Rite of Spring '14: Can you fall asleep with a panic switch?

[Kramerica Industries]

"The longer this game goes, it has to favor Anaheim. The Kings coming off that 5 game series, playing with 5 defensemen for pretty much the entire game tonight. I would highly doubt that they would have as much gas left in the tank as the more rested Anaheim team." - Brian Heyward (10:49 of OT)

"Off the Goalpost and INNNN!!!" (Marian Gaborik 12:07 of OT)

Take that Moron Heyward!!! You don't know hockey so crawl back into your friggin hole and go home! You can shove your gas where the sun don't shine!

You say that as if some of the basic facts Hayward noted (rest factor, 5 D's) are wrong.

Look, I thought it was also pretty dubious to appoint Brian Hayward to the color commentary of this game (not sure how the series outlay is) given the matchup, but I didn't sense blatant Ducks homerism of any kind tonight. He was all over Jonathan Quick's lateral quickness and ability to cover the bottom of the net, but that would fly in the face of your narrative so it's better to just pretend he never said it.

[monkeypower]

At least it's only game one.

[dbadefense1990]

Oh baby! What an opener to the inaugural Freeway Series playoff game. If tonight is a precursor to what happens in future games between the two in the postseason, then I fully expect Kings-Ducks to have the full-on, bad blood-kind of hatred the Bruins-Habs rivalry is common with. Savor this moment!

The better team lost in Anaheim. Jonathan Quick is the new Hasek- as long as he's breathing, you have a chance.

They are impossibly difficult to knock out.

Hell, even in non-Cup years recently- Vancouver needed a goal in the final 2:03 in 2010, San Jose 2011/Chicago last year needed overtime.

They're the hardest team in sports to knock off outside of the Miami Heat.

The St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco Giants and Real Madrid would like a word with you.

[ninersdd]

Seahawks? Really?

[dbadefense1990]

Seahawks? Really?

Well at this rate, they're becoming the hardest team to beat in the NFL, especially at home.

[ninersdd]

Seahawks? Really?

Well at this rate, they're becoming the hardest team to beat in the NFL, especially at home.

Well I thought you were talking about teams winning when they shouldn't be(i.e. Cardinals)

[dbadefense1990]

Seahawks? Really?

Well at this rate, they're becoming the hardest team to beat in the NFL, especially at home.

Well I thought you were talking about teams winning when they shouldn't be(i.e. Cardinals)

Well to be blunt, SabresRule's post is kind of vague. He brought up the subject of teams being the hardest to beat when the games count, whether or not such team derps the season (Cardinals) or becomes an expected contender in every game (Heat, Seahawks).

[Still MIGHTY]

Oh baby! What an opener to the inaugural Freeway Series playoff game. If tonight is a precursor to what happens in future games between the two in the postseason, then I fully expect Kings-Ducks to have the full-on, bad blood-kind of hatred the Bruins-Habs rivalry is common with. Savor this moment!

No.

[Unocal]

Last 3 years- only team to KO the Kings in playoffs- Chicago. And even THAT took 2 overtimes.

Heat- it took every bit of Dirk Nowitzki to beat them, who are 12-1 in playoff series with the Big 3.

That's what I'm referring to.

[oddball]

Quote of the night when a reporter asked Ryan Getzlaf if anything out there suprised him. Getzy's response, "Not at all it was a good fart..." *lol* For that quote alone I vote him this year's MVP!

[Funky Bunky]

That loss is on Bryan Allen, simply put. They had the lead, until he turn the puck over to Richards on an easy clear, and then later on let Gabrorik beat him in front of the net. Ducks played well, but you can't make those defensive mistakes.

"The longer this game goes, it has to favor Anaheim. The Kings coming off that 5 game series, playing with 5 defensemen for pretty much the entire game tonight. I would highly doubt that they would have as much gas left in the tank as the more rested Anaheim team." - Brian Heyward (10:49 of OT)

"Off the Goalpost and INNNN!!!" (Marian Gaborik 12:07 of OT)

Take that Moron Heyward!!! You don't know hockey so crawl back into your friggin hole and go home! You can shove your gas where the sun don't shine!

It's HAyward you assball. If you're going to call somebody a moron, at least spell their name correctly. Who's really the moron here?

On to game 2...

[habsfan1]

The Habs may have swiped home ice advantage heading back to Quebec, but when you're up 3-1 with less than ten to play, that's a "go for the jugular" situation. They had it, and they blew it. Going home 1-1 this way feels a lot worse than it would've if they had just lost in a more straight-forward way today, and I'd be stunned if Boston doesn't nab one in Montreal, if not both games. It's pretty frigging clear who the better team is after these first two games, and Carey Price has worked some incredible magic so that the Habs have a win in this series.

While you have a valid point, it's going to be the Habs responsability to bounce back from this brick in the road, and to play for the full 60 minutes. Playing for 59:59 minutes won't be enough. No one was expecting the Habs to sweep the Champs anyhow. It's not like they're missing key players or anything.

[Still MIGHTY]

That loss is on Bryan Allen, simply put. They had the lead, until he turn the puck over to Richards on an easy clear, and then later on let Gabrorik beat him in front of the net. Ducks played well, but you can't make those defensive mistakes.

Bryan Allen is generally useless, but he was particularly bad last night.

[infrared41]

Is it just me, or does it feel like we've had an entire playoffs' worth of last-second goals already?

It's great, isn't it? Honestly, I thought that once the Jackets were eliminated, I wouldn't pay close attention to the rest of the playoffs but that hasn't been the case. Maybe it's seems this way just because it's been a while since I've been this invested, but these playoffs have been pretty f-ing awesome.

I thought it would have been pretty cool to get the "Teemu Selanne scores the game winner" story line, but that was still a helluva game last night.

[wonderbread]

Is it just me, or does it feel like we've had an entire playoffs' worth of last-second goals already?

It's great, isn't it? Honestly, I thought that once the Jackets were eliminated, I wouldn't pay close attention to the rest of the playoffs but that hasn't been the case. Maybe it's seems this way just because it's been a while since I've been this invested, but these playoffs have been pretty f-ing awesome.

I thought it would have been pretty cool to get the "Teemu Selanne scores the game winner" story line, but that was still a helluva game last night.

I read some where that there have been 21 comebacks from 2+ goal leads so far this playoffs including last night, its incredible

[Kramerica Industries]

Just gotta say that, while I wasn't able to watch Minnesota-Chicago as attentively as I would have wished, what has captured my eye in that game and in this postseason is how dominant the Bickell-Toews-Hossa line has been. That might be the best line currently going in this postseason.

[Cosmic]

Is it just me, or does it feel like we've had an entire playoffs' worth of last-second goals already?

It's great, isn't it? Honestly, I thought that once the Jackets were eliminated, I wouldn't pay close attention to the rest of the playoffs but that hasn't been the case. Maybe it's seems this way just because it's been a while since I've been this invested, but these playoffs have been pretty f-ing awesome.

I thought it would have been pretty cool to get the "Teemu Selanne scores the game winner" story line, but that was still a helluva game last night.

I read some where that there have been 21 comebacks from 2+ goal leads so far this playoffs including last night, its incredible

As somebody who doesn't have a horse in the race, it's awesome knowing that most games aren't over until the final horn basically.

[Sodboy13]

Just gotta say that, while I wasn't able to watch Minnesota-Chicago as attentively as I would have wished, what has captured my eye in that game and in this postseason is how dominant the Bickell-Toews-Hossa line has been. That might be the best line currently going in this postseason.

It's been fantastic. What the national boobs are missing when talking about Bickell's disappointing regular season vs. his playoff eruption is that he spent nearly the entire season in Quenneville's doghouse, and got crap minutes on most nights while skating with the perpetual derp show that is Kris Versteeg. The playoffs have necessitated changes, and Bickell has benefitted from being competent enough to not eff up alongside two of the most dominant talents in the league.

Bollig getting scratched for the first time all year was great to see, too. Maybe Quenneville's finally entering playoff mode after entirely too much dicking around in the regular season.

[Unocal]

Wild look outclassed. Colorado would have given the Hawks somewhat of a fighting chance. Speed, Varlamov, home-ice = puncher's chance.

[The_Admiral]

Minnesota's been able to keep things close against a discombobulated Blackhawks team. They're still taking dumbass penalties and their line changes are very sketchy. Note the players on ice for the lone goal against: you had a fourth line of Morin, Handzus, and Versteeg (at least it certainly looks like a fourth line) on with the third pairing of Leddy and Rozsival. That's not a quintet you want to have out together for anything but a preseason game or a play-out-the-string game, and so it's no surprise Minnesota struck.

The problem the North Stars have is that they're a defensive team whose defensive corps kinda sucks. Brodin spent six minutes in the box on Friday night, all on high sticking, and then the new #1 pair of Suter and Spurgeon had a -3 on the day. Also, the new #1 pair includes Jared Spurgeon, whom the Montreal Canadiens tease about height. Bryzgalov hasn't been good, but you know what? When your #1 goalie is 36 years old and always hurt, and your #2 goalie has an irreversible neurological condition, sometimes we only have ourselves to blame. That their #4 goalie is still NHL-caliber is something. If that happened to us, we'd have Jason LolBarbera.

My guess is that the Hawks lose Game 3 in an echo of pretty much every time they're on the road for Game 3. I'd prefer it if they were to buckle down and play The Consummate Road Game, of course.