2008 Stanley Cup goes to...

[CharvelRocker]

Nothing veteran about Philly. Their oldest guys are Hatcher, Knuble, Modry (who also isn't playing atm), Kapanen, Smith, Dowd, and Prospal. The rest are either right at 30/31 or under it. So that leaves Briere, Hartnell, Umberger, Thoreson, Cote, Downie, Jones, Timmonen, Kukkonen, Biron, Lupul, Richards, Carter, Coburn, and Upshall. That's about 2:1, not counting Gagne who hasn't really played all year.

Montreal I think is faced with the fact they can't beat the Flyers. The Flyers really got them from about the midpoint on yesterday. Their goaltending is better, there D is a bit better, and pretty much everyone on that team is a threat to put the puck in the net. Also, they may only take 12 shots a game, but that's all they need to beat you. And you're really in deep crap if their forecheck gets setup. You can ride a hot goalie to the finals. Having 4 dangerous lines always helps too.

Montreal also can't keep up with the Flyer's physical play. There is not a single guy on that team right now who isn't afraid to give you a bump. A complete team like that can force you to play the way they want to. Detroit is a lot like the Flyers in that respect. Very well rounded, though I think they're slower than most teams that are left.

[thetroy]

Detroit plays a fast game despite many of their players being slow. You can move the puck a lot faster by passing than skating with it!

[goodwood]

Detroit is a monster indeed but I can't count Dallas out of that match-up (even though we are looking ahead here).
Montreal won the first game due to Philly exhaustion...they have been competitive but Philly is a complete team. It doesn't look bad on them that Washington went to 7 games...it looks good on Washington.
I hope Philly can be recharged for their meeting with the Pens who tried SO HARD to avoid them. It was calculated and worked perfectly but to me there is no honor in it.

[goodwood]

Nice stuff by the Rangers!

[Razor]

Damn, Jagr and the Rangers kicked our asses tonight. Once again Fleury kept them within site, but the Rangers totally outplayed the Pens again tonight. I thought McCreary made a couple of questionable calls against both teams, but he's a douche anyway. I always get pissed off when I hear him announced as an official for a game.

[bibz]

Seeing crosby get all bitchy and end up in a headlock made my day

[Rupe]

I don't think the Pens got outplayed as badly as they did last game...Lundqvist was simply on fire, combined with the fact that I don't think the Pens could have shot the puck through an open garage door tonight.

Questionable and weak calls went both ways but the Rangers certainly got the lions share of them. It made no difference though as the Pens blew multiple scoring opportunities in addition to getting stonewalled by Lundqvist.

Maybe the Pens just wanted to win this series on home ice

[ZZB]

http://cdn.nhl.com/images/upload/2008/05/frozen_inside050108.jpg

[thetroy]

Well, the Avs got destroyed tonight WITH AUTHORITY!

[Spivonious]

Damn, Jagr and the Rangers kicked our asses tonight. Once again Fleury kept them within site, but the Rangers totally outplayed the Pens again tonight. I thought McCreary made a couple of questionable calls against both teams, but he's a douche anyway. I always get pissed off when I hear him announced as an official for a game.

I always think of McCreary as the only consistent ref left in the game. Some of his calls may be questionable, but at least he makes them for both teams.

[Bengal]

Well, the Avs got destroyed tonight WITH AUTHORITY!

Wasn't even a fun game to watch. But I watched all of it!

Couldn't happen to a better team.

I'm ready for the next round!

[Razor]

I don't think the Pens got outplayed as badly as they did last game...

I thought they were outplayed totally from a physical side of the game. The Rangers were handing out checks like it was the first of the month. Pens best period was the first because of the blown scoring chances, but the Rangers still had the edge IMHO. Then the Rangers put them away by clogging up neutral ice and putting a body on most anything that was moving. Was it just me, or were Laroque and Roberts invisible the whole game? One spark was Ty Kennedy though...played his ass off.

[Rupe]

I thought they were outplayed totally from a physical side of the game. The Rangers were handing out checks like it was the first of the month. Pens best period was the first because of the blown scoring chances, but the Rangers still had the edge IMHO. Then the Rangers put them away by clogging up neutral ice and putting a body on most anything that was moving. Was it just me, or were Laroque and Roberts invisible the whole game? One spark was Ty Kennedy though...played his ass off.

At one point I questioned whether Roberts was even getting any ice time. You are dead on about those two disappearing last night.

I still think the Pens were generating scoring chances better than they did during that last win but simply couldn't convert.

Was something going on during the game between Malkin and Mara? Malkin's cheap shot at the end seemed very out of character unless it was some sort of retaliation. I never noticed anything going on between them though.

[Razor]

Yeah, Malkin's slew foot came out of the cheap seats. I never saw what it was about though either.

[stevoc]

Thank goodness my sharks live again for at least one more game.