NHL playoffs start now. It's the most wonderful time of year

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I had to tape the game tonight so I couldn't look before. 1st thing about tonight's game was the terrible calls against the Devils. It was like the Florida series all over again. The Flyers were doing a great acting job tonight on selling a few of them but the puck off the stick that Kovy got called for and the Zubris hit on Carle....what were the refs watching. It also looked like Philly should have been called for a few especially a couple involving Elias but nothing seemed to be called their way tonight. At least they got the interference of Brodeur right.

A few days ago I mentioned that Philly has to worry which Bryzgalov was going to show up. I think if you ranked the 8 remaining goalies left. I'd put him at 7th. I just don't trust him to be consistent. He's just to flaky. And yeah the rookies got caught on a bad change when Kovy fed the puck to Ponikarovsky for the win. The Devils PK was in full form tonight and the Flyers just couldn't get it done after they scored the first power play goal.

The thing about tonight's win was that it was a total team effort. NJ's big 3; Kovy, Zach, and Elias all scored but Fayne, Carter, Gionta and the rest of the role players had a solid game too. Whatever treatment Kovalchuk got the other day must have done wonders for him because he was a forced to be reckoned with tonight. When he saw that replay after he got sent to the box I loved his reaction. There was some real passion there.

At the beginning of the game I was a little annoyed with the announers going on about how Philly was going to be extra physical and the Devils better step up to that. Here's the thing with NJ though, they can knock around with the best of them but they know when to pick their spots to do it. Philly is known for having a bunch of bruisers but NJ can match that if they had to. The Devils are a veteran team for the most part and play a good mental game when it comes to picking their battles whereas Philly tries to duke it out more often than not and I think it's by design that they're not playing into the rough and tumble stye of Flyers Hockey.

In series that are tied 1-1, game 3 is always a huge swing game but by no means is this over and done with. Sunday is going to be another battle for sure and I think if the Devils continue to play their style of hockey, Philly's gonna have another tough time handling them.

L.A. is up 3-0 and I think they've got a solid chance to make it to the final round. There's really nothing to say about Quick that hasn't been said. Langenbrunner is enough to make me not want the Blues to win but it would have been nice to see St. Louis at least make it a series.

[MegoMark71]

Sean i do believe you need to take your Blind Jersey glasses off when watching these games. The only call that was a bad call was the one where the puck went off reeds stick. Not sure exactly how the refs missed that one. Your team is lucky it didn't get called for a delay of game when your idiot fans again tossed stuff on the ice during the game. This is a big problem for me. Toss what ever you want when the final horn sounds but never during a game. And no call was made. Now as far as the Zubris hit goes, it was a textbook boarding call. Now maybe should the refs have looked the other way because of the point in the game where it happened......maybe, but it was no doubt boarding. And i do agree with you on the announcers needing to give Jersey more credit at the start of the game. Both teams play a different style of hockey. It has been clear to me in games 2 and 3 that Jersey is forcing the Flyers to play their game and kicking their butts while doing it. The Flyers look lost at times and like they are trying to play catchup with Jersey. Outside of game one that i do feel the Flyers should have won 3-1 if we had a goalie that had his dang head in the game, Jersey has owned the Flyers so far. If they don't play better Sunday, they will head back to Philly down 3-1. Now i won't even get started on easy breezy. Guy sometimes looks like he is going half speed, then he turns around and makes an incredible save. I just see a goalie who shrugs his shoulders and doesn't care. If he doesn't get better, he can just get his dang golf clubs out or whatever the heck he does in the offseason. We sure paid enough money to do it. Must be nice knowing you have a goalie like Brodeur, even at this stage of his career.

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Sean i do believe you need to take your Blind Jersey glasses off when watching these games. The only call that was a bad call was the one where the puck went off reeds stick. Not sure exactly how the refs missed that one. Your team is lucky it didn't get called for a delay of game when your idiot fans again tossed stuff on the ice during the game. This is a big problem for me. Toss what ever you want when the final horn sounds but never during a game. And no call was made. Now as far as the Zubris hit goes, it was a textbook boarding call. Now maybe should the refs have looked the other way because of the point in the game where it happened......maybe, but it was no doubt boarding.

The other call I was referring to was the Larrson high stick call (forgot who it was against) which they went over on TV during the 1st intermission and they showed the stick never came up and actually hit him. I see why the refs would call that because his head snapped back like he was Kennedy in the Zapruder film but the stick never came close to him. On TV they move away so fast from some of the players sometimes because they're following the puck but it looked like Elias was tripped a few times and it would have been nice to see at least one of those calls go NJ's way. The TV guys were screaming over the Zubris hit too and saying it wasn't a penalty so it wasn't just me on that one. Carle clearly saw it coming and had time to brace himself for it. I just thought it was a bad call and given the lateness of the game, the refs should let the players play. The way you see the Zubris hit depends on what color jersey your wearing though. If no call was made there, Philly fans would be screaming for a penalty there. I said it before with the Panthers, if your the team thats getting these calls, you'll take it every time. It just doesn't seem like the Devils are getting any call especially on their own ice. I'm just looking for consistency is all. NJ also dodged a bullet on the other penalty they took in OT. Thats 3 games in a row where they've launched the puck into the stands for a delay of game call. You can't do that. Fans shouldn't toss things on the ice either during a game unless someone pulls off the hat trick. That's just dumb.

The styles of play between the two teams are like the Tortoise and the Hare story. The Devils right now are all about being methodical. Slow and steady wins the race. The Flyers are hot and cold. Great in one period, bad in another. They show bursts of speed at times and other times look like they can't match up with the Devils and are a step behind, especially when NJ cycles like they did in the 1st period yesterday.

[MegoMark71]

Actually i remember hearing one announcer start to say he thought the call was crap but then they stopped talking about it. Cause it was text book boarding. But like i said, perhaps you don't call it at that point of the game. And of course i'm watching the game with orange glasses on... I will agree on consistency, i would rather see that over non calls or bad ones at that.
At this point for me, the flyers have been handed their backside 2 games in a row. Jersey has done a great job and you can tell they are a very disciplined team. They know the Flyers are a bigger overall team and their style is to not fall into the trap of getting into altercations. Right now they have proven me wrong as i though the Flyers were much better. They have a long way to go if they want to beat Jersey and advance.

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I signed my son up for street hockey and today was his first game. He wanted #9 to honor his favorite player, Zach Parise but another kid already had it. His second choice was #17 for my favorite, Illya Kovalchuck but the numbers only go to 15 so he picked #8. His reason....my son was put on the Penguins so he figured it was half of Sydney Crosby's number and since Crosby is the best Penguin, it made sense to him. Sound logic from a 6 year old but I'm not sure how I feel about it.

When I first signed him up, I asked if there was a chance he could be on the Devils but they told me they don't have a Devils team. I thought it was because being in NJ all the kids would want to play on that team but I found out today the guy that runs the league is a die hard Rangers fan and he refuses to have a Devils team because he hates them so much. Unbelievable.

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Just finished the Nashville/Phoenix game tonight. I thought the Predators got rooked on the no goal call but the ref was in a spot where he couldn't see the puck clearly so not really much you can do about that. That opportunity was only created after another delay of game call when the puck was redirected off a stick just like the Kovy penalty last night. The officials need to be better and get these calls right.

I don't get sitting the Night Owls for a second game. You suspended them once and made your point. Save the harsh discipline for the regular season. Usually the players police that kind of crap amongst themselves anyway. This is the playoffs and you need all hands on deck no matter what time they stayed out till. Now the Predators have painted themselves into a corner where if they had won tonight, it would have been 2 out of 3 and anyones series. Bad no-goal call aside, there were just too many missed opportunities tonight for Nashville. Mike Smith played great but I think tonight was more Nashville playing poorly.

[MegoMark71]

I agree with you on that bud. Sitting your 2 biggest offensive weapons for a second game was stupid. Then you get shut out making it an even bigger deal now. He made his point by sitting them for 1 game.
I have never seen as many bad shots go wide on open nets as that game. It was pathetic on Nashville's part. wide open nets and they miss by 5 feet. Maybe if their to big offensive players were in they would have made a couple of them.
I am impressed with the heart Washington is showing today after that crushing triple overtime loss the other night. 2-2 with 7 minutes left right now.

[MegoMark71]

I can't believe i'm going to say this but the Rangers just got screwed by the refs. That PP goal was a goal that should never have happened. Sean you even said the other day it's all about consistency. Earlier in the game Boyle had his stick snapped by a slash and the call was not made by the ref who was 10 feet away. This time they call the slash on the Rangers and the Caps score. I would be freakin ticked right now if i was a Rangers fan. A call like that this late is fine if they had made the same call earlier when they should have. Bad refs and something like that should never decide a game. Pathetic calls in this game. If the Caps hold on we will have some nice sound bites from the Rangers ******* coach who i despise but has every right to be ticked about this game.

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The call that got me was the non delay of game call when Knuble swated the puck out of mid air but ended up sending it in the stands. Two games in a row, the Devils and Coyote got called for putting a puck in the seats when they should not have been and today, a Cap clearly commits the penalty and gets away with it. The Boyle noncall was essentially the same play that was called for the Caps but the difference there is Boyle didn't do anything to sell the penalty. There was a good 3 seconds between when the Rangers did it to Washington and when the Ref put his arm up. I didn't think it would get called at first but what made the difference was the home crowd reaction and Washington looking totally incensed after it happened. It hasn't been the first time in the playoffs the Refs have been influenced by crowd reaction and Washington totally sold that call and the officials bought it. The goal the Caps gave up to let the Rangers tie the game 2-2 was the biggest bonehead play of the entire playoffs so far. They're lucky they got past that but otherwise played a great game.

If you didn't see it, after the game Torts sat down, said Washington played so well because of their Power Play, got asked another question that you couldn't hear on TV, got upset with that question and walked off the podium. I think he was there for all of 25 seconds. Disgraceful on his part. The character of a man is not defined by how well he achieves victory but by how graceful he accepts defeat. Once again the Rags coach showed his true colors. I actually would have preferred him venting a bit about some of the calls instead of him storming off in a huff.

[MegoMark71]

Ole tortelini as i call him...well the only name i can actually type here, i can't stand him. I see red even if the camera just shows him. I hated him in Tampa and hate him more in NY. He has to be the biggest crybaby piece of garbage coach in the league. Like you said the jerl shows no sportsmanship, he breaks the rules and does stuff within the game that cost his team any integrity they might have once had. He is the first to throw a fit but will turn around and do the same thing he was just yacking about. Man i can't stand him. Any other decent coach in the league would have stayed at the interview. He has no class what so ever. I would love to see someone just knock him out, or maybe a player kick him in the neck, and yes with skates on. He brings the worst out of me.
We know his team got jobbed today bad, but since it was him, i could care less. I watched the soundbite on NHL.com. No class at all.

[Adam West]

I think everyone views things from their own fan perspective. I am a big Caps fan and although I did see things from the Caps side of things that were no calls; I also saw things happening on the Rangers side that went the same way. It's tough when you have some skin in the game. I never played hockey growing up but have been watching it for years as a fan. It's difficult for me to comment on things since I really don't understand all the rules. With that said; I do think it is a great series which at least to me has been fair to both teams.

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I think everyone views things from their own fan perspective. I am a big Caps fan and although I did see things from the Caps side of things that were no calls; I also saw things happening on the Rangers side that went the same way. It's tough when you have some skin in the game. I never played hockey growing up but have been watching it for years as a fan. It's difficult for me to comment on things since I really don't understand all the rules. With that said; I do think it is a great series which at least to me has been fair to both teams.

No doubt..thats what we were saying on the Zubris hit the other night. Flyer fans saw it as a penalty, Devils fans saw it as a clean hit. It all depends on the color of the sweater your wearing. I have no doubt the Caps were perfectly happy with the way that penalty was called. Generally the calls tend to balance out over the course of a series but sometimes in individual games it just seems like all the teams are getting the breaks (Game 3 of the NJ/Fla series for example.) When ever the a team scores off a questionable call, it's always magnified. You never want the game to come down to a bad call by the ref but that's basically what happened in the last Nashville game and in yesterdays game. Bottom line is the Caps are to the Rangers what the Devils are to Philly right now. They're causing havoc to the teams that were "supposed" to win. If the Devils can pull of a win tonight, they've got a great chance to advance. Philly's made some line changes for tonight and are trying to shake things up but so far NJ has been as cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce. Can't wait to see how it all goes down.

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So far great pressure by the Devils to start the game but my god the interference on Zajac!? No way. I don't know about the other one cause NBC never showed it but the short handed goal...that one sticks out. The Devils win the draw on the face off when they go on the power play but the play is blown dead because the refs decide they want to check the clock. Are you kidding me? Do that BEFORE the face-off for crying out loud. Significant because on the next play the Flyers go right down the ice for a short handed goal. At least Nj's answer was to score 2 goals of their own and regrab the momentum. Gotta wonder if Philly is feeling the pressure now. Also Hartnell going after the ref was kind of amusing.

[MegoMark71]

Ok Sean just where in the heck did this Jersey team come from? Again tonight they are beating the Flyers in every aspect of the game. Breezy has kept the Flyers within reach or this would be a blowout. I am on pause for another few minutes, then i am going to start the 3rd period. If the Flyers have any shot of winning and making this a series, the time is now.

[MegoMark71]

And game 5 is Tuesday night. I swear i watched Jersey several times this year and i did not see the team playing now. Nice to be playing your best hockey in May. And i am loving the Kings, former Hurricane Justin Williams is an animal.