, it might be best to go on the side with more experience in what looks to be a tightly contested series. Series Prediction: Never Unlucky in 5 ================================================================ Contender's Cup ===== (6) Area 51 Aliens vs. (1) Highlife Area 51 just doesn't know how to go away, do they? The core of this team has been playing tough defense for two events straight, and it's latest evidence comes in the absolute shutdown of Efficacity's high powered winger duo. Area 51 held them to 5 goals in just 4 games. @Keenis VII has the boys as a well-oiled machine on defense, and I still feel like they have the advantage over the 1st seeded Highlife. Area 51's core EXCELS at shutting down high powered forwards when it comes to the playoffs, and Highlife sees very little offensive involvement from their dmen (all well under 1ppg in the Regular Season and Playoffs). This is a stylistic nightmare for Highlife, and one that I believe Area 51 Aliens will take advantage of to win a defensive matchup. Series Prediction: Area 51 Aliens in 4 ===== (9) kinda electric vs. (4) Rezervation Our final matchup to look at, we have two teams that I have been picking against for the entire season. Both kinda electric and Rezervation have greatly outperformed my expectations in wildly different ways. Where kinda electric has surprised everyone by winning both of their series 3-0, Rezervation overcame back-to-back Game 1 losses to prevail in their matchups. Rezervation continues to bail out @Wigs l23l's poor goaltending statistics, while kinda electric's @XSharkieMeddy has been the central cog in the machine. These are two wildly different styles going head-to-head, and this is where I think kinda electric's momentum continues. Wigs and his .708sv% are not built for playoff success, and the luck ends here against what's been a very stout kinda electric defense. Series Prediction: kinda electric in 4 ================================================================ And now we've reached the end of T|T's Round 3 preview. I'd like to thank you all for taking the time to read this, as I truly appreciate it every time y'all come out to support my media. Thank you again to @xFUNKx-_- for the graphic, I can't wait to see what's in store for us here in Round 3. ===== Your very own Enforcer Enthusiast, Wzia ================================================================ Interested in more from Caps Gaming? Check out their socials for everything NHL Esports! Twitter/X Twitch Instagram Support the news team, like, comment & share your thoughts on their work
