LOTCB Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Sabres in 6Devils in 6, I think Tampa lacks hunger, depth, and goaltending. Their stars will get them through two games, but the Devils will grind them to dust in the end. Penguins in 7, this will be a fun series, high scoring end to end action. But I think this will be as far as Pittsburgh goes this year. Next round they'll suffer a crushing defeat and will have to learn from it. All great players do. Rangers in 6, I can see just about every game being decided by one goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msweet Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 As for the EGG line, they just don't seem interested in being great. Elias appears content to struggle. This is the post of the week. As I was watching us dream through the Islander game, it seemed to me that EGG wasn't trying hard enough to get their form back and Elias who is trying seems ok with just trying hard... can they try something different other than rush the puck, try to beat 4 guys and turn it over? EGG > 1 Goal per game, we make the second round EGG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOTCB Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I was thinking something on the way to work this morning: Did Tri pick the Devils to lose in the 2nd round and the Sabres to win for a reason? Similar to how I say the Sabres will never win to hope for the opposite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 I was thinking something on the way to work this morning:Did Tri pick the Devils to lose in the 2nd round and the Sabres to win for a reason? Similar to how I say the Sabres will never win to hope for the opposite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJD Jester Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Buffalo/Islander:Defense - Even Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 haha, that's a good point Jester. I would take any one of Buffalo's defensemen before I took any of the Islanders. Hill and Witt are penalty machines, Bergeron doesn't know about defense, Poti has improved but he's still bad, Campoli is like Bergeron without the shot, and Deron Quint - yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 (edited) Henrik TallinderBrian Campbell Dmitri Kalinin Toni Lydman Teppo Numminen Jaroslav Spacek vs. Brendan Witt Sean Hill Marc-Andre Bergeron Tom Poti Chris Campoli Deron Quint EVEN?! <JESTER> Edited April 9, 2007 by '7' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Devil Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I'm not optimistic against Tampa Bay. Having Lou behind the bench does give me more confidence but not enough to overcome our teams weaknesses. We don't have the defensive presence anymore to shut down Lecavalier and his linemates. Lecavalier is too big, strong and talented for any of our forwards to be able to shut down. 2003 should not be a comparison, he's 2 or 3 steps better then he was then and we don't have Stevens and Neidermayer anymore. White is more of a punisher then a shut down defensemen. We do have more depth then Tampa Bay, but the EGG line with the exception of Gionta have been lazy most of the season. I don't think they can just pull their heads out of the sand suddenly score boat loads of goals when needed. I think the Parise-Zajac-Lagenbrunner line is going to score the most goals for us with the other lines pocketing goals here and there. Goal-tending isn't even a question on who has the advantage. I expect Brodeur to be spectacular as usual, but when have the Devils ever taken advantage of a bad goalie in the playoffs? I've seen the Devils take advantage of top goaltenders off their game, but backup goalies and inexperience goalies always give the team fits. Still Martin is probably going to bail us out like he always does. I feel like either Tampa Bay is going to put us away really fast or the Devils will wear them down and win in 7 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 the Devils have beaten plenty of bad goalies in the playoffs. You just don't remember it. If Holmqvist or Denis beat us, it will be because we don't get shots or get in front of the net enough. Buffalo's defense does lack toughness, and that may be a problem for them - but Tallinder has quietly become one of the best defensive d-men in the league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas0nMacIsaac Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Henrik TallinderBrian Campbell Dmitri Kalinin Toni Lydman Teppo Numminen Jaroslav Spacek vs. Brendan Witt Sean Hill Marc-Andre Bergeron Tom Poti Chris Campoli Deron Quint EVEN?! <JESTER> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njdevils2003champs Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 Sabres in 5 Rangers in 6 Ottawa in 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizDevil30 Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 I have a very strong feeling there will be a rags/Sabres ECF. I hope my feeling is just indigestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted April 9, 2007 Author Share Posted April 9, 2007 Buffalo's defense is much more talented but Islanders have more grit and play a better system IMO. Islanders have an underated defense. Nolan got Poti to play somewhat like he did in Edmonton. Bergeron is playing excellent hockey also. Depth could be a concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizDevil30 Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 The Islanders take a TON of penalties with their excellent system. Poti has had a good season, but Bergeron is mostly terrible - he scores goals but all he does is shoot, and he can't play his own end. Their defense is bad and the Sabres' is better from top to bottom, even if they lack grit. this is only possible if the devils lose to tampa bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Great write up TRI, I agree with just about everything, but: I think Atlanta beats the Rangers in 5. Playoffs are a different game, I don't think the Rangers can beat Atlanta. Rucchin and Holik will come alive in the playoffs and dominate the Rangers in terms of face-offs and puck possession in the opposition zone. Hossa, Kovalchuk and Tkachuk are too much for the Rangers forwards and defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 Great write up TRI, I agree with just about everything, but:I think Atlanta beats the Rangers in 5. Playoffs are a different game, I don't think the Rangers can beat Atlanta. Rucchin and Holik will come alive in the playoffs and dominate the Rangers in terms of face-offs and puck possession in the opposition zone. Hossa, Kovalchuk and Tkachuk are too much for the Rangers forwards and defense. 5 years ago you are right, but Holik and Rucchin are finished. They couldn't dominate an AHL team at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HellOnICE Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 I disagree about Holik (of course). He was a Minus 3 playing against the other teams top lines. He was also at 57% faceoffs. He also has played a with a million different players from JP Vigier to Mellanby to Brad Larsen to Jon Sim to whomever Hartley puts on his line for the night. The guy is consistent as can be, and he's extremely hungry to beat the sh!t out of the Rangers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 5 years ago you are right, but Holik and Rucchin are finished. They couldn't dominate an AHL team at this point. I disagree. Rucchin is finally healthy now, Holik can still be a pest in the playoffs, especially having not playing in April since he left NJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 I disagree. Rucchin is finally healthy now, Holik can still be a pest in the playoffs, especially having not playing in April since he left NJ. rucchin is never healthy and is way too slow, and holik is a shadow of what he was in NJ. The Rangers' strength is on the wings regardless - their centers aren't what need to be shut down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I would take Kovalchuk, Hossa and Tkachuk over Jagr, Straka and Shanahan any day (this decade). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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