Deadspin: stanley cup playoffs

Pens Fans Attempt to Distract Capitals With Funny Faces

KOGOD — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:00:00 EDT

The Penguins have evened the score with the Capitals at 2-2 in after two periods of play in Washington. In other news, this Pittsburgh fan seems to be quite taken with Washington's coach Bruce Boudreau.

And really, who could blame her?

Sidney Crosby got the scoring started five minutes into the first period with his fifth goal of the playoffs. The Capitals answered with a goal from the Dave Steckel before Alexander Ovechkin put them ahead with a goal off on a two-man advantage. Mark Eaton scored the equalizer midway through the second period, setting up what should be a dramatic finish over the final 20 minutes.

Thanks to reader Lawrence for the screen grab.

Update: Tomas Fleischmann just scored to give the Capitals a 3-2 edge in the early minutes of the third period.

Update II: The Update Returns: The Caps hung on to win 3-2. In about five minutes my entire neighborhood will be filled with red-clad people honking the horns of their SUV's in celebration on their way back to Northern Virginia.

ESPN Headline Writers Are Witty Rapscallions

Rick Chandler — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:00:10 EDT

Well isn't that special. But in ESPN's defense, there's probably not a whole lot you can do with news like this. [ESPN]

Your NHL Playoffs Are Ready

Dashiell Bennett — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:45:31 EDT

The matchups and schedule are set for the first round of the NHL playoffs. I hope your Versus subscription is up to date! [Puck Daddy]

Fortunately, Nobody Wants To Watch A Playoff Overtime

Leitch — Mon, 21 May 2007 11:30:43 EDT

As MJD pointed out yesterday, NBC, amazingly, cut away from the Senators-Sabres Game 5 overtime yesterday to show ... the first two hours of the Preakness prerace coverage. That's right: Rather than show the most exciting part of an entire hockey season, NBC chose to show Bob Costas interview people who, for once, are actually smaller than he is.

As you might expect, hockey fans are aghast — an excellent roundup of outrage can be found here — though those in Buffalo weren't switched, allowing their long-suffering fans to witness the end of their season. It was such an odd decision — previewing a horse race? — that some smell legitimate malfeasance. Regardless ... if you needed any more proof why we don't feel so horrible about not covering the NHL as fiercely as we cover other sports ... this is probably it.

NBC Dumps Out Of Hockey For The Preakness [Off Wing Opinion]
Bettman's Latest Debacle By Design [Out Of Left Field]
NBC Gives Sens' Win The Shaft [James Mirtle]

Pity The Poor Buffalo Fan

Leitch — Tue, 15 May 2007 12:00:43 EDT

Heading into the NHL playoffs, the subplot we were most excited about involved the Buffalo Sabres, a team with a long-suffering but rabid — we mean literally rabid; it's in the Buffalo drinking water — fanbase and a No. 1 seed. After they beat the Rangers, it all appeared to be coming together. At last, the city of Buffalo had a real chance at a championship, or at least another opportunity to fall apart in the title game/series.

Well, at this point, it's clear they're not even going to make it to that point, losing 1-0 to Ottawa last night to fall behind 3-0. It's not a happy time in Buffalo.

I'm sure we'll all be able to talk about what appeared to be a flat Buffalo Sabres team that took the ice tonight. The effort certainly seemed to be sporadic, and the power play continued to be awful. When you watch hockey on a regular basis, you come to realize that all those bounces that go to the winning team may seem lucky, but it's usually the result of out-working the opponent. Ottawa ended up with most of the loose pucks on their sticks tonight. Enough said.

Well, actually, some aren't even handling it that well.

And, at this point, if you haven't shown up for the first 3 games guys, don't show up for the 4th. Save everyone a little time and money and let us get back to our lives. I think I'll be madder at them if they actually win game 4 at this point than if they lose it.

Sorry, Sabres fans. At least you still get to live in Buffalo.

Beyond Horrible [Sabres Report]
Senators 1, Sabres 0 [Bfloblog]

NHL Stanley Cup Pants Party: Red Wings Vs. Ducks

Leitch — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:15:36 EDT

We have always found it amusing that Anaheim decided to take the positive modifier "Mighty" out of its name; we know they wanted to avoid the Disney context, but usually when there's a "Fighting" or a "Runnin'" in there, it's supposed to be a good thing. Now they are Ducks, simply Ducks.

Anyway, the Less-Than-Mighty Ducks kick off their Western Conference finals series tonight against the Red Wings, a franchise with no history of postseason success and a sedate, subdued, almost apathetic fan base. (After Buffalo's loss of home ice advantage last night, the Bfloblog is strangely quiet this morning.)

The Ducks are feeling confident, but the Red Wings are the Red Wings: They always think they're gonna win.

Again, no predictions from us, but over at James Mirtle's blog, they even have pie charts. Mmmm, pie.

Game 1 Vs. Anaheim [On The Wings]
Let The Game Begin [Ducks Blog]

NHL Stanley Cup Pants Party: Sabres Vs. Senators

Leitch — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:45:52 EDT

And here, you thought we were completely ignoring the NHL playoffs. To remind you: Canuck please!

The Eastern Conference Finals kick off tonight, with the Ottawa Senators facing the long-suffering but oh-so-close Buffalo Sabres. The gang at BfloBlog are awfully excited: "The anticipation for the game tonight probably could not be any greater. As I was sifting through the season history between these two teams, a very scary thought (for Ottawa) occurred to me: Ottawa has yet to play the Sabres team they will be facing tonight."

We will not pretend to have even close to the amount of expertise required to make a prediction on this series, but among the ESPN folks, the verdict is split. If you need to rev yourself up, we recommend the 10 reasons the NHL playoffs are better than the NBA playoffs. (Via Off Wing Opinion.) We don't necessarily agree, but it's a compelling case.

(Associated Press photo.)