Speculation: Preferred 2nd round opponent?

[John Holmes*]

You got to beat the best to be the best.

We're not getting any easy road through the East. I expect Pittsburgh to beat the Isles. We earned a seat at the big boy table, lets see what we can do with it. We played Pittsburgh pretty tough the last time we faced them. We have also beaten them in the past.

Boston is no treat either.

The Sens have their work cut out for them.

 

[bacon25]

Really wish Fluery had waited to suck till we play against him. Vokun is pretty good, I predict that if we beat Pitt we def go to the SCF, and dare I say, win the SC.

 

[Man Rocket]

Love you guys, lets not meet till the ECF ok? Ill be rooting for you till then =p

 

[Sens Rule]

Well Chicago is likely to be there in the finals, waiting for whoever emerges from the East. So I will disagree that if somehow we beat Pittsburgh we are home free.

Pittsburgh is very deadly, but we have played them well in the playoffs. Last time we played them it was a close series. Crosby absolutely was unstoppable. We stopped Malkin cold. This was the sickest play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rZyvAvzv9I

Or a compilation of Sick Crosby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTswu9tA_wI

We played them hard with Elliott in Goal. Now we have MR. Anderson!
We had rookie Karlsson, now we have a wiser, if crippled a bit, Karlsson. I want the wiser Norris Karlsson.
We have far, far better defence with Methot, Cowen, Gonchar and Gryba
We don't have Spezza, but we do have a whole bunch more depth through our lineup.
We had Clouston - Now we have a Paul Maclean.

We are a great deal better then the 2010 playoffs. A ton better. The Penguins might be better too, or not. They have been good like this for a half dozen years now. 2 Cup finals and 4 Meh playoffs after.

We can beat them. We can through Malkin off his game. We have before and we can do it all series, not shut him down, but keep him ordinary. It is simply impossible to contain Crosby, but we can try, and also score ourselves the 3 or 4 goals a game we will need to beat them.

If we were to do a tail of the tape and Match up with them... we win on defence and we win at goalie. They easily win at forward though.

What strategies can we employ? Methot or Cowen is ALWAYS on Malkin, and physical with him. Zibanejad could attempt to shadow Crosby and get matched with him, where we can. Can Zibby face that kind of challenge? I don't know... he could try.

You shut down Crosby to a degree then you shut down his wingers too.

The Penguins are beatable. They ooze talent, but I am not sure they are as much of a team as the Senators are. Meaning we are more then the sum of our parts and the Penguins may just be the sum of their (better) parts.

Chicago is the scariest team. They are healthy, they are so deep at every position. All we can hope for if we play them is a key injury or two and that their goaltending is a bit weak for the finals.

 

[John Holmes*]

We really need Spezza back for round 2. Hope he is ready.

 

[TrueGrit]

Doesn't matter, bring on the Pens.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

You know, I seriously think Habs just as dangerous offensively as Pittsburgh. Sure, Pits has some elite talent, but Montreal blows them away in the speed department. Our guys were able to neutralize their speed and box them out of high quality scoring chances for most of the time.

We can do the same thing to Pittsburgh. Remember, they aren't used to going up against a good defense and stellar netminding.

If the guys can keep their focus like they did against Montreal (and forget about Cooke), then we have a decent chance.

 

[Sens Rule]

You know, I seriously think Habs just as dangerous offensively as Pittsburgh. Sure, Pits has some elite talent, but Montreal blows them away in the speed department. Our guys were able to neutralize their speed and box them out of high quality scoring chances for most of the time.

We can do the same thing to Pittsburgh. Remember, they aren't used to going up against a good defense and stellar netminding.

If the guys can keep their focus like they did against Montreal (and forget about Cooke), then we have a decent chance.

3 of the Habs best offensive players were injured. Crosby, Malkin, and Crosby, Crosby, Crosby.

I don't disagree that we have a decent chance. But the Penguins are a whole world different then an injured Habs team.

 

[Sens Rule]

We really need Spezza back for round 2. Hope he is ready.

I hope so too. But watching the YouTube link I put above, where Crosby goes back and forth behind the net with Spezza chasing him back and forth and unable to do anything, until Crosby passes it out to the point for a goal. That video makes me worry about a not in 100% game shape Spezza matching up with Crosby.

We do not really want that matchup, especially in Spezza's first few games back.

Maybe we can split in Pittsburgh and come home, where we have last change and control matchups better, and Spezza can get in the lineup and get in better game shape before they go back to Pittsburgh.

 

[NyQuil]

We beat the Penguins when they were completely unfamiliar with playoff hockey.

Now they have more experience than our young team, and a Cup to show for it.

If we get outplayed, they have the guys to actually put the puck in the net.

We will have to play extremely tight and disciplined to have a hope.

 

[BonkTastic]

You know, I seriously think Habs just as dangerous offensively as Pittsburgh. Sure, Pits has some elite talent, but Montreal blows them away in the speed department. Our guys were able to neutralize their speed and box them out of high quality scoring chances for most of the time.

We can do the same thing to Pittsburgh. Remember, they aren't used to going up against a good defense and stellar netminding.

If the guys can keep their focus like they did against Montreal (and forget about Cooke), then we have a decent chance.

i disagree 100%

Give me:
MaxPac-Plekanec-Gionta
Bourque-Eller-Ryder
Prust-Galchenyuk-Gallagher

ANY DAY over:
Iginla-Crosby-Neal
kunitz-Malkin-Dupus
Morrow-Sutter-Jokinen
(+ kennedy & Cooke)


AINEC.

 

[NyQuil]

Yup.

Even if you pretend the the skill is equivalent (and it isn't, it REALLY isn't), the Pittsburgh forwards are battle-hardened veterans who are taller than 5'6.

Can you imagine if Montreal had a specimen like Malkin? Gryba isn't just going to throw him around.

 

[Senateurs]

Jinx thread, Mods lets close this... oh wait.

I would prefer to avoid the Pens but if they win, it's time to get our pound of flesh.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I don't really have a preferred one, they are all great teams

Losing to Pittsburgh AGAIN would really suck though

 

[YNWA14]

Ottawa has potentially the hardest road to the cup of any team in the playoffs at this point.

Rd. 1 - Montreal, 2nd Seed
Rd. 2 - Pittsburgh, 1st Seed
Rd. 3 - Boston, 4th Seed
SC - Chicago, 1st Seed

That's how I see it shaking up as we move forward. It's going to be a rough ride...but could you imagine? I believe in miracles.

 

[Silvercup Returns]

Penguins still terrify me. Maybe we can get a miracle and Isles can do this.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Penguins still terrify me. Maybe we can get a miracle and Isles can do this.

Penguins terrified me before the playoffs. After seeing the Islander get two wins...not so much. Our D and goaltending are way better than Long Island.

I think Boston would be the worst matchup for us.

Rangers are getting hot at just the right time, but something looks 'off' with Lundqvist.

Washington has some snipers, but Holtby is massively overrated.


In all honesty, I didn't give us a chance to win over Montreal. Even with the injuries, the speed they have makes them so dangerous. Somehow the guys managed to handle that and make for a good series.

Right now, we have a decent chance against anyone.

 

[Dana Scully]

It'll be Pittsburgh. All I can hope is that we're competitive and make a series out of it.

I wish it had taken them just a little longer to realize that Fleury was garbage.

 

[Stef*]

For a team with zero offense like us
Losing to pittsburg would be ok
We have already exceeded every expectations

 

[Very Stable Genius]

It'll be Pittsburgh. All I can hope is that we're competitive and make a series out of it.

I wish it had taken them just a little longer to realize that Fleury was garbage.

It took them 7 years.

 

[Stef*]

Their pp is at 35%
Their pk 88% for the playoff
Theyre a powerhouse

 

[Magix]

I want the pens. Playing against them will show us how "ready" this young team is. The intriguing bit about this matchup is who turris goes up against, crosby is crosby but malkin is a hot head and might get frustrated with turris shadowing him all game which could get us some power plays. I'm thinking zibanejad goes up against crosby while turris and alfie keep tabs on malkin and neal. No matter how you slice it up, it will be hard to contain either of those two guys.

And if spezza returns next round, it will be a tough test for him. Expect the pens to expose his conditioning by throwing malkin/crosby out there everytime he is on the ice so maybe throw condra on his line to help with the defensive duties.

 

[tony d]

Definitely the Rangers though if Lundqvist is hot they could be a tough team to get by.

 

[Dana Scully]

It took them 7 years.

Why couldn't they wait a few more games?!

 

[Shec8576]

We're playing the Pens. The Isles had their kick at the can but they won't win the series. It would be great if they did but we need to remember Nabokov isn't good at all and hasn't been in the matchup. Now that Vokoun has taken over I don't think theres much of a doubt.

The Sens probably won't beat the Pens but being the underdog is fun. Losing in the second round would still be a good building block and a series win would be one of the greatest moments in our history. I see it as a purely positive experience either way.