That's 2 plusses for the Pens......no Grossman and no Martin.

I do think the Flyers are going to wrap it up tonight though.

I was just coming back because I had seen the Grossman thing, but the one I saw said there hadn't been an official announcement. They did quote Giroux as talking about his concussion symptoms and how he feels for Grossman, so the inference was made. If it was the hit I saw on replay, it's kind of scary because it didn't look that bad - the Pens radio announcers (I can't stand listening to Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey - I'd rather have out of sync sound) said it looked like his knee buckled a bit.

The suspicion is that Martin has a concussion as well. Asham was quoted as saying that Schenn hit Martin high, so he came over to protect (retaliate?), but he got his stick too high on Schenn and so he had to pay the price. I did not see the full article (premium side of the PG's web page), but it did not sound like Asham was complaining or making an excuse, just explaining and accepting.

If Fleury has indeed found his game, I like their chances tonight. I'm not inclined to jump back on his bandwagon just yet, though.

And they've just announced the Torres decision will come Saturday - probably trying to sneak it out while everyone else is occupied by Record Store Day.

Alan

Alan:
How about that Saturday, huh? I think there are 5 NHL Playoff games on day to late night. I have to work during the day, but I'll be watching NHL Playoffs, MLB, MLS soccer all night! The wife will not, but that's why we have multiple TVs in multiple rooms after all.

You know, I saw that there are a lot of games tom'w, but I didn't count. I'm going to be running around early - Record Store Day for sure, possibly hitting a Comicon. Stan Lee will be there, but the timing sucks. But I'll be camped out watching from the time I get home.

Question for you, IP - has there been any word about Ian Lapierre? He seems to be one of the forgotten concussion cases this year.

Alan

What. A. Game.

THAT'S what I was expecting this series to be like - not like the first four games. Two teams scratching and clawing with neither able to get any kind of separation from the other. Every shot, every hit, every save, every penalty was so big. Just when I think I'm beyond it, I could feel the adrenaline surging in the third period, and the butterflies were going during the PK on Tyler Kennedy - a stupid, retaliatory penalty (after a non-call on Harnell) that turned all the momentum Philly's way, and Philly kept the momentum the rest of the way. The Penguins - and TK - had better hope that momentum doesn't carry over to game 6.

Credit where it's due - Marc-Andre Fleury was HUGE tonight. He bailed the Penguins out numerous times in third after the Flyers had taken control. For the most part, they made smart plays getting out of their own end. Malkin still took two selfish, stupid penalties (although, I'm sorry, Schenn's was a huge dive). I actually saw a couple players restrain themselves from taking stupid penalties - I wasn't sure it was the same series for a second or two.

And just a side note here, only because I had intended to post after the first period and never made it. At the end of the first period, Matt Cooke made a couple plays that looked like he was losing his composure and was about to take a stupid penalty. I was going to post and just say "remember his name, because he's going to do something stupid and cost his team this game". I have been very impressed with his turnaround this season - last year, he'd have taken a stupid penalty and probably gotten suspended. I'm not prepared yet to says he's changed his ways - even Cooke says he knows he's one split-second stupid decision from undoing everything he did this year - but if you'd asked me at the beginning of the year if he'd have kept his nose as clean as he has, I'd have said the odds were about 10-15%.

Now on to Sunday. Here's hoping for a later game - I have a soccer match to referee early in the day.

Alan

And the first elimination of the playoffs is...Detroit. I picked the Preds, but not in 5. 2-1 final, and Detroit had numerous chances in the last 90 seconds, but where the bounces have gone Detroit's way in the past, not so tonight. They had a faceoff in Nashville's end with 4.2 seconds left, won a battle along the boards and threw the puck through the slot to a wide open guy who buried it - in years past. This year, it hopped over his stick and bounced harmlessly to center.

Alan

Can't add anything more......Fleury was unbelievable in the 3rd period.......and they were finally able to kill penalties after the 1st period...(Malkin was the one losing composure)

Also hoping for a later game.....bought a Mets ticket awhile back (though it's supposed to pour Sunday).

There are 5 games tomorrow..........(last 2 possible eliminations).
Caps/Bruins - 3:00
Devils/Panthers - 6:30
Sens/Rangers - 7:00
Sharks/Blues - 7:30
Hawks/Yotes - 10:00

I wish there was a late game on right now....but there is some rock concert at the Rogers Arena

Game 6 Sunday at noon

Damn - I have to be at the field at 12:30, should get back right around the end. Maybe I should take center and throw everybody out and wrap up the game about 1:02.

Edited to add: Frigging NBC. A 3:00 game would have brought MUCH higher ratings (in my house).

Alan

Fleury looked like the goalie he was when they last won the Cup. Flyers were buzzing around Fleury and he wouldn't let anything in. I said in an earlier post in this thread somewhere that I was picking the Pens to win Games 4 and 5 and that the Flyers better hope that they win Game 6. Flyers need to get back to being more physical, they have shrunk back on that since all of the fuss over the first 3 games. They were in the Pen's heads and now it's the other way around.

Has to be frustrating to be a Detroit fan. Every year they are at or near the top in points and then they fold in the playoffs. Nashville is the real deal and are going to be a tough out for anybody.

Truer words never spoken. I had written Fleury off. My bad... he was a monster last night.

I had the Flyers losing that game on here and it was no surprise. You could see Fluery finding his way in Game 4. The Flyers played well-the Pens were better. I don't think the Pens are in the Flyers heads at all. The Flyers were attacking the net like crazy and Fluery saved their asses.
I also mentioned Nashville could win the Cup earlier-I stand by that. The Preds are a better team than Detroit and almost all of the West. Nice to see all those fans celebrating a series win for the first time in the Playoffs.
As for the Flyers at 12 or 12:30-yuk!

Raffi Torres suspended 25 games.

While I think it's more than justified, it still doesn't make up for the loss of Hossa, not only in this series, but also for his future health! How different this series might have been had Hossa not been taken out like he was by a repeat offender. The inequity comes when the trade-off is a thug for a star!! Unfortunately, I don't think the Hawks can come back from the hole they're in. Big sigh.........

'Hawks fan

I don't agree with the length of time given Torres, but I agree with the message. Question is, does Shanahan have any consistency when it happens again?--and it will happen again.

Down go the Bruins at home in a pivotal Game 5.

Elimination #2 = San Jose
This one changed/ended in 45 seconds......I turned this on right as Langenbrunner scored (as the Rangers/Sens game just ended.

Craig Anderson put on a clinic tonight......41 saves. Chris Neil got a head shot on Brian Boyle in the 3rd that the refs missed.

Could the Rangers and Bruins both end up ousted?

I got up to let the dog in after the first St. Louis goal, and I looked back at the TV and it was 2-1. The same thing happened in the Caps-Bruins game - when Boston scored for the second time, I thought they were showing a replay until I realized Doc was shouting. How do the Caps keep finding these young goalies who come up and play like this, and why can't they develop them further?

As for the Pens/Flyers, I don't think the Pens are in the Flyers heads - I think it's a combination of the tightened officiating and the Pens finally starting to ignore things. Plus, once it got to 3-0 down, the Pens really had nothing to lose. The officiating wasn't quite as tight in game 5, but Fleury has found something of a groove, and that's going to be huge. The power play sequence in the third could turn out to be a really big thing in these last couple games. I think it's probably bearing on the Flyers a little bit that everything the first three games was positive, positive, positive, and now it's more questioning. The Flyers still have a huge advantage in the series in that they still have a margin of error. They still have positives if it goes to a game 7, but we'll save those for the actual game 7. Meaning, IP, if you want to know what they are, you need to root for the Pens tom'w! And as for your comment about the Flyers at 12 or 12:30 - I'd be happy, except the Pens are usually crap with that start time, too.

As for Torres, my son played Shanahan's video while we ate. I love the fact that they explain their thought processes, and as the video went on, I got the feeling that we were looking at the longest suspension of the playoffs, but honestly, I thought 10-15 games tops. 25 is a HUGE, emphatic statement. Matt Cooke's suspension at the end of the season last year was a message, and this is, too - if this shit doesn't stop, you're not going to be playing very much. The question is whether Torres will get the message like Cooke did.

Alan

Blackhawks stay alive with an OT win in Game 5 as the series heads back to Chi-town. Every game has been an OT game.

And then it was over.

Did not see much of the game - had a soccer match to work - but I saw enough before I left to have a pretty good idea how it would turn out. Claude Giroux hit Crosby a few seconds into the game, and there was no fire in the Penguins eyes. Giroux scored 32 seconds in. By the time I got home it was 4-1. Giroux's goal was one Fleury should have had. My son said one or two others were that way.

When you have a team down 3-0 at the end of the first period of game one, and it's not a fluke - the Pens dominated the Flyers in that period - you should not lose the first three games of the series. When your opponent is giving up almost four goals a game in the PLAYOFFS, you should not be 0-3. Not to take anything away from the Flyers, but this was a team that was ripe to be picked, and the Pens weren't up to the task. Don't get me wrong - the Flyers made the Pens pay for every mistake that they made. But it's not like the Flyers played perfect hockey. They gave up some weak goals and plenty of chances, and the Pens didn't do anything with them. In today's game, there was a play where the puck came to Letang at the side of the Flyers net and Bryzgalov was slow to get over. No one on Letang. He missed the net.

So the Flyers go on, the Pens go home and try to figure out what happened. The defense and goaltending were atrocious, save for a few periods (and believe me, it was hard to use 'save' in that sentence - I said to my wife at the end of the game, "I wonder how many Flyers will reach out to shake Fleury's hand only to find their hands going right past him..."). Malkin didn't show up - credit to Couturie for the job he did, but Malkin rarely showed the fire he showed in the regular season and the desire to overcome it. Crosby was more of a factor, Staal even more so, but there weren't enough guys supporting them. And a great deal of attention needs to be given to the coaching staff and the job they did. Five games in about four weeks that the Flyers played the exact same way, and the Pens made virtually no adjustments. Add the loss of compusure in game 3, and the fact that during a power play near the end of today's game, down by 3 goals with the season on the line, the Pens were more interested in passing the puck around the perimeter, and preparation has to be questioned.

I did like the line I saw Bylsma give (NBC showed it) - he congratulated the Flyers on winning the series and the job they did, and said, "But I can't wish them good luck."

Alan

Can't add anything more......horrible performance today and mostly embarassing series. Fleury had 3 weak goals......and I don't understand the ref not blowing the play dead during the commotion of Hartnell's goal, but then disallowing Neal's (though the game was pretty much over by then). Philly played their best all around game and were the better team.......but I hope they lose next round. At this point, I hope whoever wins the west will win the Cup.

As Alan started mentioning......nobody gets a free pass after this one.....from the Shero to Bylsma to any of the players. Some big changes need to be made during the off-season.....even if it means trading off one of the big 3.

Boston/Washington OT just started.

No reason to ever have a back-to-backs in the playoffs. The playoffs are supposed to be the best the NHL has to offer and 2 teams that played the day before is not the best the NHL has to offer. Props to Boston for winning game 6 but the Caps got screwed out of real home ice advantage.