At this point the way they are playing. I don't think they would even beat either Montreal or Toronto in 7 game series.
All that matters is the way they're playing when they get into the playoffs. It's a long season of ups and downs so the way we've sucked the past few days does not mean we'll suck the rest of the way.
again, i consider this team contenders not b/c of how good we are, but because of how flawed the rest of the competition is.
Step, just need to get in and you have the best goalie in the playoffs. With guys like nash, St.Louis, zucc, kreider you have firepower there that if clicking will be tough for any team to handle. The playoffs are always a crapshoot and anyone can win if you get in.
This team has zero chance of beating Boston or Pitt in a seven game series. That's just reality that has to be faced. The rest is all matchup dependent.
Right, i think BOS and PIT are the top teams, though i'm not a full buyer on the Pens b/c of Fleury, but i think the B's are a great all-around team. However, the B's went on a deep run last year, so if you get them this year in the ECF's maybe you catch them with tired legs.
Funny thing is, despite the fact we have had back to back 1 goal games, I am more concerned about the D. After the big 3 I don't love our D. I think Stralman is a 6th dman. I like Moore, but he is also a clear 3rd pair guy, and toughness clear the net wise is soft. I would say the same thing about Klein as well. A little tougher, and to me he'd be the 4th dman with Staal, but still more of a 3rd pair guy. I REALLY worry about this D in the playoffs against good deep teams, especially if they are big and physical. I think we'll get pounded on D. That is my way bigger concern than upfront believe it or not.
With that all being said, you get into the playoffs and anything can happen. I have said this for a while, but you want that 2 spot in the Met division. With that spot we get home ice round 1, and avoid Pitt/Boston for sure. These games are ALL huge now. We need 2 points tonight. If we lose that leaves us in a tough spot. With games in hand Philly could move 5 ahead of us. With games in hand CBJ can move 4 ahead of us. That is a lot of points with only 14 games left for us after tonight. On top of that we have very tough SJ next on a 44 hour turnaround after we fly across the country after the game tonight, meanwhile SJ is in the area already playing the Isles tonight. I think tonight is a huge 2 points for us.
