Tampa Bay vs Pittsburgh: 7 Game Series
- Thread starter Snippit
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CantLoseWithMatthews
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- Sep 28, 2015
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BlueBaron
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So Vasilevskiy is better than the guy with the last two rings?
As to the talent, for sure on D but Malkin/Crosby/Kessel are better than the top three players the Bolts can put on the ice. Decider in this series would be special teams.
Snippit
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- Dec 5, 2012
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Hardly matters, we'll have taken Tampa out in the first round( a guy can hope can't he?)
I think the Leafs definitely match up better against Tampa than Boston.
Either way will be fun to watch, but I still think the Lightning come out
CantLoseWithMatthews
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yes he's better. Murray has a .906 sv% on the year
but yes it would come down to special teams
The regular season has zero bearing on the playoffs. Just ask Holtby, Bobrovsky, Price, etc.
7even
Offered and lost
Freedom
Registered User
This will be hell of series which I want to see it this year.
TOP 3 - better PIT
Goalie - draw
Better supporting players has Tampa
I voted for PIT but it is just too close
TOP 3 - better PIT
Goalie - draw
Better supporting players has Tampa
I voted for PIT but it is just too close
Sky04
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- Jan 8, 2009
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Pittsburgh in any match up with any team until proven otherwise.
VoluntaryDom
Formerly DominicBoltsFan / Ⓐ / ✞
Penguins in 7. We are the better team but our PK would hold us back. I swear the pens would score 3 power play goals per game against us.
DrJustice
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Pittsburgh is 11-15-3 on the road this season, and Tampa would most certainly have home-ice advantage.
They have the offence to match the Pens, and the defensive horses to slow them down.
Tampa in 5.
Back-to-Back champs is very impressive but let's not act like they are the Golden State Warriors of the NHL
They have the offence to match the Pens, and the defensive horses to slow them down.
Tampa in 5.
Back-to-Back champs is very impressive but let's not act like they are the Golden State Warriors of the NHL
VoluntaryDom
Formerly DominicBoltsFan / Ⓐ / ✞
Yeah but our PK is a joke. Coburn would singlehandedly cost us the series by sucking on PK, or you could pin the loss on Killorn's stick infractions I guess lol
DrJustice
Registered User
Didn't know how bad the PK was till I just looked it up. Certainly a concern, but I doubt that the Penguins are going to get enough favorable calls on the road to steal one of the first two games in Tampa. Then all Tampa has to do is take one game in Pittsburgh to close the series out at home.
If the Penguins are scoring 2+ powerplay goals a game on the road in the playoffs, yeah Tampa is screwed.
Either way it would be a fun match-up to watch from an offensive perspective. Penguins could certainly win but I'd consider it a big upset at this point.
VoluntaryDom
Formerly DominicBoltsFan / Ⓐ / ✞
Nah pens should still be favored.
I'm not kidding when I say our PK is a joke. In fact it's worse in actuality than it is statistically. (Because for much of the season Vasi had an unsustainably high PK save %) Many of our players are solid at it (heds Strals Danny Baeden Yanni Cally) but it doesn't matter because Coburn is a human goal-against out there. Also, Vasilevskiy has trouble with screened shots. It's by far his biggest weakness now that his glove hand and rebound control are decent.
DrJustice
Registered User
I still think Tampa's 5-on-5 advantage enables them to overcome that weakness, especially being able to pick their match-ups at home.
Hard to ignore the fact that the Penguins are a bad road team, IMO because they aren't getting on the power-play as much as they do at home which limits their ability to score.
If the situation was reversed and Pittsburgh had home ice-advantage, I'd take the Pens in 6 or 7 because of how good they are at home. But I think it's fair to say that's not going to happen.
If Tampa is able to capitalize on that advantage and go out to a 2-0 series lead, I don't think Pittsburgh will be able to overcome that.
But since I am so certain about this, the Pens will likely sweep Tampa
Pittsburgh in 7. But honestly - the only reason I pick Pittsburgh in 7 is because they beat Tampa in 7 2 years ago. And they beat Washington in a really close series, twice. And Ottawa.
They've shown incredible resiliency lately and therefore i won't bet against them.
It would be close. Even a Washington/Pitt series would be close. I think the east is wide open with a lot of strong teams - but until they lose Pitt is favorite.
They've shown incredible resiliency lately and therefore i won't bet against them.
It would be close. Even a Washington/Pitt series would be close. I think the east is wide open with a lot of strong teams - but until they lose Pitt is favorite.
Dipsy Doodle
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As it stands, Tampa in 6 or 7.
If we add a 3C who can let us roll 3 scoring lines like in 2016, Pens in 6 or 7.
If we add a 3C who can let us roll 3 scoring lines like in 2016, Pens in 6 or 7.
newfy
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Yep I think a line centered by Sheahan would hurt the pens now against a team with the depth of Tampa. Hes not a Bonino level player and he always seemed to play slow in the playoffs. I dunno if he has the intesity needed to be a cup winning third line center. Although Pitt has the horses that can get hot and make up for that
Dipsy Doodle
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Murray had better numbers (counting regular season and playoffs) than every goalie in the league in the previous 2 years (save perhaps Holtby, who would be about even), and this year has been much better than his numbers suggest. The bigger the game, it seems the better he is too. Anybody thinking Tampa has an advantage in net has an awful short memory.
My prediction is that the Pens will not 3-peat and if these two teams face off this season with their best players healthy Tampa will win.
The won last year with tons of injuries after one of the more dominating runs in recent times the year before. They appear to be hitting their stride again after a very predictable sluggish start. i would say they should be getting close to being the favorites again.
DrJustice
Registered User
I think they match up very well within their division and could have a clear path to the Conference Finals. But I haven't seen enough to put them over this year's version of Tampa, who have been a much more consistent and deep team.
Personally I'd put this version of Tampa over any team the Penguins have beaten in the playoffs the last couple of years, so I don't see what their past success has to do with this year's match-up.
Again, me saying any of this pretty much assures a clean sweep by the Penguins and trilogy of Cups.
