So...Rangers or Capitals?

[TheSgtDabbs]

Now that there's a game 7 on the way in that series, who do you guys got to win and play us next round? Or, maybe more importantly, who would you like to see? And this is all in fun.

In reality, it doesn't matter who we play in my opinion, as both teams present challenges. They have definitely played well against the Caps this year, going 3-1 this year with a SO win. Rangers, pretty much even. But I think I would rather see the Caps, as I know how much Henrik can (and has many times) owned the Devils. And, the problem I see with the Rangers is getting into the kinds of games we were able to avoid in Philly: The after the whistle stuff. Just looking at the season series and the line brawls and what not, there may be some carry over bad blood from then.

Adding to that, we could at least have home ice advantage with the Caps, not to mention less Caps fans will be in our building as opposed to the Rangers. I think the Rangers would be fun to play against, but I can't stand the thought of losing to them, so I'd rather avoid that possibility altogether.

 

[irishwhip03]

Im so back and forth on this..Rags/Devs would be classic but then we run the risk of having to see the Rags play for a Cup and maybe win it if we dont take em out.

The way the Caps played tonight and for 59 minutes a 54 seconds of last game makes me think they are the better team though..they have scarier offensive weapons and if Holtby is really that good then they are gonna be tough.

But I gotta factor in the home ice as the tiebreaker..also factoring in that if its Caps/Devs , not a lot of Caps fans will be in Newark whereas close to half of our home crowds will be in blue.

So give me the Caps!

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

I would like for you guys to play the Capitals.

 

[TheSgtDabbs]

Holtby has been great so far, but I'm hoping that as the stakes get higher, his in experience may get the best of him. No way to know if that would happen though, and that's not something I'd rely on happening.

Either way, I don't want to see a sea of blue at the rock. Only plus is that tickets go on sale tomorrow I believe? So I don't think many Rangers fans are going to buy tickets to games that they may not be playing in, which gives Devils fans a chance to snatch them up. And as long as they don't sell for the idea of profiting, we'll be in good shape.

 

[TheSgtDabbs]

I would like for you guys to play the Capitals.

In some ways I think that would be more fun of a watch. Not any recent playoff history between the teams, which I think equates to less pushing and shoving, and more great hockey.

 

[Taz_Hokie]

I would like for you guys to play the Capitals.

Seconded.

 

[nj_cup]

i agree 100% the rags are the sexy matchup but the thought of losing to them to go to the cup? it might be too much because i know we SHOULD beat them..but a fluke goal here or there could break the team because msg seems to have martys number recently.

as good as holtby been and hes been lights out the caps defense doesnt scare that much and i think like the flyers the forecheck will be huge agianst them. not so much against mcdougnah/giardi/staal/delzotto.

holtby just who knows how he would play against the devils i dont think they ever faced each other? on the other hand you know what lundqvist is against the devils. and lets face it he is the only reason they are even at a game 7 they shouldve got bounced last round.

 

[nj_cup]

god just watched the ranger postgame and i cant stand torts and his stupid post game shit. you coach the team that like it or not is the face of the nhl in the publics eye...grow the fuck up your team didnt show up and its your fault!

watching that short little fuck i hope he does get knocked out on saturday night at home.

 

[BadMotoWeazal]

Caps..... Fuck the Rags

 

[rp2five]

god just watched the ranger postgame and i cant stand torts and his stupid post game shit. you coach the team that like it or not is the face of the nhl in the publics eye...grow the fuck up your team didnt show up and its your fault!

watching that short little fuck i hope he does get knocked out on saturday night at home.

Vegas should start and under/over for the length of Torts press conferences.

 

[SJ20]

To answer your question Cup, I certainly think we should be careful of what we wish for. That's why I wont make a pick. The Devils will play whoever wins game 7.

I like your logic regarding our last series and REST but something isn't adding up. The Flyers WON game 1 then lost the next 4. If anything, they should have been rusty from the long layoff and LOST game 1. That's why I mentioned going into game 2 that we would get the actual Flyers team without the rust and it could be tough. But the Devils still won. Maybe this Devils team is for real?

 

[CalamityX11]

Both goalies haven't been the shutout kind IMO in the playoffs this year. Good goalies obviously, with Lunq being the Alpha but both goalies have their moments and shown vulnerability. They bleed, they can be beaten!

Caps offer more offense where Rags offer more defense....

I'll take the caps matchup because the Rags would probably play with more confidence vs us.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

No brainer the Caps. The Rangers matchup well against us, Henrik has had our number, their fans will fill up half our arena, and they seem to make us lose our cool like no other team can (see Clarkson and Kovy this past season).

 

[Devsfan4life95]

I'll say the Rags and probably get slammed for it but heres my reasoning. I don't want the "fluke" label attached to us if we win it by playing a weak #3 a #5 and then a #7 in the east and even a #8 in the finals. My favorite cup out of the 3 was 2000 because of what we had to go thru to get it. NHL's leading scorer in Bure with FLA, NHL's leading scoring team with a HOF goalie of their own in Toronto, Philly who was #1 and had us down 3-1, then the defneding champions Stars, having to win in Dallas 3 times and playing all those OT's. Harder the road, sweeter the victory which is why 2003 didn't feel as euphoric as the other two because other than Ottawa we played 3 cupcakes.

 

[devs30rko]

personally i think both teams are almost one in the same.

both teams are defense first.
both block a ridiculous amount of shots, and both clog the neutral zone. hell there was even a point towards the end of the game last night where i saw washington literally drop 5 into the neutral zone after a dump in, send no forechecker and just wait.


holtby has played great, and i'll never take that away from him, i love seeing goalies make huge differences, however i don't think the goalies in that series exactly cancel out.... i think lundquist has absolutely stood on his fucking head to a giguere-esq degree, and even did so in the first round in a few games.

holtby has been great, and i stress great, but lundquist has been absolutely absurd.
i think the main differences between the rangers and wash is that what ny has over wash in net, wash has over ny in their overall attack.
simply put, a slight edge for nyr in net (slight because holtby, again, has been very very good to lundquist's superb)
and slight edge to wash on attack (slight because it is better, but not much, and in my opinion the overall roster of both teams is nothing to write home about)

so it comes down to this.... i have no doubt in our ability to outplay either team. i simply worry about goalies. therefore i pick washington as my poison. they could beat us, of course, the team is more comparable to us that the rangers are, but we know how deadly lundquist is right now and how deadly he can be when he plays against us. for all we know holtby could be the same thing. but he'll sure as hell be tested a bit more with our offense than he was w the b's and the rangers. so bring it

 

[Devsfan4life95]

Outside of a cheap goal it's all Washington so far. This reminds me of game 2 vs philly. Here's hoping he outcome is the same and the Rags get bombarded in the 3rd.