Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Playoff Games (Saturday-Tuesday)

Warning: This is a long ass post. I originally was going to post this on Sunday and only review the Sat & Sun games but I got lazy and now it's Wednesday and two additional days worth of games have been televised and I can't just ignore them. So bear with me and my rambling thoughts...

Playoff hockey is always so much fun and this weekend of games was no exception. I have to give a big shoutout and thanks to P for letting me watch all the hockey games I could possibly watch this weekend. Two seasons ago, he experienced his first playoff hockey season and was not a happy camper when I took control of the remote and refused to not watch hockey even though the Kings weren't in the race for the Cup. He couldn't understand why I wanted to watch every televised game and my only comeback was "I'm sorry, are you complaining about your girlfriend watching sports?" Fast forward two years and he has fully embraced my hockey obsession and playoff hockey routine. In fact, every now and then I catch him watching the game and getting into the play. I think it helps that some former Kings from the team two years ago are currently playing for various playoff teams, such as, Eric Belanger and Pavol Demitra (his personal favorite). Here are my thoughts on the games I watched Saturday-Tuesday with little distraction from the best roomie ever.

*Saturday*

Detroit v. Nashville (Game 2)
I DVRd this game because I was out for most of the day. Late in the afternoon I stopped by to see my parents and my dad immediately started talking about how amazing Detroit looked. I quickly (and probably rudely) interrupted him and told him not to tell me the score. Although by the way he was describing Detroit's passing game I had a sneaking suspicion Detroit came out on top. However, when I finally watched the game later that night I was pleasantly surprised to see that Detroit did not blow out the Predators as I had anticipated based on my Dad's comments about the game. I celebrated when McCarty scored and tried to explain to P about his comeback, although I think my gibberish fell on deaf ears.

Nashville got lucky with the weird bounce that led to an easy goal, but Detroit also received some good iron juju. Except for the flurry in Detroit's end that included two goals and multiple chances, Detroit owned Nashville. You have to give Babcock some credit for calling a timeout to settle his troops and get them back in the game. (Hmmm, I wonder why Crow didn't call a timeout during a Kings/Preds game back in January when the Predators scored two or three quick goals in the first period.) Ellis and Hasek were both strong in net but the Predators won't be able to steal games if both teams continue to play as they have in the first two games; Detroit is too smart and skilled and Nashville just doesn't have enough depth at top to score more than Detroit.

Montreal v. Boston (Game 2)
I am so enamored with Montreal fans; they get so involved with the game and bring the Bell Centre to life. Seeing Alexei Kovalev get stone-walled by Tim-may! Thomas reminded me of Alexander Frolov getting denied by Jonas Hiller on the breakaway in regulation and then in the shootout in the seventh game between the Kings and Ducks during the regular season. I couldn't believe my eyes when the Habs almost won the game with just a sec (or maybe even less) left on the clock, but were denied by the post. What a finish that would have been.

I was nervous that even recording Hockey Central after the game was still not going to provide enough time for me to see the Overtime Game Winning Goal. Luckily, with about 2 minutes to spare, just as I declared to myself that Thomas had Kovalev's number, Kovalev snuck a shot past Thomas to finally win the game. Since I had only seen one Boston game (against the Kings in October) this season, I had no idea what to expect from this team. I was surprised to find them fiercely fighting for a victory. Considering this is the 1st seed versus the 8th seed, I was shocked to see Montreal have so much difficulty trying to pull away for a lead to end the game well before regulation ended.

Anaheim v. Dallas (Game 2)
Once again I did not watch the game. Once again I religiously checked the boxscore to keep track of how well Dallas was punishing Anaheim. I was deathly worried about Dallas' fate when Anaheim tied the game, but the Dallas hotties paved the way for another sweet victory. Dallas has scored 6 power play goals in two games, which amounts to a PP% of 46.2. Hot damn, that's ridiculous.

If you want to relive this wonderful game, check out the Untypical Girls liveblog of Game 2, a post game report by Patty (in Dallas) at Penalty Killing, and Finny ripping her boys a new one.

The remaining game notes after the jump...


*Sunday*

Washington v. Philly (Game 2)
Where the hell did Washington's fire go? This game was a disappointment from Washington's standpoint because they did not look good. I said it after the first game and I still agree with myself that Washington's power play needs major improvement. There was more movement on the man advantages but I couldn't understand why no Capital was in front of the net causing havoc for Biron and at least one Philly d-man. How was Washington ranked 10th on the PP during the regular season? My only guess is that every other team in their division was ranked in the bottom half of the league in PK%. Regardless, Washington is making Philly look like PK experts since the only power play goal they've managed to get by Biron came when an unfortunate Philly d-man was inflicted with a puck to the testicles.

Check out the post game report by Shmee at 'Capital Addiction'

New Jersey v. New York (Game 3)
So much has already been said about Avery so I won't go into that whole mess. My favorite part of the game was when there was a scrum and the audio picked up Michael Rupp screaming at Paul Mara: "You're a fuckin' pussy! You're a fuckin' pussy! You're a fuckin' bitch! You're a fuckin' bitch!" I missed it the first time around but after ckim texted me asking who was screaming "You're a fuckin' bitch", I went back and found it and about died at how funny it was. Hilarious!

Is it just me or has Brodeur not looked so....Brodeur?

If you want to relive the game check out the game diary by the -ookies at Interchangeable Parts.

San Jose v. Calgary (Game 2)
You gotta give Calgary credit for never giving up despite what looked like a death sentence for them early in the first period. I've come a long way over the years from intensely hating Calgary in the late '80s to early '90s to rooting for them in the playoffs. The miraculous turnaround can be credited to Craig Conroy, who played for the Kings for 1.5 seasons and who I think is so wonderful.
Go Calgary! Suck it San Jose!

*Monday*

Detroit v. Nashville (Game 3)
Apparently 9 seconds is enough to change a hockey game. Seeing Arnott score the game winner and then talking about it after the game put a little smile on my face. I don't think I've ever heard him speak before but he was very endearing in the post game interview...and so smokin' hot! There's a reason he's on my Squee Team (more on that to come later).

I don't know much about Liljas, but I have not been impressed with his play during the playoffs. I don't think he should be allowed to dress for the playoffs because the only thing he seems good at is turning over the puck.

Steph at No Pun Intended has some good notes about this game.

Minnesota v. Colorado (Game 3)
I'm bored with this series. I'm bored just thinking about it. I'm sure you're bored just reading these sentences. The only other thing I have to say about this series is that Forsberg is good at being a little bitch.

*Tuesday*
Yesterday was not a good hockey day for me as a fan. A couple good things happened but a lot of bad things happened that made me a saaaad panda.

Washington v. Philadelphia (Game 3)
Guess how Washington scored their power play goal? When there were TWO guys in front of Biron as the play developed and ONE guy clearly screening Biron as the shot came through. And what did Wash do on the next 345 power plays? Not screen Biron. How many other power play goals did they score? Nil. Also, hey Wash, how many f'ing times are you going to turn the puck over?

Philly is absolutely owning Washington right now. Even though I picked Wash to win this series and make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, I would be completely fine with Philly advancing to the second round. I get all giddy every time Le Petit Briere scores and he celebrates with the biggest (and cutest) smile. All you Buffalo haters may hate me right now for admitting to liking Briere, but I can't help it, I like the guy!

Check out the post game review by CapsChick at 'A View from the Cheap Seats'.

Minnesota v. Colorado (Game 3)
What the hell got into Minny? Aren't they a disciplined team? I can't believe Minnesota, the trap professionals, allowed 5 goals.

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Minny, quit fighting and start scoring more goals.



Anaheim v. Dallas (Game 3)
And Dallas lost. Boo.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Look at the size of him! Turco is pondering an appearance on the Biggest Loser.



7 comments:

Katebits said...

KMS2, Danny has been sneaking back into my heart a little too. It's mostly because I can't really DEAL with the Caps, but still, it's pretty surprising.

Marie said...

He's just so adorable! And I love how whenever he scores and all the guys come over to congratulate him, he looks so tiny next to everyone else!

Cat said...

Marty is just slumping over in shame, which makes him look unfortunately large. I still love him quite a bit, though. PLZ 2 B PERFORMING WELL TONIGHT MARTY.

Marie said...

The equipment makes him look huge! But I also thought he looked like he needed a big hug. Hopefully he and the rest of the Stars will rebound tonight!

Steph said...

I have two theories on why Andreas Lilja continues to be on the ice:

#1: They really love saying we have seven Swedes on the team.

#2. Someone somewhere who makes these decisions is female. Because Andreas Lilja is hot. End of story. No other redeeming factors.

Marie said...

My boss is convinced that Detroit does terrible in the playoffs because Europeans don't care that much about winning the Cup. I think he's just jealous that the Ducks don't have as many Cups as the Wings.

Liljas is hot. I'll give him that...but that's it.

elise said...

ok, so I'm obviously a bit late on commenting on this post, but whatever. The only comment I will make about MN-CO Game 4 (which I am trying to erase from memory) is when Stepanen Veilleux made fun of Cody McLeod's lack of teeth while both were in the penalty box.