Rocker wrote:
State of the series in a sentence: Good wins on home ice have given us a nice lead, but heading into Devils territory; I expect a lot more physical play where a breakaway could determine the final outcome. (News at 11)
Yep.
I don't know what it is...but this is the THIRD year now, where our "Big Game" guys (Killorn and TJ) start to play. I was wondering coming in, if this was a fluke or coincidence. I think we can call it a trend now.
We NEED one win in NJ. We held serve. That's it. It'll be interesting to see how we come out for game 3.
For some reason, NJ has been late to the dance, thus far. They get down big and THEN remember that they're a good team. The experience factor is really showing. It helps that Hall and Hirschier are young and inexperienced. When the other team's best players are in that position, you have a BIG advantage.
The OTHER trend that TB has displayed over the last 3 years, is the ability to win on the road, in the playoffs. We'll see if that trend continues.
I fully expect NJ to win game 3. Probably a close one. NJ is too damn good to get swept. And I expect TB to come out like their balls are on fire for game 4. The one thing we've ALL seen over the years, is that this team gets soft when things are going well and play their asses off when their backs are against the wall.
The bottom line is that NJ has to win 4 out of 5 against the Bolts. That's just not gonna happen. The only question is how many games this goes.
Honestly...I've heard the "experts" talk about how the regular season series' really don't mean much. The PIT experience a couple of years ago should've made me a believer...but I really doubted it.
It's completely true.
Anyone else notice that BOS is taking TOR apart in their series? They (BOS) looks really good right now. It helps that TOR has no defense but still...
God help us if Ericksson gets traded to TOR in a couple of months. As I stated a few months ago...they are a legit defenseman (or 2) away from being legit Cup contenders.
