Was that an Alexei Kovalev appearance today? 2 goals, Montreal better win when Kovalev scores twice since it ain’t going to happen too often. Paging Joe Thornton, is he in the building? 4 shots, -2, 6 penalty minutes, no points; he better step it up. Boston in 6.
Cloutier hurt? It doesn’t matter since Bertuzzi replacement Matt Cooke gets the winner. And with it home-ice advantage returns to the Canucks. Can Hedberg carry the load if the injury is more severe than believed. I think he can. Canucks in 6.
Beauty Personified, it looks like those Preds aren’t going to be pushed aside lightly. Vokoun, 41 saves today, but he’s got to stand on his head the rest of the series, if they’re going to have any chance of beating the Red Wings. Wings in 5.
A lot depends on the next game for the preds/wings series. Before the series started, Nashville sounded like they just “were” the Cinderella team of the playoffs and didn’t sound like they were ready to work for it. In game 1, the wings looked spooked by the Anaheim series as opposed to being motivated by it.
That same spooked feeling popped up in game 3 when they just fired shots at Vokoun as soon as they had the puck instead of setting up and getting good shots. Also, the defense pinched in even before they were down. That gave Nashville the room they needed to use their speed.
IMHO, the wings playoff run rests on Dave Lewis. Will he just let his team of veterans play, or will he overcoach and try to fix that which is not broken. The wings looked overall good in the first 2 games. Why he changed his strategy for game 3 I’ll never know. If Nashville wins game 4, look for Lewis to flail. Cujo will go in net, Lewis will concentrate his firepower on two lines and stop rotating all four lines.
Simply put, if Nashville wins game 4, I think they have the series.
As for Avs/Stars, I picked Stars to win this one figuring that Colorado didn’t have the depth to compete. How was I to know that Dallas would take the depth issue out by failing to contain the Avs big guns. It’s been the Sakic/Forsberg/Tanguay show out there and Dallas hasn’t even tried to stop it.
Lastly, is it me or is the media spending a lot of time trying to find an underdog in the playoffs this year? Seems like every lower seed team has been proclaimed the next Anaheim as soon as they score a goal.
I thought so too, it’s starting to get a little annoying. Just because they made a fantastic run that was great fun to watch doesn’t mean there will be another run of the same calibre this year. There are plenty of good first-round matchups without hunting night and day for an underdog.
The best matchup, of course, being Toronto/Ottawa, where the holy Senators have the natural advantage.
Yes, but Belfour has a fabulously wonky back. If his back starts to go, he’ll try to play through it. That could be bad. Also, let’s see how long the Leafs can stay out of the box.
New Jersey beats Philly. Dallas comes back on the avs. Right now the blues are leading hte sharks. Brace yourselves kiddies. We’ve got series’ a brewin.
All 8 series are 2-1, too bad I got exams 4 straight exams starting tomorrow. And one of them is even during the Leafs game Wednesday night but that’s what I get for coming down into Red Wings Country. Honestly who would of thunk that Jose Theodore would have more points than Thornton, Lecavalier, Murray, Bondra, Leclair and Stillman.
Man, did the Avs and Sharks not look good tonight but the Stars and Blues were fighting for their playoff lives and they played with fire for the first time in the playoffs.
My annual playoff advice to the team with Eddie Belfour – attach a 6 foot bungee cord to his back. Every year it seems like he gives up at least one game winning or otherwise crucial goal because he spots a butterfly and decides to wander off after it. Hook that cord on his sweater, attach the other end to the back of the net, and no more wanderlust. Or maybe one of those electric collars they use to train dogs to stay in the yard.
Speaking as a fan who has a dog in this show for the first time ever, I gotta say it’s a great feeling when you’re watching a game and the commentators compare one of the teams playing to YOUR team. Watching the Avs/Stars, one of the guys mentioned that the Avs compare to the speed of the Predators. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard the Preds mentioned in a game that the Preds weren’t actually playing. Damn, that felt good!
Oh who was I kidding. Of course Vokoun was going to turn into Superman. It always freaking happens. 41 shots. about 20 scoring chances. One goal called back on goalie interference. Another shot at an open net blocked by our own freaking player. Last game 42 shots with only one goal.
Plus Cujo has now played and all is tainted by his suckyness. I reaaaalllllllllly hate the first round, can’t it go to form once in a while? :mad:
Ahhhh! It’s a whole new tournament! We know the Preds can win at home (did someone say shutout?) Now if they can just win one at the Joe, we actually stand a good shot at winning our first playoff series ever, with the side bonus of knocking out the first seed team!
Plus now that we won tonight, my tickets for Game 6 at the GEC are good!!!
o/~ I’m going to a playoff game! I’m going to a playoff game! o/~
As a Maple Leafs fan, I’m bound to hate the Canadians but how awful was the finish of that game. Kovalev, you can’t just quit on the play like that especially in double OT. It seemed as if you had turned a corner with your play in the last 2 games but that was pathetic.
It was definitely an anti-climatic finish after a great hockey game. Fast paced for the most part, end to end action with plenty of scoring chances and great play by the goalies (the first two goals on Raycroft and the first one on Theodore were not-so-good, but they both made some amazing saves down the stretch and throughout the overtimes), and it ended with an idiot play.
The important part, though, is that the puck ended up in the right net.
I agree. It was painful. First I punched the wall, then came the crying. Looks like I might have to root for some other Canadian team to bring Stanley back where he belongs.
But not the Leafs. I don’t think I could survive that.
Well, we have Game 4 of the PHI/NJ series tonight. I’m goin’ Cup Crazy!
The Devils looked beaten during the first two games and most of the third. These two teams really despise each other - I love rivalries.
RickJay, we got Burke because it’s wise to have a veteran goalie when you’re not sure if your young goalie (who has almost no playoff experience) will stand up to the pressure. Esche has, so Burke probably won’t be needed. But it’s good to have an insurance plan, no?
