Media Predictions for Sens/Habs Series

[ffayyca]

Most people seem to forget how big of a role Andy played in that series. He stole Game 1 and 5(I know it was 6-1 but he made huge stops in the first period or we would likely fall behind quickly). Hammond has to be on par with Price, no soft goals and must make some key saves. I hope he can continue with his streak into the series.

 

[studDUGY]

Ridiculous

We beat them in five games last time and it took Price crapping the bed all while Pacioretty and Prust were hurt

To expect this series to be over in five in favour of Ottawa is delusional

Habs fan here:

Even though Pacioretty and Eller were hurt and Price was horrible that year, Spezza was also hurt. The main reason why the Sens won in 5, imo, is because the Habs were incredibly soft that year, which isn't the case anymore.

It will be much closer this time, but I believe the Sens have the edge because of the psychological aspect of the match-up. We can always play the "no, you're the favourite" game, but I will legitimately be surprised if the Habs end up winning the series.

 

[God Says No]

Habs fan here:

Even though Pacioretty and Eller were hurt and Price was horrible that year, Spezza was also hurt. The main reason why the Sens won in 5, imo, is because the Habs were incredibly soft that year, which isn't the case anymore.

Really? I don't see it. Are you talking about DSP?

 

[SpezDispenser]

I also don't see the habs as physical.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Most people seem to forget how big of a role Andy played in that series. He stole Game 1 and 5(I know it was 6-1 but he made huge stops in the first period or we would likely fall behind quickly). Hammond has to be on par with Price, no soft goals and must make some key saves. I hope he can continue with his streak into the series.

That is a bit of a worry. The amount of goals scored against us in the first period of games has been creeping upward again over the last 5-8 games or so. We need to lock that down.

 

[pm88]

Ferraro thinks Habs in 6? I'm surprised he decided to go that way for this one

 

[studDUGY]

Really? I don't see it. Are you talking about DSP?

I might have went a little over the fence. They don't have a swarm of small players anymore, that's what I should've said.

Of course they don't play 2011 Bruins style hockey and will never be a physical team, that just doesn't suit them. But they don't get tossed around as much as they used to.

 

[Senscore]

I also don't see the habs as physical.

Yeah i have no idea why people would think that.

It's nearly the same team as last time.

 

[tony d]

It's going to be a great series but I think we take it in 7.

 

[SevenOfSpades]

I think Habs in 6

 

[CDN24]

Yeah i have no idea why people would think that.

It's nearly the same team as last time.

Todays top players were on that team but many were very raw rookies Gally's or playoff rookies Patches etc.

Quite a bit of veteran turnover in 2 years

Out: Bourque, Ryder,White, Gionta, halpern, Armstrong,Moen and on D player 61 Diaz, Boullion, Gorges and Tinordi who played all 5 games in that one.

In- Emelin,Petry,Bealeau,Gilbert and Patryn on D
Weise,PAP,DSP,Eller,flynn Mitchel,de la rose up front.

Forward additions are not much- the improvement if any is in the kids that have moved up the lineup. The only holdovers on D from that series are Markov and Subban.

It may not be a better lineup(that remains to be determined) but it is certainly different

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Todays top players were on that team but many were very raw rookies Gally's or playoff rookies Patches etc.

Quite a bit of veteran turnover in 2 years

Out: Bourque, Ryder,White, Gionta, halpern, Armstrong,Moen and on D player 61 Diaz, Boullion, Gorges and Tinordi who played all 5 games in that one.

In- Emelin,Petry,Bealeau,Gilbert and Patryn on D
Weise,PAP,DSP,Eller,flynn Mitchel,de la rose up front.

Forward additions are not much- the improvement if any is in the kids that have moved up the lineup. The only holdovers on D from that series are Markov and Subban.

It may not be a better lineup(that remains to be determined) but it is certainly different

I remember Bourque being a Sens killer that playoff series. Always seemed to score.

As for Emelin, he was injured just before the series started, was he not?

 

[Caeldan]

I hope to see Sens in 6, since that's the game I'll be there for (and I want to break my clinching loss streak).

 

[pepty]

James Mirtle Habs in 7:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...winner-will-be-almost-anyone/article23892462/

 

[BigBush*]

I remember Bourque being a Sens killer that playoff series. Always seemed to score.

As for Emelin, he was injured just before the series started, was he not?

Bourque has been Montreal best player in the playoffs. He always steps up huge.

I thought it was a big mistake for MTL to get rid of him

 

[CDN24]

I remember Bourque being a Sens killer that playoff series. Always seemed to score.

As for Emelin, he was injured just before the series started, was he not?

Yes Emelin was hurt. he`s a strange one, does not look particularly good but the team win-loss record suffers significantly when he is out of the lineup. Bourque has been good in the playoffs but disappears for months in regular season. He was arguably the best forward against Tampa last year.

 

[Boud]

Price is amazing and everything but seriously how is he? Cause no matter how good Price is, who's gonna score on us?

That's the biggest problem with Montreal right now. I think they're much better on defense but we have a clear advantage on offense. We have 3 lines that can score and they have 1. If we match the Lazar-Pageau-Condra line with the Pacioretty line then we'd have one of Turris or Zibby against their shutdown line (Eller) and the other line would have a pretty easy matchup. Montreal has the advantage in net for sure. I'm really unsure how Montreal is going to approach this serie, are they gonna play physical or with their speed? They just added Smith-Pelly and they have Prust and Weise that will crash the net. I really think they will be in Hammond's crease all game long.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Agreed. Also in my post when I said how is he I meant Patches for some reason I forgot to type his name.

If Patches is not available, Ottawa should be embarrassed to lose the series. Seriously, their best goal scorer gone and they struggled to score anything... we should take it in 5 or 6.

Patches might only miss 1 game and we should win the first one to set the stage for our series win.

 

[Boud]

Agreed. Also in my post when I said how is he I meant Patches for some reason I forgot to type his name.

If Patches is not available, Ottawa should be embarrassed to lose the series. Seriously, their best goal scorer gone and they struggled to score anything... we should take it in 5 or 6.

Patches might only miss 1 game and we should win the first one to set the stage for our series win.

I don't think he'll miss a game. He's been known to recover quickly (Chara hit per example) and he's been practicing with the team. Habs know they need him and he'll want to play so I fully expect him to be playing.

 

[PatrickEaves]

That's actually a good point: we have a 100% healthy Karlsson this year. We also have Stone who is just absolute clutch and we still have Pageau who just loves to rack up points against the Habs.

They have a Pacioretty coming back early from a head injury.

They have Price? Big frigging deal: he can't win a series on his own if he doesn't have people to score goals alongside him.

And we have Hammond AND Anderson on our end.

In the end, the only reason I could see the Sens not winning this series in 6 or 7 would be if they are burned out from that 2 month run to get into the playoffs & have some undisclosed injuries that will factor into the series (totally believe that is Bobby Ryan's case even though he says it isn't).

And whatever happens, I don't feel the need to be apologetic about my predictions either because they're perceived as «cocky». A few unlucky turn of events and the Sens could easily not have been in the playoffs. The Sens can take the Habs but it's not gonna be a choke job if they don't either: in the end, aside from a few flowery comments here and there, I don't think anybody fully comprehends what the Sens have had to do in the past 2 months to get here in the first place.

To be honest I don't think Karlsson is 100%, mostly because I don't think he'll ever be 100%. He never regained his pre-Cooke first 3 step acceleration.

 

[Cath]

To be honest I don't think Karlsson is 100%, mostly because I don't think he'll ever be 100%. He never regained his pre-Cooke first 3 step acceleration.

Also true, but at the very least, you can say that he is a helluva lot more comfortable & healthy than when he rushed back into the line up 2 years ago and that's gonna be somewhat of a factor.

 

[pzeeman]

Not Prust, anyone but Prust, who would intimidate us then?

He likes the poutine.

No wait, he looooves the poutine.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Montreal definitely got better, imo.

Galchenyuk is more experienced. Patches is more refined. Their d depth is much better and their goaltending is much better.

With all that being said, Ottawa got much better itself. We actually have a fully capable Karlsson instead of a guy on one leg. We have much stronger center depth. We have much stronger winger depth.

Alfredsson
Silfverberg
Conacher
Latendresse

vs

Ryan
Stone
Hoffman
Michalek
Lazar


The only place I see Montreal better than us is defensive depth. Goaltending is a wash if Hammond plays like he has but I'll def give edge to Montreal cause Price been better longer but against us he's been average.

Ottawa also IMO has the more clutch players. I hated MTL cause of Bourque, Moen, Gorges before. Those guys step up but they replaced them with guys similar or weaker in the clutch. Only guy I fear is Eller but we should be able to neutralize him matching him up with Turris' line.

 

[TeamRenzo]

The Habs are a much better team then they are given credit for...if Sens win I would be surprised if it took less than six games.

 

[OttawaSenators11]

Kyper picked Ottawa for the upset just now..