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2014-2015 NHL Regular Season Thread

#321
Man, last night was a heck of a game to see. We had Peks play like Superman, and Filip Forsberg set the franchise rookie scoring record. The only rookie to come close to his pace was Craig Smith two years ago. And Smith eventually fizzled out.
 
#322
Getting hard to be a Wild fan right now. There's the obvious goalie issue, but they also seem to be making one too many passes or moves before they take a shot. I wish they'd shoot more. A little size on the D wouldn't hurt either.

I know they have a plan, and they've been sick, but man, 2 wins in the last 9 games or something like that. Ugh.
 
#326
Another Rangers win. Nash is large!
However, as hot as they've been...
THEY CAN'T MOVE UP IN THE STANDINGS!

Something like 10-2-0 in the last month of games and they've been 3rd or 4th in the division and 6th or 7th in the playoffs race the entire time!

Only closed two points on the Pens and Isles during that time.
We need some Caps losses too.

Kings and Sharks this week on a west coast swing, then back for some conference games. Hope they can keep the momentum and start closing ground on the leaders.
 
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#327
Bruins won in OT 3-2. It was a much bigger game to the B's who finally got back into the playoff picture (with help from the imploding Leafs). I don't remember seeing a game with more pucks ringing the posts - a couple of those go in and it is a 5-3 Pens victory. That was one of Tuukka's better games, the rest of the team played with a bit more urgency, but still is not where it needs to be.

Julien shook up the lines and shortened his bench last night, both things that he very rarely does. It will be interesting to see how they come out against New Jersey tonight. I don't think Tuukka will be in goal - the shots that didn't hit the posts, tended to hit him in the mask or shoulder. Even with the equipment they wear, that still has to hurt.
 
#328
RANGERS! Dang this team is red hot!
Character win too. Falling behind the the Kings early is usually disasterous. Plugging away and getting their best 20 minutes of the season at a critical time. Kevin Klein with 8 goals now vs 9 for his career prior to this season. Amazing. What a good fit.

Then, bad time for Nash to take a penalty, Kings swarm all over Talbot, but they hold on for a season-defining win.
 
#331
Bruins - this team is warming up nicely. While the Pens win was the result of a good effort combined with about a weeks worth of puck luck, the win over the Devils last night on the second night of a back-to-back with travel represented a solid 55 minute effort resulting in a tidy 3-0 (with empty netter) win. The B's outshot, outworked and outskated the Devils.

Julien continues to shake up the lines and it looks like some of the new combinations are working. He has found time for rookie David Pastrnak in place of injured Loui Eriksson. When Eriksson comes back, I think they will keep Pastrnak here. Three good tests coming up - the always physical Philly Phlyers; then the Conference-leading Lighting followed by the Rock and Rolling Rangers.
 
#336
Flames looked the worse I've seen them last night losing 5-4 to the Panthers. Totally flat, even Goudreau and Giordano looked out of sync. Colborne and Byron looked good, and Backlund got his 3rd point in the 2 games he's been back from an injury after being out most of the season. Doesn't bode well for their 1st road game of 5 in Vancouver tonight.
 
#339
dangnewt said:
The B's let two prolific scorers (three if you count Thornton) go, it remains to be seen if any of them turn out to be studs that can lead a team to a championship.

Therefore, plenty of Bruin fans (including me) are basically OK with both transactions with the caveat that Loui Eriksson hasn't yet played as well as could have been expected (I remain hopeful that he'll return to being a 20+ goal scorer again). Remember that the Kessel trade gave the B's the draft pick that turned into Dougie Hamilton. So it was Kessel for Hamilton (stud puck-moving top pairing D), Erickson (former and perhaps future 20 goal scorer) and Smith (young 20 goal scorer). Letting Kessel go also gave the B's the cap space that let them put together the championship team.

The Bruins' thought process was that Kessel and Seguin are similar to Joe Thornton - great players, gifted scorers, but not someone that could lead you to a championship. The difference between Seguin and Kessel/Thornton is that Seguin was a bit of a problem child as well in Boston (missing meetings, general lack of maturity). The Bruins won a Stanley Cup without Kessel (and with a nice contribution from a 19 year old Seguin) and they lost the Finals without Kessel but with Seguin playing well in the regular season but disappearing (1 goal 7 assists in 22 games) in the playoffs. B's fans will only start to feel bad about the trade if Toronto and Dallas start making regular deep runs at the Stanley Cup and the Bruins stop. Well, we start to feel a little bad about when the B's go into scoring slumps, but then we snap out of it after a couple of wins.

Toronto is doing well so far this year, but Dallas is probably not going to the playoffs. The B's, even with the injuries, are likely to make it, but this year has early exit written all over it.

I enjoy watching Kessel and Seguin shoot and score as much as the next guy (except when playing Boston) and I hope that Seguin accelerates his maturity process and maximizes the talent that he obviously has. But, I think the B's will hoist the Cup again before Kessel/Seguin/Thornton does.
Click to expand...
I thought the Kaberle trade sort of made up for the Kessel deal. We'll have to wait and see how Joe Morrow, Matt Fraser and Reilly Smith turn out before deciding who won out on that trade. Looks as if Rich Peverley's best days are behind him.
 
#340
I watched the ceremony to honor Teemu Selanne Sunday night. That was cool. I sure miss that guy, and it felt to me like he really misses Anaheim too. Nice comeback behind the next NHL superstar, Rickard Rackell. :D

-Mike
 

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