Bruins take the lead in the series :-)

But for how long? Home Ice has not been kind in the playoffs so far.
It was a tough fought game last night they are getting the timely goal scoring that they have been missing all year. And Tuukka is playing out of his mind right now. I just hope they keep it up for the next few games.

Wings - Yotes in 45 minutes! :-)

For a 42 yr old (I think that's how oldl he is) Recchi is playing great too. Chelios probably had a big ole grin on his face for his play that triggered the goal (if he didn't fall asleep :-)).

Apparently Hejduk is not playing tonight...:-)

Recchi is playing like a 35 yold what a great play he made. And nice shot by Bergeron

Game time! Go Hawks:-)

The intensity in the Flyers/Devils series has most definitely gone up. What a game so far...the Devils have laid a few big hits, Boucher looks pretty solid again and Brodeur made a save that was just special (laying down on his side, glove save over his hip). Through two periods, the Flyers have the lead though :-):...both beating Brodeur on his glove side, go figure.

Flyers take a 3-1 lead in the series! :-)

Gagne left the game after taking a shot in the leg/ankle area..."Lower body injury". I hope he doesn't miss any time, but I don't think it looks good. LW is not a strength of the Flyers, especially with how poorly Hartnell has been playing this series (IMHO).

And if I were a Devils fan (cringe) Kovalchoke would be driving me absolutely crazy. He tries to do so much on his own and it seems to take his linemates out of the play. The fit seems especially bad on a team built like the Devils are built.

Hawks stinking it up. :-)

I think they will bring it in the third period Tom:-)

hope so

Not so far. :-)

Positive karma heading the Hawks way. This has been the most insane first round ever. 1-4 stand a good chance of getting bounced by 5-8. In a way its awesome.

As a Sharks fan I would like to be mad, but I am so used to playoff failure that I just expect it now.

:-)

That happened one time before in the West. I think it was the year the Oilers made the finals as an 8 seed against the 'Canes...2006.

I don't know if I can make it too late tonight, but I'll try to stay up to watch the end of the Sharks/Avs game. 3 OTs in a row. Crazy.

I don't know who the announcers are calling the game for Versus...but they aren't going to help keep me awake....ugh. :-)

Nice goal for Pavelski in O.T.

Craig Anderson stopped 94 of 96 shots in the last two games....he is the series MVP to this point.

I ended up getting tickets last minute to the Wings game last night (pays to still be a student :-)). The atmosphere was totally different at the Joe last night than it was on Sunday for game 3. The crowd was into the game from before the first drop of the puck and never settled down the whole game. And the Wings took it to the 'Yotes, especially Jimmy Howard. He made some great saves and looked like a different goalie out there. I hope he can continue playing like he did last night. Plus a big key was the defense. They made it tough for the Yotes to even come into the offensive zone. Doan will probably be back for a huge game 5 in Phoenix.

I couldn't believe the score of the Hawks game, Pops. Never would have thought Nashville would be able to take it to them like this. History is not very good to the Hawks when they lose 2 of the first 3 games. They are 8-18 after losing 2/3. Although the series against Vancouver they were down 2-1 and ended up winning 3 straight to take the series so anything can happen. This is the first time in Nashville history they are up in a series with 2 wins. We will see what happens..

Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn!
So lets see the series so far in the west has gone 1-1, 2-1, 2-2 the wings were down 1-2 and battled back. I think its a little early for any gloom and doom posts regarding any team. Just like the last time when you posted some speculation and were proved wrong. Dont worry about old stats as they reflect teams that are different with different players. Some of the players from the past teams you are discussing are friggin dead I believe, but hey whatever.

Same thing I have been telling you all year. The crest on the front doesnt change, the players do and past teams success dont mean current success. Hence the Wings troubles this year. Also demonstrated by your series with the Yotes being dead even and the Yotes having home ice advantage. They dont have a good playoff history but are doing just fine against a team with an amazing history of playoff success and have a good chance to win the series. Why is that? Because the players on the teams not the crest on the front are ancient history. This is not the the wings of mid 2000s this is 2010 and many of those guys are gone.

That said I am starting to have a few concearns about the Hawks.
The key games in a series are listed as 3 and 5. All three of our teams have lost game 3. Just as the Wings and Sharks bounced back so can the Hawks and I think they will.

As to the crowd at the Joe never settling down. No really, you lead the whole game and they never settled down? Where as the game you lost and trailed a fair amount they were quiet?

On the Sharks. Nice to see Pavs come up clutch AGAIN! Nabby had a good game. Avs definetly stood up more to the Sharks and didnt get pushed around as much. Will make games 5-6 and possibly 7 very interesting. This series I think just might go the distance. I think the Wings Yotes may also go the distance. Both series the momentum keeps going back and forth. Its a chess match.

Have faith Tom.

I agree with this: But I wanted to point out the Devils have only won one series when they have been down 3-1. It was against the Flyers. Waaaaaay back in 2000. The same goalies are playing in this series as in 2000. Where is the "biting fingernails" smiley?

Now that Gagne and Carter are out for game 5, I sure hope the Flyers can finish this off quickly. And regardless if they do or not, I hope one or both of them can make it back without missing too much time.

It is interesting how history has a way of repeating itself. However, we keep playing the game to see who the better team is on that particular night. Regarding the Hawks vs Preds; I posted historic stats in both directions. Never did I say this is how it's going to happen.

This is a interesting topic considering you go on about how the Sharks continually take a dive in the postseason. Past 4 years Sharks get over 100 points and all 4 years they tank in the playoffs. Seems like that logo may mean something. NHL players have been polled and found that the Wings are the most respected team in the NHL, and they also have the best coach (ESPNthemagazine). There is more to winning than just the players. Coaches, front office, and yes even the logo helps all of this.

On another point you continually bring up how poorly the wings played this season and that the salary cap would finally hit the Wings. 9 players out at 1 point due to injuries and growing pains of a Rookie goalie led to a big part of why the Wings suffered through the first part of the season. After the Olympic break you are presented with the hottest team in the NHL and pretty much healthy roster. Another point about that roster is most of the core players came through our system, not through FA.

My fault for not being specific enough. The place was not only electric during the game but from before the puck dropped you could feel a difference. People were excited and ready to cheer on the Wings last night. On Sunday it was like everyone was in a lull before the game even started, and then the Coyotes score early leading to a bad loss. Obviously the crowd is going to be into it when the home team is winning. The attitude of the fans was just way different from Sunday. Sunday home ice didn't make a difference, yesterday it definitely did.

I don't see the Wings losing another game this series. I think they finally got the message after the way they played in the past 2 games. We know you don't care but historically the Wings have played poorly in the first round. I am no means an expert, but I'm willing to keep making observations and give my thoughts. Based on what I've seen, the Wings win in 6. If I was always right, I wouldn't be sitting here. I'd be on my yacht somewhere in the Mediterranean, smoking 1492's, drinking Louis XIII Cognac, wearing a lions mane, and having women feed me. Unfortunately I'm not right on everything and I have to make it through life by other means.

I'm wondering if most of your comments just come from hating the Wings so much :-)