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NHL Playoff Observations -- Sunday

Just a few things that caught my eye:

  • Nine seconds, Vancouver. Nine seconds. That smell is worse than a pig farmer stirring up his liquid manure tank.
  • The Sens and Habs clearly hate each other. But then again, the Habs hate each other, too. Seems like a marriage made in heaven if you're a Sens' fan. 
  • Hard act to follow? Scoring a hat trick in your third NHL playoff game. Hard act to even get noticed? Scoring a hat trick in your third NHL playoff game. Poor Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- not only has his first career hat trick been overshadowed by a line brawl, but he also lost a tooth on the first goal.
  • Patrick Kane -- three games and five points. Looks like the frat brat is all grown up. Maybe. I said looks like, not has.
  • I was thinking about Mikhail Grabovski's effort last night. He looks like the feisty Grabo of old. Maybe there's hope under Randy Carlyle after all.
  • Back to the brawl in Kanata. The Sens have the Habs by the short and curlies. Michel Therrien is mad at the "bug-eyed walrus" about the late timeout. A line brawl and hatred resulted in 210 PIMs and 11 game misconducts ... in the third period alone. And the Sens have a 2-1 series lead. It's only a matter of time now.
  • I read a story earlier today about how Henrik Sedin and brother Daniel Sedin would have to "re-double" their efforts to get a Vancouver win. What exactly is re-double supposed to mean? They sure hadn't doubled their effort or output to this point, so how can you re-double passivity? Oh right -- butt-end Logan Couture in the head. No Lady Byng for you, Henrik.
  • They say clothes make the man. Well, Sidney Crosby sure makes the winger, doesn't he? Chris Kunitz was a shell of himself while Sid was on the shelf, but he's the first star Sunday with two goals -- including the winner -- and an assist. Fantasy reminder -- Kunitz is only worthy if he's with Sid.
  • It's ironic Josh Harding got a win on the day most of Ontario (including me) was out participating in the MS Walk. Good on him -- I'm thrilled he got the win. Now, c'mon Hawks, put your foot on their throats and move on.
  • Let me speak slowly and clearly, Canucks' fans. Hand passes in the defensive zone are legal under Rule 67.2. In the past, Andrew Desjardins would have gotten nailed hard, but not anymore. So stop whining now. Better yet, don't start.
  • Great breakdown of the Orca's scoring futility during the second intermission on TSN. Starting in the 2011 Cup final, Vancouver has scored just 20 goals in their last 15 games (includes two periods of play Sunday) -- eight in seven games in the final in '11, eight in five games last season in a round one loss and four in three so far. Like I said, Roberto Luongo isn't the problem. Cory Schneider might be tonight, but neither goalie can win if his team doesn't score.