-The Sens face Montreal tonight in the third game of the series. Incredibly, it’s possible dead weight Matt Kassian will play again, while Cory Conacher slides in to replace Guillaume Latendresse and Patrick Wiercioch replaces Andre Benoit. If Kassian plays I will be completely shocked, but the fact that he’s played at all is almost as shocking.
–Scott had the scoring chances in the last game 13/17.
–The Raaymaker wonders if Erik Karlsson‘s TOI should be reduced given his lack of conditioning and it’s pretty obvious that at least in back-to-back situations it should be. The fact that his ice time wasn’t is an indication of the lack of confidence Paul MacLean had with Benoit who barely played in game two.
–Stu Hackel talks about the frequency of upsets in the first round of the playoffs:
During the 11 seasons since the NHL went to 30 clubs in 2001, we’ve witnessed 31 out of 88 first round series in which a team with an inferior record has taken down an opponent that had a stronger regular season. That averages out to almost three first-round series upsets per year.
He also talks about the increase of dangerous hits which Bob McKenzie says was encouraged by the 2011 Stanley Cup final:
I think they have to call more penalties. People are all, ‘Oh no, don’t do that. Don’t ruin the playoffs,’ but I mean, it’s a little too loosey-goosey and I think it started in the final [in 2011] when you saw the Boston Bruins manhandle Daniel Sedin.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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