Speculation: Preferred 2nd round opponent?

[Rumcajs]

Pittsburgh will be our greatest test. The thing is with our stingy defense and their the possibility that Vokoun will be full of holes makes it easier to believe we can win. I hope the Islanders to em to game 7 so face their squad weaker!

 

[NyQuil]

Why would Vokoun be full of holes?

 

[aragorn]

I've always thought that Vokoun was an excellent goaltender who happened to play on some lousy teams. I agree that Pitt will be the most difficult team to beat especially if Ottawa comes out listless & plays a lathargic style as they have a few times against Montreal during some games. I would think that Ottawa would have to play like they did in game 3 in every game to have a chance against Pitt who have so many good tough players.

If Pitt has a weakness it is definately in goal with Fleury but as Vokoun has shown in the last game against the Islanders & against us he can be very good at times. Should be a very interesting series & I don't expect any fireworks unless someone hits Karlsson too hard or does something to spark a brawl. I'm of the opinion that Ottawa should initiate a brawl on purpose & go after Cindy or Malkin or both. Then again with some luck maybe the NYI can take them to 7 games or knock them off with the upset of these playoffs, wouldn't that be a shocker?

 

[Icelevel]

pittsburgh

payback and lesson time

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Vokoun is sexy business

He's not going to fun to play against

 

[Icelevel]

Tim Murray:

I'm not saying we can't be beat, but.... It's going to take a good team, playing well to beat us.

 

[OttawaSenators11]

capitals win i put at ~50/50 right now.
penguins win i put at ~85/15 right now.
bruins win i put at ~85/15 right now.

bottom line:
85% penguins
7.5% rangers
6.375% bruins
1.125% leafs

Pits is 100% not losing 2 straight.

 

[lafite]

I'd like NYR, but realistically, it will be the Pens.

I think the Sens are a lot better off playing the Pens after winning the first round than if they had to face them in the first round. They have to be more confident now.

Anyway, it's all bonus now as far as I'm concerned. Already a successful year with some of the young guns getting great experience.

I thought Turris was in over his head for much of the season, but now he looks just fine. Zibby probably would have only got a couple of call ups this year with a full healthy line-up. And who would have thunk it with Pageau?

 

[Emerica]

Pits is 100% not losing 2 straight.

How can you say it's 100%?

You don't know that. It's not a fact.

 

[Patvolcom65]

Doen't matter if we want to win the cup..we'll have to beat the good teams one day. Give Pitts hell.

 

[Daffy]

I was hoping NYI Leafs and Washington would win and we got Washington. Ovechkin can be scary and rebeiro a jerk but IMO weakest goaltending.

NYR would be ok, do not want penguins.

I think we would match up fine against Boston.

There was no scenario where we got Washington in round 2. If the Isles and Caps won, they would play each other next round.

 

[Milan the God*]

I'd love NYR for redemption for last year. Pittsburgh is more likely. They're scary, but we have to beat the best to be the best.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

Nobody can stop a possessed Crosby, but Pittsburgh's weakness is defense and goaltending; sadly, they just need to be "okay" to win.

EDIT: I'm just watching Vokoun stone the Russians in 2011 WC Gold Medal game. Scary.

 

[Spez]

The ONLY WAY we beat pittsburgh in round 2 if we play them is if Anderson turns into 2010 Halak or Patrick Roy of 1986. They just have too many weapons for our D to handle and we aren't as fast as the islanders or habs. If we beat them it will be Anderson outplaying Vokoun or Fleury by a HUGE margin. I'm not too concerned about Malkin because I think Methot can frustrate him and Malkin can become very frustrated when you hit him a lot and get in his face. It's Crosby and Neal that will be the biggest problems to handle this series. We have to find a way to contain those two and keep Malkin in check to pull off the upset.

 

[GoSensGo6172]

Pits is 100% not losing 2 straight.

You really can't say that. Nobody expected the Isles to even have two games at this point and a Game 6 tmrw shouldn't even be necessary. The Isles are a very energetic bunch, they are similar to the Sens in that they have a lot of young players getting their first taste of playoff action and they want more. They have played well at home and almost took Game 4. I like the Pens chances a lot better if they stick with Vokoun though. I do agree though, even if the Isles take it tmrw, going to Pitty for a Game 7 one day later would be extremely difficult. I agree with Dannish, 80-85% chance the Pens advance and we play them but no way you can say it's 100% or you haven't seen any of the series.

 

[Dana Scully]

There's only one reason the Isles forced a game six, and that reason is now sitting on the bench likely not to see another game for awhile.

 

[GoSensGo6172]

The ONLY WAY we beat pittsburgh in round 2 if we play them is if Anderson turns into 2010 Halak or Patrick Roy of 1986. They just have too many weapons for our D to handle and we aren't as fast as the islanders or habs. If we beat them it will be Anderson outplaying Vokoun or Fleury by a HUGE margin. I'm not too concerned about Malkin because I think Methot can frustrate him and Malkin can become very frustrated when you hit him a lot and get in his face. It's Crosby and Neal that will be the biggest problems to handle this series. We have to find a way to contain those two and keep Malkin in check to pull off the upset.

We're not as fast as the Isles? Is that a joke? The Isles have Grabner and Nielsen as their fast players. As for us, Greening, Pageau and Condra say hi. Hell even Conacher has some good speed to his game, as does MM even though he's not 100%. I don't want to get too confident or borderline cocky but the Pens are NOT THAT scary. Notice how much of the mainstream media isin't really talking about them much so far? Analysts are realizing they overrated them a little bit. It's been all Sid\Geno\Kunitz/Letang for them. The depth that made them so scary has been non existent, Dupuis has struggled, Morrow doesn't have a point yet, Bennett, Jokinen, Sutter and Cooke have all been invisible. Than there's their goaltending issue with Fleury. They're banking a lot on Vokoun now and while he is good and not as shaky as MAF, he's extremely unproven in the playoffs. Basically I am saying that while the Sens cannot come close to matching up with Pitty talent wise, we could beat them on hard work and frustrate them with smothering D, take them off their game much like we did with the Habs. It's all about getting hot at the right time. Think of it this way, the Isles took two games so far and could still push them to 7. We took a couple games off them last time we played them in the playoffs and we have MUCH better D and goaltending this time around. Not saying the Sens would win the series but if Spezza comes back and we hold home ice, we can definitely stretch them to 7 and than who knows. But enough of this intimidation crap with the Pens, enough of the "oh my god we can't take them" NO, let's be confident and take the attitude that we can take them. I would love the challenge, think it would be a great series and another chance for the Sens to shock the world.

 

[GoSensGo6172]

There's only one reason the Isles forced a game six, and that reason is now sitting on the bench likely not to see another game for awhile.

The Isles haven't been able to figure out Vokoun all season. That either continues and he is their answer in goal, or things finally even out and the Isles get to him and make things very interesting. JT almost had him beat on a gorgeous play last night, they just got to bury their chances.

 

[Bazel5]

I agree with alot in this thread. Vokoun will be scary to face against and we won't have much of a chance if we continue with the perimeter outside shots and shots to the chest that our guys are so prone to.

We really need to drive hard and take the physicality to the next level if we want to even the playing field.

I really want to give some props to Montreal though. They are a really good team and one big positive that I can take from that win is that it raised our level of compete. They were ferocious on the forecheck and outskated us in all scenarios.

If anything, it prepares us well for a meeting with Pittsburgh, that whole series had our guys on their heels and hopefully that keeps them sharp for our meeting in round 2.

 

[Senscore]

And if we can't beat them, then we'll take them to hell with us.

I expected to see a Pittsburgh IR list at LEAST as long as Montreal's by the time we're done.

 

[Novak Djokovic]

And if we can't beat them, then we'll take them to hell with us.

I expected to see a Pittsburgh IR list at LEAST as long as Montreal's by the time we're done.

Pittsburgh is very tough physically. Douglas Murray will own half of our offense physically, but hopefully, we can take advantage of lack of foot speed. Pittsburgh's forwards are a lot more physical. I remember watching the Habs-Pens game two-three weeks ago. It was total physical domination by the Penguins.

The main thing the Penguins struggle with is a lot of speed.

 

[Senscore]

Pittsburgh is very tough physically. Douglas Murray will own half of our offense physically, but hopefully, we can take advantage of lack of foot speed. Pittsburgh's forwards are a lot more physical. I remember watching the Habs-Pens game two-three weeks ago. It was total physical domination by the Penguins.

The main thing the Penguins struggle with is a lot of speed.

The only time Douglas Murray should scare anyone is after the whistle.

 

[CBCnutcase]

The Senators have a legitimate chance against the Penguins. The Sens did very well against them 3 years ago even though the Pens won in 6 games. Anderson is better than Fleury and Vokoun. As for expecting the Penguins to win, I don't know. The Islanders could pull it off. Pittsburgh is my first choice. The Bruins would be next and then the Rangers. I am scared of the Rangers because they would be hungry from what happened last year. They would be stronger than the Sens except in goal.

 

[Senscore]

The Senators have a legitimate chance against the Penguins. The Sens did very well against them 3 years ago even though the Pens won in 6 games. Anderson is better than Fleury and Vokoun. As for expecting the Penguins to win, I don't know. The Islanders could pull it off. Pittsburgh is my first choice. The Bruins would be next and then the Rangers. I am scared of the Rangers because they would be hungry from what happened last year. They would be stronger than the Sens except in goal.

Seriously. We did that with ELLIOTT and LECLAIRE.

 

[GoSensGo6172]

The Senators have a legitimate chance against the Penguins. The Sens did very well against them 3 years ago even though the Pens won in 6 games. Anderson is better than Fleury and Vokoun. As for expecting the Penguins to win, I don't know. The Islanders could pull it off. Pittsburgh is my first choice. The Bruins would be next and then the Rangers. I am scared of the Rangers because they would be hungry from what happened last year. They would be stronger than the Sens except in goal.

Uh what? We would be the hungry ones as we lost and blew a 3-2 series lead. Sens would want revenge and we went 3-0 against them this season. If anything the Rangers would want revenge for getting completely outplayed in the season series, not for winning last years series....