Nope, not at all.
I really want to see the Penguins lose in the first round again. The Islanders are giving the Pens all they can handle and more. That late call was BS, but you can’t choke away a 2 goal lead either.
Pens have played like garbage the past two games. Not working like they have the previous 25 games. Hopefully they wake up and realize that the cup requires 100% effort for the whole game, every game of the playoffs, no matter the opponent.
Pens are playing like they always have when Crosby comes back from a long absence. No matter how good Crosby is, there’s still chemistry issues - maybe not with his line, but rather the entire lineup. Like in Game 2, they all decided to forget the whole dump and chase/grind gameplan and instead try to do fancy, spinning shit to impress Cap-i-tan and had no possession all game. They battled back and forth this game on whether they were going to grind or Crosby watch, but I’m glad they started to show a little of their old selves.
Anyone else not impressed with Malkin this year? Yea, he has flashes of brilliance, but it seems he is getting more immature and selfish the older he gets, which is just bizarre. That was the most disappointing part of Game 2, he dumped and chased on his first 4 or so shifts - and scored a goal by doing so - then spent the whole rest of the game acting like he was the only skater on the ice, trying to do to much, and it felt like he was constantly coughing up the puck near the blue line on the stupidest possible passes. It’s also damning that out of the 20 guys they tried, Neal is the only winger that plays well with him. He doesn’t seem able to work with anyone else, besides I guess Kunitz.
Also, I’m crazy impressed with the Isles. Great heart, great work ethic. I’m also impressed how they’ve completely changed their game - which is to say, they aren’t playing dirty at all. The only dirty moves so far have come from Reasoner, and he only played because he had playoff experience. (This also goes for the Pens, I’m glad they aren’t playing dirty/frustrated as well, last years round one was embarrassing for so many reasons…)
That’s the game that I’ve been looking for from Ottawa. Our defencemen finally neutralized the Montreal forecheck by making smart, quick passes, and Ottawa was away to the races time and time again as Montreal got stuck with 2-3 men behind the play. We were still a bit sloppy defending in transition but overall it was a very good game.
Even better, Montreal came completely unglued in the third period. Now they have to refocus real quick. Meanwhile MacLean’s doing everything he can to piss them off – that timeout with 17 seconds left was a total bitch move, but I’m sure it was a calculated one.
PA-GEAU, PAGEAU PAGEAU PAGEAU, PA-GEAU, PA-GEAU!
Awesome game from the Senators. I didn’t think they had it in them, frankly. Total control. It’s hard to believe how one-sided this game was.
Kudos.
The one team I was afraid of in the first round for the Penguins was the Islanders. I fear this will be a very tough test for the Penguins, and if they win the series, this game may be the reason why.
Two reasons why it scared me… First, the islanders team speed. They are much faster than the Pens, and younger too. So, they beat the Penguins to the puck, they can fly right by the Pens up the ice, and they can put a lot of shots on goal. Which leads me to concern number two. Fleury in net. He is TERRIBLE in the playoffs, and the more shots you pepper him with, the more likely it is that he will crack. Every shot today scared me. The funny thing is, he will make some spectacular save, and then give up a goal that anyone standing in front of the net should make. He gives up some very soft goals.
Today was a good win. Blowing a two goal lead in the third wasn’t good, but taking it in OT makes those blown leads a little easier to take. I am wondering if Fleury is close to being pulled.
If the Pens get by the Islanders, I think they take the East. But they have to get by the Islanders first.
Don’t get too angry about the call. If Crosby isn’t held, who knows what happens? I was surprised it as called, but only because the refs let the Islanders maul the Pens most of the game. When Malkin and Crosby get only one shot in the first two periods, something more than good checking is going on.
I know. Depending on who we root for, we see the same things differently. This one worked out for the Pens, so I will take it.
Malkin is frustrated. The islanders mauled him all day today in the corners. They didn’t do anything wrong for the most part, no cheap shots, but they did a lot of clutching and grabbing that would probably been called for a couple of penalties in the regular season. The announcers would talk about “playoff hockey” a couple of times, which it was. Malkin doesn’t seem to adjust to this very well, and I think that why he seems to struggle sometimes in playoff games.
Hockey’s funny that way; one night Team A looks like they’ll sweep, and the next night Team B looks like they’ll never lose again. Ottawa looked awful in Game 2; tonight, they looked like they were beating up a beer league team. For that matter, look at Boston-Toronto, two horribly lopsided games but for different teams.
Man, I love MacLean, he’s a hell of a coach. His comments all week have been hilarious (“I’m not fat, I’m husky”) and that TO with 17 seconds to go was both a reasonable strategic decision - keeping his players safe, etc - while also being an absolute bitch slap to Therrien. I was also impressed all game with how disciplined the players were. They were ruthlessly tough, but (mostly) legal, and they never seemed to lose their composure. They agitated, but knew exactly when to skate away. To me it was the gameplan all along: Montreal is mouthy, arrogant, and prone to anger, but also too small and physical enough to back it up, so if you push on them hard enough, they’ll erupt out of control. Boston, Toronto, and Pittsburgh tried a similar gameplan on them this season, but the Sens turned it into an artform - I don’t think I’ve ever seen a line brawl where every single player from the instigating team lost.
Also, this game will make or break Shanahan. Subban, Borque, and Gorges should unquestionably be suspended. Subban for instigating with only 5 minutes to go, Borque for the most obvious elbow to the head of the year, and Gorges for trying to injure a player by… shooting the puck at them…? Seriously, who does that?
One more thing to add: For all of Disco Dan’s faults, I sure am glad we ditched Therrien. He was the biggest factor in all of that.
I agree with all of this, and I thought the.. ahem, postseason… Pens fans were insane for wanting to play them in the first round.
But I swear, can you imagine if Pens actually committed to a defensive system? They’d be unstoppable. I’ve seen a lot of people talk about how they’d be unstoppable if they switched Flower with Vokoun or, you know, King Hank (since goalies of his caliber are so freely available). But Flower would have similar numbers if the Pens huddled around him and blocked shots like the Rangers do. Flowers quite good with the normal stats, but he’s Top 10 this year with advanced stats. Therrien was once forced to play a kind of half-trap due to injuries, and his numbers jumped to Top 5 in the league.
To varying degrees, when Crosby, Malkin, Letang, or Neal get injured, the team is forced to commit to team defense, and assume that they’ll grind out a win - which is a pretty great formula for playoff hockey. During the regular season, when guys started to get injured, that’s when they rattled off the 15 win streak - and fans thought they’d be even better when the stars came back. But strangely, it was because the stars were out that the win streak was possible. Not to mention, Fleury got a shutout, Vokoun got two.
But as soon as they get back, the entire team reverts to Offensive Berserker Mode - which works against some teams, some of the time, but won’t win a lot of playoff series. So far I’m happy that they seem to realize this, as the Islanders were the team that could most easily push Pens into 2012 playoff mode, but they need to focus on it more. Clog lanes, less aggressive forchecks, block shots, etc. Isles averaged 35 shots against this season, more than any other team, and Fleury is dead-on consistent at .910% over his career, so the only way to win is give them less shots or shots further out from the perimeter, like game 1.
I’m not asking for them to change completely into, say, a Hitchcockian team, because they are already capable of strong defense when they focus. I think Orpik is a bigger loss than fans realize, he doesn’t have crazy stats (besides a great +/-) but he’s one of our only true shutdown D-men, plus his hits and grit are greatly missed. Engelland - his replacement - directly lead to half of Islander’s goals in Game 2.
I have to wonder if the Canucks will blow everything up if they end up getting swept by the Sharks.
You certainly don’t have to wonder if a million people in Vancouver will be screaming for it.
How easy is it to do that, though, in the era of capology? They couldn’t even trade Roberto Luongo - okay, terrible example, but will the Sedins split up, for instance?
Bob Miller, Chick Hearn, Vin Scully…quite the brat I am. RIP, Chicky Baby.
So, there’s no disciplinary hearings scheduled for the Montreal fiasco. Can we start the “Shanahan is ruining hockey” discussions now? Or, “Shanahan is in bed with the Canadiens”? Seriously, he gave Grybna - who has no history of dirtiness - 2 games for a clean open ice hit that had incidental head contact, but NOTHING for that Montreal mess?
Nothing for Bourque, seriously? He got 5 games last year for this, effectively ending Backstrom’s season. Last night, he does this, to a player that doesn’t even have the puck.
Subban gets nothing for this bullshit? He targets and instigates a fight with the second smallest Sens player - Turris of all players! - who doesn’t even get a chance to remove his gloves or take off his helmet before getting knocked down. On the ice, Subban keeps throwing punches, when he’s clearly down and can’t do anything - dangerous and senseless, amounting to little more than assault.
And it goes on. I thought they’d atleast give some players a 1 game suspension to try and keep order on Tuesday, but now it might just become another blood bath.
I would definitely support Daniel Alfredsson being suspended for one game of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.
As to what it has to do with the bullshit we saw in the Habs-Sens game and the bizarre silence from the NHL, I cannot say.
This gif never gets less funny - Silvferberg all alone on the bench.
I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I’m really pulling for Detroit.
Has Subban ever had a suspension?
Redwings tie it up with 18:42 left in the third!