DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum The Hockey thread

I'm really impressed with Washington so far, they're just flat out better than Philly, it's rather obvious I think.

Patrick Kane is good at hockey.

He destroyed every Blue on the ice.

Probably even worse that if he gets going the Blues are in deep trouble

Fifth career OT goal.... what you call a 'money player'.

So my title pick is the first team eliminated, lol

I have a feeling St. Louis is in serious trouble. I think the monster was woken up the other night. The Blues are relying too much defense and one line for production.. The Hawks are a tremendous game 7 type team. They absolutely dismantled the Ducks on their home ice last year in the conference final.

Philly has shown some life too. I would love to see that thing go 7 games. Could be a lot of fun. I pretty much root for everyone to go 7. Nothing beats a one game take all in the NHL.

Pens beat the NY Rangers today 6-3, to win the series 4-1 They move on to the next round to play either the Flyers or Caps

Stars, Caps move on....

Really looking forward to that game 7 tomorrow night. Hockey game 7's are the best events in professional sports, IMO.

Yayyyyyy GO PENS!!

and in local hockey news, The Monsters closed out their first tound sweep at the Q Saturday night in front of over 10,000 fans

Third period of the stars/wild game was exciting. Wild were probably a half inch from tying the game.

Bad news for St. Louis that the Hawks made a real nice adjustment. They were finally able to get through the neutral zone, which spells doom. Hawks under Quennville are 32-7 beyond game 5 in a series. Nobody adjusts like Q does. This could potentially get ugly tonight. Although like I said anything can happen in an nhl game 7.

St. Louis has a recent history of bowing out meekly as games get bigger in the playoffs, and we know Chicago's recent history....but as you say, anything can happen in a game 7.

Doh, the Islanders won. I was rooting for the Panthers so I could take my wife to her first hockey game before I left for the summer. Go Bolts!

I feel bad for Bobby Lou (not the Panthers or their non-sellout fans).

BIG GAME tonight! Go Hawks!

Tough for the Hawks tonight, but that was a great series.

It sure was. I didn't think there was any way the Blues would pull that out after it went 2-2. The Hawks seemed to be dominating at that point.

3 goals on 3 turnovers. Turning the puck over in your own zone is a mortal sin.

Heck of a game though.

Right, it felt like all the Blues goals came after a Hawks player mistake. Oh well. Great series. I think the Stars are going to thump the Blues.

Now that we officially know the cast for the 2nd round, here are the revised match-ups (feel free to quote for your own predictions):

ATLANTIC DIVISION:
(2) Tampa Bay Lightning {97} vs. (WC1) New York Islanders {100}

METROPOLITAN DIVISION:
(1) Washington Capitals {120} vs. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins {104}

CENTRAL DIVISION:
(1) Dallas Stars {109} vs. (2) St. Louis Blues {107}

PACIFIC DIVISION:
(3) San Jose Sharks {98} vs. (WC1) Nashville Predators {96}

My picks

ATLANTIC DIVISION:
Islanders in 6
(Yeah, a bit of a cheat with them already 1 game up in the series, but Tavares has been playing out of his mind! The 'Ning did come back last night after being down 4-1, but they ran out of gas.)

METROPOLITAN DIVISION:
Penguins in 5
(As much as I'd like to see the Caps advance at the expense of Pittsburgh, I think the Pens are super hot and will take the Caps as Ovie goes scoreless. Crosby is back too. Ugh, stupid Pittsburgh.).

CENTRAL DIVISION:
Dallas Stars in 5
(I don't know how far Dallas can go with such a heavy score-first mentality. Eventually, a defensive team with a hot goalie will stop them in their tracks, but I don't think the Blues are that team. Plus, the Blues first goal was to beat the Hawks, I think they're done after spending too much energy to do so.)

PACIFIC DIVISION:
Predators in 7
(The Sharks won their own Cali Cup by beating the Kings, FINALLY. I think they're emotionally spent, maybe similar to the Blues. Goal-tending will win this series. Rinne looked great recently).

As for my first round picks, ugh...4 and 4.

Isles look good. Still mad they moved that team out of LI. I don't know how much of a big deal that is over there, but it was such an awesome atmosphere at the old Coliseum.

I think Dallas and St. Louis is an interesting matchup because they are polar opposites. Dallas should be able to wear down St. Louis, because the Blues can't keep getting by on production from one line. I like Dallas but I could see a long series.

The Pens can absolutely beat the Caps, but this is the best series of the second round.

Sharks and Predators will be defensive low scoring hockey, but the winner of this series will be a tough out for the Dallas/St. Louis winner. Would love to see Smashville make a cup run.

Pretty cool that half the teams left have never won the cup. It's always special when a new team, or a team that hasn't won in a very long time wins it. It's also great for the league, because you're guaranteed to have good viewership for that city for a while.

Islanders in 6 (woulda picked em before Game 1)
Capitals in 6
Blues in 6
Sharks in 7

I went 5-3 in first round, punch. Thoroughly average.
The Sharks getting over the first-round hump might be big for them, I expect they'll be a tough out rest of the way.

How can this happen to the Caps, AGAIN? Ovie disappears and the team forgets how to play.

...and then he scores. Funny.

Pens up 2 to 1 after cruising to a victory tonight

but I think Letang will be getting at least one game for that hit

No doubt. Unnecessary, leaves his feet, & head contact. It wasn't late like the Orpik hit, which was a lot worse. Letang will be gone for at least 1 game, maybe 2.

Ultimately, I don't think it matters. There are only two more games in this series. Pens in 5 (like my prediction).

I think the Cap will come out guns blazing in the next game. If the Pens can weather that xtorm they should be ok

Letang received a one game suspension for "interference"

keep going Pens. Let's win this one and go up 3-1! Hmmm... time to stop posting, the Caps just got a goal, tie game.

This Capitals/Penguins series is awesome.

GOT UM!!!!!!!!!

YES!!!

I think someone forgot to tell the Islanders that this was an elimination game. I can't wait to get home on Tuesday and watch the game. GO BOLTS!!

LOL, My buddy is an Isanders fan and has talked so much crap about how his Islanders were going to kick the Pens butt in the next round. Hes been very quiet today LOL

Jon Cooper is a great coach. He's done an awesome job with this group.

I'm not looking forward to Blues/Sharks. I don't like either team, and the styles of the two teams will make for some pretty defensive hockey.

I don't mind a 2-1 game, but I don't like games where the chances are minimal and that's probably what you'll see if those two meet up.

TB keeps surprising me, even without stamkos they are getting it done. I thought they'd be out first round.
They got the bounces against the Islanders in OT. Hockey is like that.

The conference finals are shaping up to be good hockey. I like the way San Jose and St. Louis play, physical and fast, but I'll cheer for whomever comes out of the east.

So my first year of being a Predators fan I've watched 2 1/3 regular season games, and 2 periods of their playoff games..

Working nights sucks. He'll I've watched more Preds than I've been able to watch Cavs..

I love playing NHL on Xbox. I just don't understand Hockey enough yet to get real deep into it. Positions, line changes, etc..

If I had to order my favorite teams it'd be Browns, Michigan, Cavs, Preds, and in a very distant last place, Indians. I don't really like baseball.

that's still pretty cool man. If you ever have any questions on hockey, I'd be happy to help you out. As I tell people, it's a very simple game

GO PENS!!!!

We need to end it tonight!!

What a great series!

They scared me when the Caps came back and tied it . If they had won in OT I think we would have had some serious problems in game 7