Jerrydevil

Matchups are important. The playoff survivors figure out how to adjust. I think it was Scott Stevens who said teams don't win championships playing the same way for four rounds. Regarding the Islanders, it's unfortunate they had to play the second round in Brooklyn and not Nassau. I think that was a pretty big deal.

We know what it feels like to sweep a team in the first round and have very little go your way against Carolina in the second.

Dallas-St. Louis, great game tonight.

Reasonable. It didn't look like the refs were calling anything until they saw how bad Pavelski was hurt.

It's probably not a major penalty, but Statsny's role in the play, finishing off Pavelski after he was cross-checked off-balance, gets it awfully close. I'm not bothered by the call.

Can't recall seeing anything like how the Sharks turned that game around with 4 PP goals on a major penalty. Unbelievable.

This game was a Christmas present from my wife. We took our two kids, it was their first win in three games attended (all of them went to OT).

What a crazy goal that was, it turned that whole series around. It was a Stanley Cup playoffs filled with memorable goals. When Randy McKay scored in OT on a mistake by the Boston defenseman in round 1, there was such a good feeling in the arena that night that this team had something special going. I'll also always remember McKay's 3-on-1 goal (started by a blocked shot) that practically put Philly away in Game 6 in Round 3. The noise was deafening.

Yes, that's what I was driving at.

The 1998 Ottawa loss was worse. We were 25 points better during the season. Then the playoffs started and our offense made a hero of Damian Rhodes. Alfredsson killed us in both series, I'm sure. I'll always remember losing in OT on a goal by Bruce Gardiner of all people.

And Kenny was there for that debacle of a playoff series.

Do you think he will ever become a dependable top-4 defenseman, and if so, when do you think that might happen? Granted, he doesn't really have the luxury of being paired with a good player, as we are woefully thin on the blue line. But he hasn't improved as much as I hoped he would.

Great pass by Zacha. Right on the tape.

We have to get a top player to do this type of trade. Otherwise, I don't see the point.

I thought it, too. The Game 3 effort at home against TB was a crime to their fans, and the Game 5 effort wasn't very good either.