Round 1: Sens vs Habs

Vandelay wrote:

SpezDispensed wrote:

Vandelay wrote:The optimist in me says Sens in 7.  The realist says there's a good chance we run out of gas.  We've been lucky as of late and haven't been able to skate teams as hard as we were early in this epic run.  I still don't like Weircoch in our zone when teams get the cycle going (don't get me wrong, he's come a long way).  I think now that we've made the playoffs, a lot of fans are of the mindset that we're pretty much invincible. Playoffs are a different game and I think we've been playing all out for the last while and it may cost us now.  I also think a lot of people are assuming Price will play like he did in 2013 against us.  I'm willing to bet he will be great.  

To me, it all comes down to Zib and Ryan.  Michalek will do what he can but those two have to produce.  With only one scoring line, I don't see us winning this series.

You're forgetting about Pageau and Condra.  They're guys on a mission right now and easily constitute a 2nd line IMO.

Zibanejad will still have to produce, same with Ryan, but the "3rd" line with Pageau centering is gonna cause the Habs D pairings all sorts of fits.

The whole Pageau being a Habs killer is IMO being over-played as well.  I hope it continues but it seems like every fan I talk to thinks we're gonna run over the Habs cause Pageau is gonna score four goals every game.  I figure we're in for a a great series as long as the team isn't over-confident like the fan base seems to be.  As long as the "playing with house money" mindset continues, we're fine.

Nevermind whatever success Pageau had against the Habs 2 years ago, he and Condra are playing lights out hockey and could prove to be a big factor.

I sent the following reply to the moderator who gave me the first infraction:

Unbelievable! That guy calls a whole fanbase "arrogant and irrelevent (sic)" and all the other niceties and that's perfectly fine? And *my* post is the one that gets taken down. Brilliant little bit of moderating.

Got an infraction for that one, for "Abuse of Moderator".

I was laughing so hard my wife got suspicious. I'm probably banned by now because I couldn't resist and replied to the third infraction. He's probably going to go on stress leave now because I used "OMG" and "Whatever" in my reply.

Ev wrote:I don't think we're invicible. I would have picked the Rangers if we played them. But I am confident we can beat the Habs and I am confident we are a better overall team than they are. We have shown that they are our Wing Dang Doodle over the last three seasons

Pretty much.
I don't think we can beat Tampa either. Other than that we can beat any team in the East, and we can certainly massacre Montreal.

It's great to have 9mm back. The guy's a warrior and gives us a nice boost heading into the playoffs. I assume Pacioretty will play in game 1 at this point...sounds like he'll be cleared for contact today.

Sens split a pair of regulation games and lost an OT game against the Rangers. They were 2-2 against the Lightning. Sure, both wins against the Bolts were nor in regulation and the win against the Rangers came with some regulars sitting out, but things have changed. We have Michalek coming back in, Neil is ready and chomping at the bit if necessary, they've had a week off, and as odd as it sounds, all the pressure of must-win every second night is gone. And as much as everyone says it's not the same, facing the same team every night, guess what, same argument goes both ways. Sens will pick up on things as we'll.

I honestly don't think Lundqvist is anywhere near the best anymore, he's on the tail end of a great career, and he can be beaten. Bishop wasn't dominating this year (.916 is good but far from great) and he's never played in the post season. Neither has Hammond, but he's been playing elimination games the past two months.

It could all stop tomorrow, for sure, but after all we've seen the last 30 games, how can you say we have no chance against this team or that team?

tim1_2 wrote:It's great to have 9mm back.  The guy's a warrior and gives us a nice boost heading into the playoffs.  I assume Pacioretty will play in game 1 at this point...sounds like he'll be cleared for contact today.  

He should not be playing. If this was then regular season he would not be playing. So he's not 100%.

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:It's great to have 9mm back.  The guy's a warrior and gives us a nice boost heading into the playoffs.  I assume Pacioretty will play in game 1 at this point...sounds like he'll be cleared for contact today.  

He should not be playing.  If this was then regular season he would not be playing.  So he's not 100%.

Still a better option than Smith.

Hoags wrote:

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:It's great to have 9mm back.  The guy's a warrior and gives us a nice boost heading into the playoffs.  I assume Pacioretty will play in game 1 at this point...sounds like he'll be cleared for contact today.  

He should not be playing.  If this was then regular season he would not be playing.  So he's not 100%.

Still a better option than Smith.

I was talking about Pacioretty. He's not 100%.

wprager wrote:

Hoags wrote:

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:It's great to have 9mm back.  The guy's a warrior and gives us a nice boost heading into the playoffs.  I assume Pacioretty will play in game 1 at this point...sounds like he'll be cleared for contact today.  

He should not be playing.  If this was then regular season he would not be playing.  So he's not 100%.

Still a better option than Smith.

I was talking about Pacioretty.  He's not 100%.

Yeah, if it was regular season, Pacioretty would likely sit out a couple more games, but if he is deemed ready for contact, he's pretty much ready to go. Pacioretty at 80 or 90% is still better than whatever guy they'd use to replace him (or DSP for that matter). Just let Gryba "Eller" him and all is good.

I don't think Gryba would be necessary. I think a good solid, bone jarring hit into the boards will likely be enough to shake the marbles loose again and keep him out long term.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I don't think Gryba would be necessary.  I think a good solid, bone jarring hit into the boards will likely be enough to shake the marbles loose again and keep him out long term.

LET'S DO IT!!!!

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I don't think Gryba would be necessary.  I think a good solid, bone jarring hit into the boards will likely be enough to shake the marbles loose again and keep him out long term.

LET'S DO IT!!!!

Well said old friend.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I don't think Gryba would be necessary.  I think a good solid, bone jarring hit into the boards will likely be enough to shake the marbles loose again and keep him out long term.

I doubt he will that effective if he needs a tinted visor just to skate.

He played injured in the 2013 and was also a nonfactor in that series.

Either way, he plays and is ineffective, or he plays, gets nailed on an innocent hit and is out for the series.

Hoags wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I don't think Gryba would be necessary.  I think a good solid, bone jarring hit into the boards will likely be enough to shake the marbles loose again and keep him out long term.

I doubt he will that effective if he needs a tinted visor just to skate.

He played injured in the 2013 and was also a nonfactor in that series.

Geez, the guy is messing with his career if he needs a visor just to skate.

MacArthur did the same thing on his road to recovery. The problem here is he's likely to rush back before he's ready.

Lazar has never missed the playoffs in his entire career.

Pacioretty was not involved in the line rushes or any contact drills. Doesn't look like he's been cleared for contact. I doubt we see him in G1 and if the Habs win Ha we won't see him in G2 for sure.

When he does come back, don't expect he'll be anywhere near 80-90%. Took MacArthur 6 games to be fully up to speed.