The Price is wrong

How's that for a headline?

Carey Price doesn't look like that super composed goalie who shutout the Bruins in game 7. He looks more like a 20 year old rookie goaltender who is in unchartered territory. He allowed a couple of softies against the Flyers last night and despite a nice comeback attempt, the Habs fell to Philly. Jaroslav Halak took over and was solid in the third. Had it not been for a bone head five minute major penalty from Derian Hatcher (a guy who knows a thing or two about bonehead penalties) it wouldn't have even been close.
Montreal missed a great opportunity early on in the first when they had a full two minute 5 on 3 and couldn't muster a goal. It was a relatively unspectacular two man advantage altogether. Their powerplay clicked on the Hatcher major penalty and they need to build on that. After having the best PP in the NHL during the regular season, they've been a so-so 7 for 47 this season. That is of course counting the two they scored last night. Take that out of the picture and they were at 10.8 percent before that PP. They need their PP and a consistent Carey Price to win this series.
I say you go back to Price. You don't know what you're going to get but if he's on, he's proven he can win a game on his own. You need to restore his confidence and for their sake, hopefully he will be on his game again.

The Penguins aren't just a spectacular offensive team, but are playing a very sound defensive game right now and it's a huge reason why they won game 2. That combined with the solid play of Marc-Andre Fleury. After a rough start the series in which he surrendered a 3-0 lead to the Rangers, Fleury has played very well and his team has provided just enough offense. The 2-0 final score of game two is of course very deceiving. It was a 1-0 game for most of the game until the Adam Hall empty netter. Both games have been very close. The Penguins have a 2-0 series lead but have not run over the Rangers by any stretch of the imagination. New York should be pumped up playing at MSG and need a strong start, only this time have to hold on to their lead.

The Dallas Stars have taken a 2-0 series lead again on the road against a favoured team. Clearly, we've underestimated this team. Though Sergei Zubov wasn't the same player in game two that he has been over the past 10 years, he made a great pass to set up the third Stars goal. He adds a new dimension to the Stars blueline: a defenceman that can chip in and join the rush and create plenty of chances. He's going to get more comfortable as time goes on after being out for about three months. Brad Richards is really beginning to fit into their lineup and Mike Ribeiro is having the type of playoffs that actually warrant his huge contract extension. Brenden Morrow is a true leader and turning into one of the game's better power forwards.
On the other hand, the San Jose Sharks have been less than impressive. Despite Ron Wilson's claim, his captain definitely needs to be better and cannot hop over point shots. As Marleau was during the regular season, he's a minus player again in the post-season. They needed Evgeni Nabokov to stand on his head during the regular season to win games and he has been rather ordinary of late. It seems as though they can't win unless he's spectacular, which is asking a lot of a guy who started all but five games during the regular season.

Something is wrong with Jose Theodore. He hasn't been the same goalie against Detroit that he was during the regular season and in the first round against Minnesota. He was sick in game one and may have been feeling the effects of it in game two as well. Colorado has shown it's holes defensively and wasn't really in the game two very long. They are a much better team at home (27-12-2 vs. 17-19-5 during the regular season) and they will be welcoming some home cooking with open arms (or is it mouths?). They are banged up and could use a boost from Peter Forsberg should he return. But haven't we heard that a thousand times before?

After a light schedule of games (or game I should say) last night, we have three tonight. It feels like the first round again!