Round 1: Sens vs Habs

Price h has not played well down the stretch. Sure he won most of the individual goals starts (Fleury led with 10 SOs) but if Hammond had one more start (he finished with 24) you would see a different face on the leaderboard.

Price had a good 4-1-1 record in April which masked some pretty pedestrian stats. Save percentage was .893, GAA was 2.83, he gave up 4 goals twice and 3 goals in another two games. It was the inverse of what had happened earlier in the season -- Price was average and his team mates picked him up. Also, playing Florida twice and Toronto once didn't hurt

It's interesting that they found their scoring touch when Pacioretty why down. And I really don't see Pacioretty making a speedy recovery -- that was a very nasty hit/fall, reminds me a bit of Letang's actually.

Can the Habs' secondary scorers keep it up for a few more game? Can Price find that switch?

wprager wrote:Price h has not played well down the stretch. Sure he won most of the individual goals starts (Fleury led with 10 SOs) but if Hammond had one more start (he finished with 24) you would see a different face on the leaderboard.

Price had a good 4-1-1 record in April which masked some pretty pedestrian stats.  Save percentage was .893, GAA was 2.83, he gave up 4 goals twice and 3 goals in another two games.  It was the inverse of what had happened earlier in the season -- Price was average and his team mates picked him up.  Also, playing Florida twice and Toronto once didn't hurt

It's interesting that they found their scoring touch when Pacioretty why down.  And I really don't see Pacioretty making a speedy recovery -- that was a very nasty hit/fall, reminds me a bit of Letang's actually.

Can the Habs' secondary scorers keep it up for a few more game?  Can Price find that switch?  

Price and Lundqvist are great goalies, but the Sens have never really, historically, had an unreasonably tough time producing against either. Not like, say, Tim Thomas.

This is a winnable series, especially if we just keep playing the game we've been playing for the last 2 months. It's been a long time since OTT lost 4 games in a 7 game stretch, and that bodes well.

I just realized the new playoff format means the winner of this series plays the winner of the Tampa/Detroit series. Giggitty!

one thing that worries me a little is that we've been playing our playoff hockey game but the habs have not. i imagine they will take it up to another level. i mean this level we are on might be enough. we'll see i guess.


i hate the schedule we are on. does not work for me at all..

SpezDispensed wrote:It's an interesting series immediately.  We're in their heads like the Leafs are in our heads.  Gryba is their version of the boogeyman to boot.  IIRC Price doesn't play out of his mind against us, so we might get lucky and see a down to earth Price in net.  Pacioretty is concussed and may not play in Game 1 at least and our speed will cause the Habs' D fits.

I wouldn't go hog wild and call the Sens a sure thing here, but it's the matchup that seems to be the most favourable to us.

Turris/Stone/Mac are on fire right now, so are Pageau, Lazar and Condra, what we need is to balance that out with Ryan and Hoffman (if he even plays, seriously) getting hot.  ZBad has looked good despite slowing down offensively a little.

Methot has been one of the biggest difference makers as well IMO.  Allows
Karlsson to play his game, gives opponents nightmares when he's on them.

Go Sens!!!

 

Don't think they care about Gryba as much as they do about Pageau.

By the way don't forget about the GMH bracket. Check your PM for details. I picked the Sens all the way!

ZBad has been shutting down the bigger top centers. Against led Habs he may actually get to play some offense.

Ryan worries me. We need him to get going. With the series starting Wednesday and then the weird Saturday avoidances I wonder if we could afford to sit him out the first two games? Or is his injury the kind that will take the off season to improve?

Michalek would be a very welcomed addition.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I'm personally taking credit for part of this run, along with Tim of course, since it was clearly our "play date" at CTC that saw the Sens lose to the rangers that galvanized this group and led to a playoff berth.

That being said I think it's only fair that any free tickets come to us

Agreed. We suffered for the greater good. Any free tickets are ours, for sure.

Anyone check out the HFBoards Habs forum?

Sweep

tim1_2 wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I'm personally taking credit for part of this run, along with Tim of course, since it was clearly our "play date" at CTC that saw the Sens lose to the rangers that galvanized this group and led to a playoff berth.

That being said I think it's only fair that any free tickets come to us

Agreed. We suffered for the greater good. Any free tickets are ours, for sure.

Having to look at Vigneault's smug face alone is worth a pair of tickets

Flo The Action wrote:one thing that worries me a little is that we've been playing our playoff hockey game but the habs have not. i imagine they will take it up to another level. i mean this level we are on might be enough. we'll see i guess.


i hate the schedule we are on. does not work for me at all..

Sens at the top of their game hammers the Habs at the top of theirs.

That is all.

The intriguing part for me is that the Habs are expecting the same as 2013 and have made a concerted effort to be prepared for it. Their fans (check out HFBoards) are saying how in 2013 their defense was awful past the top pairing, and how they had Bourque on the top line, and Paciroretty had broken ribs and Price was injured and they lost Eller early. Everything will be different this year. Right.

Smith, who did a tap-dance on White (I think) is only playing because of injuries. Greening is not even paying. Cowen (or was it Cowen who tap-danced on White?) is our 7th D-man. Phillips isn't in the lineup. Neil han't been around for 2 months. Stone led the rookies in scoring and the league in takeaways. Hoffman led the rookies in goals (and +/- for the longest time). Wiercioch is second on the team in possession stats. We've got a 4th line with size. And if our #1 gets injured we have Craig Anderson ready to re-claim his place. Oh, and bug-eyed, fat walrus is not there to give them a rallying point (although something tells me we might see him or his doppleganger at the CTC, probably making the timeout signal all game long game).

This is not at all the same team as 2 years ago.

But we still have Pageau

Agreed. The Sens this year are a lot better than the Sens of 2013. I think they have a shot at going deep.

Sens in 5.

Considering we've been the hottest team in the league for the past couple months and Montreal cooled considerably, I'm pretty sure we're the logical favourites.

Some caller to TSN 1200 yesterday was questioning if we should start Anderson...twas amusing.

Anderson stole the series in 2013.
Our team is so much better than Montreal's now, their fans are too stupid as usual to recognize it. They have 1 scary forward. One. And he's like 50% healthy.

spader wrote:Agreed. The Sens this year are a lot better than the Sens of 2013. I think they have a shot at going deep.

Sens in 5.

Depends on Ryan IMO. If he can get hot....look out.

Also, does Hoffman sit at all this series?

I bet he sits at least one.

SpezDispensed wrote:

spader wrote:Agreed. The Sens this year are a lot better than the Sens of 2013. I think they have a shot at going deep.

Sens in 5.

Depends on Ryan IMO.  If he can get hot....look out.  

Also, does Hoffman sit at all this series?

I bet he sits at least one.  

Against the Habs? He's likely to be out biggest weapon. Ryan is injured and there's nothing much to be done about it. When Michalek comes back Ryan can move down in the lineup. Maybe he can make hay on the 4th line.