i've got friends in every port

So, while this guy works for NHL.com and definitely wrote this with the knowledge that his editors and the bigwigs in the League would jizz on it, this article totally rings true so far. These playoffs have been insane. Most everything is tied or close-to-tied, all bets are off, the matchups are close and talent is out the window: all that matters is if you came to play. There were some series last year that were just pure, unadulterated foregone conclusions: Habs/Bruins comes to mind. So does pretty much everyone the Wings played last year: but that was just because we were meant to take them.

This year is different, and we hate to say it, but we needed this dose of playoff hockey to wake us up.
This past season has been so different. We're not the team struggling to prove itself: we fucking proved ourselves. For a season. Being defending champions has such a different flavor than fighting tooth and nail to prove that you can even do it once.

No, the new theme:
We have to fight tooth and nail to prove that we can do it again.

And everyone's in the mix.
Washington and Montreal are in an epic battle. You'd think that Ovechkin would have remembered to play this series, but so far he isn't on the scoresheet. (Boyd Gordon is, who is apparently on loan from Egdon fucking Heath again.)
For most players, a goal and some assists into the third game of the series is great, awesome, nice, keep it up, buddy.
For Ovie it's basically a chokejob. Lucky for Caps fans that Backstrom is awake. And so is their vaunted "secondary scoring."
EDIT: he scored like 10 seconds after I posted this. I'll pretend he was reading my blog on his BlackBerry on the bench or something and was like BITCH.

Buffalo and Boston are battling it out.
Vancouver and LA will do the same later tonight.

How about last night in Denver?

If we could we'd have a sit-down chat with Dan Boyle and explain that these are probably the karmic consequences of being a total fucking creeper.
But, it is what it is, and the Avs lead the series, after a huge performance in goal from Craig Anderson.
Another example of the close games that we've been seeing. Who knows how that game could have ended otherwise. On a different fluke bounce?

Tomorrow, we have a chance to take a commanding series lead--the first of the postseason for anybody.
But it's just a chance.
Everyone has that chance at this point in the playoffs, especially these ones.
How does it feel to be chomping at the bit, just ready for that next go-around?
Dogfight.

GO PENS.