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

[Duncan]

Wanted to hit a thrift shop or two today, but I see that the Pens/Flyers play at noon. What to do...

Edited: went to a few thrift stores & got some shirts - including an ENRON polo I can wear to work.

Flyers advance!

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Great to see the Kings get the win last night. I can see myself rooting for them throughout the playoffs if the Devils don't far. I was hoping for the Caps to pull off the upset but at least there's going to be at least one Game 7 in the playoffs. To show you how unimportant Hockey is around here, today with the Rangers facing elimination, the drive time sports talk shows opened with the freakin Knicks. Seriously, I'm so sick of hearing about basketball as it is but the Knicks are a mediocre team at best and they are somehow still the lead story. Anyway...Huge game for the Rags tonight. All the pressure is on them and if they don't win tonight, their season is going to go from a huge success to a colossal failure so it'll be interesting to see how they respond. No Boyle tonight for the Rangers but Alfredsson returns for the Sens. All the momentum is in Ottawa's favor and right now they're the "little team that could." Also Chicago is on the brink tonight too so it's another night of great hockey!

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Tough penalty called on the Rangers and it results in an early goal for Ottawa. Refs gotta let the game play out. That was a terrible call and it leads to the exact situation NY wanted to avoid. All of a sudden its getting late early for them.....

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Another Game 7! Let's hope that game is called a little better than tonight's debacle though. At least the calls were bad both ways....

[4NDR01D]

I was expecting this series to go 7 games (well, after it was tied two games apiece) I was expecting each team to win the home games though.
I'll be honest I don't think either team looked fantastic, Ottawa's passes have been brutal. I think NY takes game 7 at home. I hope not, but wouldn't be least bit surprised.

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And with 6 minutes left, the Hawks are done.

[Duncan]

And with 6 minutes left, the Hawks are done.

Stupid penalty by the Hawks, and Smith has looked good for Phoenix.

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Anyone have a take on the Sens. goal last night? I thought it was a good goal in the first place and the evidence to overturn it was inconclusive at best but Lunqvist's comments after the game were insane. It's all anyone in NY is talking about today. Conspiracy Theorist are coming out of the woodwork saying that the NHL wants a Canadian hockey team in the finals. If the Rangers win it's probably gonna be Rags/Caps next round. If the Sens win, it could be Florida/Ottawa. I don't think the NHL wants Ottawa/Panthers in the second round to begin with but man if your "King" Henrik, you can't ever call into question the integrity of the sport you're apart of. Lots of NY fans are worried that goal is going to shift the momentum back in the Sens favor just like the 3rd period of the 1st game did for them. The way the Rags are going on about that goal, you'd think it cost them the game.

On the flip side, tonight is a huge game at the Rock. I'm always a big believer of supporting your team and all but the Devils gotta show me something here. To get bounced by the Panthers in the first round will have some major ramifications down the line. There's a lot of speculation this could be Parise's last game as a Devil. I don't think Bordeur will go anywhere else but he may hang it up after a loss tonight or if he does come back next year, it could be in a diminished roll. I'm looking to Kovy tonight to step it up and get it done on the offense and Marty better play the way he did in game 4. Tonight all the pressure is on NJ being in their own building with their season and future on the line. The Devils have a terrible home playoff record at the Prudential Center but if they can pull off the win tonight, they can take the series.

[toys2cool]

Anyone have a take on the Sens. goal last night? I thought it was a good goal in the first place and the evidence to overturn it was inconclusive at best but Lunqvist's comments after the game were insane. It's all anyone in NY is talking about today. Conspiracy Theorist are coming out of the woodwork saying that the NHL wants a Canadian hockey team in the finals. If the Rangers win it's probably gonna be Rags/Caps next round. If the Sens win, it could be Florida/Ottawa. I don't think the NHL wants Ottawa/Panthers in the second round to begin with but man if your "King" Henrik, you can't ever call into question the integrity of the sport you're apart of. Lots of NY fans are worried that goal is going to shift the momentum back in the Sens favor just like the 3rd period of the 1st game did for them. The way the Rags are going on about that goal, you'd think it cost them the game.

On the flip side, tonight is a huge game at the Rock. I'm always a big believer of supporting your team and all but the Devils gotta show me something here. To get bounced by the Panthers in the first round will have some major ramifications down the line. There's a lot of speculation this could be Parise's last game as a Devil. I don't think Bordeur will go anywhere else but he may hang it up after a loss tonight or if he does come back next year, it could be in a diminished roll. I'm looking to Kovy tonight to step it up and get it done on the offense and Marty better play the way he did in game 4. Tonight all the pressure is on NJ being in their own building with their season and future on the line. The Devils have a terrible home playoff record at the Prudential Center but if they can pull off the win tonight, they can take the series.

well the Panthers will be down a few key players today due to injury, so if you guys can't win this game then you guys really suck

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I was dissapointed to find out Theodore wasn't gonna be in there. I'd would have rather faced him than Clemmensen since the ex-Devils...guys like Madden, Arnott, Langenbummer, Gomez, Niedermayer always seem to bite the Devils in the rump so I could see Scott C fitting right in there too. It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools so you can never really blame the injuries for why you don't show up to play. Every team goes through them and it's the ones that overcome them that win. Just look at the Rags skating without Boyle last night. He's been their best player in the series and they were able to win without him. The Devils lost Josephson two games before the season ended and that was a HUGE injury before this series even began. Devils played a great 1st Period but they've got to learn that a hockey game is 60 minutes so it's imperative they play their game the next two periods. So far they've had about 16 SOG to Florida's 4 and most importantly 0 penalties taken in the period. If they can keep that up, they've got a chance. Also thought it was huge they didn't cough up the lead right at the end of the first which really got them down in game 3 when they gave up the goal right at the end of the 1st to let Florida back into that game. It's funny how sometimes in these pressure cooker situations the most unlikeliest of players comes through. With all the big shooters the Devils have, Steve Bernier(!?) steps up and finds the back of the net to give NJ a huge confidence boost and the lead.

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Tied going into the 3rd. Kovy looked like he was tripped on the Panthers second goal but nothing was called. Refs are calling this game light which I would prefer but compared to the other games when they were calling nearly everything, it's inconsistent. Devils really can't feel good about that period. Florida only took 4 shots and 2 went in. That is some bad luck and now their season rests on 20 minutes.

[Duncan]

More OT - love it. Not a fan of JR's commentary between periods, though.

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Wow...that was all Devils all the time and it still goes to overtime. Florida looks anemic and yet anything can happen.

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All that to get to a game 7. Zajac can be clutch. I thought Green totally tripped Verseeg to start the OT and when that puck was loose infront of Brodeur's cage just before the winning goal I thought Florida had it for sure. What a nailbiter. Still waiting on the NHL schedule for Thursday. I really hope they do something creative cause you got the Rangers & Devils both in a game 7 and it be a shame to have them on at the same time.

Who btw is JR? The games here are done by Chico Resch and Steve Cangiallosi but those are the Devils guys and since it was a local game, I was getting their broadcast instead of the national one tonight.

[toys2cool]

the game was blacked out here for some reason