The Caps are scoring big against some weak teams (Car and a depleted NJ) but I'm not sure how they will fair agains some of the better teams in the league. Their game against SJ will be a test to see if their one line will be able to handle a great team. They will win the SE again, but that isn't really saying much (no offense to the SE but it's not very competitive).
I am not seeing what you are saying. The Capitals have 10 W's. 3 against SE teams. Two of those against Carolina who are currently 8th in the east. They have beaten both Pittsburgh and New York Rangers. They are 4-2-0 against the west.
I would expect that the Pens and Habs will pull away from the crowd by the end of the year.
The Pens are playing great right now, and once Gonch and Whits come back they wont need to score 5 goals a game to win, but they still will.
The Habs have been shaky this past week. I watch the game last night and they were something like 0 for 10 on the PP, which clearly will change. Once the PP starts clicking they will start winning again (I know they won in a shootout but with 10 PPs they should have scored more then 2 goals against St. Louis).
The Rangers are still living off their early wins when Voros was the leagues leading scorer. They will only go as far as The King will take them, which is pretty far but he isn't a miracle worker.
Like the Rags, the Bruins are living off Thomas' heroics. If he stumbles the B's will lose out on some much needed points.
The Caps are scoring big against some weak teams (Car and a depleted NJ) but I'm not sure how they will fair agains some of the better teams in the league. Their game against SJ will be a test to see if their one line will be able to handle a great team. They will win the SE again, but that isn't really saying much (no offense to the SE but it's not very competitive).
Teams they have beat outside the SE
Chicago
Vancouver
Pittsburgh
Dallas
Nashville
Newyork
New Jersey
7 of their 10 wins have come outside the division.
I am not seeing what you are saying. The Capitals have 10 W's. 3 against SE teams. Two of those against Carolina who are currently 8th in the east. They have beaten both Pittsburgh and New York Rangers. They are 4-2-0 against the west.
I didn't say 'winning' I said 'scoring big' meaning the recent 5 goal games against Car and NJ. My point was that I don't think that they will continue to put up lots of goals against better defensive teams.
Also, I'm not taking anything away from the wins they have gotten, I'm just making a prediction for the season.
I didn't say 'winning' I said 'scoring big' meaning the recent 5 goal games against Car and NJ. My point was that I don't think that they will continue to put up lots of goals against better defensive teams.
Also, I'm not taking anything away from the wins they have gotten, I'm just making a prediction for the season.
Is Vancouver as solid defensive team? We took off the 3rd period, and put up 5 on them. We put up 6 on Dallas. The more you talk, the bigger you dig your hole. You should just stop while you can.
I hate to generalize, but a lot of Penguin fans are insufferable in their homerism.
It's not just the Penguins, it's every team. It's just that the more fans that a team has on here, the higher chances are that there's morons. There's a lot of pens fans on here, so there's a higher chance for there to be some morons mixed in.
The Rangers are still living off their early wins when Voros was the leagues leading scorer. They will only go as far as The King will take them, which is pretty far but he isn't a miracle worker.
Like the Rags, the Bruins are living off Thomas' heroics. If he stumbles the B's will lose out on some much needed points.
Lundqvist, being the best goalie in the league, can take them as far as he wants to. They also have plenty of scorers, but are horrible defensively with overpaid stiffs like Roszival and Redden. If they can fix their defense, they're going straight to the cup.
As for living off Thomas's heroics, this is completely false. What about Manny's heroics then ? He is 13th in save pct and GAA, with only one loss in 6 games started.
This great goaltending we have in Boston is a product of the system implanted by Claude Julien last year and great two-way playing by all of the Bruins players.
Is Vancouver as solid defensive team? We took off the 3rd period, and put up 5 on them. We put up 6 on Dallas. The more you talk, the bigger you dig your hole. You should just stop while you can.
When Was played Van they're goals against was pretty shaky. In October they let up 4+ goals 6 times in 11 games. I'm not saying Van is a bad defensive team, I'm saying at they time they were letting in a lot of goals. In fact they have not allowed 4 or more goals yet this month, so they are clearly better defensively then they were in the 3rd game of the season.
Also, this is a prediction for the season not a review of their 17 games so far, so you can stop bringing up every win they've had to date.
Last edited by Ragamuffin Gunner: 11-17-2008 at 12:05 PM.
Misleading. Not only are the NYR living off their early wins like somebody previously mentioned, they played 20 games while everyone else has played 16 or 17. Even the games up and that changes the standings considerably.
Honestly, I think Montreal is the most skilled team there, and if they can play to their potential, should win the East, with the Rangers a close second in points.
As for living off Thomas's heroics, this is completely false. What about Manny's heroics then ? He is 13th in save pct and GAA, with only one loss in 6 games started.
This great goaltending we have in Boston is a product of the system implanted by Claude Julien last year and great two-way playing by all of the Bruins players.
Manny has played well so maybe i should have said 'goaltending heroics' instead of 'Thomas' heroics'.
However, Thomas has 3 wins when the B's have scored 1 goal (two 1-0 wins and a 2-1 SO win), which is pretty ridiculous. 9 out of 10 times you don't get two points when only scoring 1 goal. Without those 3 games they are tied with Toronto with 18 Pts.
Honestly, I think Montreal is the most skilled team there, and if they can play to their potential, should win the East, with the Rangers a close second in points.
I don't see any way the Rangers finish ahead of the pens barring major injuries. The Rags are playing at their potential right now. The pens are missing 2 of their top dmen and are just starting to mesh. If Jordan Staal can score 25+ goals this year the pens will be first in the conference.
Lundqvist, being the best goalie in the league, can take them as far as he wants to. They also have plenty of scorers, but are horrible defensively with overpaid stiffs like Roszival and Redden. If they can fix their defense, they're going straight to the cup.
Have you actually watched the Rangers? They are one of the better defensive teams in the league, 3rd overall in fact in GAA with 2.15 per game. And they are currently 2nd best on the penalty kill.
The Rangers have been a good defensive team the last 2 years. Yes, it's part system and part Lundqvist, but the defenseman have a huge say in it as well. Rosy's struggles this year have been mostly on the PP. In the defensive zone he's been pretty good. And Redden has been steady if not spectacular. Mara is playing much more physical than last year and Kalinin has been pretty good overall.
Staal and Girardi are really the top 2 defenders for the Rangers. They are both playing very well right now.
The only thing that needs fixing on the Rangers is the power play.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skybax
Misleading. Not only are the NYR living off their early wins like somebody previously mentioned, they played 20 games while everyone else has played 16 or 17. Even the games up and that changes the standings considerably.
I wouldn't say it's misleading. The Rangers have 4 more points (or more) than any other team in the eastern conference. If every team were to win all of their games in hand, no team would finish more than 2 points ahead of the Rangers. And honestly, how many of those teams are going to win their next 3 or 4 in a row?
Pittsburgh and Boston would have to go at least 2-0-1 in their next 3 (Rangers currently hold head-to-head tie breakers against both) to pass the Rangers.
Montreal would have to go at least 3-0-1. And Washington would have to go 3-0 (They hold head-to-head tie breaker over the Rangers, but first tie breaker is total wins).
So the fact that the Rangers have played more games is moot.
not sure about this pens 'pulling away stuff'. not sold at all by their depth up front beyond the big 3. the caps are good but theo sucks and johnston will not be able to carry them forever. the rags are solid and deep - and have hank in net. the habs probably have the most depth and skill up front but are playing like they think they've already won the cup. buffalo also another talented team has been up and down and i don't like their D at all. and the B's whom i absolutely hate, get my props today. i didn't think they would be able to break out of fulien's trapping system but they have. they are a well coached team with some good kids. problem is what happens when thomas comes back down to earth, which he will,ference's broken tibia and ryder continues to slump?
I agree....the season has ups and downs for all teams....and MTL may be getting theirs earlier than expected. Maybe its the pressure cooker they created for themselves or what but they will right the ship soon I am sure.
Boston stole their MOJO! I have seen Boston get alot of praise or recognition lately but I will ty to remain grounded because we are due especially since we play so much this week. That team looked burned out sat night.
Buffalo, Washington & NYR are very solid teams and at this point there is nothing saying they will fall.
Agreed, Habs also had a slump in November last year when we lost big time to Carolina, NJ, Dallas etc. The team got out of it by December and finished 30-12-6.
What's frustrating for Habs fans is that the team isn't playing the way they are capable...they are trying too much for the perfect play. Last year they were being aggressive like crazy, drawing penalties and capitalizing on them. This year, they are playing passive, waiting for the puck and not working hard. However, they are still 10-4-2 with their horrible play and if they get out of it, which I sure hope they do, they should win a lot more games than they lose.
I love the fact even though the Rangers are in first place they are being given no chance by most to at least win their division. The Rangers play there best when they don't have these lofty expectations.
Rangers have a great shot this year I think, one of the best from the East. I'd say if they made the finals I'd give them the best shot at winning it all. Though that's assuming a strong team wins the West, if a weak team finds it's way then obviously it's more up in the air.
I love the fact even though the Rangers are in first place they are being given no chance by most to at least win their division. The Rangers play there best when they don't have these lofty expectations.
The fact the penguins are doing just as good without their top 2 dmen minutes wise is a good reason. And the fact that they have came back to earth from a good start bolstered by beating up on TAmpa as well.
Sat, Mar 14 Carolina 7:00 PM
Mon, Mar 16 @ Atlanta 7:00 PM
Tue, Mar 17 @ Florida 7:30 PM
Thu, Mar 19 @ Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Sat, Mar 21 @ Carolina 7:00 PM
Tue, Mar 24 @ Toronto 7:00 PM
Fri, Mar 27 Tampa Bay 7:00 PM
Wed, Apr 1 NY Islanders 7:00 PM
Fri, Apr 3 Buffalo 7:00 PM
Sun, Apr 5 Atlanta 3:00 PM
Tue, Apr 7 @ Atlanta 7:00 PM
Thu, Apr 9 @ Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Sat, Apr 11 @ Florida 7:00 PM
Once again, the Caps get most of their SE division games at the end of the season. Does any team have a better schedule over the last month than the Caps?
If the Caps are among the top three EC teams with a month to go, I suspect they win the conference due to their their schedule.
I honestly think Philly has a chance to win the division if they get their act together and start beating the Pens and Rags. I'm not just saying this because I'm from Philly but our 3 lines can each put up their share of goals. I'm not saying the Flyers will pull away from the pack. I'm sayng the exact opposite, it will be a tight battle til the end and as I said if we start beating pit and nyc we just may have what it takes to do it.
