The Official NHL Playoffs Thread

[Triumph36]

crosby was playing with a broken foot and malkin was a non-factor for most of the stretch and the playoffs because of the length of the season. while the penguins have scoring strength, a lot of it is in those two players - stiffs like recchi and malone and to a lesser extent oulette capitalized on having players like that around.

in truth i don't think the devils are that far behind the penguins - though their 3rd line never scores, which is a bit of a problem. still, their top 2 lines in *theory* are each good enough to be #1 lines - the problem is that the Devils' transition game is often terrible, leading to poor breakouts and no ability to score. holmqvist gifted us a ton of goals.

i think sens in six is reasonable, but i don't think it's because brodeur stands on his head - he's rarely done this in his career, truth be told. if the devils are able to get a consistent breakout going, and are able to establish a legitimate forecheck - they could definitely take a few games.

man, i miss karel rachunek - can't you guys get him back just for this series?