TropicalFruitGirl26

Heh...maybe not.... But still...as long as Philly plays like a skilled overall unit, they can overcome Suzuki as he may not have the same support on his side, despite HIS spectacular play. I gotta say...this edition of the Canadiens is quite a bit more physical than ones I've seen in the past. Flyers could use this to their advantage by driving the net and causing Montreal and their aggressive checkers to take more penalties to stop rushes and transitions.

Good post. Also, it wouldn't surprise me if Barry Trotz, who knows the Capitals core players pretty well, imparted some tips on his players on what buttons to push on them while out on the ice. It's the sort of thing that won't ever show up on any stat sheet, but I gotta believe that a coach, whose job was to motivate a team (to a Cup win no less), then leaves and coaches AGAINST that team, with much of the same personnel on it, would have an advantage that he could allow his current team to use. I called this series the Trotz Cup Series and Barry and his boys won it....

Travis ConnectMe almost gave the Flyers a 3-1 with that breakaway. He might have even had Price not quite set....but Price did just enough to get a piece of the shot. Still 2-1 Flyers.

Jeff Petry with a high stick to Nate Thompson's beard gives the Flyers another PP and a chance to re-establish their two goal lead.

That Nick Suzuki is coming out in these playoffs. Really nice looking developing NHL player. Still 2-1 Flyers but a much needed goal for his Canadiens by young Suzuki.

There is it... 2-0 lead. Habs will have their work cut out for them. The goal was even strength, but was helped along by Philly having the PP just prior. Also, Ghost needs to make better decisions on how to handle the puck while on the PP. He tried taking on two Habs defenders instead of using his teammates help and got the puck taken from him and zone cleared for his trouble. Still though, Philly fans, ya gotta feel good about the early lead. If team continues to play with this intensity, Montreal may not recover.

Flyer PP with a chance to put the Habs in an early 2-0 hole. Montreal doing much better when they can skate in Philly's zone, but look very uncomfortable in their own end under pressure, as evidenced by the Chariot hooking call they just took.

Oh boy....Flyers defensemen not doing a good job of tracking their coverage guys. Habs got guys loose in front of Hart and almost tied things up. I question Montreal's presence in these playoffs, but they still do have some fast skilled forwards and the Flyer D simply cannot afford to let them run around their defensive zone like that.

And just like that....not even a minute in, Ivan Provorov puts the Flyers up 1-0. Clean face off win by Philly, a shot, Price looks like he never saw it till it was too late.

Well, hopefully, the Flyers won't do a complete collapse and just win this...whether tonight or in Game 7. I mean, I have been pretty critical of this whole 're-start' and half baked playoffs to begin with...what with allowing teams that were out to participate. But, at least I can say, that so far, the teams that have won and moved on are the ones who probably SHOULD be there. Boston, Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, Dallas, Colorado, and yes, even the NYI, even though Washington should have also moved on, the Isles are no slouches. So thinking in those terms, the Canadiens seem to be the only team NOT in the playoff picture before that is still hanging around, while the Flyers were battling for the top of the Atlantic Division. Therefore, Philly MUST eliminate Montreal in order to set things to normal in the playoffs.....well, about as 'normal' as these playoffs can be anyways.

Finally going to watch a game in this series start to finish. A Flyer win, aside from making about half this forum giddy, will send the Bruins to face the Lightning. A Habs win will extend the series and give Montreal a chance to win in an anything-can-happen Game 7, where, if they win that, would send them to the Lightning. Judging by highlights and some of the commentary on this series here, looks like the series has been entertaining. I will be expecting that tonight. As I said before the series started, its STILL the Flyers' series to lose. Habs are playing with house money, however, and that does seem to make them dangerous.

Honestly, I think if Chicago can rebuild its defense quickly, they could at least be considered a playoff team regularly because their fowards group, even with the step backs mentioned, is still pretty exciting and dangerous. Seems like when I've watched Chicago games the last couple seasons I can always count on some good offense and that they will score a bit.....but also be right in line to give up a ton of goals as well. Obviously a good goalie will help matters there, but I think a solid defensive core (and get rid of the anchors and career bottom pair guys there) paired with their good offense would make even an average goalie look real good.... I mean....look at Crawford! Seriously though....even though they are a Minnesota Wild division rival, I enjoy watching Blackhawk games, despite their pretty ugly defense at the moment.

TB exorcised one demon....now they need a title win. Whether a Stanley Cup win or a Covid Cup win. This core should be good enough for multiple Cups. They need to start this year...such as it is. Columbus showed lots of grit (as they always do....as John Tortorella teams always do) and Jonad Korpisalo may be a revelation in goal for them. But glad to see the Lightning finally put to rest the "Jackets are in their heads" talk.

Blue say "not so fast!" to the young Canucks. Series tied and now Vancouver will have to prove they are better than the Champs best two out of three moving forward. Canucks MIGHT be able to get it done, but I think it is safe to say the Blues are fully awake now. They are still the more complete team and could now be in position to show Vancouver how much more work needs to get put in before they can win anything. Canucks definitely need to get their 5 on 5 scoring going more consistently... Blues aren't just going to keep gifting them PP time.

LOL @ Berube-isms.... Media: "Coach...the Blues won the game, what was the difference in this one?" Berube: "We scored more than them." Hah....I expect NOTHING less from the coach whose mantra is, "must play harder!!"

Wow. Jackets came out flying in this one. Winning puck battles.....pressure in the offensive zone....and not two minutes into the game, they put a puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy....however, they were offsides, and thus score is reset to 0-0 Still though...TB best get going quickly here. Apparently the day off John Tortorella gave his boys seems to have given them extra energy in the early going!

Bolts and Jackets continue their physical and mental slugfest with one another. Tampa Bay takes Game 3 to retake the series lead, but honestly....this series just feels like it is going the distance. From a TB point of view, hey, that prediction is already better than last season's fiasco sweep.... of course, as they say, if things get to a Game 7, anything can happen and the Jackets have shown they are masters of having "anything that can happen" go their way. Bolts have to do their best to put these stubborn Jackets away as early as possible. I would like to see it done in 5.....but maybe 6 is more realistic if they are gonna do it. If it gets to a Game 7, the ghosts of last year's failure may set in and the Jackets may ride a huge wave of momentum into the next round.

Compared to the Canucks, the Blues ARE slow.... Make no mistake....the Canucks may not be a complete team yet, but youth and speed, that they DO have in spades! Very exciting team to watch.

I don't care for an expansion to a 24-team playoff. The NHL (and the NBA for that matter) are already a running joke with people saying "Everyone but the last place team gets into the playoffs!" While obviously that is a blatant exaggeration, the point made is clear: Enough teams are already getting in. We need to have the regular season as a showcase where the cream really does rise to the top. When we had less teams and 16 were getting in, you literally had sub .500 teams getting in as 7th or 8th seeds. Now that we have MORE teams in the league, that same 16-team tournament seems more solid now because the weaker teams will get pushed even further back, the mediocres and just under .500's will just barely miss the cutoff line and, at the very least, we get bottom seeded teams with a minimum of a .500 record or just above. That is just right to me. I DO wish we'd go back to the 1-8 seeded teams in each Conference, however. I've always felt that was a fair way to judge records of team that were behind the elites in each division....plus offer more variety in playoff matchups. I know the NHL worries about "rivalries", well, rivalries happen....no one needs to manufacture them. They will happen naturally without Bettman or anyone else screwing around with the recipe trying to come up with artificial rivalries (looking at YOU Florida vs Tampa Bay....there IS no ^%$#ing rivalry.... ). Anyways, the NHL will do what the NHL is gonna do, but for my money, 16 teams in , with the lowest entering in as a .500 club (the way it seemingly has been working out, outside of this half-arsed 2020 season), is just right. Order me a 1-8 seed in each Conference like the 90's and early 2000's, and I will be a happy camper.

3-1 Vancouver with 12 minutes to go and these upstart Canucks really do look like they may just too fast for the defending Champion Blues. And the Vancouver PP? Lethal...

That Bo Horvat is something else.... and I don't even think we've seen the absolute best from him in his still young career. He is a face off monster, plays a solid two way game and over the last two seasons and going into these Covid Cup playoffs, he has been a major thorn in the side of the St. Louis Blues as he also was in the sides of the Minnesota Wild prior to that. Good looking player and I look foward to watching him continue to mature on the ice.

Other than the opening period, the Jackets showing NO signs of losing a 5 OT game. Trying to put away the Bolts, leading 3-1 with less than 4 min to go in the 3rd. Trademark of a John Tortorella team. No quit. No quarter asked. No quarter given.

Alex Killorn is such an intelligent player. I mean, the guy basically sleepwalks through the regular season, wakes up for the playoffs, and most people don't notice the guy usually, then he is always pulling off sneaky things like chirping to the right players at the right time, quietly lifting sticks to rob the opposition of scoring chances, and good solid checks (not necessarily booming hits) to disrupt things for the opposition as well. In years past, I was always thinking of ways the Lightning could trade Killorn and get some more scoring for him, but I have come to see that he IS an important part of the Lightning and provides a skillset that isn't always on the scoreboard, but in other areas that you simply don't see in a complete package on other players. Go get'm Killer!

Bolts fast pace and persistence against a seemingly lethargic Jackets team paid off! Kucherov gets the Lightning on the board first... 1-0 Bolts just past the 5 min mark in the first

After that uber marathon of a game that was equivalent to two and a half games, the Bolts and Jackets are at it again. Surprisingly, and maybe this is just the first period, the Lightning look quite fresh out there...maybe just a bit more so than Columbus. Could be the Jackets just pacing themselves better, however, so we will see. The Lightning were making full use of all four of their lines in the last game (Ceddy Paquette and his line was seeing LOTS of prime situation ice time last game out), and according to the broadcasters, the Bolts were using more lines than Columbus was. We will see if that plays a part in stamina today.