Habs vs. Penguins
 

Maybe this series will be closer with the Habs playing well to knock off Washington and an extra boost of confidence. Plus Halak has unreal save percentage of late.

Bet on sportsbook.com prices are:

Habs +250
Penguins -300

All the other 3 series bookies say those games are nearly even

Penguins will be a lot tougher then Washington, but if the Habs can keep it together this Cinderella story might continue!

GO HABS GO!

Interesting... I have never bet on sports before but maybe I will try it this time as


I BELIEVE!!!

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/64...ogo_medium.gif

would love to see another game 7!

Pens in 5.

I go with 6. Halak has proven he can steal some games.

MTL in 6.... nuff said ;-)

i'll take that pens action

going to be fun all over again :)

what a series...I think the Pens are going to be a whole lot tougher than the Caps for Montreal. Fleury is a better goaltender and I don't know that Halak can keep up this kind of pace...I say Pens in 6.

You all need to go into Re-Habs :thumbsup

Pens in 6. Halak is hot right now, but the pens have a goal tender who knows what it takes to win the cup and they have enough grinders to get out there and do the dirty work when Sid and Malkin are on the bench.

Caps played like a bunch of Chiefs and no Indians so they beat themselves. Most of those shots on Halak were ones my grandmother would've caught in her bare hands. Not that he didn't make some spectacular saves at times, I will give him that, but at a certain point the Caps were just playing catch instead of trying to pass the puck to set up anything going backdoor or anything like that.

Pens play like a team. They exult in the greater good of winning as a team instead of losing as hotshots that got cold-cocked like the Caps, which was a classic case of over-confidence being rightly deflated.

Distinct lack of chocolate biscuits in this thread :( shows how much I know about sport.

A few things about the Habs...

People say they're a so-so team riding on their hot goaltender's hot streak. Not exactly true. In fact they are the leading team for blocked shots so far in these playoffs with a whopping 180 so far, far more than any other team. They have had a very effective penalty kill as well, and in instances where the Caps lapsed in some way or otherwise opened the door even a crack the habs almost always took advantage of it. Witness Moore's goal where he was able to steal the puck from Green and almost immediately popped it by Varlamov.

Pens may very well prove to be the tougher team for Montreal to face in these playoffs but by the numbers put up during the course of the regular season the CAPS are by far the stronger team. 121 points vs the Pens who finished with 101, a full 10 games behind Washington.

But that's by the numbers. Actual play in round 2 will show who has the chops and who doesn't. I just hope Montreal brings and maintains their A game for this series because if they don't it's going to be a short one.

My hockey sense says Pens in 6, but my heart and sense of rooting for the underdog tells me to go with Habs in 7.

Pre-season (meaning regular, non play off time) points mean only so much and real season (ie., playoffs) are an entirely different matter. I think Pens favor a pacing strategy that gets them into playoffs with a decent seeding, but keeps them primed for the long grind in post season play. President's Trophy is nice. Stanley Cup is nicer.

Halak is playing great, but as CD says its the blocked shots and tight coverage (which there are ZERO stats for) that beat the caps.. if they do the same to the Pens it will be a tight series.. However, i do believe the pens have a deeper line up that montreal may not be able to handle. i still think malkin is playing injured this year.. can't drop off that bad being that young and playing with that much talent, never happens.

My prediction: foolish to ever bet on hockey games :)


edit: all in the coaching for Montreal, not just the goalie!

I agree completely, which is why I stressed "by the numbers". Regular season numbers generally don't mean a hill of beans in the playoffs other than for determining who one's opponent is and home ice advantage (if there is such a thing. last night's game says there isn't, ha)

All I know is I can't wait for round 2 to start. In fact it starts in a few hours with Detroit @ SJ.

giddyup.

Just for reference sake, here are a few stats for how these two teams did against each other in the regular season:

Pens outscored the Habs (15-9),
got more assists (29-14)
points total: Pens 44, Habs 23
Powerplay goals: Pens 2, Habs 3

The Penguins won three of four against the Habs during the regular-season series. Pittsburgh took the first three encounters by a combined 12-4 margin before Montreal avoided the season sweep with a 5-3 home victory on Feb. 6.

Habs won FAR more faceoffs: Habs 123, Pens 97


Make of it what you will.

will be a great series to watch.

Also looking forward to Vancouver Chicago

+325 for the Habs to win the series. I'm surprised the payout is this high

Tonights the night!

Go habs go!

this is going to be a good series. both of these teams have some impressive weaponry.

i love my penguins though, and before they jump to the new rink next season, i would love to see one more stanley cup hoisted in the igloo.

i love seeing all the pens jerseys around the city when i was out today. i'm looking forward to this series. no matter what the outcome there will absolutely be some incredible hockey going on.

I'd love to see Halak take the team far. I'm picking Philly to win their series but I can't say what will happen in this series. Pittsburgh are the favourites and I don't think they will play as bad as Washington did. Halak has to steal the series for Montreal to have a decent chance because Pittsburgh has a better all round team with more playoff experience. Sidney has a good track record of winning