Jordan Staal out for the season. That's a pretty big loss and takes out a lot of the Penguins' depth, not to mention a big defensive presence especially on the PK. MSNBC however is reporting he'll be out "a few weeks." So who knows. Edit: TSN is reporting Staal had surgery could possibly be back for the Conference finals. I also feel sad for myself when the #2 overall leader for the fantasy hockey league is someone named "mxpxgirl12."
Only when he can face 35 or more shots apparently. It is really ridiculous what he's doing - and being a fan of statistical anlysis I have been saying all year that he will fall back down to average sometime but he hasn't yet. I would LOVE if the Habs could knock out the Pens, but they would actually have to win at least one at home now for a good shot. PK Subban is fun to watch too. Also, Craig Adams has apparently been taking lessons from Matt Cooke.
I hope so. I possess a nearly irrational hatred of Sidney Crosby, so the Habs are the lesser of 2 evils in the series. Penguins can't be eliminated quickly enough.
So do I. It pains me to root for the Habs so I'm just not rooting for Pittsburgh. Bet on Montreal to win the series at +375 so I'm happy they're tied right now. Bruins played sloppy tonight. Played hard for all but the last 20 seconds in the second period and it bit them. Good for Lucic. He does a lot of grunt work and since he's on my favorite radio program a couple times a week his next interview should be fun.
Probably the least dangerous play to ever receive a match penalty. Don't get me wrong, I agree with it and it's completely warranted, but normally you see something a little more heinous when match penalties for intent to injure are handed out. Wow, can't believe how the Van-Chi game went down. I figured the Hawks were gonna take it to them from the start, and split the first two games. I was half right at least. How the hell do they let the Canucks come out and score 2 goals in the first five minutes of the game? I mean, they completely owned the last 40 minutes of that game, but to lose the first game on home ice 5-1 and then start the second game off 2-0 must have messed with their heads at least a bit. But they battled back and got a very convincing win, so that's the most important thing. I was happy to see the rough stuff start to surface though. That's what everyone was waiting for in this series and hopefully it turns into another battle of old time hockey like last year.
Oh man, I used to turn off the interference penalty in NHL 99 and do that all the time. I'd check the goaltender on every play and that shit NEVER got old... what this guy did is super lame, but I couldn't help but bust out laughing when I saw it. And boy, this is the NHL thread. OHL? WTF? (jk, I really don't care). I've been able to catch 1 1/2 Red Wings games this postseason and I have to miss the back-against-the-wall game 3 tonight, but by God, you boys better step up. Pavelski is killing you heathens. San Jose finally decides to step up in the post-season, and they do it against Detroit? 10-1 odds the Wings pull off the win at home tonight. Fuck that, we're winning the next four. Home ice clinching game, suckers!
Anybody wanna tell me why I'm watching the Canadians and Penguins rather than Sharks and Wings on Vs. right now? Checked the schedule, both games are scheduled for Versus. Why the fuck wouldn't this be on NBC or something? In all fairness though, the sideline reporter at the game is really fucking hot.
Whoever is missing the Pitt - Mon game is missing out on some of the best hockey played in the playoffs. On the Montreal end anyway.
I am in Pittsburgh right now. The game is currently on VS and our local Fox Sports station. Each with different announcers and the VS feed is 1min behind the FSN feed. I know Det/SJ is in intermission, but I've never seen that before. Bizarre. Penguins are starting to get some good shots on Halak. The key is puck movement. They have to get the Montreal players moving around, out of position and out of the shooting lanes. Otherwise the Montreal defense is just going to keep on racking up blocked shots. The Montreal defense is quite scary, and if they score first you're really in trouble. They're probably the best team at defending a lead in the playoffs and they're content to go the distance and win 1-0.
Ideally, this Montreal-Pens game ends with a great last-minute goal by Montreal and then Versus switches to the Sharks/Wings game to see the Sharks win it in triple OT. Oh to dream.
San Jose has had their feet on the gas pedal since that Thornton goal and now Couture just scored an amazing goal. The Western Conf. series have been really exciting this round. Pens finally managed to get one by Halak and one was all they needed thankfully. Star of the game was Fluery though he had some great saves, particularly in the final five minutes or so.
There's been a lot of crying from some of the Wings' fans but they were handed a free penalty shot. Sharks are at least cashing in on some of the bad calls that go their way. I hope the Sharks finally make SCF. I wonder if Roberta Gonzales is growing a her own playoff beard
Completely different Blackhawks team showed up tonight. I don't know where Byfuglien's performance came from, but the physical play seemed to fire him up. The next couple of games should be interesting as it got pretty chippy towards the end tonight.
It seems like every game the Canucks and Blackhawks flip a coin to see which teams will show up. The play of the Canucks for Games 4 and 5 was night and day. Solid passes, lots of speed, keeping their composure and not getting sucked into Chicago's crap. If they play the same way, they can force a Game 7 no problem. Its hard to tell though, since the only thing the Canucks do better than comebacks is inconsistency. I'm really hoping to see Montreal knock out Pittsburgh, but I don't buy into the whole "cheering for Canadian teams because they're Canadian" stuff. I'm just a classic underdog lover and would love to see the 8th ranked team (and 19th ranked in the entire league) knock out not only the President's Trophy winners, but the defending Stanley Cup Champions too in the same year.