The Official 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread

[Suburban Rhythm]

Crosby back tonight

[bhlloy]

What's the record for worst save percentage in a full series? Nabokov looks like he's going to challenge that number easily and the Isles really don't have a backup option

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

What's the record for worst save percentage in a full series? Nabokov looks like he's going to challenge that number easily and the Isles really don't have a backup option

Funny what sort of perspective 3 hours adds!

MAF had a bunch of fluky goals go in. One off his ass, another bouncing puck whacked past him. Some people would have you believe he should be pulled now, and Vokoun should start the rest of the way. Oddly, those same people were very quiet the prior 2 days.

Never expected a sweep, still think the Pens are clearly better.

[Suburban Rhythm]

DOLA

Without looks, Fleury's s% in last years series vs the Flyers has to be close, if such a record is tracked

[RomaGoth]

Wings looking like shit. This team continues to be inconsistent and Jimmy Howard is not looking like he is going to steal any games for them either.

[JPhillips]

I love what Oates has done with the Caps. I still think they lose in round two, but they play so much better than they have for the past three years. I hope Oates gets the Adams trophy.

[Danny]

Kings really have to start scoring some goals. Quick has been fantastic except for two mistakes

[RomaGoth]

Tortorella must be blowing a gasket.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Tortorella must be blowing a gasket.

About what? Did he finally look in the mirror?

[PurdueBrad]

So, my superstitious side has taken hold. I only watched about 15 minutes (game-time) of game 1 for the Penguins and they didn't score. I watched all of game 2 and they lost. And I watched the first few minutes of game 3 and they went down 2-0 quickly. I turned the channel and come to find out that the 'Guins tied it. Damn, can't watch my team!

[sovereignstar v2]

BOOM

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

So, my superstitious side has taken hold. I only watched about 15 minutes (game-time) of game 1 for the Penguins and they didn't score. I watched all of game 2 and they lost. And I watched the first few minutes of game 3 and they went down 2-0 quickly. I turned the channel and come to find out that the 'Guins tied it. Damn, can't watch my team!

Today was my daughters first communion. Mass ended a little after noon, I got the pleasure of listening to the radio call the first 15 minutes or so, driving to the lunch after.

By the time we got inside, saw a few people, Pens up 3-2. I avoided the rest of the afternoon, only asking for updates at the end of periods.

[bbor]

Good old fashioned line brawl during the Habs/Sens game...pretty awesome....each team only has 5 players left on the bench.

[DeToxRox]

Montreal managed to lose four of those fights cleanly too. What a debacle for them.

[Honolulu_Blue]

That was a very entertaining third period.

[bhlloy]

Playoff hockey - awesome!

Abdelkader got two, seems to be the standard playoff # for a borderline hit and hurting someone. If he hadn't taken 7 or 8 steps towards Lydman before the hit it probably wouldn't have looked so bad.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Therrien and MacLean pressers were entertaining as well. Can game 4 start with those 2 at center?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Went to HP Pavilion last night to watch my first playoff hockey game in person. The Shark Tank didn't disappoint, and neither did the Sharks. Pretty amazing that they just seem to have Vancouver's number this year. Fun game.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Went to HP Pavilion last night to watch my first playoff hockey game in person. The Shark Tank didn't disappoint, and neither did the Sharks. Pretty amazing that they just seem to have Vancouver's number this year. Fun game.

Outside of the Canuck's improbable run to the Finals 2 years ago, it appears everyone has their number when the playoffs come around.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Short of winning a Cup, pretty certain Dan Bylsma is gone,

And I never blame the coach, but someone's head is going to roll for this, and in the NHL, coaches are hired to be fired.

His hands are tied...he can't exactly yank Malkin for making shit plays in his own zone, because he needs Malkin to the fill the nets to make up for the 2-3 giveaways and 1 ridiculous penalty he takes a game.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Short of winning a Cup, pretty certain Dan Bylsma is gone,

And I never blame the coach, but someone's head is going to roll for this, and in the NHL, coaches are hired to be fired.

His hands are tied...he can't exactly yank Malkin for making shit plays in his own zone, because he needs Malkin to the fill the nets to make up for the 2-3 giveaways and 1 ridiculous penalty he takes a game.

Sounds like a Caps fan talking about Semin.

[MizzouRah]

Must win for the Blues tonight, I expect the Kings to bring it again, just as they did in game 4.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Tomas Vokoun will start game 5 Thursday night

[MrBug708]

And Kings go up 3-2

[RomaGoth]

Another OT game for the Wings-Ducks. This has been a very even series between a 2 and 7.

[RomaGoth]

And Jimmy Howard fails again. The Wings need a goalie that can steal some games once in a while, especially with a team in transition like this one. I am not a Howard hater by any means, but he has yet to show he can win some big games and steal one here and there. Especially for $5mil/year.

[bhlloy]

You're nuts. Howard has kept the Wings in every single game. He made 6-8 top draw saves last game and quite a few more tonight.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

And Jimmy Howard fails again. The Wings need a goalie that can steal some games once in a while, especially with a team in transition like this one. I am not a Howard hater by any means, but he has yet to show he can win some big games and steal one here and there. Especially for $5mil/year.

I wouldn't blame last night's lost on Howard. He really didn't have much chance on any of the three goals. Last night's game was lost in the second half of the second period. The Wings had some great chances to go up 3-1, Hiller came up big, they hit some posts, blew the 5 minute power play and then Getzlaf scored with under a minute left on the power play. That was the game right there.

[Ronnie Dobbs3]

Ovechkin gets an A for effort:

edit: gif overkill

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs3

Ovechkin gets an A for effort:

That's shameful.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs3

Ovechkin gets an A for effort:

I love how he comes in at the end with the glide. I was at the game last night and that was a pretty crazy play how it unfolded, I think a lot of people had no idea what the hell was going on. Not that excuses Ovechkin.

I couldn't see stats but from early on in the 3rd, I suspected that he hadn't registered a single SOG in the game yet. But I didn't want to jinx anything so I kept my mouth shut to my buddy until the game ended. We checked later on and he was credited with one.

[Logan]

Hahaha Wyshynski just passed this along via Reddit:

[DaddyTorgo]

LMAO

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Tomas Vokoun will start game 5 Thursday night

This probably should have happened before game 4. With a halfway competent goalie the Penguins could (and probably should) have swept the series.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

This probably should have happened before game 4. With a halfway competent goalie the Penguins could (and probably should) have swept the series.

Not sure I agree. Outside of Game 1, the Isles have looked pretty well-matched for the Pens, even removing Fleury's work.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Logan

Not sure I agree. Outside of Game 1, the Isles have looked pretty well-matched for the Pens, even removing Fleury's work.

I would agree that the series has been close, but in both the games the Pens lost Fleury gave up some terrible goals.

[Suburban Rhythm]

I'm about as big a MAF supporter as I know in my circle of friends, family, co-workers, etc.

But he's so fragile. When he's on, top 7-8 goalie in the league. So athletic. And when he has a bad game in the regular season, he gets pulled, and his numbers in games after he's pulled are ridiculous. GAA under 2.00, s% in the .930 range.

But in the playoffs, he doesn't have that....buffer (for lack of a better word). He goes nuts. Wish it wasn't that way, but it is.

I'd argue that maybe Vokoun wins game 2. Penguins had an early lead, and the Okposo winner was a Fleury special - off his ass and in behind him.

But, I'd also argue the Isles may have won game 3. The goals given up there were pretty legit, and Fleury was often left out to dry, facing 40+ shots.

Problem is, Fleury made some great saves on rushes. Below the goal line, he's terrible. The shots that have beaten him from the zone, I think 3 have gone off his own D.

Tuesday's GWG, Malkin gives the puck to Tavares. JT walks around Orpik who I think laid down to take a nap just outside the crease. Fleury makes the intial stop. Malkin then comes crashing into MAF, Tavares dumps the rebound in.

If the team around him doesn't play any better than that, changing to Vokoun won't make a great difference.

Whoever wins tonight takes the series.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

You're nuts. Howard has kept the Wings in every single game. He made 6-8 top draw saves last game and quite a few more tonight.

He did not keep them in the 5-4 OT win when the team imploded around him; rather, he imploded right along with them. Howard is a good goalie, no question, but keeping the team in a game is different than stealing a game for the team. The Wings lack of scoring depth is obvious and they need Howard to make a 45 save/shutout/1-gaa game, and so far he hasn't done that. Ever.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

He did not keep them in the 5-4 OT win when the team imploded around him; rather, he imploded right along with them. Howard is a good goalie, no question, but keeping the team in a game is different than stealing a game for the team. The Wings lack of scoring depth is obvious and they need Howard to make a 45 save/shutout/1-gaa game, and so far he hasn't done that. Ever.

In that case, I would pin the blame on the Wings' scoring depth, not Howard.

[bhlloy]

And he absolutely stole game 4. You don't have to have a .980 save percentage or a shutout to steal a game. He stoned the Ducks on a ton of point blank chances and won the game 3-2

[bbor]

OMG..Ovechkin!.

I have to tell you if a kid did this on my kids team,he's done for the game.At LEAST show some effort.

A disgusting display of "who gives a shit i make 8 mil a year"

[MizzouRah]

Well.. it seems hockey season is just about over in the MizzouRah household.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Logan

Hahaha Wyshynski just passed this along via Reddit:

Just saw that one too..

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

He did not keep them in the 5-4 OT win when the team imploded around him; rather, he imploded right along with them. Howard is a good goalie, no question, but keeping the team in a game is different than stealing a game for the team. The Wings lack of scoring depth is obvious and they need Howard to make a 45 save/shutout/1-gaa game, and so far he hasn't done that. Ever.

To be honest, this pretty much describes the Wings goalies even when they were winning Cups outside of Hasek. The Wings basically beat you because they were so good elsewhere that their goals essentially just didn't have to screw up.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Preface this with I think GWG is a poor stat.

Penguins history, Playoff GWG

1) Jagr 14
2) Lemieux 11
3) K Stevens 9
4) R Francis 8
5) Malkin 8
6) Tyler Kennedy 6

One of these things are not like the others...

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Matthean

To be honest, this pretty much describes the Wings goalies even when they were winning Cups outside of Hasek. The Wings basically beat you because they were so good elsewhere that their goals essentially just didn't have to screw up.

Very true. Osgood was a much better big-game goalie than Howard has been so far. For all of the Howard love I am seeing here, I am not sure how a 2.84 GAA and .903 save percentage can be considered remotely adequate in a playoff series in today's NHL. Perhaps that was fine in the 80's when high scoring games were routine, but not now. The Wings are paying Jimmy Howard like he is a franchise goalie and I just don't see it.

FWIW, I am curious what happens with Petr Mrzek (in Grand Rapids). He looks like a franchise goalie already; what do they do with him in 2-3 years with Howard still in Detroit making $5mil/per year?

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Preface this with I think GWG is a poor stat.

Penguins history, Playoff GWG

1) Jagr 14
2) Lemieux 11
3) K Stevens 9
4) R Francis 8
5) Malkin 8
6) Tyler Kennedy 6

One of these things are not like the others...

Where is Crosby in that list?

[RomaGoth]

First time the Wings have ever had 4 overtime games in one series. Zetterberg wins it just 1:04 into the OT to force a 7th game in Anaheim on Sunday. This has been a helluva series regardless of who wins.

[Danny]

Quickie is coming for you

[MrBug708]

Kings!