grawk Posted April 17, 2016 Report Posted April 17, 2016 The caps game was a lot closer for most of it than it looked. The flukey Chimera goal from center ice and some amazing saves, but the flyers just couldn't catch a break. I think they outworked the caps for the first 2 periods.
skullguise Posted April 17, 2016 Report Posted April 17, 2016 Very cool, Al. I didn't know if they would pull it off, but so far so good. Hope they can keep it up, and keep LA off their groove. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Aura Posted April 17, 2016 Author Report Posted April 17, 2016 Hawks just turned in one of the worst third periods I've seen in a while. Utter choke and earned the loss. Not feeling good about this series.
Mister X Posted April 18, 2016 Report Posted April 18, 2016 Wings and Bolts are starting to feel like a repeat of last year. http://s.mlive.com/oY4BHJg
Voltron Posted April 19, 2016 Report Posted April 19, 2016 Sharks and Warriors have playoff games and the Giants are playing Arizona all at the same time. Sharks have me most excited at the moment, even if I don't have much faith in their ability to get very far even if they beat the Kings. Pretty amazing time to be a Bay Area sports fan, though... 1
Aura Posted April 20, 2016 Author Report Posted April 20, 2016 Hawks are done. Embarrassing effort on offense (from the top two lines in particular) combined with poor coaching decisions on DMan assignments (playing the slow, more physical blue liners which falls exactly into St Louis' strategy is a pretty terribly idea). Lots of people saying "Oh look, one goal has separated them in all three losses, it's been so close." No it hasn't. The Blues are playing as-expected and Elliot is not being challenged by net-front presence at all. NO fucking way we can win 3 straight. This is not the same 2013 crew. I kind of knew this was all coming based on the regular season. The team never looked right. Incredibly inconsistent, no aggressiveness, no resilience. They fooled me the last few weeks when it looked like they might've found some old spark, but since this series started I've seen the same hesitant, underachieving group that got demolished by divisional foes (hello Dallas and Minnesota) all year. 2
Aura Posted April 22, 2016 Author Report Posted April 22, 2016 Second period last night was the best hawks have played in the series. Then another fundamental collapse in the third for the second game straight. Seabrook's give-away was unforgivable. Then Crawford saves us in lieu of offensive purgatory... long enough for Showtime to decide to put this one away. Still many things looking un-"hawk"-like, but they live to see another day. 1
Voltron Posted April 22, 2016 Report Posted April 22, 2016 A win is a win. When the Hawks tie up the series, you'll be ready to believe again!
skullguise Posted April 23, 2016 Report Posted April 23, 2016 Congrats San Jose! My brain said LA would win, but glad my heart won out on this (even though it means the Bruins' draft pick from SJ is worse now) Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD 3
bozebuttons Posted April 23, 2016 Report Posted April 23, 2016 Stayed up late to watch the double overtime win by the Islander panther game .Great series .The teams are closely matched. Overtime penalty shot in first overtime stopped by Greise,3rd time to ever happen in playoff overtime.
Aura Posted April 24, 2016 Author Report Posted April 24, 2016 I believe I just saw the old hawks' mentality reappear for the first time since we walked the cup off the UC ice last summer. If they play that way tomorrow night, they will move on. Second period was masterful. Also elated to see the Sharks purge the world of another LA annoyance. Good work, fellas! Pelveski is on another level.
Voltron Posted April 24, 2016 Report Posted April 24, 2016 Pavelski went to the Giants game with his wife and young son last night so he even went up another notch with me! 1
bozebuttons Posted April 24, 2016 Report Posted April 24, 2016 Great game by Hawks,Rangers toast,Penns are looking to be the team to Beat. Watching Caps /flyer game .Can't wait for Isles Panther game tonight.
bozebuttons Posted April 25, 2016 Report Posted April 25, 2016 Going to overtime ,Isles tie game with53 seconds left in the game!
Aura Posted April 25, 2016 Author Report Posted April 25, 2016 Tavares may have been a little quite during regular season but he sure as shit isn't quiet now. This is the most underrated series of the first round. Also I happened to check into the third period of Dallas and Minnesota this afternoon and it ended up one of the craziest 20 minutes of hockey I've ever seen. The Wild literally were millimeters away from notching a fifth goal in less than 20:00 to force OT.
bozebuttons Posted April 25, 2016 Report Posted April 25, 2016 (edited) It was a great series that could have gone either way 3 overtime wins for the Isles.with the last 2 games going to doubleovertime. I agree this series was the most underated of the first round.Very stressfull watching it ,it was that close. Edited April 25, 2016 by bozebuttons 2
Aura Posted April 26, 2016 Author Report Posted April 26, 2016 So close. Just like every game in this series. The Hawks completely negated the Blues' hot start in P1 and had them right where they wanted them at the halfway point in the game.... and then it just didn't happen. Seabrooks' slapshot ringing off both sides with 45 seconds left in the game pretty well represents what kind of a season it was for Chicago. Oh well. Not nearly as painful as 2014 WCF game 7 loss, and three things help... 1. I'd rather the team get much needed rest after 4 years of deep runs. The core guys looked tired the last month, except for Hossa and Kane. 2. I'm not entirely convinced they could've gotten by Dallas in the next round anyway. They completely owned them during regular season. 3. They pushed this series far enough to give the younger guys some good experience with resiliency, pressure, etc. Great lessons learned for Panarin, Van Reimsdyk, Gustaffson, and (I hope) Teravainen. That stuff matters long-term. Expectations will only be higher for 2017. Until then, I join the Sharks and Islanders bandwagons! Let's upset some bitches. 2
skullguise Posted April 26, 2016 Report Posted April 26, 2016 Well-stated Bryan. Next year is another year where the Hawks will need to play some games with personnel to keep under the cap, but they have consistently shown great drafting and development, so their reign at or near the top should continue for sure. I'll admit I wanted to see the Blues go on, if only because Chicago (and LA as well) have won multiple times recently. I just wanted to see someone new, no dislike for either team. At this stage, the only team I DON'T want to go on is Pittsburgh.....hope the Caps eliminate them, but they (the Caps) will need to step up a bit to do so. They let Philly get too close too often in round 1 IMO.
Aura Posted April 26, 2016 Author Report Posted April 26, 2016 Let's face it, Hawks fans have very little to complain about in the big picture. Washington needs Kuznetsov to find the spark in production he provided the first 75% of the season. I'm not worried about Ovi, Backstrom, Holtby, but this is gonna be a damn tough series. Probably the most competitive of the second round. Would so dramatically prefer to see Ovi hoist the cup over Crosby... My heart has to go for Dallas over St Louis but their D and goaltending seriously sucks. St Louis lacks offense but is such a better-balanced team. At least I can stop pretending that I don't admire Tarasenko's sniping. Gonna be fun to see him and Benn duel.
Voltron Posted April 26, 2016 Report Posted April 26, 2016 Sorry li'l bro but there's plenty of room here on the Sharks bandwagon while it is still rolling!
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