Speculation: Preferred 2nd round opponent?

[Spez]

I agree we do have some speedy players but watching the series we just looked slow vs montreal in terms of speed. Their forecheck gave us lots of fits and I'm just not sure if Ottawa can do what the islanders did in game 3 and 4 where their speed was giving the penguins fits. Of course we also don't play the same run and gun balls to the walls system like last season and play a safer style unlike the Islanders, the penguins and the Habs.

Does Ottawa have a chance at an upset? Of course they do. The beauty of hockey is a goalie is capable of winning a series by himself. It's possible we still lose the series with Andy playing well like last year but I believe the difference will be the penguins having too much firepower and our PP being garbage.

 

[CBCnutcase]

Seriously. We did that with ELLIOTT and LECLAIRE.

I know it was surprising how the Sens took them that far with the goaltending.

 

[CBCnutcase]

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....

True about the Sens wanting revenge. I just think with Tortorella's craziness he'll somehow turn this on the Rangers players and make them go gangbusters. Stay away from the Rangers, they're the wildcard.

 

[Slack]

It's sad that Vokoun is in. He's competent enough to shut the door, unlike Marc Andre the sieve. But on the plus side, we're a very good defensive club with the best goaltender this year, and their defensive D corps is pretty average. A Pens series would make a very interesting battle of styles.

 

[Milan the God*]

Will it be Bob Cole or Jim Hughson?

 

[Spez]

Hughson/Simpson/Healy unless the leafs pull off a miracle comeback and don't face us in round 2. I can tolerate those three unlike Cole and Garry Habs Homer Galley.

 

[Slack]

Hughson/Simpson/Healy unless the leafs pull off a miracle comeback and don't face us in round 2. I can tolerate those three unlike Cole and Garry Habs Homer Galley.

Hughson's just meh, as opposed to Cole who's openly awful these days. And his level of disappointment at the Sens' success in this series was just unacceptable.

 

[Daffy]

Hughson's just meh, as opposed to Cole who's openly awful these days. And his level of disappointment at the Sens' success in this series was just unacceptable.

I like Galley. Honestly, I think because he has done a lot of Sens games and is an Ottawa guy, he wanted to make sure he didn't sound bias towards the Sens. I think that is a big reason why he might have seemed to favour the Habs.

Doing play-by-play and colour is a lot harder than a lot of you think it is. Bob Cole is a joke though.

 

[Milan the God*]

I like Galley. Honestly, I think because he has done a lot of Sens games and is an Ottawa guy, he wanted to make sure he didn't sound bias towards the Sens. I think that is a big reason why he might have seemed to favour the Habs.

Doing play-by-play and colour is a lot harder than a lot of you think it is. Bob Cole is a joke though.

Agreed about the not wanting to come across as a homer

 

[Slack]

I like Galley. Honestly, I think because he has done a lot of Sens games and is an Ottawa guy, he wanted to make sure he didn't sound bias towards the Sens. I think that is a big reason why he might have seemed to favour the Habs.

Doing play-by-play and colour is a lot harder than a lot of you think it is. Bob Cole is a joke though.

Me too, I have a soft spot for Galley (as well as Millen) because of the memories. I think you're right about Galley, I got the impression he was urged to be impartial.

But if that is the case, and that CBC wasn't trying to pander to the larger fan base, then I think maybe Cole just has a soft spot for the older teams. He probably wakes up some mornings wondering how the Hartford Whalers are doing.

 

[SelleckStache]

I'm all for facing Pittsburgh next round. Anderson is on fire, D is on fire. If you want to win, you have to beat the best so you might as well face them early on.

 

[Milan the God*]

Last playoff game we played against Pittsburgh was a 4-3 OT loss to end the series. We had a 3-0 lead in the game and collapsed.

That was probably one of the worst games as a Sens fan and it rarely gets talked about. We just game off a huge victory which showed loads of heart, 3OT in Pittsburgh. We get a 3-0 lead at home, cough it up and lose the game. Our season is over.

 

[Daffy]

Last playoff game we played against Pittsburgh was a 4-3 OT loss to end the series. We had a 3-0 lead in the game and collapsed.

That was probably one of the worst games as a Sens fan and it rarely gets talked about. We just game off a huge victory which showed loads of heart, 3OT in Pittsburgh. We get a 3-0 lead at home, cough it up and lose the game. Our season is over.

Remember that game vividly. Ugh.

Cullen, Neil and Alfie get us a three goal lead. Cooke gets one back, then we get a goal that is disallowed because the net came off the moorings. Then in the third period, Guerin on the powerplay, then Cooke again to tie it up. In overtime, I believe it was Dupuis who scored.

 

[Punchbowl]

Galley started to warm up to the Sens as the series went on, and in critical moments I think you could tell he remains a covert Senators fan at heart.

He 100% supported the controversial Zibanejad goal and the alleged goaltender interference on the Turris goal in game five. Galley was also willing to give the Senators beyond Anderson some credit for their performance.

I noticed Bob Cole, without fail, would ignore any nice plays by Karlsson or simply refer to him as 'the Ottawa player.' For example, the play in which Karlsson broke up a 3-on-1 in game 5 and then started the breakout (before being taken out by Moen). Cole literally said nothing about Karlsson, he just mumbled something along the lines of, "And the puck gets turned around... and Moen hits the puck carrier!" Galley went back a shift later and specifically emphasized Karlsson's dexterous play.

Although in this case, I'm not sure if the play was chosen for Galley to discuss or if he got to choose it himself.

 

[Spez]

Clouston and Leclaire cost us that game. Leclaire let in two horrible goals that game (Cooke tier and Dupuis winner). Clouston had us try and trap with the 3-0 lead because he was scared about how bad our goaltending was after we got lit up in game 4 good. Also Clouston thought it was a smart idea to put the 4th line on in OT after the pens iced the puck and they ended up taking it to our end and hemming us in. You think the donkey would have learned his lesson after we blew the 2 goal lead trying to trap in game 5. Leclaire/post in OT/Regin/Carkner saved us in game 5.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Who remembers in game 3 where Conacher had a shot on net in a 3on2 but fanned on it and it went wide but all we heard was "OH WHAT A SAVE BY PRICE!!!!"

Lmao.

 

[dingbatz]

Who remembers in game 3 where Conacher had a shot on net in a 3on2 but fanned on it and it went wide but all we heard was "OH WHAT A SAVE BY PRICE!!!!"

Lmao.

*raises hand*

Good ol' Bob Cole.

 

[Push540]

Why would Vokoun be full of holes?

He said "possibility". As in "back up goalie".

If Anderson stays sharp and Vokoun becomes unsteady, we have a shot.

 

[Push540]

How can you say it's 100%?

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

He means he is certain, of course it's not a fact. I said 100% game 5 was going to be a blow out vs. the habs.

Just his point of view.

 

[Emerica]

He means he is certain, of course it's not a fact. I said 100% game 5 was going to be a blow out vs. the habs.

Just his point of view.

In that case you'd be better off saying ''I doubt Pittsburgh loses 2 straight games'' instead of saying it like it's some sort of fact.

 

[Push540]

In that case you'd be better off saying ''I doubt Pittsburgh loses 2 straight games'' instead of saying it like it's some sort of fact.

Well we all know it can't be fact, so just assume it's him being confident.

 

[barabr10]

I for one believe we have a good chance against Pittsburgh their style allows for more 2 on 1s and great chances for their opposition. I think the sens would be able to generate more chances against the pens defense then the Canadians defense. Defense will obviously have to come up big and as long as Anderson can see the puck and the sens limit second chances then we could pull the upset. The Islanders have shown how beatable the pens are and even with Vokoun they're still beatable.

 

[Shanny]

If the Isles can take the Pens to at least 6.....we can beat them in 7.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

If the Isles can take the Pens to at least 6.....we can beat them in 7.

Have you seen the Isles play? Isles are just as deserving of winning this series than they are of losing.

They have been absolutely resilient on the forecheck. Okposo, Neilsen, Boyes(Who I've been a critic of) Cizerzek(sp who cares) Grabner, bailey etc...

Their Bottom 6 has been just as productive as their star forwards in Tavares and Moulson. They have just the amount of heart, grit and skill to take the Penguins to where they are.

I honestly think that if Nabokov was consistent they'd be winning this series but it's tough to say because he has been terrific in long stretches to give NYI momentum.

Bottom line, NYI dominated Pitts for the majority of the series but is coming out of it in a losing fashion so far and we have been dominated in long stretches by Montreal yet won. We can't play the same against Pitts or else we could be swept or defeated in 5.

Getting Spezza back would help us strength our depth allowing us to play skilled players on our bottom 6 which could work in huge advantage.

I honestly think we could definitely beat Pitts but Spezza must play a key role and Karlsson has to be better while Anderson plays the same. Not impossible for sure.

 

[HavlatMach9]

I noticed Bob Cole, without fail, would ignore any nice plays by Karlsson or simply refer to him as 'the Ottawa player.

The awkward moment when Karlsson (#55) passes to Ottawa defensemen (#65).