sbhatt

Common sense dictated that should have been the way to go. Also, the 'padding your stats in meaningless games angers the hockey gods' factor comes into play. Glad they are being humiliated.

After watching the past two Caps games, they still seem 'hungry ' to me...not always the case with defending champs. This bodes well for them.

I just can't write Crosby off that easily.

The goaltending has been sub-par, but it's not just the goaltending...that team is being outworked all over the ice. They seem to be a mentally soft bunch, and I question Cooper's coaching as he has seemed either too stubborn to make strategic adjustments, or is downright incapable. Epic choke job so far.

Adding a puck moving LHD makes us a playoff team next year by a comfortable margin. Adding that puck moving LHD AND upgrading our top 6 goalscoring (Byron and Drouin each drop a line) would make us a playoff team with the potential to ride a hot Carey Price into a deep run. A lot hinges on this offseason...the usual Bergevin swing/miss where all he has at the end is leftover cap space to show simply will not do.

You couldn't have scripted that any better...wow

I know it's just one game...BUT...I am going to re-order the depth chart for next season in my mind featuring Mr. Poehling in the top 6 and nobody can stop me!

I'm glad he didn't as well...just sort of figure that Columbus deserved to get in at least for the heavy price of admission that they paid.

Can't complain: Columbus paid the price and loaded up at the deadline to tip the scales in their favor, and it panned out for them.

He sure as hell wears blame from where I am sitting. I've begun my post-mortem on the season, and when looking at some of our key losses in games where we got very good goaltending...it's glaringly obvioius that our top 6 is a big problem. You cannot have both Drouin and Byron in your top 6...you can make do with one, but on a GOOD team one has to be a 3rd liner depending on who's playing better at the time. Bergevin MUST add a 30 goal scorer to that top 6, or we will continue to see great performances by Carey Price wasted due to a lack of goal support. He had the cap space to do it last summer, and failed. If he fails to utilize that cap space to get at least one of the two pieces this team desperately needs (that top 6 goalscorer or a LD that is a PP quarterback), he doesn't deserve the job.

Well, when you only score one goal, you deserve to lose the game. Price did his part.

The clock is becoming a real enemy.

Of course they are 'allowed'...but when you put your key guys on the ice when it's meanigless, you are tempting fate and probably deserve to have bad juju roar up to bite you in the ass.

That was stressful...glad they pulled it off. Total dick move by TB at the end with the empty net in a meaningless game IMO...it's a shame we weren't in a position to take off Kucherov's or Stamkos' head to send a message about the attempted padding of stats. Now have to match that effort (at least) vs. Caps and hope Columbus and/or Carolina lose their next game.

We are likely screwed. I thought we had close to a 50/50 shot at making it if everything had gone well and all 3 of our remaining opponents were coasting into the playoffs resting players. With all 3 possibly icing their usual lineups, the odds of winning all of our games are miniscule.