re: Stanley Cup Playoff Thread!

Yea, opinions....


Good series. Extremely hard fought.

I'm not sure either team, after the absolute slugfest this was, would have much success against San Jose. Glad we'll have a crack at thm but we'll be heavy underdogs again.

Fricking Preds

Go Sharks!

I'm not actually a Trump fan. I just pretend to be one on the PT.

Panthers new logo leaked

Thomas Willis ?@TomAWillis 10h10 hours ago
#Preds are 1st team to win a playoff round in the same season they hosted the All-Star Game as the 2000-01 #Avs. That COL team won the Cup.

Congrats to the Preds! I knew picking against Bruce in a Game 7 would pay off (I genuinely like Bruce and am thankful for everything he did in Washington, but man... that guy is cursed in the playoffs).

And now we get to the vomit in my mouth portion of the postseason: Caps v. Pens! I'm confident not cocky going into the series. Historically, we're screwed, as the Caps are 1-7 all-time against the Penguins in postseason series, but they haven't played each other since 2009. The last time they played, only 2 Caps on the current roster were even on that team.

So, history plays as it always does for the Caps who are cursed until further notice, but this is still a good matchup for them. The Pens are playing great but outside of Kris Letang and Malkin as the third line center (Jesus, that's ridiculous), I'm not sure I'd do a one-for-one swap of any Cap for the corresponding Pen. There's some draws in there of course (and that includes me not wanting to swap Backstrom for Crosby which is probably dumb), but I love the Caps roster, particularly their depth. Crosby was playing 25 minutes a game in the Rangers series because the coaching staff, rightly, has no faith in their bottom six.

The Penguins are faster, and they might have the edge on sheer top end talent, but I'll take the Caps depth and physicality, not to mention their soon to be Vezina winning goalie. I also think the Penguins 15% shooting is completely unsustainable. Lundqvist played like dogshit, and the Pens will not have the same open ice they did against the Rangers putrid blueline. Also, the Caps won't shoot 2%.

I'm nervous but excited. Let's do this.

tweet was deleted. what did it say?

haha. solid.

Maybe Nashville? But not by a lot. And I like the stylistic difference they have going for them. There's a lot of power v. speed matchups (Blues v Stars, Caps v Pens, Preds v Sharks). Really, only the Lightning-Isles series is skill on skill, playing a similar attacking style.

Here's to a great second round


Weird how the NHL started the Lightning -vs- Islander series early, but it happened non-the-less. The Islander's have great offense (Especially with #91) and a sharp goalie in net. The Lightning better tighten up their defensive play in game 2, that's for sure.

Oh yeah, after reading some here complaining about a tough Washington -vs- Pitt match-up in round 2. Here's my thoughts, you play what's given to you within the system in place. Plus, if the Lightning can play Detroit, Montreal, and Rangers to get reach "The Cup" finals last year. I would think other NHL clubs could handle a tough road to the finals too. Anyways, at this point in round 2 every team is pretty darn good.

Go Lightning !!!!