Both teams played well enough to win. Both goalies deserved it. You guys weathered the storm in OT, kept winning faceoffs, and made a play. When the margins are this tight, that's how it goes. Playoff hockey is cruel, especially Game 7's especially Game 7's that go to overtime.Well shit, I really thought was gonna go the other way. This is a tough loss, I almost feel kind of bad....almost.
Crazy series. Caps probably deserved it.
Apparently there have been 21 squandered 3-1 series leads. Caps now own 5 of them (I said 25% above, so almost).Capitals with a 3-1 lead in a playoff series are 6-5 all time in those series. That's fucking ridiculous.
I can't wait to see Kuznetsov and Burakovsky next year. I almost think they should have swapped Kuznetsov and Backstrom in OT. Backstrom ended up with a 2nd assist on the AO goal tonight, even if it was literally all about the pass from Johannson and the finish from Ovechkin, but was still only his 2nd point (2 assists) since Game 4 against the Isles. The sad fact is one guy on the top line was shit all series, and it wasn't Alex Ovechkin. Winning a lot of faceoffs isn't enough.
No, Backstrom is still a legit 1C. And for 4 games against the Isles he was great. I'm waiting to hear if he was nursing any injuries. It's very troubling that he seems to disappear come playoff time though.Apparently there have been 21 squandered 3-1 series leads. Caps now own 5 of them (I said 25% above, so almost).
Backstrom is a regular season beast, but disappears in the playoffs. I don't know at this point. Do you get rid of him? It might be worthwhile to try and shop him around.
Anyway, I'm going Rangers in 6, Hawks in 5.
Just going to quote this since I still stand by who I think is going to the finals. Also you guys picking the Rangers must have forgotten the Lightning were 3-0 against them this year. Yes yes I know it's the playoffs, but much like the Habs they match up against the Rangers well.1st round
East
Montreal v.Ottawa(6)
Tampa Bayv. Detroit (5)
NY Rangersv. Pittsburgh (4)
Washington v.NY Islanders(6)
West
Anaheimv. Winnipeg (6)
Vancouver v.Calgary(7)
St. Louisv. Minnesota (5)
Nashville v.Chicago(6)
2nd Round
East
Tampa Bayv. Ottawa (7)
NY Rangersv. NY Islanders (6)
West
Anaheimv. Calgary (6)
Chicago v.St. Louis(7)
Conference Finals
Tampa Bayv. NY Rangers (6)
Anaheimv. St Louis (6)
Finals
Tampa Bayv. Anaheim (7)
I'm a Lightning fan so complete homer pick but they do have a solid shot at winning it this year. Major plus for them is they've dominated the top two teams in the East (5-0 Montreal, 3-0 Rangers) and split the season series with Ottawa as well as beating Anaheim the two times they've played this year.
Well I got ducks and rangers perfectly...shit the bed on the 2 other ones thoRound 2:
Montrealvs Tamba Bay (Habs in 6)
NY Rangersvs Washington (NY in 7)
Anaheimvs Calgary (Ducks in 5)
Chicago vsMinnesota(Wild in 7)
The last of those 3 games occurred on December 1st. Not sure exactly how relevant it will be to the series, but probably gives them a little confidence for sure. Guess Tampa is happy Rags won, since they were 1-2 against the Caps this year.Just going to quote this since I still stand by who I think is going to the finals. Also you guys picking the Rangers must have forgotten the Lightning were 3-0 against them this year. Yes yes I know it's the playoffs, but much like the Habs they match up against the Rangers well.
Was just about to post this. Back then NY was hovering around the .500 mark. Shortly after is when the system started working and the Rangers just took off. This is a completely different team from then. However I do agree that TB matches up well against us. Callahan played particularly well against us all three games easily exploiting his experience with Lundqvist. Gonna be a much faster and more open series i'm thinking, can't wait.The last of those 3 games occurred on December 1st. Not sure exactly how relevant it will be to the series, but probably gives them a little confidence for sure. Guess Tampa is happy Rags won, since they were 1-2 against the Caps this year.
To be exact, The Rangers were 11-9-4 after their last game against Tampa. They went 42-13-3 the rest of the way. That's 123 point pace. Which is ridiculous. Safe to say those 3 games are long gone in history and not very relevant to this series.Shortly after is when the system started working and the Rangers just took off. This is a completely different team from then.
I don't think the Bolts are going to advance again this year.Yah, I don't think this is like last year where the western champ was the defacto cup winner. I have to say it's been really great watching the hawks play over the last six years.