OT: NHL Playoffs Semi Finals NJ vs Philly Open Thread and later game Phx and Nashville.
I missed the first half of the game, but Philly seems to be controlling play in the second when they aren't short handed. No one is picking the Devils to win this series, but I think they can pull it out if Bryz stays shaky. Just can't go into a shell with a lead anymore. When your best defensemen is Volchenkov you are in trouble.
Damn. Giroux is a scary guy. Cerrano would need a rocket up his ass to get over in time to stop that.
Sykora! I miss the days of the A-line. That 2000 line of Elias-Arnott-Sykora was almost unstoppable. Tie game again, boys.
It's a damn good thing that kicking goal didn't count. JVR was running into Marty as the goal was scored, but that isn't really called anymore unless it's brutally obvious. Tough to see that as the game winner, though. Marty had one bad play, but otherwise carried the team. Kovalchuk has to be injured or something. And for the love of God, hold on to Henrique for a while. The Devils are masters of developing great players and then trading them away.
The Flyers are always a scary team for the Devils to run into. That offense is going to get goals and the Devils are a team that is not good enough offensively to take advantage of Bryz. Still no goals from defensemen in the playoffs. The Flyers absolutely dominated from the second period on and deserved that win. Having Giroux and Briere on different lines just gives so much scoring depth.
Tough loss for the Devils. Their defensemen have to be better as does Ilya Kovalchuk. Don't know what's wrong with him, but he's not firing on all cylinders. Loved what I saw from Parise though.
When has Kovie fired on all cylinders? He's a beast of a player when he tries but half the time he doesn't. For an NBA comparison, he's like Melo. Probably a top 5 offensive talent but he doesn't try on defense (actually hurts you). Playing with Heatly, Savard and Hossa for a while masked some of his flaws. Go Yotes though!
The yotes are making the preds look stupid. Amazing what a difference in goaltending makes.
The difference isn't goaltending. Smith is an amazing goalie and he did keep them in game 1 but Phoenix is bigger, matches up better and can get to the net. Most of our shots were weak wristers from the outside. Phoenix is rolling all 4 lines right now. That's the difference. Younger, faster, bigger, stronger.
Go figure that the media doesn't acknowledge this and make it seem like the only reason they win games is because of Smith. They do have a talented team and Tippett brings the most out of his players.
They have shown since February that they can play and win with the best.
April 29th, 2012 at 10:48 PM ^
They are now up 2 games to 0 to the Preds.
April 29th, 2012 at 10:50 PM ^
Good win for the Yotes. Definitely rooting for them to come out of the West now, not just against Nashville. Doan deserves a shot at the Cup.
April 30th, 2012 at 12:52 AM ^
I am a die-hard hockey fan and not much could curtail my interest of the NHL playoffs even when the Wings are out. A Yotes-Kings Western Conference Finals might do exactly that, though.
I was very critical of the Red Wings towards the end of the season, but if Phoenix ends up beating Nashville, I think it becomes apparent just how bad the Wings were in the last month.
It's so strange, Phoenix, one of the teams long cited as Gary Bettman's mistakes and what's wrong with the NHL could potentially provide better TV ratings than any other team
And yes, the fact that Pekka Rinne isn't as hot as we thought just highlights the problems the Wings have had for the second half of the season
Why dude? Seeing Smith vs. Quick would be great. Both teams have a lot of fun, young players to watch. Both teams play physical as hell too. I actually think it'd be a great series.