Non-Pens NHL Games Thread

[columbia]

Great saves, lots of good hits, pretty wide open, no shot blocking monotony...great game!

They got the memo from LGP, it seems.

[skullman80]

The 3rd has opened up... partly because the Devils needed a goal to tie it, but it's stayed at a good pace since then.

[shafnutz05]

Man....what a weak call to make at this juncture

[skullman80]

... and there is the even up call.

[profpolisci]

Cmon Doughty, if you're gonna swing a stick take a lesson from Clode and do it right.

[skullman80]

Brown with a huge brain fart that almost cost his team the game.

[brwi]

What the hell was Dustin Brown thinking there???

[brwi]

The 3rd has opened up... partly because the Devils needed a goal to tie it, but it's stayed at a good pace since then.

The 3rd was the best period of the series by far. Hope it keeps up.

[penscup]

Zidlicky has had an impressive game. He's certainly not afraid to pinch when the opportunity presents itself.

Devils cannot afford to lose 2 OT games at home to start this series.

[skullman80]

Pace fast and furious so far in OT>

[bh]

the kings look like they have more gas in the tank right now.

[columbia]

I'd live to see Tangradi turn out like King or Nolan, but that seems unlikely.

[shmenguin]

It's possible that well played hockey is mistaken for boring hockey. I don't think either team is goin detroit all over the place and intentionally ruining the series. They're just really really responsible.

[skullman80]

Jeff Carter says goodnight... LA goes home with a 2-0 series lead.

[bh]

whelp. NJ's job just got a LOT harder.

[shmenguin]

Carter's shot is über blockable. Can't believe it got through.

[mikey287]

Surprised Pierre didn't pick up on it (because I know Edzo wouldn't notice, he's a moron), but after that last Kings icing and Olczyk wanted Sutter to use his timeout. Look at who takes that faceoff - winger Justin Williams who never takes faceoffs (he won 4 this year) and he purposely jumps in and gets thrown out, to buy an extra few seconds then Mike Richards (the only natural center on the ice) comes in and takes it. Sneaky gamesmanship there, well orchestrated.

[shmenguin]

Surprised Pierre didn't pick up on it (because I know Edzo wouldn't notice, he's a moron), but after that last Kings icing and Olczyk wanted Sutter to use his timeout. Look at who takes that faceoff - winger Justin Williams who never takes faceoffs (he won 4 this year) and he purposely jumps in and gets thrown out, to buy an extra few seconds then Mike Richards (the only natural center on the ice) comes in and takes it. Sneaky gamesmanship there, well orchestrated.

Ive always wondered why teams don't do that more. I guess you don't want to build a reputation with linesmen.

It seems like geno intentionally cheats on face offs all the time. If they let it go, great. Advantage geno. If not, big whoop. His replacement is close enough.

[mikey287]

I instruct my players to do this also at times because I'm protective of my timeouts and go to great lengths to get multiple timeouts in games, if necessary.

The risk you run is this: it's a defensive zone draw, there's no more important face off than that. You can't lose that clean. When you know that you're intentionally burning a "toss out" that puts your center (the 2nd guy in, when the winger gets booted) on his heels. He's not free to try to cheat, because if he gets tossed it's a minor penalty. You really decrease the chances of winning the faceoff because of the consciousness of the center to not make sure he doesn't get tossed. And that's exactly what happened to Richards, he lost the draw clean.

[penny lane]

pens v flyers was a an epic train wreck, but it drew ratings. People outside of hardcore fans, they like to see goals. These 2 games you expect a bit more offensive glitz. Need to find the middle.
Most media falling back, on when team is losing, blame the russians. Ilya K does have to be better, but in the other series for the devils , many other players were scoring. Brodeur has played well enough for the series to be 2 zip devils. Kings will win and hockey will go quietly into the summer.

[newarenanow]

Another great game and great win by the Kings.

If they can pull one out at home in Games 3 or 4, the CUp is pretty much theres. Winning the first two on the road was HUGE.

[npv708]

Doughty's goal was unreal, but I thought Carter's goal was a heck of an individual play. He made that goal happen from start to finish. Basically, it seemed like Carter caught a whiff of that whole "I'm tired of this game, I'm going to just end the game now" thing. I think the most surprising part of that goal was that it was Carter with the effort.

I know a lot of the casual fans are probably not loving this series, but these first two games have been some great hockey, imo. The Kings really do play a straightforward game.

[pcm]

Zidlicky has had an impressive game. He's certainly not afraid to pinch when the opportunity presents itself.

Devils cannot afford to lose 2 OT games at home to start this series.

I thought he was over-the-hill/run-down/bad-mentalty etc? At least, that's what everyone here said when I proposed fliping Martin for him at the deadline...

But seriously, guys who play his type of game seem to play well late into their 30's. (Lidstrom, Zubov, Gonchar)

[mikey287]

I think Zidlicky has been pretty bad in these playoffs actually. He's made a lot of bad reads, questionable pinches, questionable hit attempts, questionable passes. It's weird, though, he seems to be a part of a lot of goals too...I wouldn't be surprised if he had 9 or 10 points in these playoffs (I don't know what the number is) but he looks like a gamble out there. There were times in the Philly series where you could say "well, Zidlicky's out there, so you know a goal is going in...you just didn't know what net it was going in"

It may sound strange, but I think he's been quietly bad in these playoffs. But he has enough points (I assume) to ward off criticism...but even last night, there were a couple of just weird plays by Zidlicky. Wonky gap control in the neutral zone too at times...he lacks shift to shift consistency...

[steelhammer]

Brodeur looked really bad on that OT goal. Paddle down for a shot from the top of the circles? Ok...