On another note, what does everyone think of the Ference hit?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffiQUe1tfqM

Suspension worthy?

(apologies in advance to theohall for Andy Brickley talking again)

He's actually used that same analogy before. Not sure if it was against the Canadiens as well.

Bruins/Flyers should be highly entertaining. All four of their regular season matchups were great.

Happy that Devil is sad.

Looks like the referee clown car made its way down from Montreal today.

Too funny.

Montreal may have won, but the Bruins never lose Game 7s. Ever.

Bickell being out for the year due to injury probably has something to do with it.

Uh-oh. Montreal is in trouble.  They're gonna need to win on home ice to have a hope.  I wonder if they have it in them?

It was a pretty close, if sloppy, game. Also Price played very well after two shaky games, so I think Montreal is still in it.

Eh, nice goal, but the defenseman having no stick made that look a lot more impressive than it was.

What was that about the lack of OTs, Koz?  2 games today - 2 OTs.  

 

The Buffalo/Philly game was really good.

I am probably totally pulling this out of my ass, but does the number of overtime games seem fewer so far? I usually root for ties in games I don't care about, but so far I haven't been too lucky.

If only Darren Pang was calling that game.

Despite the Bruins best efforts they managed to win a game. Julien lives another day!

That was an excellent game; I really though the Habs were going to come back in the 3rd and send it into overtime. Great to see the real Tim Thomas show up. 

Bizarre game by Thomas. He lets in a couple softies and then does a 180 and starts doing his ridiculous stuff in the third.

I thought the Habs were going to come back too. Boston is notoriously bad at defending leads in important games (see Game 7 of the Flyers series last year).

You aren't a Patriots fan? I thought you liked one Boston team.

Despite the Bruins best efforts they managed to win a game. Julien lives another day!

Horton has the flu now. Just pass it all around boys!

3)Boston 5 (Goaltending wins it for the Bruins, plus they have more grit)

Boston in 5.

You guys are so wrong
I picked Montreal in 7.  Looks like Devil is on pace to be the closest.  Can't count Boston out yet though.

I can! I think they're done. I picked Montreal in 5 and I had Boston winning Game 2, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's a sweep.

Oh god, no Chara tonight. I wonder if we'll get to see Kaberle scream like a little girl before the night is out.

I could only monitor the game on the side via NHL.COM while I did my work. What happened there - did Price stand on his head and Thomas not?

The shot total is a misnomer. The vast majority of Boston's shots were from bad angles or were "I hope this deflects off somebody" shots. Price played well, and Boston had possession for most of the game, but they generated very few actual scoring chances. The chances they did have were poorly executed.

Montreal is just a bad matchup for Boston. Fast forwards and a good goalie. Not to mention playing in Montreal negates Boston's generally good road play this season.

Boston needs some Canadien to do something stupid and piss them off. Bruins play so much better when they're angry.

Well that went exactly as I expected. Bruins don't have playoff-level scoring. Montreal in 5.

They did...and...They did.

Err, sorry. If they had lost they wouldn't have won.

If they won that last game, they wouldn't have won the lottery.

I bet ScubaV tops you 

SON OF A WHORE

By popular (i.e. Devil) demand, the playoffs thread!

Matchups are set:

East:

1. WAS v. 8. NYR
2. PHI v. 7. BUF
3. BOS v. 6. MON
4. PIT v. 5 TBL

West:

1. VAN v. 8. CHI
2. SJS v. 7. LAK
3. DET v. 6. PHO
4. ANA v. 5. NAS

Who ya got?

Either way - Philly's loss gives the Caps first in the East, and means they face the Rangers or the Hurricanes. Tough to say which I'd rather see as a matchup for the Caps, but the Rangers are a really depleted team without Callahan driving them - that almost makes up for the Lundqvist Factor.

You absolutely want to play the Rangers, not just because of Callahan but also because Carolina is 8-1-1 in their last 10 and you don't want to play a hot team in the first round.

Breaking news: Manny Malhotra had his eye surgery...and...it's successful! Looks like there's a chance he'll be back for the start of next season. 

Great news.

Shawn Thornton took a skate blade to the face tonight. Really scary moment, but it got him in the forehead. He needed 40 stitches but should be fine.

I think my brain has subconsciously caused me to tune-out Rangers/Bruins games. I totally forgot there was a game today, and unsurprisingly it apparently was another snoozefest.

Thanks, Koz!

The title of he thread is correct. It took until March 22nd but it's finally right.

They were due for a year like this but the second half shows that the team did have enough talent.

Not concerned at all about next year.

Not even about Brodeur? He certainly isn't what he used to be.

Twas a good game tonight. I thought NJ actually played pretty well and not like a team waiting for the season to be over. Kovalchuk is a joy to watch.

I get the feeling that Matt Cooke is not well liked by the rest of the players on the Pens.

Appropriate suspension by the league (for once).

Hey the Bruins have been a clear two-and-done team in recent years.

Not so sure about Tuesday. It will probably come down to who sucks less.

Well I guess Leafs fans have to get their joys from regular season games.

Seriously though, Bruins are a mess right now. Need to get their act together soon or it'll be a one-and-done playoffs.

Points-wise, NJ is getting there, but now it's become a team issue. It looks like it will be six teams vying for two spots.

I have to admit the Bruins got the benefit of the calls tonight against the Fishsticks. They still lost, of course, because the Bruins suck right now.

Methinks Joe Thornton is still bitter about The Trade: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=357474

Ah yes, favorable treatment. This coming from a guy who got two games for ending someone's season when a Bruins player got four for a similar hit on a player who is back playing. Favorable treatment that saw Matt Cooke get zero games for ruining at least a season of Marc Savard's career. Favorable treatment when the league decided to rescind the automatic suspension on Scott Walker for sucker punching Aaron Ward.

Not to mention Lucic DID get disciplined for crosschecking Lapierre (one game suspension). STFU Thornton you dink.

Sorry Devil, Bruins in overtime = automatic loss. I think that's 1-9 on the season now. Thank god there's no 4-on-4 OT or shootouts in the playoffs.

Yeah you won't see me defending Edwards. I like him but he's as biased a homer as they come.

The reffing is so bad in this game I may have to call 911 afterwards.

Can't win a game when the refs won't let you. Ten minors on the Bruins. Two 1.5+ minute 5-on-3s for Buffalo. So far.

Even Andy Brickley, who is about as level headed as it gets, is complaining about the reffing. Jack Edwards started complaining about 30 seconds into the game, of course.

I think the refs in the Boston/Buffalo game are from Montreal. Hilariously biased reffing against the Bruins tonight.

Bettman is just calling Air Canada's bluff. Their "threat" was a pure PR stunt.

Coincidence that Air Canada is based in Montreal and the CEO and President is from Montreal? Naaah.

I do agree that headshots/concussions need to be treated more seriously, but giving a guy a few games suspension isn't going to solve anything.