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Rite of Spring 2013 (NHL Playoffs): "You have no fear of the underdog, that's why you will not survive."


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Caught the game from the first period to it's conclusion. Rask was pretty much lights out in the part of the game that I watched. Vokoun also made some brilliant saves but his D was winded on the GWG and credit the Bruins for the extra push, the battle on the boards. 3-0 Boston. I'm neither a Boston or Pittsburgh fan, but Bruins fans would be wise not to celebrate too early as the fourth win is the hardest to get. Sure the advantages are with you in home ice and series lead, but if they were to get an automatic bid to the SCF after this game, then Game 4 means nothing - Pittsburgh would disagree. :grin:

Awesome game though. Bracket updated.

 

 

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They still have to win 1 more game...

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But they were playing against a powerhouse goalie in Leighton. They shouldn't have any difficulty whatsoever with Vokoun...

DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT HOCKEY

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But they were playing against a powerhouse goalie in Leighton. They shouldn't have any difficulty whatsoever with Vokoun...

I'd put more of the blame on losing David Krecji than the play of Leighton, who was Lights Out. That series really was completely different after Krecji and Boucher's injuries.

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I can't imagine the Bruins not hoistering the Prince of Wales now after that grinder of a game. Sure, the attempt at non-partisan analysis on here is commendable, but you got to believe the Pens will have a hard time mentally overcoming the hurdle of another tough loss.

The bigger roll of dice is on the left coast. I hope LA pulls it out so we have can watch those two teams knock each other for a little while longer. Lucky for Chicago, Keith is only down a game, but I don't think it matters, since they likely take this one, in a slugfest, later on.

"And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday." 

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Caught the game from the first period to it's conclusion. Rask was pretty much lights out in the part of the game that I watched. Vokoun also made some brilliant saves but his D was winded on the GWG and credit the Bruins for the extra push, the battle on the boards. 3-0 Boston. I'm neither a Boston or Pittsburgh fan, but Bruins fans would be wise not to celebrate too early as the fourth win is the hardest to get. Sure the advantages are with you in home ice and series lead, but if they were to get an automatic bid to the SCF after this game, then Game 4 means nothing - Pittsburgh would disagree. :grin:

Awesome game though. Bracket updated.

I've been using your bracket wallpaper all playoffs long and I love it, but not to be nitpicky or anything, but the Red Wings 2nd round needs to be greyed out ;)

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Twitter: @RyanMcD29 // College Crosse: Where I write, chat, and infograph lacrosse

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But they were playing against a powerhouse goalie in Leighton. They shouldn't have any difficulty whatsoever with Vokoun...

Okay, that's it. The defense being almost-literally invisible in one game is not reason to forget that he shut out three periods with an average defense. Or that time he shut out the Sens for 59.5 minutes until... guess what... the defense failed him. Or when he shut out 2.3 consecutive games in the regular season. And don't even get me started on Fleury, either, who made two straight trips to the finals, has won the cup, has been the only thing keeping the Pens in playoff series in the past (2011 game 7 vs. Tampa Bay anyone? 2010 vs Montreal?) and has been one of the league's top goalies each regular season of his career. Basically, if you're going to use something from the Penguins as a running joke like you've seemed inclined to do all playoffs, use the defense, not the goalies. Because frankly, if you think Fleury is a bad goalie based off of his past two playoff series alone, you have no idea what you are talking about.

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After taking a night to digest it, last night is what I expected every game of this series to be like, and why I feared Boston all along. Even when both are playing their best, Boston is good enough to keep up with and even beat the Penguins. The Pens are not a clearly superior team like they were to the Isles, or the Sens, or most teams. They're even, with a different mentality and roster. Their only shot at this point is if Tuukka becomes human again, and the defense continues to improve, and Vokoun stays in whatever mode he is in right now. One game at a time.

I don't like that Boston has had this kind of a comeback happen against them before, though.

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Basically, if you're going to use something from the Penguins as a running joke like you've seemed inclined to do all playoffs, use the defense, not the goalies. Because frankly, if you think Fleury is a bad goalie based off of his past two playoff series alone, you have no idea what you are talking about.

I never understood the jokes about Fleury's ineptitude. Like you said he has been fantastic before. Unfortunately it's a what have you done for me lately kind of sport, hell even B's fans are saying "Timmy who?" Stop it. Anyways, for as great as Fleury has been, he was just as bad this postseason. Some of those goals he allowed were, just, wow. He's completely lost his head and I'm sure he'll recover, but he didn't look too hot in game 2 either. Vokoun is definitely the right choice right now, which I don't think you disagree with. But if/when the Penguins lose they'll blame Fleury more than anything - for whatever reason.

After taking a night to digest it, last night is what I expected every game of this series to be like, and why I feared Boston all along. Even when both are playing their best, Boston is good enough to keep up with and even beat the Penguins. The Pens are not a clearly superior team like they were to the Isles, or the Sens, or most teams. They're even, with a different mentality and roster. Their only shot at this point is if Tuukka becomes human again, and the defense continues to improve, and Vokoun stays in whatever mode he is in right now. One game at a time.

While I didn't expect to be up 3-0, game 3 was pretty much what I expected this series to be too. You hit the nail on the head breaking down Boston. They're gritty and play fantastic defense AND have a top notch goaltender. AKA the recipe for postseason success. I think this was just such a bad matchup for Pittsburgh. They're soft, like really soft. Outside of Malkin (who appears to give a :censored:) and Crosby's play in the second OT this team is just getting roughed up. They don't know what to do about it, for all of Claude's faults, he sure does know how to shut down offenses. I've always respected and liked Bylsma but he's getting completely out-classed right now. Speaking of that, what do you think about him? Does he keep his job after this loss or no?

I don't like that Boston has had this kind of a comeback happen against them before, though.

They're gunna reel you back in with a big win in game 4 and then crap all over you with a blow out loss at home. That's how this type of thing goes.

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While Fleury was an excellent goaltender in the playoffs a few years ago, lets please not act as if he's not also to blame for the Penguins struggles with him in net the past two postseasons. Fleury was very much responsible for many of those 30 goals the Flyers scored in their series last season. Fleury was very much responsible for being leaky against the Islanders in the first round this year. Yes, the Penguins defense has underwhelmed, to say the least, but we've seen Vokoun do more than a fine job in net, by and large.

I think Fleury has the ability to regain some of his previous form, but right now, he has no right to be on the ice. He really has been that bad.

This is an assessment I made prior and during to the Lightning-Penguins series in 2011 (dated 4/13), regarding Fleury:

Crosby is the best player in the world and would make the Penguins a threat to win the Cup again this season, even without Malkin. As it is, they've been extremely impressive to keep winning without Crosby (23-18 without him this season) and MAF is a helluva playoff goalie, and yet I think the Lightning's relatively healthy status (Malone and Downie recently back from injuries) gives them an edge. Lecavalier has been incredible in the last month, Marty is Marty and they have their best goaltender since the lockout (not saying too much, since they've had relative crap since the lockout ended). With Crosby, the Penguins win this series without much hesitation on my part (though, with Crosby, Pittsburgh is likely the #1 seed in the East). Without Crosby, I'll say Lightning in six. If this series were to return to Pittsburgh, I can't envision the Lightning winning a Game 7, though road teams have had a surprisingly good run at winning Game 7's in recent history, so who knows.

I have nothing else to say about tonight's Game 1 between Tampa and Pittsburgh other than that I tip my cap to MAF, who played an outstanding game. Other than a defensive lapse that allowed Pittsburgh to score their 2nd goal (:18 after they scored their 1st), the Lightning played a quality game, MAF was simply his usual-playoff self, especially with his save on Lecavalier in the 2nd period.

I too have been rather perplexed by his struggles in recent postseasons, given his resume'.

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While I didn't expect to be up 3-0, game 3 was pretty much what I expected this series to be too. You hit the nail on the head breaking down Boston. They're gritty and play fantastic defense AND have a top notch goaltender. AKA the recipe for postseason success. I think this was just such a bad matchup for Pittsburgh. They're soft, like really soft. Outside of Malkin (who appears to give a :censored:) and Crosby's play in the second OT this team is just getting roughed up. They don't know what to do about it, for all of Claude's faults, he sure does know how to shut down offenses. I've always respected and liked Bylsma but he's getting completely out-classed right now. Speaking of that, what do you think about him? Does he keep his job after this loss or no?

I like Bylsma too. Honestly, he's better than a lot of alternatives. He knows what he's doing, he is good with his players, and the way/roles he played during his career helped him learn what the gritty, dirty things you need to do to win are. The losses his team suffered in the two years after the '09 cup were not coaching failures, but failures on the ice. Hell, in 2011, he didn't even have half his team (and, for that reason, he won the Jack Adams). So the only real series worthy of criticism is last year against the Flyers. Even then, in games Four and Five the Penguins showed a turnaround in character, stopped behaving like children, and played some real hockey and made it at least interesting. Now, they've had the tendency to relapse back to that here and there since then (early this season, first two games of this series, the Islanders series), but I believe that's less his coaching and more the system and the roster the Penguins have. You can't blame him for last night's loss, and if the Penguins continue to fight like hell like that to the bitter end, he is going to keep his job. Our real problem is, you said it, and in the words of Michael Therrien, "dey soff". They would be dominating the "new NHL" of five, six, seven years ago, but this is the "new new NHL" which is pretty much the "old NHL with better rules about headshots and boarding" in which pure offense only works if you're the 80's Oilers, and nobody will ever be the 80's Oilers.

This offseason, Shero has work to do, but I'll save that for the appropriate thread when the time comes. Basically, a few key guys need resigned and locked up, but some sacrifices have to be made for the sake of defense, money, and bringing up some promising young guys. And the system needs some rethinking. I don't doubt Bylsma can teach it and get guys to buy into it, but it needs to be done. Shero went all-in this year and might lose. Time to semi-rebuild if he does.

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But they were playing against a powerhouse goalie in Leighton. They shouldn't have any difficulty whatsoever with Vokoun...

Okay, that's it. The defense being almost-literally invisible in one game is not reason to forget that he shut out three periods with an average defense. Or that time he shut out the Sens for 59.5 minutes until... guess what... the defense failed him. Or when he shut out 2.3 consecutive games in the regular season. And don't even get me started on Fleury, either, who made two straight trips to the finals, has won the cup, has been the only thing keeping the Pens in playoff series in the past (2011 game 7 vs. Tampa Bay anyone? 2010 vs Montreal?) and has been one of the league's top goalies each regular season of his career. Basically, if you're going to use something from the Penguins as a running joke like you've seemed inclined to do all playoffs, use the defense, not the goalies. Because frankly, if you think Fleury is a bad goalie based off of his past two playoff series alone, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Fleury is fast-approaching Cam Ward territory. And yes, I've let it be known before that Cam Ward's gotten too much of a leash just because he's carried a team to the Cup.

I'll say it.....Fleury is an average goalie. If he weren't on a team with Crosby and Malkin (or on Team Canada), he'd be lucky to have a starting job. He's definitely not top-10, and may not even be top-15. Plenty of other goalies better than Fleury.

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But they were playing against a powerhouse goalie in Leighton. They shouldn't have any difficulty whatsoever with Vokoun...

Okay, that's it. The defense being almost-literally invisible in one game is not reason to forget that he shut out three periods with an average defense. Or that time he shut out the Sens for 59.5 minutes until... guess what... the defense failed him. Or when he shut out 2.3 consecutive games in the regular season. And don't even get me started on Fleury, either, who made two straight trips to the finals, has won the cup, has been the only thing keeping the Pens in playoff series in the past (2011 game 7 vs. Tampa Bay anyone? 2010 vs Montreal?) and has been one of the league's top goalies each regular season of his career. Basically, if you're going to use something from the Penguins as a running joke like you've seemed inclined to do all playoffs, use the defense, not the goalies. Because frankly, if you think Fleury is a bad goalie based off of his past two playoff series alone, you have no idea what you are talking about.

I should have pointed out that that was sarcasm, I think Vokoun's playing out of his league.

DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT HOCKEY

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The 2010 postseason is the wackiest one to occur in recent times. The ECF was a #7 vs. #8 matchup, for 'cripes sakes.

Oh yeah, well, last year's West Finals involved the Phoenix freaking Coyotes. Can you imagine all the heart attacks and/or strokes from some CCSLC people had they won the Cup?

They still have to win 1 more game...

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I raise you, all in.

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Heartbreaking at the time, but after 2011 that's just a blip on the radar.

Really? If it were me and I were a Bruins fan, I'd still roll into a fetal ball position and weep, when reminded of only the 4th 3-0 series collapse in all of sports history.

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