Right. And as it happens, when you take the power plays out of the equation, Ottawa outshot Montreal something like 36-23. Ottawa was carrying the play by quite a significant margin from the 10 minute mark on, yet somehow Montreal magically managed not to commit any penalties while spending most of the game playing defence. :dubious:
Maybe you want to go back and watch the fucking rugby match that was going on in front of Carey Price all night? Senators were getting cross-checked to the ice, gang-tackled, etc the whole game. Meanwhile Konopka gets a cross-checking penalty for tapping a player with his stick. Cowen gets sucker punched in the face? Toss 'em both. Neil or Foligno push a Hab? That’s a power play.
Ok bear with me as I’m using my iPod since both my computers have committed suicide this week. There won’t be much formatting or editing in this post and I apologize if it gets confusing.
First off, check your numbers. The official shots on goal totals were 38 to 32 (not 23) - hardly a one-sided shot clinic by the Sens. There were 23 shots on Anderson but 9 more on Bishop. I don’t consider a six shot differential to be dominant and having seen the game twice I think saying the habs were on the defense the whole time is laughable. The game went both wats with both teams sustaining pressure in each others end.
Next check the box score. With the exception of 4 calls in the first nearly every single penalty was a roughing misconduct or fighting call. I suppose the 4 calls skewed in favour of the habs (3to 1) but by then the Sens were already down by a few goals and were ramping up the physical crap.
My point is that nothing else was called. Obviously the habs weren’t perfect angels but neither were the Sens- the refs simply didn’t call any holding tripping slashing interference or other things of that nature. There was shit going both ways and certainly times when the have deserved a penalty but the Sens did too. I don’t know which team was engaging more in those things but the refs were bad in that they didn’t call anything.
As for the rugby match in front of price… You think a non physical team was starting scrums in front of their own net against more physical heavyweights in a game they were winning? Really? That simply isn’t how it happened - after the whistle it was Neil konopka cowen etc flying into the crease to stir shit up. They tried to turn the game around by being physical and it simply didn’t work. Konopka doesn’t nudge people: he checks them. Cowen crashed the crease got punched then punched back a couple of times, hard. That’s why he got a penalty.
The team itself admits it : they got in a hole and they weren’t disciplined. The referees sucked because they kept allowing things to escalate but it wasn’t as one sided as you suggest. It was bad officiating no doubt but not one sided. Mostly absent really.
Finally! What a huge, huge game by the second line. We’ve needed scoring from them in the worst way for a long time now.
What was up with the Pittsburgh defencemen tonight? It seems like any time they faced a forechecker they just bailed and took cover along the boards rather than moving the puck. We were eating them alive all night long. And Spezza’s breakaway was hilariously bad defence by the Penguins. How on earth does a player get a breakaway pass inside his own blueline?
This Red Wings game is interesting. 4-0 in 10 minutes, and it really could easily be 7-0. I have never seen a professional sports team just look so surrendered, and demoralized.
Either the Sens were eating their Wheaties, or the Pens were eating their suck flakes. (You should have heard my vocabulary Saturday night!)
I didn’t say Crosby was weak. I said look at how he’s performing now – and he’s not even up to his potential. Which is fucking amazing. Combine that with Malkin and while the Pens aren’t may not be unbeatable, (nods to RickJay) but they’re not going to just roll over and die.
Goal tending weak? Fleury’s had his troubles at times, but this season he’s been solid. As of now he’s had 41 wins – three more and he’ll have set a new franchise record for regular season wins. He’s tied with Barrasso for shut-outs, as well. Brent Johnson’s been inconsistant this year, yes, but Fleury? Hardly.
And since Matt Cooke did a complete turn around this season (34 PIM and I think most of them are minor), his scoring and assists have been going up as well.
I’m not saying we’ll win the Cup for certain. (I’m too superstitious for that!) But I think I detect a note of sour grapes here.
Penguins fan I talk to (in red wings country. Gotta give him fan credit for sticking with the pens in this area.) said that Crosby has looked like he’s playing scared. Avoiding the boards and dumping the puck when pressured. Certainly justifiable given the injuries and the potential for the next one being the last. Have you noticed anything like that out of Sid?
Reading comprehension fail? I didn’t say he was weak either and don’t really get how you got that out of what I did say. I said I was sick of hearing from, well pretty much anyone even tangentially related to the hockey media, about how he’s not 100% and once he does, watch out. There’s no denying his talent or what he can bring or that they’re a better team with him than without him, but, as I said, they were already a dominant possession and high scoring team with him. His presence and continued development don’t really help them where they need help.
I said “their primary weakness.” Of all the phases of the game, that’s where they’re weakest… however, after seeing them play recently against Ottawa and NJ I may have to rescind that statement and say that their defense is more culpable.
Fleury is a slightly above average goalie playing above his career save percentage and behind the most prolific offense in the League. When your team puts up 3.25 goals per game and is 4th in the League in limiting shots against per game, the goalie only has to be average. Notice in the link you provide that the next 10 goalies in wins all have more shutouts than Fleury because they’re, just about all, better goalies. Not that that is the be all, end all stat to make the case, but it’s a tip-off.
Pittsburgh’s strength is obviously in their scoring and that can take a team a long way, but if they hit a rough patch or a defensive scheme they struggle with or a hot goalie, Fleury could be exposed.
How did we get on to him, again?
All I’ll say about him is this: kudos to him for cleaning up his game, but that he could just “turn it off” suggests that his prior behavior was intentional, which makes him even more despicable.
Not at all. They’re a good team and they’ll make noise in the playoffs, but they’re not invincible and I’m tired of the media induced Crosby-gasm and those with limited hockey knowledge going on and on about how everyone had better watch out because he’s not even 100% yet.
soulmurk – I wasn’t just addressing you alone. If I misunderstood and thought you were agreeing with the media assessment of Crosby, I appologize.
My point about Cooke wasn’t to rub it in – just to mention the advantages right now. But speaking of despicable, perhaps you could refresh my memory – who was it who won the Conn Smythe back in 1995, when the Devils won the Cup? I seem to have forgotten.
I still feel that the Flower is underrated. You’re free to disagree.
The Sharks are now inexplicably in third place in the West, but so few points separate the Pacific division, and how bad the Sharks are this year :(, I doubt that will last. I do see signs of life from them, though.
Wow, reaching back 17 years… What’s that got to do with anything anyway? Matt Cooke is a despicable human being and that he can turn his career- and even life-threatening actions on and off like a switch makes him even more despicable. That other teams employ or have employed horrible human beings does not change or diminish that fact.
The fight for eighth in the East is quite interesting. Now it’s:
Place. Team, Points/Games Left
Ottawa 88, 5
Buffalo 86, 5
Washington 86, 4
So it’s a very tight race between Buffalo and Washington (if they tie, Washington wins) and Ottawa isn’t out of the woods by a long shot. It’s also worth noting that the #3 team, Florida, has just 89 points and so in theory could collapse out of it too.
In the West:
Los Angeles, 88, 5
San Jose, 88, 5
Phoenix, 87, 5
Colorado, 86, 3
Calgary, 85, 4
The Avs and Flames are done. Again you have a #3 ranked division leader, Dallas, just a point ahead of 7th.
Will definitely be an exciting end to the season. The West is just crazy how in one night a team can go from 9th to 3rd and back again.
I think Buffalo takes 8th in the East. They have the game in hand and have been playing very well, and two of their games left are against Toronto–who appears to have rolled over for the draft pick–though their remaining three games will be tough: Pitts, Philly, Boston. Washington appears to have the easier schedule (MTL, TBL, FLA, NYR) and they’re getting Backstrom back, but they don’t have a lot of room for error assuming Buffalo can beat Toronto 2x.
Will be interesting to see how all that plays out, as well as the suddenly tight race for home ice between the 4-5 seeds. With two games against one another the battle of Pennsylvania might get pretty rough, especially knowing they’re going to be playing each other in the first round.
The ‘exciting end’ is a matter of perspective. The Canucks locked up 2nd place in the west a week ago and for practical purposes about a month ago. They’ve been on snooze for all of March, occasionally waking up to say hello to the latest desparate team that comes by - this week alone they’ve had to beat off LA & Colorado and now Dallas tonight.
At least D. Sedin is a probable for the playoffs - we should be a team in good shape.
But you want to watch an exciting game - check out Nashville - Detroit tonight. They are pretty much a lock for facing each other in the 1st round and whoever wins may well secure home ice.
2 months ago the Leafs were in 6th place overall in the NHL. They are now a lottery team. I don’t get it, how does something go that bad? It has to be one of the more epic failures in a franchise that has known its share of failure. Do they have their first round pick this year?
That said, I love the playoff races in both conferences. A bad night and the Stars could go from 3rd to 9th or 10th. It really makes the final 5/6 games important.
