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I think both teams are good enough to win. I'll bet it goes 7.

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it's kind of a shame that the new format requires these teams to meet in the 2nd round

these are clearly the 2 best teams in the east :shrug

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Oh they're definitely both good enough. And it probably will.

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big :thumbsup to this

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I kind of like divisional playoffs but yeah these two teams are clearly the best of the four. It would've been fun to do it in round 3. Plus they're gonna kill each other making it easier for whoever comes out of the other series.

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Looking at the calendar I really hope game 6 or 7 is not the night of 5/7. That's too soon right?

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yup..oh well, should be fun either way...good luck, bud (but not too much)

:thumbsup

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Thanks all and yes it is our first!

Side note Lockman lost again?

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game 6 is lining up to be May 8th at the earliest right now i believe

that's if the series starts this thursday, which is April 28th

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Agree with this wholeheartedly, though it certainly works to our advantage.

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Yes good luck to you too h2p. I hope so hard your team loses.

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I realize it is not entirely fair to the rest of the western conference but the Hawks/Blues series felt more like a conference final than a first round matchup to me.

Guess I am cheering Caps to win out now.

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as soon as the puck drops in game 1, you are the enemy and will be treated as such.

you planning on going to any games in the series?

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No I wish. Spur of the moment fun doesn't exist in my life much anymore :lol Unfortunately I work a job that requires me on weekends and during the week I have the kid a lot. Maybe if I lived closer I'd try to swing one. At least the beer is much cheaper at my house. So is the food. And it's better. :thumbsup

You gonna try to make one?

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Good luck to you Barbs! I'm rooting so hard against your team. Who doesn't love the playoffs?!

Pens have been killing it since HCMS took over, but the Caps have been great all year. This is Goliath v. Goliath. Let's all sit back and enjoy it.

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my theory is not to attend playoff games unless they're on the cheap somehow
need to save up for a SC Final game.

it's a borderline superstition.

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The Caps will need to play mistake free (or close to it) hockey to win the series. My prediction does paint a very optimistic view of their play which may or may not come to fruition. Pittsburg is really good and I expect them to capitalize on every mistake Washington makes. And the Caps have weaknesses and bad habits. If I were to refute my own argument of the Caps coming out on top, I’d say they are prone to the following and must do/avoid these:

- They can’t sleep in the first period vs the Pens. The last two months they have started slower and slower and love to give up the first goal. They can’t get down 0-2 after 1.
- They gotta hit the fricking net, especially form blue line. I thought they were terrible here vs Philly…too many shots missing and Pittsburg is too good at taking it the other way and will make the Caps pay bigtime here.
- As good as they can play in their own zone, they are prone to major breakdowns leaving guys wide open in the slot, chasing the puck, and not clearing rebounds. Obviously this would be a killer for them in this series as good as Pittsburg passes and shoots and at a key time…bad news.
- They take some stupid penalties. They have to play disciplined and come out on top in special teams.
- They gotta be better in the circle. On paper, Pittsburg looks much better here and Washington has a bad habit of losing key face offs. It’s going to be a long series for the Caps if they give up possession on every face off.
- They can’t settle for low percentage shots. This is another bad habit they have. They love to pad the other goalies stats with soft shots from bad angles. Just wasted zone time, one and done and combined with them missing the net will lead to the Pens breaking out cleanly from their zone.
- Don’t score on themselves. Seriously guys, Braden has to make a save or two vs. his own team seeming every other game.

For a Caps win, eliminate the above, put pucks on Murray, crash the net, score more goals. It’s that simple.

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john madden's key to winning:

- score more goals than the other team

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I almost pulled the trigger on tickets yesterday, but the cheapest were for $112 apiece for not incredible seats. I might try to see if I can snag a cheapie on game day. I really do want to go to one of these Pens-Caps games, but I'm saving up for a wedding! (:eek)

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I got a pair to the rangers/caps 2012(2013?) game that went 3 OTs through AMEX for like 1/2 price. They were about 10 rows off the ice, behind the net the rangers shot 2x at.

Fell asleep (drunk) between the 2nd OT INT and the start of the 3rd OT. woke up in time for the game winner.

:lol

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:) I'm a child of the Madden era for sure.

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i'm looking into it for sure. need the schedule to be released first though

:thumbsup

$112 isn't that bad at all just to get into the building

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I am shocked to hear so many people writing off Tampa. I am not sure you all realize how good that team is. I would not be at all surprised if they play for the Cup again.

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I definitely wouldn't sleep on them. Kucherov looked mighty impressive. And apparently Stamkos practiced today! They are under the radar because they don't appear to be a juggernaut like the Pens or Caps, they have two stars injured, and their first round opponent was an inferior Wings team (sorry Tim!)

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Ruh-roh. stamkos practiced today, full line rushes and everything. No timetable for his return but it is starting to look like he might make an appearance this series.

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What about Orpik coming back? Would be huge.

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It's definitely not smart to write them off. As long as Bishop does his thing Tampa can play with anyone. He was one of the best goalies all year and he's been great in the playoffs.

Nearly all of these players were on the team last year and have playoff experience. Stralman should be back for this series and Stamkos was on the ice this morning taking one-timers, he said he feels good enough to play and its just a matter of getting off the blood thinners.

The Kucherov Johnson Killorn line has been tremendous and Drouin has really been a great addition in Stamkos' absence, especially on the PP. I think they'll beat the Islanders in 6.

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I did not know until yesterday that Madden didn't envision that to be a video game, his mindset was to use it as a coaching tool.

Agreed, no way anyone can write the Bolts off at all. I sympathize with Stamkos, blood thinners suck - been there, done that - every damn little scratch that even breaks the skin bleeds until you bandage and tape it enough to stop the bleeding.

Caps v Bolts would be a fun final to watch.

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While it sucks to get knocked out so early it will be relatively nice to watch the remaining games with no bias. Hawks and Rangers are the two teams I cheer for - Hawks first clearly but I do like NY due to how close I am to NYC and how many friends I have who cheer for them. All that said I hope the Caps finally get a cup so I will be cheering for them from here on out.

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For me being a fan of both teams, it would be amazing and a heart attack at the same time. I'd just have a hard time figuring out which shirt to wear if I went to one of the games. :lol