1. #17641
    Well that was a raping and a half. So much for Anderson being a god.. a mere mortal after that display.

  2. #17642
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    He's looked awfully human in 2 games of this series but seems to bounce back quite well. He was amazing in game 3. I think the skill of Pittsburgh is just getting to the Sens. They're pretty outclassed offensively and only won game 3 because Anderson stood on his head and somehow they held the Pens big guns off the board. With a healthy Spezza and Karlsson this might be a different story but they can't keep up offensively and have a hard time shutting the door defensively vs the firepower.
    Last edited by Zeoni; 2013-05-23 at 09:55 AM.

  3. #17643
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    exactly what zeoni said.
    with all the injury and health issues ottawa has, how can you expexct a team that hasnt ever really been known for its offense to be able to keep up a team like pittsburgh (who by the way, still gave up 3 goals, against a said bad offensive team) when the goalie isnt absolutely rocking it.
    same issue NY is having with Boston right now.
    no offense to back up what the defense/goalie do.

  4. #17644
    The Insane draynay's Avatar
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    I hope the Kings don't blow it, I would love to see what they can manage against a team like the Penguins, lately all their playoff matchups have been opponents that roughly mirror them and it would be fun to see them play somebody completely different

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    The Lightbringer Asera's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by marcelos11 View Post
    exactly what zeoni said.
    with all the injury and health issues ottawa has, how can you expexct a team that hasnt ever really been known for its offense to be able to keep up a team like pittsburgh (who by the way, still gave up 3 goals, against a said bad offensive team) when the goalie isnt absolutely rocking it.
    same issue NY is having with Boston right now.
    no offense to back up what the defense/goalie do.
    A testament to both how bad Pittsburgh's back end is, and how bad New York's front end is.

    My prediction for the remainder of the post season:

    Current round:
    - Senators scrape and claw to a game 6 or 7 but ultimately lose.
    - Boston sweeps Rangers, Tortorella gets fired.
    - Detroit amazingly manages to oust Chicago by game 7.
    - Los Angeles continues to forget how to hockey and loses their last two against the Sharks.

    Round 3:
    - Pittsburgh's troubles again surface on the back end, causing them to be ousted by the Bruins in 5 or 6 games. Pittsburgh bandwagon breaks again.
    - Detroit runs out of gas after a brutal series with Chicago, but still manages to take the Sharks to 6 games. People are confused, wondering why San Jose hasn't choked yet.

    Resulting final, Boston and San Jose. Wouldn't that be something? I'd like to see the Sharks win their first cup, but in this situation... I don't see Boston losing that series.

    Of course, this is the playoffs, and the chances of me being right are slim to none.
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  6. #17646
    Quote Originally Posted by Asera View Post
    A testament to both how bad Pittsburgh's back end is, and how bad New York's front end is.

    My prediction for the remainder of the post season:

    Current round:
    - Senators scrape and claw to a game 6 or 7 but ultimately lose.
    - Boston sweeps Rangers, Tortorella gets fired.
    - Detroit amazingly manages to oust Chicago by game 7.
    - Los Angeles continues to forget how to hockey and loses their last two against the Sharks.

    Round 3:
    - Pittsburgh's troubles again surface on the back end, causing them to be ousted by the Bruins in 5 or 6 games. Pittsburgh bandwagon breaks again.
    - Detroit runs out of gas after a brutal series with Chicago, but still manages to take the Sharks to 6 games. People are confused, wondering why San Jose hasn't choked yet.

    Resulting final, Boston and San Jose. Wouldn't that be something? I'd like to see the Sharks win their first cup, but in this situation... I don't see Boston losing that series.

    Of course, this is the playoffs, and the chances of me being right are slim to none.
    I've actually been thinking about this myself, and I'd love to see a Boston-San Jose Cup. San Jose is actually probably my second favorite team. I've always loved Thornton, and a lot of their players actually.

    However, I'm still scared of Pittsburgh. Assuming things keep playing out like they have been in this round (I'm not even going to try to guarantee us moving forward after almost dropping a 3-1 lead over Toronto), that would be a tough series. We'd need a great first game to get in Vokoun's head a bit. He really is the key. If he keeps playing well, I don't see us taking the series, but if we can get him off kilter then we definitely stand a chance.

    Wow, Richards is a healthy scratch tonight for the Rangers... Feel kinda bad for the guy, I have no idea how he's struggling so poorly right now. At first I thought it might have been Torts' system, but then I remembered he was with him in Tampa and played great. I haven't watched a ton of Rangers this season outside of their games against the B's. Any Rangers fans have some insight into what seems to be his problem?
    Last edited by Raleik; 2013-05-23 at 03:52 PM.

  7. #17647
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    If I remember right, Tortorella's system in Tampa 9 years ago was much different than whatever he's trying to do now with the Rangers.
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  8. #17648
    Boston - Pittsburgh will definitely be better than Pittsburgh - Ottawa. Boston has the best defense in the NHL. Maybe not statistically, but Chara is easily the best defensive defensman in the NHL and Seidenberg is in the top 10 if not the top 5 as well. The Bruins have a far better forecheck than Ottawa, so Pittsburgh won't have as clean of breakouts, lastly, Rask is 10 times the goalie Anderson is. Not only that, but Boston's forwards are far better than Ottawa's. That should shape up to be a good series, assuming the Bruins don't beat themselves.

    It all depends on how the refs call it. If they call it in a European style hockey, the Bruins probably don't have a shot as they can't match the speed and finesse of Pittsburgh. If they let calls go and allow Boston to be physical, I think Boston has a really good shot.

  9. #17649
    Elemental Lord Reg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raleik View Post
    I've actually been thinking about this myself, and I'd love to see a Boston-San Jose Cup. San Jose is actually probably my second favorite team. I've always loved Thornton, and a lot of their players actually.

    However, I'm still scared of Pittsburgh. Assuming things keep playing out like they have been in this round (I'm not even going to try to guarantee us moving forward after almost dropping a 3-1 lead over Toronto), that would be a tough series. We'd need a great first game to get in Vokoun's head a bit. He really is the key. If he keeps playing well, I don't see us taking the series, but if we can get him off kilter then we definitely stand a chance.

    Wow, Richards is a healthy scratch tonight for the Rangers... Feel kinda bad for the guy, I have no idea how he's struggling so poorly right now. At first I thought it might have been Torts' system, but then I remembered he was with him in Tampa and played great. I haven't watched a ton of Rangers this season outside of their games against the B's. Any Rangers fans have some insight into what seems to be his problem?
    Even with the Hawks and Penguins being the number 1 seeds and with how great their teams are, I predicted a Bruins-Kings Stanley Cup. There is just something about Boston and LA that meshes so well.

    And Richards ... I don't know what it is. He has been cold all season long. Nothing seemed to go right with him, so whether it's physical or mental I have no idea. All I know is I have never seen someone miss a wide open net so many times as he has this year. I really dislike Torts because he doesn't leave the damn lines alone when they are working well. When Nash, Stepan and Callahan were on the same line, they were producing points very well. After the Gaborik trade, he decided to mix it up again and just change all the lines. It's hard to get any kind of cohesion when you are on the ice with different players every line change.

  10. #17650
    The Insane draynay's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raleik View Post
    Wow, Richards is a healthy scratch tonight for the Rangers... Feel kinda bad for the guy, I have no idea how he's struggling so poorly right now. At first I thought it might have been Torts' system, but then I remembered he was with him in Tampa and played great. I haven't watched a ton of Rangers this season outside of their games against the B's. Any Rangers fans have some insight into what seems to be his problem?
    coaches take desperate actions when they're on the verge of being fired, which may be the case, they look so ill-prepared, and special teams disasters are easy to blame on the coaching staff - oftentimes you see them make a goalie change at this stage of desperation, but since Lundqvist is the best player on the team that would be silly


    Sutter has been over managing a bit, so many lineup changes, he got into the same habit against the Devils, putting Gagne in for the last couple games, hopefully everybody in the lineup is healthy enough to be worth having there and the lines can reach some semblance of normalcy

  11. #17651
    Quote Originally Posted by pureallstar3482 View Post
    Boston - Pittsburgh will definitely be better than Pittsburgh - Ottawa. Boston has the best defense in the NHL. Maybe not statistically, but Chara is easily the best defensive defensman in the NHL and Seidenberg is in the top 10 if not the top 5 as well. The Bruins have a far better forecheck than Ottawa, so Pittsburgh won't have as clean of breakouts, lastly, Rask is 10 times the goalie Anderson is. Not only that, but Boston's forwards are far better than Ottawa's. That should shape up to be a good series, assuming the Bruins don't beat themselves.

    It all depends on how the refs call it. If they call it in a European style hockey, the Bruins probably don't have a shot as they can't match the speed and finesse of Pittsburgh. If they let calls go and allow Boston to be physical, I think Boston has a really good shot.

    I think the B's will have a hard time against the Pens, though we are generally good at not taking a TON of penalties, which should help. Refs seem to adore the Pens as much as the media does, which doesn't help.

    I also think Krug and Hamilton will continue to be surprise players for us,

  12. #17652
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    Rask is the key to the Penguins / Bruins matchup imo. We all know the situation regarding Pittsburgh's defense but their offense is just above and beyond better than anyone else. He was huge in the Toronto series don't get me wrong, but he wasn't facing the quality of shots and scoring chances he will from Pittsburgh. If he can keep it down to 2-3 goals per game they will win easily but if he falters at all it's going to be a wild shootout like the Pens first round series vs the Islanders. At the worst of times, Boston looked really slow and that was mostly because the Leafs are a very fast team. Pens have a decent amount of speed to them too. I can't even begin to make a prediction since everything I think will happen doesn't and in fact the opposite happens. However, I can see the series going multiple directions. Bruins light up Vokoun/Fleury/Pitt D and take it in 4-5 games, a wild shootout series featuring high scores and 6 games going either way, or a longer 7 game battle with a couple blowouts going either way. I'm looking forward to it big time, go Jarome

    The West is a bit more tight, if L.A. can bounce back at home and play the way they had been playing before, they're going to be a scary team. Extremely good goaltending, sleeper scoring, and a pretty balanced blue line. They're like a better version of the Rangers that -can- put up big numbers. Regardless of who makes it, I think the finals this year will be really good no matter which of the remaining teams makes it. I don't like to dagger series before they're over but the East final is probably Bruins/Penguins so the winner of those 2 vs Detroit/Chicago or L.A./San Jose will be an interesting matchup.

  13. #17653
    Quote Originally Posted by Zeoni View Post
    Rask is the key to the Penguins / Bruins matchup imo. We all know the situation regarding Pittsburgh's defense but their offense is just above and beyond better than anyone else. He was huge in the Toronto series don't get me wrong, but he wasn't facing the quality of shots and scoring chances he will from Pittsburgh. If he can keep it down to 2-3 goals per game they will win easily but if he falters at all it's going to be a wild shootout like the Pens first round series vs the Islanders. At the worst of times, Boston looked really slow and that was mostly because the Leafs are a very fast team. Pens have a decent amount of speed to them too. I can't even begin to make a prediction since everything I think will happen doesn't and in fact the opposite happens. However, I can see the series going multiple directions. Bruins light up Vokoun/Fleury/Pitt D and take it in 4-5 games, a wild shootout series featuring high scores and 6 games going either way, or a longer 7 game battle with a couple blowouts going either way. I'm looking forward to it big time, go Jarome

    The West is a bit more tight, if L.A. can bounce back at home and play the way they had been playing before, they're going to be a scary team. Extremely good goaltending, sleeper scoring, and a pretty balanced blue line. They're like a better version of the Rangers that -can- put up big numbers. Regardless of who makes it, I think the finals this year will be really good no matter which of the remaining teams makes it. I don't like to dagger series before they're over but the East final is probably Bruins/Penguins so the winner of those 2 vs Detroit/Chicago or L.A./San Jose will be an interesting matchup.
    It really does all come down to Rask if the Pens and Bruins end up playing. But this series against the Sens was supposed to come down to Anderson and the stingy Ottawa D, and we all see how that's turned out so far. He managed to steal one game, but even then the offense was buzzing, he was just playing out of his mind and it took them two overtimes to do it. And even last night the pens had opportunities they missed or were robbed of by a great play by anderson that would have made it even worse than 7-3. Teams are going to be hard-pressed to beat the pens if they cannot generate quality offense, as the pens goal differential is a +1.50, .5 better than any other team. One of the biggest factors will again be special teams, so the Bruins would need to start converting more goals off the powerplay and get better on kill.
    But again, this is all assuming these series end up the way we think they will, and you never really know for sure until that fourth game has been won, just ask the Baby Bruins

  14. #17654
    The Lightbringer Asera's Avatar
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    The last few games the Bruins haven't had much trouble getting pucks to the net. Did you see their chances in game 3? The problem was Mr. Lundqvist was in front of it. If it was anyone else, the Bruins would be winning by a decently higher goal differential than they are right now. Pittsburgh is running off their backup goalie because Fleury is proving to be more worthless every season. Rask is better than Vokoun. Boston's defense is on par or better than Pittsburgh's (IMO better with Seidenberg in the lineup). Boston is a bigger, and far more physical team. Unless for some reason the Bruins regress back to the shit they were doing against Toronto, I will be extremely surprised if they don't win a series against the Penguins.
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  15. #17655
    Quote Originally Posted by Asera View Post
    The last few games the Bruins haven't had much trouble getting pucks to the net. Did you see their chances in game 3? The problem was Mr. Lundqvist was in front of it. If it was anyone else, the Bruins would be winning by a decently higher goal differential than they are right now. Pittsburgh is running off their backup goalie because Fleury is proving to be more worthless every season. Rask is better than Vokoun. Boston's defense is on par or better than Pittsburgh's (IMO better with Seidenberg in the lineup). Boston is a bigger, and far more physical team. Unless for some reason the Bruins regress back to the shit they were doing against Toronto, I will be extremely surprised if they don't win a series against the Penguins.
    Except bigger, more physical teams haven't been a problem for the pens this season, small, shifty, quick transition teams like the islanders have been. Also, while I'd agree that Rask is a better goalie than Koun long term, he is currently statistically better than Rask having in both save percentage and goals against (though the sample size is smaller) throughout the playoffs facing a similar number of shots per game. Finally, for season matchups, the pens won all three games against the Bruins and didn't field their full squad in any of them. I'm not saying a series against the Bruins wouldn't be tough, and again, it's the playoffs, but there is nothing statistically through these playoffs, or matchup-wise from the regular season that wouldn't suggest the pens would win a 7 game series.

  16. #17656
    Scarab Lord AceofHarts's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rylon View Post
    Except bigger, more physical teams haven't been a problem for the pens this season, small, shifty, quick transition teams like the islanders have been. Also, while I'd agree that Rask is a better goalie than Koun long term, he is currently statistically better than Rask having in both save percentage and goals against (though the sample size is smaller) throughout the playoffs facing a similar number of shots per game. Finally, for season matchups, the pens won all three games against the Bruins and didn't field their full squad in any of them. I'm not saying a series against the Bruins wouldn't be tough, and again, it's the playoffs, but there is nothing statistically through these playoffs, or matchup-wise from the regular season that wouldn't suggest the pens would win a 7 game series.
    Vokoun hasnt had t o play a team yet in the playoffs who can actually put up some offensive numbers though.
    and if the playoffs have shown us anything, its that the regular season doesnt mean anything. case and point, the Wings.

  17. #17657
    The Lightbringer Asera's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by marcelos11 View Post
    Vokoun hasnt had t o play a team yet in the playoffs who can actually put up some offensive numbers though.
    and if the playoffs have shown us anything, its that the regular season doesnt mean anything. case and point, the Wings.
    Or Los Angeles last year.

    Edit: Or Montreal against Washington AND Pittsburgh in 2010.
    Last edited by Asera; 2013-05-23 at 10:34 PM.
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  18. #17658
    Quote Originally Posted by marcelos11 View Post
    Vokoun hasnt had t o play a team yet in the playoffs who can actually put up some offensive numbers though.
    and if the playoffs have shown us anything, its that the regular season doesnt mean anything. case and point, the Wings.
    Except they did: The islanders were 7th this season in PPG.

    I do agree though that the playoffs are a different beast, and they don't give the Cup to the team that looks the best on paper. My point was that, other than homerism or a dislike on the penguins, there are very few reasons to think the Pens wouldn't best the Bruins in a seven game series. Doesn't mean it can't happen, but the safe bet would be the pens

  19. #17659
    Scarab Lord AceofHarts's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rylon View Post
    Except they did: The islanders were 7th this season in PPG.

    I do agree though that the playoffs are a different beast, and they don't give the Cup to the team that looks the best on paper. My point was that, other than homerism or a dislike on the penguins, there are very few reasons to think the Pens wouldn't best the Bruins in a seven game series. Doesn't mean it can't happen, but the safe bet would be the pens
    he played two games against the islanders.
    woopity do.
    hes played a total of 6 games. most goaltenders remaining have more than that.
    and i agree, the pens stand a very good shot against the bruins. that said, i still think the bruins beat them because Boston does have goaltending and defense, as well as offense to go with it.

  20. #17660
    Quote Originally Posted by marcelos11 View Post
    he played two games against the islanders.
    woopity do.
    hes played a total of 6 games. most goaltenders remaining have more than that.
    and i agree, the pens stand a very good shot against the bruins. that said, i still think the bruins beat them because Boston does have goaltending and defense, as well as offense to go with it.
    Only two games, but he still won both.

    I'm scared shitless of what happens once Vokoun has a bad game, but he's hot enough right now to make sure the pens score more than they let in. Until that changes though we ride on with Vokouna-matada. If this series happens though, it's going to be awesome

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