NHL Playoffs

[Sirius]

"One of the greatest rinks in hockey" or whatever. 'Bout goddamned time someone noticed this in prime-time.

I don't doubt the atmosphere and everything, but isn't the ice a little sketchy there due to humidity and heat and whatnot? I seem to remember them commenting on it last year possibly.

[kairparavel]

Marleau isn't hurt, but has a fever? Phew!

Fever

[Lord O' Bones]

I don't doubt the atmosphere and everything, but isn't the ice a little sketchy there due to humidity and heat and whatnot? I seem to remember them commenting on it last year possibly.

13C and 53%? Is that really bad?

[Sirius]

13C and 53%? Is that really bad?

I have no clue :) , I just thought they were complaining about bouncing pucks and such. Could be wrong though, and it could have just as easily been at Anaheim.

[Lord O' Bones]

*holds breath*

NABBY! NABBY! NABBY!

ETA: "This place can get loud like no other place in the NHL."

Fucking A!

Edit2: Fucking A!!!

[kairparavel]

Hoookay.

Go Habs!

[Meriak]

Montreal vs Pittsburgh can only be awesome no matter the outcome!

The winner of this series will get my vote for the East final and for the Stanley Cup (unless its Pittsburgh vs Vancouver), so I wont be too disappointed whatever happens.

Its really funny how commentators say the Habs are luckier than the Penguins since having only a day off is good for the momentum and then 30 seconds after say the Penguins' week off is better because they had time to rest.

The Halak vs Crosby show will be worth watching the games by itself. Only a few minutes before it starts!

[Meriak]

We lose Markov and get a penalty on the same play :/

[Lord of Oop North]

This game is looking bad.

[Nymeria Sand]

Mwaaaaaaaaah!

Halak looks mortal again. :)

Oh, oh, Crosby's hurt now. Looks like he got hit in the face with a stick.

[Lord of Oop North]

Oh, oh, Crosby's hurt now. Looks like he got hit in the face with a stick.

You can have Crosby back ... but it'll cost you Staal ...

[Nymeria Sand]

You can have Crosby back ... but it'll cost you Staal ...

Yeah, I didn't see what happened there. Nice goal by Cammalleri.

Fleury really makes me nervous sometimes. He can be fantastic, or he can be average.

[Lord of Oop North]

Not as bad as I initially thought. Pittsburgh is lucky that Montreal took a lot of really stupid penalties. They also managed to screen Halak really well, which is something that the Capitals really didn't capitalize on. I can really only blame Halak, rather than his defense, for one of those goals.

All in all, if they can reign in the penalties, and put some more pressure in front of the net, I think that the Habs are going to really surprise the Penguins.

Oh, and Subban is awesome.

[Meriak]

Yeah Subban is great.

Not only we can't give the Penguins so many power play chances if we want to be able to win, I think our penalty kill play was off, most likely from playing against the Caps' unimaginative power play for so long (and losing Markov).

If we can manage this aspect of the next game better we'll do much better.

I really hope Markov will be fine for next game, but at least we have Spacek as a backup.

[BLU-RAY]

They also managed to screen Halak really well, which is something that the Capitals really didn't capitalize on. I can really only blame Halak, rather than his defense, for one of those goals.

Completely agree. At least three of the first five goals were due to cross-ice puck movement combined with someone crashing the net. Did nobody teach the Habs how to keep a stick in the passing lane? I thought Mtl looked like a threat outside of that; the modified EGG line is still good, and not having Staal will cause the Pens some D problems; anybody know his ETA for returning? He's never missed a game in four seasons (regular season OR playoffs), but I guess it sounds like he won't be back for Game 2?

That said, Markov's a loss for the Habs also; they have a PP comparable to the Pens', and Markov is their Gonchar analogue.

[Swordfish]

Yeah, I didn't see what happened there. Nice goal by Cammalleri.

Fleury really makes me nervous sometimes. He can be fantastic, or he can be average.

Sadly, he hasn't been fantastic in a very long time.

Hopefully he'll get it figured out before too long, because if he keeps playing like this, we're going to have issues.

No complaints really with the rest of the team in this one. Little bit of a slow start, but otherwise this one wasn't ever really in doubt.

Completely agree. At least three of the first five goals were due to cross-ice puck movement combined with someone crashing the net. Did nobody teach the Habs how to keep a stick in the passing lane? I thought Mtl looked like a threat outside of that; the modified EGG line is still good, and not having Staal will cause the Pens some D problems; anybody know his ETA for returning? He's never missed a game in four seasons (regular season OR playoffs), but I guess it sounds like he won't be back for Game 2?

Haven't seen anything announced yet, but there are reports that he was seen leaving the arena on crutches with his foot bandaged.

It's a loss for sure, but I think he's a little over rated to be honest.

He has terrible, terrible balance for a professional athlete. I think he's turning into a solid NHL player, but I still hate that pick.

ETA: Out for the season. Ouch.

[Caligula_K]

Of course I'm sad that the Habs lost. But honestly, I can't be upset about the way they played. Obviously the PK was having issues and Halak didn't play too well, but four PP goals in a row is a fluke and I really doubt it's going to happen again. 5-5 we matched them the entire time, and our own PP was very good, which is pretty amazing considering how little rest they've gotten. It was also a good move by Martin to pull Halak- let him rest a little more, and hopefully he'll get back to awesomeness in Game 2.

And of course, the depression sinks in. Markov's gone. Fuck. I hate Cooke so goddamn much. Markov is without a doubt the best player on our team- there's a reason why our record with him is so much better than our record without him. This definitely cuts down our chances of winning this series. Jordan Staal is also a big loss, but not quite the same as losing Markov is for the Habs.

[Lord of Oop North]

Wow, the Bruins are really laying into the Flyers. I wasn't really expecting that.

[Nymeria Sand]

Sadly, he hasn't been fantastic in a very long time.

Hopefully he'll get it figured out before too long, because if he keeps playing like this, we're going to have issues.

No complaints really with the rest of the team in this one. Little bit of a slow start, but otherwise this one wasn't ever really in doubt.

Well, they've been off for a week. Need to brush the rust off a little. :)

Good team effort. Crosby didn't have any goals, but he just sets other people up so nicely. That's the difference between him and Ovie--Ovie tries to do it all himself when there are other guys out there with him.

Fleury needs to get it together. He wasn't horrible, but he needs to play a lot better than he has been.

'Caligula_K' date='01 May 2010 - 12:40 PM' timestamp='1272732035' post='2126477']

Of course I'm sad that the Habs lost. But honestly, I can't be upset about the way they played. Obviously the PK was having issues and Halak didn't play too well, but four PP goals in a row is a fluke and I really doubt it's going to happen again. 5-5 we matched them the entire time, and our own PP was very good, which is pretty amazing considering how little rest they've gotten. It was also a good move by Martin to pull Halak- let him rest a little more, and hopefully he'll get back to awesomeness in Game 2.

Apparently we had more PP goals in that game than the Caps did the entire SERIES.

And of course, the depression sinks in. Markov's gone. Fuck. I hate Cooke so goddamn much. Markov is without a doubt the best player on our team- there's a reason why our record with him is so much better than our record without him. This definitely cuts down our chances of winning this series. Jordan Staal is also a big loss, but not quite the same as losing Markov is for the Habs.

Cooke's hit was legal. Yeah, I know he can put some cheap shots on people, but not that one.

Losing Markov is really bad for the Habs. I mean, we lost Staal and that's a loss, but it's not nearly the same as losing Markov.

Staal hurt his toe, not his Achilles. Or rather, the tendon that runs to the toe. Whew, thank God. It's the same injury that Markov had at the beginning of the year, I think.

Wow, the Bruins are really laying into the Flyers. I wasn't really expecting that.

Neither was I. I just turned it on a few minutes ago and I was really surprised. It's 2-1 now. It really doesn't matter to me who wins this one--I don't know if the Flyers have it in them right now with all the injuries they have. They're sure not playing well at the moment.

Okay, off to coach a 9 and 10 year old softball game. (Second game today; I'm tired already.) Their attention spans are only like 30 seconds long, but they're so much fun. :)

Oops, make that 3-1.

[BlueRose]

Wow, Halak has his own commercial!

TSN had a series of commercials this year where they show a famous hockey moment in reverse and then ask the question "what if X didnt happen?" For example, the Bobby Orr goal where he leapt into the air, and it asks "what if Bobby didn't fly?" followed by the statement "History will be made."

Well, today there was one for Halak stopping the Caps which asked "What if Halak wasn't magnifique?"