The Bruins have caught some breaks to be up 3-0 in the series, but to say they've had "every break" go their way is a bit disingenuous imo. I think on the whole, from goaltender to 4th line, they've been the better hockey team in these 3 games.

I also think it's worth noting that Julien has outcoached Bylsma. The Bruins were able to rein in Game 1 when it was playing to Pittsburgh's strengths through the first 25 mins or so. The Pens didn't adjust in Game 2 and it put them in the tough hole they were in when they came to Boston.

Oh for sure. When the Pens are trying 152 different line combos, you know one guy is not prepared and is in a panic. But that's just luck for Claude I guess...

Pretty much this. Last night was a true coin flip and Game 1 could go differently with a few bounces here and there, but saying the Bruins have gotten every break is way overstating it. They've been better at pretty much every facet of the game.

If you compare Crosby and Krejci right now, imho it's no contest on who the more clutch playoff performer is. It's not close.

Yes, Krejci has clearly outplayed Crosby. I don't think anyone would dispute that the Bruins have been better almost across the board.

seriously one of the sickest games ever. so intense with tons of good chances for both teams in OT. wish i was itt but unfortunately i shut off the computer when the bruins got the first penalty called on them in OT. figured that had to be game. who knew id be up for another hour after that lol. anyway...

this series definitely seems to me to be closer than it would appear on the scoreboard. i mentioned this itt earlier already, but the penguins just havent cashed in on any of their great scoring chances. chances they generated and scored on a bunch this season. so, in that sense, the bruins are 'running good' for sure.

i also think aislephive has been pretty reasonable itt. he hasnt discredited the bruins too much really. hes just saying that the bruins are fortunate to be up 3-0 which i mostly agree with. the series could be anywhere from 3-0 bruins to 2-1 pens given what we've seen so far.

having said that, though, saying that the bruins have 'gotten every break' and/or that gregory campbell is 'just some 4th liner' [paraphrasing] is a little disingenuous.

i still dont feel comfortable about this series btw. man pitt really scares me. not sure if thats rational or not.

Yes, Krejci has been the better playoff performer in these last 3 games.

heh slow ponied by vagos and letsgambool

i'm almost more disappointed that this series has now lost basically all of its awesomeness. I actually won't be surprised if the pens win game 5 because everybody knows its over and the whole game is meh, but bruins then finish it off in 5

I wonder what kind of deal Rask is gonna get. Rinne money?

A Boston writer speculated something in the neighborhood of 6 yrs, $40m, but that was back during the Toronto series.

Saying the Bruins have gotten every break might be overstating it a little bit. It's more accurate to say that the Pens haven't gotten any of their own. And yes, the Bruins have gotten some pretty big breaks, like the first goal of the series deflecting off of Martin through Vokoun's 5-hole, Bergeron's pass attempt deflecting off Niskanen's skate behind Vokoun for the first goal in Game 3, and of course Jagr getting away with a pretty obvious hook leading to the OT winner.

If I had to assign a fair result for the series up to this point I'd say it should be 2-1 Boston, mostly on account of dominating Game 2 from start to finish while being very much in the other two games. But as I said, the series could pretty easily be 2-1 Pittsburgh if the puck co-operated to the tune of a fraction of an inch on a couple plays, and anybody who says Boston deserves to be up 3-0 right now is just being a homer imo. This talk that the Penguins deserve to be down 3-0 because they didn't capitalize on their chances or they haven't scored on the powerplay or w/e is circular logic at it's finest. Why even analyze games afterward if we're just going to point to the scoreboard? It's just silly. Go post on your own team's message board if you're going to homer it up.

Pens should buyout Fleury and then offer sheet Rask to a ridiculous deal that Boston will probably feel compelled to match. Please make it happen Shero!

Pens fans: close your eyes for fewer tears, more dreams.

I should just have somebody save me from myself by trying to keep me sheltered from the inevitable. Seemed to work here.

I'm guessing it's Rinne money at minimum. It will only go up depending on how things unravel going forward. My main concern is a bad team offer sheeting him to a big enough deal that the compensation becomes four 1st rounders. That messes with things quite a bit since a) it's more money than I'd like spent on him and b) it might be awful tempting for Chia.

edit: just looked up the compensation for four #1's and it's 8.4 so it's not happening. I do see him getting 7 per pretty easily though.

But even this is absurdly homerish. The last game alone, the only goal you scored was on an crazy seeing-eye pass that had to go through so many pairs of skates to land right on that stick. That pass makes it there 1 in 10 times, maybe. Likewise I consider it a pretty serious break when the opposition (this time the Bruins) completely gifts you too many men penalties like that. Anyone who watches the Bruins will tell you that's not characteristic of them. And in game 1, I've never seen the Bruins fumble odd-man rushes as much as they did. That's bad even by their standards. Those are breaks man.

Jagr's hook not getting called isnt a a break, that gets called about never (yeah there were four penalties in OT, but two were auto calls).

This series is probably 2-1 more often than its 3-0, but the I dont think its accurate to say Boston doesnt deserve to be up 3-0. They've been the better team overall at pretty much everything. Not by a wide margin in a lot of spots, but pretty much across the board. The series wasn't quite the rout the sweep is going to indicate, but the clear better team is advancing.

One team played better in both those OT's, and that's Boston. That game ended the way it should have once it went to OT. The fact that it got to OT you can argue over if you want, but Rask had everything to do with that.

But if Jagr doesn't hook and they don't score there, trust me they're scoring later on. Lol you're not beating Boston in OT. Too much heart.

I just bet on the Pens winning tonight so they better ****ing win.

Pens to win in regulation is +160, that's pretty decent. No way they can win in OT, so really why not.

Now you're reaching. By the same logic I could say that Marchand's first goal in G2 was lucky because Crosby didn't get good wood on the pass across the blueline, or even Krejci's second goal in Game 1 where the rebound went 12 feet in the air and he knocked it in. I'm not being quite that nitty in my assessment of what is and isn't running bad.

And boy did we run good on those powerplays!

I'm pretty sure the Penguins flubbed more pucks and fanned on more scoring chances in this series than the previous two combined, and even I'm not bringing that aspect of it into the discussion. You're reaching, and in the process hurting your argument. You should probably stop doing that.

Agree to disagree. It was a blatant hook that then allowed the offender to pick up the puck and start a rush up the ice. That is a guaranteed call in the regular season and even a good portion of the time in playoff OT. If Malkin had sold the hook by falling down there's an extremely high likelihood that a call is made.

That's pretty fair I suppose, but I would say that the series is 2-1 Penguins more often than it's 3-0 Bruins, with 2-1 Bruins being the most likely result of all and 3-0 Penguins happening around 0.1% of the time.

Dude of course the B's have scored some lucky goals! But you also make your own luck. Krejci's lucky goal doesn't happen if he doesn't beast his way to the net like a boss. But even if you remove 2 B's lucky goals, they've got 9 others to show for. It wouldn't have made that big a difference, particularly the Krejci one. You have to actually score a goal to win a game, and even if you remove the Krejci goal, that game's 2-0 Boston.

There hasn't yet been a game where Pits has outplayed Boston for the duration of the game. Hasn't happened. There hasn't been a game where Vokoun has been better than Rask. But most importantly, despite getting piles and piles of chances, there hasn't been a game where the Pens have scored on their PP, and that's the ONLY reason you're down 0-3. If you'd handle your business with power plays that feature some of the best guys in the world (lol who else can put Sid, Geno, Letang, Neal etc.. on a unit), you'd have yourself a series. And deep down inside you know that. You couldn't get a PP goal when you needed it most. You had every chance in game 3 and you blew them all.

when does one team ever outplay another team for an entire game? 5% of games? 10%, if we're being really generous? seldom are there games that, given equal goalie play and luck, are going to one team a huge % of the time. i mean, i'm enjoying a5's complaints about luck - try running bad in a draft lottery for once - but c'mon.

My wording was mediocre. I meant what game did the pens dominate the game?a game you would say they were clearly better.none

rafiki,

please stop

signed,

everybody