Pre-Game Talk: Round 2 Game 1|Senators @ Penguins|7:30|(Likely) CBC,RDS

[littleD]

Why not both?

 

[bacon25]

Really hoping the Sens come out physical in game 1 to set the tone in the series.

I think Conacher will be the break out player this series.

 

[Cow_Master66]

Everyone is writing us off again, but the pesky Sens have a good chance to win this series. There's no debating that the Penguins were the better team during the regular season, but things have looked different in the Playoffs. As a team, the Senators have played at least as well as the Penguins - and I would argue that Ottawa had the tougher first round opponent.

Similar to how things looked at the beginning of the Montreal series, none of Ottawa's forwards have compared to Pittsburgh's best - and the Penguins have more in terms of both quality and quantity than the Habs do. Pascal Dupuis, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy, and Jarome Iginla have been absolutely phenomenal, and will be giving us nightmares. However, at least 10 of Ottawa's forwards (I'm excluding Colin Greening, Matt Kassian, and Zack Smith) have played better than all of the other Pittsburgh forwards. I have a feeling that Kyle Turris is going to step up in a huge way during this series.

It's a similar story on defense - the Senators spreading out the success - however we hold the two strongest cards thus far in Erik Karlsson and Marc Methot. Karlsson has been amazing and yet was definitely not at 100%. Methot was even more of a stable force during Round 1 than he was during the regular season, and I believe he can be nearly as effective at shutting down Pittsburgh's big guns as he was the entire Montreal team. Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Kris Letang, and Douglas Murray are going to form a challenging top-four pair however, and they are all considerably capable and experienced defensemen. But I see them having quite a bit of trouble with a healthier Erik Karlsson.

Ottawa, possibly more than any other Eastern Conference team, is playing like a team. Teams tend to win Stanley Cups more often than star players do, and Pittsburgh had been eliminated by that kind of play in their previous two Round 1 series - against Philadelphia in 2012 and against Tampa Bay in 2011.

Additionally, it looks as if Jussi Jokinen will continue to sit in favor of Joe Vitale. While I do think Vitale looked good in his two playoff games, I think he was one of their worst players during the regular season. I'm not complaining if Jokinen doesn't lace up. I think that dressing Guillaume Latendresse to begin this series would be a smart decision, and I actually thought he looked good in our first two games. I don't think Matt Kassian should be out there. Either way, Latendresse should be in... maybe in favor of Greening if Kassian is, for some reason, a must.

Sens in 7

Vitale >>> Jokinen...He's like 146% on faceoffs and Sens fans will hate him by the end of the series.

Also, the Isles were a much tougher first round opponent. Habs limped into the playoffs and overachieved all year.

Having said that, I do think it will be a good series. On paper, I think this is a terrible matchup for the Sens but I also think coaching is the X factor in this series. Bylsma is stubborn and has zero in-game adjustment skills. MacLean can (and most likely will) out coach him. I don't think the Sens have the speed to match what the Isles did, but MacLean has had ample time to come up with something. If the Sens come out and do something the Pens are not ready for, Bylsma will not adjust (it may take 2-3 games for him to adjust). If Anderson can keep his SV% above 93%, I can see this going 7 games but I think the Pens depth wins out in the long run.

Pens in 6

PS - If Neil plays dumb and goes after Cooke and takes too many stupid penalties, this series could be a sweep. The PP on this team is deadly.

 

[HockeySens]

Hopefully the sens can steal one in Pittsburgh, then Spezza comes back in game 3 and and we win both games at home and go up 3-1 on the series and go back home in game 6 and win in 6.

 

[octopi]

Easy win, 6-1. No prob

Wait, which team?



Sorry,with the Caps out my sarcastic butt may be showing up here occasionally. I'm now cheering for the Sens in the East.

 

[SelleckStache]

Ottawa's PK is going to be the difference in this series. Hopefully, Anderson can keep it up

 

[VVS]

Getting pretty nervous for this game...

 

[metalfoot]

 

[YNWA14]

Conacher is going to be instrumental in a series win if it's going to happen. Just my opinion. Spezza, too.

 

[OgieO]

Someone told me Fleury is playing tonight. Surely that must have been a joke, right?

 

[VVS]

Someone told me Fleury is playing tonight. Surely that must have been a joke, right?

That's what I keep trying to find out.

I can see why they would play Fleury... but that just seems like a bad idea. Not that I would mind.

 

[Dana Scully]

Someone told me Fleury is playing tonight. Surely that must have been a joke, right?

We'll need all the help we can get. Watch him stand on his head if he does play, though.

 

[YNWA14]

Do you think they're afraid that Anderson is telling us all of Vokoun's secrets?

 

[koreaboy]

i cant imagine why they would play fleury tonight, but i've heard reports of that too.

 

[Very Stable Genius]

Vokoun starts-confirmed

 

[SanderSen]

As much as Fleury playing would seem like a good thing, often a goalie just needs a break and some practice time to reset and play well. He has the potential.

If Fleury does play, I would think he is more fragile if the Sens can get some traffic and score on him early.

Edit - as just as hit submit, Vokoun confirmation comes through.

 

[Cashville]

Someone needs to make a Senapred Alliance avatar; fully on your bandwagon now that the Caps have been eliminated (moved to DC last summer). As an aside, I could never be a Caps fan; after being a Preds fan, lazy defense just kills me.

 

[Very Stable Genius]

As long as Kassian and Neil aren't matched up against Crosby, I'll be calm.

 

[VVS]

Just gotta chase Vokoun out of the net, and ruin their confidence in both goalies.

 

[OgieO]

Just gotta chase Vokoun out of the net, and ruin their confidence in both goalies.

Exactly! Make them play scared to give up scoring chances, it makes a big big difference. We, as Ottawa fans, know exactly what this is like.

 

[salomonster]

GO SENS GO!!!!!

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

Behold the Techno Viking!!!!!

 

[Jaromir Jagrbombs]

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but is Michalek in tonight? Heard he wasn't at practice a couple days ago... was that just to let him rest or is there something worse going on?

 

[WORLDSTARHIPHOP]

 

[Silvercup Returns]

That is awesome.

 

[SixthSens]

Is someone making a GDT?