Perhaps some can test Bill Berg's theory of getting up by kicking him in the balls to see how he reacts.

The Flyers win 6-3 Woo-Hoo! The scenario was similar to game one where the Flyers took a 4-2 lead into the third period. But unlike game one, good forechecking plus a penalty shot in the waning minutes allowed the Flyers to take this one. Mike Richards penalty shot was a thing of beauty as he faked Huet and chipped it in the five-hole. It was needed too because the Capitals got to within one goal with 4 minutes left.

One big reason the Flyers had some difficulty in the third period was losing Kimmo Timonen, who hurt his arm or shoulder after being knocked into the net by a Caps player. Derian Hatcher was playing his first game in a month, coming back from a fractured tibia and still having issues with his knee, and ended up with a lot more playing time because of the Timonen injury. Timonen has been crucial in shutting down Ovechkin.

Speaking of which, what a disappointment to see Ovechkin take a dive in the third period. Shame the blind mice in stripes didn't call it, but even more shame on Ovechkin. We expect dives from the contact-hating whiner Sidney Crosby, not Ovechkin.

Montreal has Boston on the brink of elimination now. Game 3 was not only the first time Boston beat Montreal this season (8 regular season and 2 playoff games), it was the first time the Bruins even had a lead against the Canadiens.

Huet looks shaky to me in the playoffs for the Caps, while Biron has really stepped up his game. Caps were just totally frustrated and dominated by the Flyers forecheck all night long...meanwhile I see where Joe Thornton saved the game for the Sharks in Calgary last night, and got his first goal of the playoffs, which is surprising, as that series is all tied heading back to S.J. Looking forward to the rematch of the Rangers/Devils this evening....I hear that the Wild/Avs game have been dominated by fights. I haven't seen to much of their contests, but will be seeking them out.

The Flyers have outplayed the Caps in 8 out of 9 periods. If not for that horrendous third period in game one they'd be looking at a possible sweep tomorrow night.

San Jose outshot Calgary last night 32-10! They allowed TEN shots and nearly lost! They trailed until Cheechoo's tying goal at 15:06 and Thornton's game-winner with 10 seconds left. After what happened in game 3, the Sharks were looking at a major choke job.

The Avs-Wild fighting didn't start until after Colorado opened up a 4-0 lead in the second period on the way to a 3-2...um, oops, sorry, force of habit, 5-1 win.

And Dallas laid an egg after their two wins in Anaheim.

Three more road teams won last night. For the entire playoffs it's now 14-13 for the home team.

Edit to add: Good news: Kimmo Timonen says he'll play tomorrow...

The East is closing in on being set for the next round. Pittsburgh has put Team Turmoil out of its misery in a 4-game sweep and the Rangers won at home to take a 3-1 lead over the Devils. That series goes back to the Rangers' other home rink for game 5.

Great win by Nashville to tie their series with Detroit at 2-2. The Predators continue to surprise.

Surprise?!


Great to hear about Kimmo. With your Flyers seemingly being Nashville North, I've been converted to the darkside... definitely pulling for you guys (it wouldn't sound right to say "y'all" about a team from Philly for some reason haha).

Way to go with some home cooking Nashville. Obviously they are going to need to find a way to win in Detroit...they did seem somewhat intimidated in the first two games there which is understandable. Not an easy buidling to play or win in.

I don't think they look intimidated at all. This is a building we play in 4 times a year (fortunately this year more than that)... and I just look to Ellis as the prime example of this. His play in Game One was good. If the calls that should have gone our way had went our way, who knows where this series would be... especially the disallowed goal just into the start of Game Two. That would have changed everything about that game. That being said, we battled back and did what we had to do in Three and Four.

Game Five... you gotta figure Babcock comes back with Osgood. The Predators have figured out Hasek this playoff series and have really gotten into his head. The similiarities between this series and the 2004 series are SO striking. Detroit takes One and Two... come back to Nashville and Nashville takes the two there, including chasing Manny Legace in favor of Curtis Joseph in Game Four. Joseph led the rest of the way, sending Detroit forward in six. Will that happen again? Obviously impossible to say... but I don't see this Nashville team being as spent as the one in '04 was once the series came back to Nashville. They had nothing left. Winning Game Five in Detroit (obviously) would help things a lot...

Flyers and Caps in double-overtime (first multi-OT of the playoffs)...Boston scored 4 in the third period at Montreal to stay alive...Dallas is now up 3-1 on the defending Cup champs!

Update: Flyers win on a Mike Knuble goal in double-OT! They now lead 3-1 in the series.

Wow that determination really paid off. The Flyers actually seemed stronger in the second overtime. There certainly was non-stop action in both OTs. Biron did a good job after giving up two in the first period.

Colorado gets another 3-2 win at Minnesota (but not in OT and it was only 3-2 because the Wild scored with 3 seconds left) and lead their series 3-2.

2 more road team wins makes the tally 18-16 for the home team pending the Calgary-San Jose game.

The Flyers/Caps get togther was wildly entertaining. I am not counting out the Caps just yet. They have been coming back all season, and I expect another hell of a game on Saturday at Verizon Center. But its very hard to win games when your in the penalty box all night long too. Two two many men on the ice penalties????. Thats just stupid Washington!! The Referees were calling EVERYTHING. I disgareed with the call that went against the Cap player who inadvertently crashed into Biron, as it looked to me like he was pushed into (and almost tripped) into the goalie by the Flyer player.....Biron was spectacular but Huet had just a scintillating save when it looked like another Flyer goal, were it not for his catching glove which caught the puck as it flew towards the net. That one will or should be on the highlight reels.

Definitely agree. The Flyers seemed to kick it up in the second OT. The pace of the OTs was breathtaking.

Interesting that some of the hockey "experts" are still downplaying the Flyers

That's all.

Well, no, I'll add that Dan Ellis is freaking amazing. Hopefully we can take Game 6 and see what happens back in Detroit for 7.

It's an easy temptation for the "experts" to downplay the Flyers. Part of it (on the national level) is the bias towards Ovechkin. And the Flyers were really inconsistent this year. I'd like to think they've now turned it on for good, though.

The Rangers held on to beat the Devils and win their series in 5. I thought the series would be closer. They will be a tough opponent for whichever team they get next.

The Predators were outshot 53-20 through 3 periods yet a last-minute goal tied the game at 1, but the Red Wings won less than 2 minutes into OT and lead the series 3-2. This is the only series where the home team has won every game, which bodes well for Nashville in game 6...but not for a game 7.

The Preds again, came close but no cigar at Detroit...history is not on their side as far as getting wins at the Joe. They may just get one more chance. I will be looking for desperation play from Washington this morning on the NBC game. And who knows what to expect from Boston later on...

Or anywhere not named Nashville in the playoffs (0-10)... though, you could argue that those numbers suggest that they HAVE to win at some point on the road... hopefully we get another shot this playoff year.

The Caps hung on just barely long enough to escape defeat today. Kind of got the feeling if there was more time the Flyers would have tied, as they got stronger by the period. I would be rather shocked if the Flyers don't win the next game at home though. I just don't know how much more in the tank the Caps have left. We'll see. Meanwhile looking forward to seeing if the Bruins can get some more home cooking going. And then tomorrow, its back at Nashville to see if the Preds can go to game 7.

With the Habs and Bruins playing again this evening - it reminded me of a post I was going to do earlier in the week - but then got sidetracked. I know the NBC ratings - so far have not been very good down there and even up here in Canada - with no Leafs again and this time no Canucks in the 2nd largest English language market around, the ratings have hovered around the 1 million mark for games including Canadian teams Ottawa and Calgary.

But for the Montreal - Boston game last Saturday - the CBC drew a very respectable 1.55 million on the English language network and over on the French language RDS Cable network - they set an all time record - for any event ever in the history of that network - with over 1.75 million viewers. Add those two numbers together and that is a whopping 3.3 million+ for the game last Saturday.

Bad news... Jason Arnott is doubtful for tomorrow's game. Hopefully this is just gamesmanship, but apparently he visited a doctor this afternoon to see what's wrong with him. He came down with terrible food poisoningesque issues just before the game yesterday... and there's concern it might be related to the hit he took after tying the game up in game four (post-concussion syndrome...). Hopefully he's okay...

That's what I read. I didn't see the game except the last 2 minutes because I was at softball practice. It's a shame that the Flyers didn't come out early more desperate, as the Caps apparently did. Then again, if they didn't fall apart in the 3rd period of game 1 they wouldn't have played today.

Philly.com reports that Mike Knuble won't play in the rest of the series:

Tremendous credit to Boston for forcing a game 7 vs. Montreal. Crazy third period! It was 2-2, Montreal scores at 10:04, Boston ties it as 12:13 and takes the lead at 15:45, only to see Montreal score 11 seconds later! Marco Sturm got the game-winner at 17:23.

Colorado has just eliminated Minnesota in 6 games. Marian Gaborik didn't have a point in the entire series until he got an assist tonight. I'm a little surprised, though they were only separated by 3 points in the standings.

Sunday: Detroit tries to finish off Nashville, Dallas tries (again) to finish off Anaheim and San Jose tries to finish off Calgary.

A team owned by Craig Leipold eliminated in the first round?! Shocking!

The Boston/Canadiens game was just completely INSANE!!! I was just losing it, every time a team scored. It was end to end and total back and forth action played at warp 9 speed. Boston just won't give in or up, but the Habs have got to be heavily favored to take this series at home. But, Boston has showed tremendous heart and Kessel is flyin...Former Tri-City Americans goalie Carey Price has not been what you would call spectacular of late...

Meanwhile another Minnesota exit. If I am Lemaire, I am goin gto try to get some more offense for next years version of the Wild. Still a very defensive minded club, remind me some of the Devils, but too bad they are over and done with.

Today I would expect a home win for the Preds as goes the series history between the two. And Calgary/San Jose should be something as well...

Indeed that was a wild third period in Boston last night. Montreal's 8-0 regular season record over the Bruins is starting to look less and less significant, although I'm confident they will pull through and be the only Canadian team to advance to the next round (well, maybe a certain other team will make it too, I can always hope! ) There was an interesting story on CBC television a few days ago about Carey Price, unfortunately I can't find a link. Price grew up in a tiny isolated community in BC, about as far away as you can get from the hustle and bustle of Montreal. The nearest hockey teams were more than 300 km away, but his dedicated father drove Carey back and forth three times a week for games and practices (I guess his dad had a lot of spare time on his hands). When this became too burdensome, he started flying his son to the games in a four-seater plane. I also didn't know that Carey is part-aboriginal, and in fact his mom is chief of the nearby First Nations reserve, and they are quite proud of their local hero.

Meanwhile, Detroit is leading Nashville 1-0...

Thats really interesting about Price Marc. Didn't know his background other than he used to be with my arch rival Tri-City Americans. He hasn't looked that sharp the past couple of games. If the Habs don't get their pp going, it may well go the Bruins way. Meanwhile it didn't look good for Nashville, as last I heard it was 2-0 Wings. They just didn't have much jump in this game IMO, with a few exceptions in the 3rd. Don't know if they're tired or bad ice or both..they gave it a good shot, but it just wasn't meant to be..... Good luck to the remaining teams....

Good bye Nashville - Detroit was simply too strong - and when they start getting lucky bounces - like on their first goal today - you just knew midnight had come for the Cinderella Preds.

Wow... it's over. In some respects, I'm glad it's over. This season, starting back in late May '07 has just been one huge roller coaster (see Predators sold? thread)... and finally the ride has come to a stop. I'm so proud of our boys... they really gave it their all. Case in point, Scott Nichol broke his thumb in game one of the series. He was supposed to be out for up to 7 weeks. Instead, he missed one week. That sums up the Nashville Predators of '07-'08. Here's to next year!

Its also over for the defending Stanley Cup Champions Ducks as well. So much for the prediction by one of the pundits on Versus that Anaheim would repeat...meanwhile the Flames live on to play a game 7 in San Jose, which should be something, and this afternoon/evening will be REALLY looking forward to the get togther of the Habs/Bruins in Montreal. Will be watching to see if Price regains his composure...

Some pundits were smart enough to pick Dallas to beat Anaheim. Not to toot my own horn or anything.

I'm hoping for a Bruins upset. I would love to see the Pens and giant-killer Bruins face off in the next round.

No Bruins upset. Montreal moves on to the next round.

Meanwhile, the Flyers are in, to paraphrase Terry Murray from the '97 finals, another choking situation. After taking a 2-0 lead early in the second period they were completely outworked and outhustled by the Capitals, who tied the game late in the second, and then Alexander Ovechkin scored twice in the third. A disgraceful effort in the second and third periods.

They play game 7 tomorrow night in Washington. Martin Biron in the second game of back-to-back nights is 0-5 this year.

So much for the dertermination of game 4, tonight the Flyers were outworked after scoring their second goal and were basically on their heels the rest of the game. I certainly hope we don't see a repeat of the Flyers past, where they have lost a series twice after being up 3 games to 1.

I was juggling back and forth between TSN and CBC, since both games were on at exactly the same time; actually watched more of the Flyers-Capitals game since it was more interesting, with the lead changing hands. Looked like an Ocean of Orange at Wachovia tonight, rivalling the Saddledome's Sea of Red last night. If I've counted the predictions correctly at the start of this thread, I'm the only non-Philadelphia resident to pick the Flyers to win that series. Two 'game sevens' tomorrow night, in Washington and San Jose. According to CBC, historically home teams have a 77-44 edge in game 7 playoff wins (not sure if that includes the Montreal-Boston game tonight). A significant but not overwhelming edge, so let's hope the Flames (OK, the Flyers too ) can beat the odds on enemy ice.

I guess up here we won't have to endure any more of Don Cherry's un-Canadian rah-rah support for the Bruins, whom he coached a hundred years ago. But to Boston's credit, they made this series a lot tougher for Montreal than most fans expected, and I noticed the Bruins players showed a lot of respect and class towards Carey Price judging by the way most of them gave the young goalie an extra hug of congratulations during the post-game handshake tradition.

Whats kind of funny is that the Flyers/Caps game was listed as the game I would be watching on Versus, but come game time they opted for the Bruins/Habs, which was fine, at the beginning before the Canadians pulled away, and then I found out the Flyers/Caps was a major battle...Carey Price was the difference this time for the Habs. The first 10 minutes the Bruins were just flying around, taking shots everywhere. Montreal had lady luck on her side, that and Price who was more than solid. The Bruins could have easily had a 2 or 3 goal lead early, were it not for Price..

So the Flyers and Caps tonight in game 7. Wow. And the Sharks/Flames in another game 7. Wow. WOW! Should be an entertaining evening!!! Good luck to everyones teams.....

In the for what its worth category Mr. Melrose said on Sportscenter he likes Washington over the Flyers this evening and picked San Jose over Calgary although he didn't sound completely confident with that pick. We'll be watching to see what happens..of course!

Flyers-Caps was originally scheduled to be on Versus but they switched it when Boston forced game 7. It's almost always preferable to show a game 7 of a series over a game 6.

Since the national telecasts on Versus aren't yet exclusive to Versus, the game is blacked out locally in favor of the local broadcasts. So for the Flyers-Caps games not on NBC you had four different telecasts: the Flyers' Comcast Sportsnet Philadephia, the Caps' Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic, Versus and TSN. Must be crowded in the booth.

I'm amazed that so many fans locally are not only expecting a Flyers loss tonight, but many people seem to think it'll be a blowout on the order of the 7-1 Buffalo debacle two years ago. Anything's possible, but while they're really hot now, the Caps are still not really a playoff-tested team. I think I'll stick with what I predicted at the beginning: Flyers in 7.

WOW a miracle has happened, the FLYERS win in OT, after having been left for dead in the third period. Thanks to a Caps penalty in the OT period the Flyers finally found life after being outplayed in regulation. Biron practically stood on his head in the third to give his team on opportunity.

This Caps fan is bummed out. Nice goal by the Flyers in OT, but boy did we have our chances to win it.

Like I said, Flyers in 7. Never a doubt. If the Bruins-Canadiens game 7 was sort of a dud, this one was everything you want from a game 7. The Flyers had the last four minutes of the first period on the power play, including two full minutes of 5-on-3, and didn't score, and that was infuriating. But when the Caps totally dominated the third period but the game went to OT, I had a feeling the Flyers were going to win. Bring on the Canadiens!

From a political blog at Philly.com:

Congratulations to your Flyers, Joe. An exciting OT finish. Like you, I picked them to win in 7 games. Unfortunately it looks like I'm also going to be right in my pick for the San Jose-Calgary series. Your 'ex' has scored twice for San Jose! Although the Flames briefly held a 2-1 lead, the Sharks came back with a vengeance and were leading 5-2 at the end of two periods. The Flames have come back with a goal early in the third, but I don't think I'm gonna see a miracle comeback like we had in Game 3. However I'll stick it out to the end, it's been a good series....

Thanks, Marc. Sorry about the Flames, though I did pick the Sharks to win. And I picked 7 of 8 winners -- only the Colorado win was incorrect, but I didn't really underestimate them that much since I said they'd lose in 7.

I didn't know Jeremy Roenick was a game 6 scratch. Guess the rest did the old man good -- 2 goals and 2 assists.

Marc, I gotta think that if game 7 was in Calgary the Flames would have prevailed, of that I do not have much doubt. Your guys gave it there all...as for the Caps/Flyers, that was quite the game for sure. I got to think that one flukey goal the Flyers were awarded was the game changer, the one where the two Caps players, Huet and the other guy crashed into each other in net, was the difference....so the Flyers move on to play Montreal now, should be some series....

Montreal hooligans ruined the party in Montreal - setting fire to numerous police cars and damaging something like 10 buildings in their 'celebration' of the Game 7 victory. True Hab fans are so upset that they have been flooding the police with their own pictures and videos of the hooliganism in the hope that all of those responsibvle are arrested .Some Montreal fans were quoted has having removed the Canadiens flags from their cars - just so they are in no way associated with the hooligans. And another Habs fan was quoted on CBC last night as saying - 'If this is what is going to happen with any future series wins - we should just stop now and award the series to the other team.' How sad is that.
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/417240

On to better news - Hockey is ruling the TV ratings up here. The English Canada Top Ten sports ratings for this past weekend were:
# 1 - Saturday - Habs at Bruins - 1.68 million
# 2 - Sunday - Sharks at Flames - 1.485 million
# 3 - Saturday - Wild at Avalanche - 744,000
# 4 - Friday - Preds at Wings - 697,000
# 5 - Sunday - Wings at Preds - 674,000 (on CBC - does not include likely 200,000 or so watching NBC coverage)
# 6 - Friday - Stars at Ducks - 574,000
# 7 - Friday - Rangers at Devils - 433,000
# 8 - Sunday - Ducks at Stars - 355,000
# 9 - Saturday - Hockey Night in Canada pre-game show - 325,000
# 10 - Sunday - Blue Jays - Tigers 319,000

FYI - the Raptors Game 1 of the NBA playoffs drew only 218,000

And an update to the above - Monday's Game 7 Bruins at Habs set a new record on French language RDS with 2 million viewers, matching the 2 million watching in English on CBC for a total of 4 million - a number that rivals the Grey Cup or Super Bowl.

I absolutely think this is a wonderful idea. Let's start this policy with the conference semifinals!

Speaking of the Conference Semifinals the matchups are all set so its time for some predictions.
So with that I will choose:

Flyers over Canadiens in 7. I may regret this put just a gut feeling...

Pens/Rangers. I pick the Rangers in 7. Tough to pick IMO. I think the Rangers haven't been this motivated since '94, though.

Wings/Avs. Wings in 6....

and last but not least:

Sharks/Stars. I will pick the Sharks in 6.

Good luck to everybodies teams. Now, drop the puck!!!

I say:

Canadiens in 6
Red Wings in 5
Rangers in 6
Stars in 6.

Habs - 5
Rangers - 7
Wings - 6
Sharks - 6

Bucs, don't feel bad. You can watch the Flyers get smacked around by the Canadiens . Here are my predictions for the Eastern Conference Semis:

(6) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (1) Montreal Canadiens:

Both teams were up 3-1 in their respective quarterfinal matches before allowing their opponents to battle back. In Philadelphia's Game 7, the Caps took it to overtime. In Montreal's Game 7, they put the Bruins away. Philadelphia went 0-4 against the Canadiens this season. Prediction: Montreal in 6

(5) New York Rangers vs. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins dominated Ottawa in the first round by sweeping them; they outscored the Sens 16-5. The Rangers had to work a little harder, but they never really had to play in front of a hostile crowd. The Pens went 3-3-2 against their Atlantic Division rivals, but went 0-3 at MSG. Good thing the Pens have home-ice advantage. Prediction: Penguins in 6