NHL Playoffs: Eastern Conference Finals: Metro (#2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs Atlantic (#2) Tampa Bay Lightning

[pilldoc]

 

 

Eastern Conference Finals --- Pens vs Lightning.  All discussion here.  Should be a very interesting match-up. Can the Bolts keep it going without Stamkos?  Can Murray do what MAF hasn't done in almost 10 years...lead the Pens back to the Stanley Cup.

 

Buckle up..it is going to be a bumpy ride!

[Polaris922]

I'm going Pens in six.  I think the Pens are just rolling right now and having fun playing hockey.  The Bolts beat them soundly in the regular season, I know, but that was all before they pulled it together.  And ask the Caps what regular season records mean.  

[SkyHigh30]

Another series that is going to be full of excitement in my book. Both teams have goalies right now that are playing really well. I am hoping for this one to go the distance with the Penguins taking it.

[yave1964]

Pens in five, maybe a game longer if Stamkos returns.

 

  So do you go with Murray or Fleury? If you go with Murray how short of a leash does he have?

[SkyHigh30]

2 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

Pens in five, maybe a game longer if Stamkos returns.

 

  So do you go with Murray or Fleury? If you go with Murray how short of a leash does he have?

Definitely stick with Murray unless he totally falls apart. Fleury hasn't played in awhile.

[FD19372]

This series should be extremely entertaining, if not almost dead even. It should be a great series, with a lot of great, fast skating with the likes of Johnson, Hagelin, Crosby and Drouin. In fact, if these teams are given enough space, the first 1,000 fans in Pittsburgh should get a whiplash prevention kit. I give Tampa a slight edge because of Bishop, and his ability to steal a game here and there over the past two playoffs. Murray can as well, but Bishop has the experience edge, so I say Tampa in 6 (with 2 or 3 OT games thrown in there).

[FD19372]

4 hours ago, SkyHigh30 said:

Definitely stick with Murray unless he totally falls apart. Fleury hasn't played in awhile.

Agreed. I would stick with Murray unless he gives up 5 goals or more, and 4 of them are really soft. Fleury hasn't played in a while, so even though he has a lot of experience and had an excellent season, it's no given that he can just get thrown back in there and not have a little rust.

[JagerMeister]

Just eliminate the penguins please.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Admittedly, the Bolts SHOULD be underdogs in this match up.......but ONLY due to the injuries to Stralman, Stamkos, and Brown.

 

Sure, the Lightning did well without those players in the first two series, but with all due respect to the talent on the Wings and Isles, the Penguins simply have more in terms of offensive talent, defense, and it appears, goaltending as well.  Plus, they are about as hot going into this series as any contender can hope to be.

 

Bolts were able to shut down Pavel Datsyuk on the Wings...and other lines really weren't able to compensate for that.

They also were able to shut down John Tavares on the Isles, and again, no one else on that team were able to compensate.

 

Pittsburgh offers two, maybe three legit threats with regards to offense, have a well documented defense on the season as a whole, and have every bit of speed the Bolts have. So there WON'T be any "shut down one line, and it's all gravy" here.

 

That all said, I am going with the Bolts in 7.

Yes, that is voting a bit with my heart rather than my head, as the Pens should be the well deserved favorites (not overwhelmingly, but favorites nonetheless) going in.

 

And here's why I went Bolts:

 

For all the speed the Pens have, the Lightning CAN match them in that department up n down their lineup and even extending to the good sized yet mobile defense they have led by Victor Hedman.

 

Also, for as well as Murray has played in net for Pittsburgh, Bishop, IMO, has been one of the best, if not THE best, goalies in these playoffs to this point, coming up large (literally and figuratively) when he absolutely has needed to. Plus, the Pens have yet to see a goalie in the playoffs (Lundqvist, then Holtby) who can handle the puck as well as Bishop can. He is like having a third defenseman making quick clearing, outlet, or break out passes to forwards......particularly useful, as TB has shown, on the PK.

 

Murray playing well, yes....but so was Thomas Greiss, but the now experienced TB Lightning found ways to exploit him....they can do the same to Murray.

 

The Lightning have also shown a propensity to up their game in the physical department when they need to as well. I know both the Pens and Bolts prefer the speed and transition game, but it seems TB has learned from its most recent forays into the postseason....and they have adjusted their physical play accordingly.

Both Detroit and especially the Islanders thought they could "push around" the Lightning...they found out different, led by, but NOT limited to, Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, and Cedric Paquette.

On defense, Hedman, Coburn, Garrison, and even young players like Nesterov and Koekkoek have shown the ability to hit, hit, and hit when it's appropriate.

 

This overall should present a pretty formidable problem for the Pens...the Bolts combination of excellent goaltending, speed to match their own, and a willingness to play "big and rough" when they have to. The Pens previous opponents had parts of these things, but none, seemed to have it all working at the same time. TB has so far.

 

So there we have it.

My 39 cents on what should be, win or lose for either team, a very entertaining series that I believe should go the distance given what both teams can put out on the ice.

Yes, things are made extra difficult for the Bolts due to the missing players, but I think they do just enough, while continuing the play that got them to this point, to pull out the "upset" in 7.

 

Had Stammer, Strals, and JT been available, I flip the script and say the Lightning are the CLEAR favorites in this matchup.

As it is, it is Pittsburgh's series....but I think the Bolts steal it away from them.....and oh, maybe, JUST maybe, they get two of the three missing players midway, or late in the series.

 

Go Bolts, GO!

[SkyHigh30]

@TropicalFruitGirl26This is going to be a great series. You are right both goalies are playing out of this world. I see this one going to a game 7. In my brackets I did however pick the Penguins to advance winning that game 7. I know you won't like that prediction much.

[notfondajane]

8 hours ago, yave1964 said:

Pens in five, maybe a game longer if Stamkos returns.

 

  So do you go with Murray or Fleury? If you go with Murray how short of a leash does he have?

Murray no question! I want to go to the Stanley Cup Finals and win it. It won't happen with Marc!

[JagerMeister]

There he goes he goes again. Classic Jane.

[notfondajane]

3 hours ago, JagerMeister said:

Just eliminate the penguins please.

LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!

[notfondajane]

O ya!

[ruxpin]

I went with a very wishy-washy Penguins in six.

 

I don't have a good read on this series at all and think it can go either way.  Both teams are playing really well.

 

But, at this point, I have the Penguins winning the Cup unless Tampa stops them.   Not that anyone from the West will roll over, but I just think Pitt is steamrolling at this point.  They are amazingly deep and are getting great goaltending.  So...

 

Penguins fans:

Say Fleury comes back and is healthy.  Do you risk ruining a good thing and put him in there?  I mean, he's a very good goalie and your starter.  Or do you ride the hot Murray?   Say you go with Fleury and something goes wrong, is Murray okay to go back in or will the benching affect him?

 

Good problem to have, but just wondering on the take from people more familiar.

[ruxpin]

10 hours ago, yave1964 said:

Pens in five, maybe a game longer if Stamkos returns.

 

  So do you go with Murray or Fleury? If you go with Murray how short of a leash does he have?

 

Sorry Yave.  Hadn't seen your post when I asked a very similar question.

[yave1964]

14 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

Sorry Yave.  Hadn't seen your post when I asked a very similar question.

No worries, like I have said to you before, you know what they say about great minds.....

[SkyHigh30]

I think the Lightning will keep up in the fast paced type of game with the Penguins better than the Capitals did. The back and forth rushes are going to be exciting and something really how both defenses handle.

[Polaris922]

Murray stays till he falters.

 

The Pens have speed throughout.  Their fourth line is just as fast as their first.  The Bolts don't have the depth the Pens have this season, or the offensive talent of the Pens defensive corps.  

 

I think Stamkos makes this a very tight series, but without him Pens in six at worst.  

[nossagog]

18 hours ago, ruxpin said:

Penguins fans:

Say Fleury comes back and is healthy.  Do you risk ruining a good thing and put him in there?  I mean, he's a very good goalie and your starter.  Or do you ride the hot Murray?   Say you go with Fleury and something goes wrong, is Murray okay to go back in or will the benching affect him?

Murray is the goaltender I'd go with until he falters, and badly.   Why risk putting in your normal goaltender who hasn't had game experience is over a month.  Could be the Tom Brady / Drew Bledsoe story of hockey here if Murray stays hot. 

[ruxpin]

26 minutes ago, nossagog said:

Murray is the goaltender I'd go with until he falters, and badly.   Why risk putting in your normal goaltender who hasn't had game experience is over a month.  Could be the Tom Brady / Drew Bledsoe story of hockey here if Murray stays hot. 

 

That was all pretty much my feeling (except for the Brady/Bledsoe thing, which didn't occur to me.  Nice reference).  Just wondering what the feeling was out there.  Thanks!

[Polaris922]

3 hours ago, Hockey Junkie said:

To me this is a toss up and the Blues will beat either one.  I like Tampa in game one.  Think Pittsburgh will have the hangover from that series with Washington.  They truly did suck out and Tampa will not make the defensive mistakes that the Caps did.  True the Caps have more firepower but all in all Tampa plays smarter

 

You picked the Caps to beat the Pens, and the Pens dominated the Caps 5 on 5. Now you're saying they "sucked out" when they closed the series in six...  You're so much smarter when you stick to the Sabres. 

[JagerMeister]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 5:11 PM, Polaris922 said:

 

You picked the Caps to beat the Pens, and the Pens dominated the Caps 5 on 5. Now you're saying they "sucked out" when they closed the series in six...  You're so much smarter when you stick to the Sabres. 

Your depth won you guys that series. They were the only aspect of that series that was unequivocally, evidently superior to the Caps.

[JagerMeister]

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 3:51 PM, yave1964 said:

No worries, like I have said to you before, you know what they say about great minds.....

Great minds think alike....

 

Psychopathic minds also think very much alike.

[Polaris922]

And of course I have to give away my game one tickets!  Damn you NHL scheduling!