Luck is a crucial part of any Cup run for any team. Even the top teams need luck to win it all.
However, hard work seems to give luck the old nudge in the right direction as well
I'm a big believer in that you make your own luck. How many times did the Sens go to the net and get a "lucky" goal or fortunate bounce? It happened because they were in position. Zack Smith last night got to the rebound in front of the net. Turris' goal, he went to the net and got pushed into Budaj. Zibs goal is game 4 that went off his skate, he was going to the net. Conacher's game-tying goal from that game, went to the net.
The Habs never did that. They tried to score from the point. Anderson saw most of the shots, and the Habs were never in front for rebounds.
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Luck is a crucial part of any Cup run for any team. Even the top teams need luck to win it all.
However, hard work seems to give luck the old nudge in the right direction as well
Great battle between these 2 teams and good series win for the Sens. It could have easily gone to 6 or 7 games, so it was a lot closer than the end result.
However, all the talk about injuries, luck and officiating are just excuses because both teams dealt with their fair share. Just because your top player(s) get injured doesn't make it acceptable to lose. The players playing are responsible for the loss, not the players sitting in the press box.
At the end of the day you can easily see where it went wrong for MTL. They always came out flying in the 1st and 2nd periods, but couldn't get anything done in the 3rd. They were outscored 13-0 in the 3rd period and OT.
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G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, STP, HITS, BS, W, GAA, SV | 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 1G
C - Crosby, W.Nylander, Kempe, B.Howden, Wallmark, Z.Sanford, Newhook
LW - Ovechkin, Vrana, S.Bennett, Lehkonen, Aston-Reese, T.Benson, S.Poulin
RW - JT.Miller, Coleman, Gourde, Dzingel, Tippett, Volkov
D - Klingberg, Chabot, Slavin, Matheson, Chychrun, Sanheim, D.Toews, E.Bouchard, Cholowski
G - J.Gibson, DeSmith, Sparks, Luukkonen, Starrett
With about 8 minutes left and Montreal down 4-1 and killing a penalty, the face off was in the Ottawa end. They win the faceoff to Bouillon at the point, and what does he do? He decides to go to center ice and kill some time! LOL What the **** was he thinking. You're down 4-1 with 8 minutes left. Get the puck to the net. You need to score, even though you're shorthanded. 30 seconds later, its 5-1. I guess in Bouillon's mind, the game was already over. Don't need players like that on your team.
What team wins the first round then adds their best forward the next? Love this team.
This is all true and that's why I tried to make it abundantly clear in the first couple lines of my post that none of this was intended to take away from the Sens victory or the fact that they earned the series...I'm not talking about any of that, hard work and driving the net are key facets of a winning forumla I don't dispute that at all.
I'm talking about just dumb luck that always plays some role in the playoffs. It could be a weird bounce off the boards, could be the ref looking the other way at the right time, could be a puck taking a favorable bounce off a defender's skate. Usually these kind of random things are evenly distributed (they are random afterall) but in this series the Habs just did not get any of them and I feel as though you need a few of those to make it in the playoffs
http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/nhl/1454/jason-spezza
Jason Spezza has begun more rigorous training, but he still believed to be a long way away from returning to the lineup.
"He's skating and it's gone beyond public skating," said coach Paul MacLean Wednesday. "It's gone to the next stage of his rehab. We're hoping for him it can progress as quickly as it can. At the same time, it has to be done properly. He has elevated his work schedule and that's good." MacLean added that Spezza isn't close to resuming practices with the team, which would indicate that he's nearing a return to playing. Ottawa's top center underwent back surgery in January and the fact that he's making progress now is encouraging.
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No Spezza in Round 2; however winning in 5 does give some badly needed R&R for Karlsson and Michalek. Unless MacLean is pulling another rope-a-dope.
I'll bet any money I have that he plays in Round 2 at some point. MacLean's just keeping it close to his chest. They didn't want Karlsson's news to leak out, and he told that guy here at the Masters that he wasn't coming back. Spezza's back is healthy at this point, it's his knee that needs to be ready. We'll see!
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RW- Batherson, Michkov, Quinn, Perfetti(C,LW), Foerster, Kakko
LW- BTkachuk, Stutzle(C), McTavish(C), Benson
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IR-
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he's skating with the black aces. He'll be back.
Funny...I hate the Senators, but I find myself pulling for them considering all they overcame to get to this point. Gotta respect that.
...damnit.
@SmittysRant
i know, i feel the same way actually...usually when a team knocks your team out of the playoffs you wind up despising them and cheering against them the rest of the playoffs out of pure spite but I can't help but like this Sens team. A part of it is that I'm a big fan of many of the players and own them in my fantasy leagues (Karlsson, Anderson, Alfie, Turris, and no not Spezza, **** him -lol). Part of it is that they make for a great underdog story, and another part of it is that it's high time the cup was back in Canada (and who else would I cheer for? the Nucks? HA! no way ever...the Leafs? HA! that's like betting on the Washington Generals.
oh and I also really don't like any other eastern conference team cept the Isles so Sens it is
Honestly, it was good to see the Canadiens do so well during the reg season, and I hate them too.
I like the parity and level of compete in the conference. Earning the playoff berth is so much sweeter - team unity, chemistry...whatever ya wanna call it is important.
Hopefully my Sabres get there sooner rather than later. Hard to taunt others when your team is a perennial loser.
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