This Blows

The loss of David Krejci is very discouraging.  This is the first huge negative in a playoff run that has been full of positives.  Arguably, the only components more valuable than Krejci to this team would be Rask, Chara, and Bergeron.  Vladdy played brilliantly in Round 1 in an increased role with Savard still out and he will have to be brilliant again.  But, even if he is, Vladdy is just not going to fill Krejci's skates offensively.  The Bruins best offensive line (Krejci/Lootch/Satan) has lost its catalyst.  Also, McQuaid is "very doubtful" for Game 4 as well.  This is obviously not a huge loss, but the injury bug needs to go away.  The Ference/McQuaid D pair was of course on the ice for Philly's only goal last night.  Conversely, the Bruins have been feasting on Philly's third pair of Parent/Krajicek.  This has been the primary difference in the series aside from goaltending - the Bruins offensive depth has been able to take advantage of the third pair while the Flyers have not been able to do the same.  Unfortunately, losing Sturm and now Krejci does significant harm to that depth on offense.

Let's hope they can step it up and continue this though.  They still have a guy by the name of Rask that basically won that game for them last night.  Listening to the radio this morning, there are apparently people out there who think Tim Thomas should see some action in this series.  These people should be deported from New England - please stop calling the radio and go see a NASCAR race or something.

If the B's can finish this off by Game 5 at the latest, they will have some time to rest and hopefully get Mark Stuart back on the blueline which will be a nice boost for the top four D who have been logging a lot of minutes.  It will also give Tuukka a rest and keep him fresh which is what these Thomas idiots think he needs anyways.

Go Habs Go - Make it a long series and go right ahead and win it if you'd like.

Savvy Back For 2nd Round

Marc Savard is going to be available for Round 2, but Mark Stuart is not.  What does this mean for the lineup?  It means that one of the forwards becomes a healthy scratch.  It has to be Thornton.  Begin and Paille are your #1 PK unit and that PK unit was the difference in the series against the Sabres.  For the same reason, Wheeler gets the edge over Thornton because he also logs a lot of PK time.  It has to be between those two.

It's very disappointing that Stuart won't be back.  The Ference/McQuaid D pair of doom is already showing signs of breaking down and would be especially vulnerable against Jordan Staal and Pittsburgh.  Claude will do his best to have the top 4 out there for Malkin and Crosby, but Jordan Staal is no slouch and could be a difference maker in a series against them when he gets to pick on Ference/McQuaid.

Does Vladdy get demoted to 4th line duty and less than 10 minutes of TOI per night?  Let's hope not.  The kid is made for the playoffs and it would be sad not to see him with a regular shift.  Perhaps they'll ease Savard into things by giving Sobotka occasional shifts in the top 9 at even strength to spot Savvy.  Bergeron is one of the best two-way centers in the league so he's not moving to wing.  Krejci and Savard are not moving to wing either.  That means Vladdy either centers the 4th line, gets spot duty or plays wing with one of the big three.  The primary candidate for demotion from the top 9 is of course Wheeler.  We'll see what Claude comes up with.  Don't bother believing anything they run in practice.  This might be one of those things they don't want to tip to their opposition before the puck drops in Game 1.