[lunchbawks]

Washington matches up well vs Boston, past results show this.

No reason for Boston to be any better than -150 here

Good play or ???

[dredmahawkus]

washington has about a good a chance to win as ottawa!

the key with the bruins is watch how they play a game or 2. If they are playing like they were in November, nobody can beat them!
They were playing pretty good....not as good as november but still really good the last 10 games of the season.

[hydrosmak]

I will always back physical teams with spread out talent during the playoffs. Playoffs are always a totally different brand of hockey and mainly the reason why the Sabres, Caps and Rangers type teams never seem to hack it. They get pushed around and beat up when physical teams never let up.

[LetsGoBruins]

I will always back physical teams with spread out talent during the playoffs. Playoffs are always a totally different brand of hockey and mainly the reason why the Sabres, Caps and Rangers type teams never seem to hack it. They get pushed around and beat up when physical teams never let up.

Hey Hydro,

While I agree - playoffs are just starting, so I really don't think all that added physical edge will make much of a difference so soon. Though I hope (expect) the B's to dominate their first games, I think their edge will show at a later point, should they make the next round.

If they can repeat last years feat of strength - winning 3 7 game series, one of which the final, I can tell you good things are bound to happen for the Bruins in 2012

[Nova99]

I think he's talking about the first two games and not the series. I can see the caps win one game away, they did take 3 out of 4 and 2 of 2 in Boston during the year.

[hydrosmak]

Hey Hydro,

While I agree - playoffs are just starting, so I really don't think all that added physical edge will make much of a difference so soon. Though I hope (expect) the B's to dominate their first games, I think their edge will show at a later point, should they make the next round.

If they can repeat last years feat of strength - winning 3 7 game series, one of which the final, I can tell you good things are bound to happen for the Bruins in 2012

IMO, it starts right from the beginning. Teams who are physical by nature don't always play that way during the season and save it for the playoffs. Every game means something and you can tell teams are giving it 100% every game/every shift. I may over emphasize it a little seeing as my favorite team tend to be the one that gets beat up by the more physical team in the playoffs (IE. Boston and Philly the past two playoff appearances).

[dredmahawkus]

The physical teams, without a doubt have the edge.......look at last year.....vancouver had 10xs the talent Boston did! the more physical Boston became, the more Vancouver went into a shell.

[lunchbawks]

washington has about a good a chance to win as ottawa!

the key with the bruins is watch how they play a game or 2. If they are playing like they were in November, nobody can beat them!
They were playing pretty good....not as good as november but still really good the last 10 games of the season.

Washington beat them, a bunch of times

[nrok2118]

I remember seeing some info on TV (im too lazy to back it up) but it was the results of past Cup champs and what they did the next year. There was a lot of "Made Playoffs, Lost in 1st Round". Caps beat them 3 of 4 this year, both times in Boston. They're coming in hot winning last 4 of 5 of regular season (though Boston is too). Boston is built for the long haul, but teams like this can go down to a quicker energetic team in the first round. Theres def value, especially at +180.

**Problem is both teams have shown signs of greatness and complete disaster this year so it all depends who shows up. Thats why it may be best to stay away, but the values on WASH, no way to pay the juice on Boston unless in a parlay**

[lakerboy]

i like the caps to win the series value wise. Caps +1.5 games is a safe bet

[DennisGreen]

Caps are a heartless team with poor team chemistry. Add to that they are gonna have to rely on a rookie goalie (Holtby) who will be absolutely shitting his pants in game one. Boston should dispatch of them in 5.

[lakerboy]

Caps are a heartless team with poor team chemistry. Add to that they are gonna have to rely on a rookie goalie (Holtby) who will be absolutely shitting his pants in game one. Boston should dispatch of them in 5.

bad analysis. caps have ZERO expectations this year while boston is overrated cause of last years win. boston isnt the same team while washington has no pressure like all the other years.

caps in 6

[mikea33]

lakerboy you serious with your predictions? Are you gonna pick all dogs (for stupid reasons) and when 1 out of the 8 hit your gonna think your the man?

[lakerboy]

lakerboy you serious with your predictions? Are you gonna pick all dogs (for stupid reasons) and when 1 out of the 8 hit your gonna think your the man?

my picks are up in the dg predictions thread. how many dogs did i pick? 3


my reasons are never analysis based on what teams did because in the nhl playoffs that doesnt work when teams dissapear from there style. watch how teams that couldnt score on the pp or pk in the reg season do just that. how old are you mike? have you watched the nhl since 1978 like i have? i could describe almost any playoff game the last 34 years. get a clue guy.

stop trying to be smart picking faves right?

[DennisGreen]

bad analysis. caps have ZERO expectations this year while boston is overrated cause of last years win. boston isnt the same team while washington has no pressure like all the other years.

caps in 6

You are off your rocker with some of these predications Did you watch one Caps game this year? Washington has no pressure? Quite the opposite. This team was supposed to have a cup by now and patience is wearing thin in DC. Another 1st round exit and there will be some BIG changes in the summer.

Boston is a well oiled wrecking ball and the Caps are softer than my Nucks even. This team has the mentality of a fragile 13 year old girl. They will crumble.

[mikea33]

How can you say Washington has no pressure? THey were an absolute BUST this year in comparision to expectations...........there a frail hockey team in all aspects.

Im not trying to act smart.....but look deep into these matchups besides the + money bets and you will see that the best value lies in most the chalk.

[lakerboy]

You are off your rocker with some of these predications Did you watch one Caps game this year? Washington has no pressure? Quite the opposite. This team was supposed to have a cup by now and patience is wearing thin in DC. Another 1st round exit and there will be some BIG changes in the summer.

Boston is a well oiled wrecking ball and the Caps are softer than my Nucks even. This team has the mentality of a fragile 13 year old girl. They will crumble.

i watched about 25 caps games this year- those mean nothing now though. off my rocker? i picked 5 out of 8 faves to advance in round 1. i picked two big dogs and one small one in the yotes.

wash has no pressure- they are NOT expected to win the series. What can they change if they lose this series? mgt cant justify changes on a loss versus a better bos club. mgt will be stuck between a rock and a hard place when wash advances.

[lakerboy]

How can you say Washington has no pressure? THey were an absolute BUST this year in comparision to expectations...........there a frail hockey team in all aspects.

Im not trying to act smart.....but look deep into these matchups besides the + money bets and you will see that the best value lies in most the chalk.

wow. i took 5 out of 8 chalks. are you mad? i took 3 dogs out of 8. can you not see that? laying -200 in the nhl playoffs will lead you to the poorhouse.

[mikea33]

The chalk I laid were the Devils, Nucks so far. probably the Bruins and pens, mabye rangers depending on the closer.....upon furthur examination need to look a wee bit more into them..........

[mikea33]

About the pressure thing.....that is irrelevent in the playoffs. All teams feel the pressue if you made it this far. No pressure would be the last game of the season. These guys are going to feel the pressure just as much if not more than the Bruins due to the bruins expirience.

[DennisGreen]

i watched about 25 caps games this year- those mean nothing now though. off my rocker? i picked 5 out of 8 faves to advance in round 1. i picked two big dogs and one small one in the yotes.

wash has no pressure- they are NOT expected to win the series. What can they change if they lose this series? mgt cant justify changes on a loss versus a better bos club. mgt will be stuck between a rock and a hard place when wash advances.

Just breaking balls brah I hate the Caps now because of how they play. They used to win me a ton of money back in the day when they played run and gun. From what I've seen of them they really look bad though. You did pick mostly favorites I see so you must have your reasons. GL

[lunchbawks]

Caps are a heartless team with poor team chemistry. Add to that they are gonna have to rely on a rookie goalie (Holtby) who will be absolutely shitting his pants in game one. Boston should dispatch of them in 5.

Holtby is a good goalie

[DennisGreen]

Holtby is a good goalie

Yeah but completely unproven. No playoff experience and playing the cup champs in their building game one, gonna be fight or flight for him on Thursday night

[lunchbawks]

It's a hockey game all these words like cup champs, and home ice are meaningless. Washington is coming to Boston knowing they can win, Boston is probably more worried about losing 3 straight to Washington on home ice

[DennisGreen]

It's a hockey game all these words like cup champs, and home ice are meaningless. Washington is coming to Boston knowing they can win, Boston is probably more worried about losing 3 straight to Washington on home ice

Yeah I don't think the Caps win the series but for sure they could win game one. Boston started off slow in almost every playoff series last year. Fell down 2-0 to MTL and VAN and came back to win.

[odog11]

Yeah I don't think the Caps win the series but for sure they could win game one. Boston started off slow in almost every playoff series last year. Fell down 2-0 to MTL and VAN and came back to win.

I agree, good value on caps in game 1 and will be in game 2. Bruins do seem very focused and should take the series. Caps win game 1 and lose series +400. Not quite enough value to take it, but intriguing.

Any series you(or anyone) think are a good shot to have game 1 winner lose the series? Maybe Ottawa?

[hockey216]

lets start off by saying im bruins fan.

I think horton loss is very bad for bruins. yes they beat vancouver without him, but that series was more lopsided than the 7 games would indicate. Vancouver BARELY won 3 games, 2 games 1-0, 1 in OT, and 1 game 3-2. They were outscored 21-4 over games 3,4,5,6,7. Scoring isnt as easy for kessler and the sedins when they have big Zdeno Chara defending them. goaltending was obviously key for boston as well.

Horton is a top scorer for the bruins. he was also very big in their run to cup last year. maybe they would have lost 1st round if Horton didn't have those game winning goals, and the game winner in OT in game 7. Maybe they would have lost in finals against TB without him bc he also had game winner in game 7 against TB. Horton had something like 18pts in 21 games or something. Lossing Horton is a big, big loss for the bruins. In fact, the bruins transitioned from dominance (nov/dec) to mediocrity (jan/feb/mar) at the exact same time Horton got injured. Getting rich peverly back helped bruins turn around a bit though. but i think that people are looking at bruins winning cup, and foolishly underrating how important Horton is to the bruins. Horton is a key part to that top line of Lucic and Krejci. Produces most of the offense on that top line. Without Horton, their 2nd line (bergeron/marchand/seguin) is their top line.

i think washington has a decent chance. i predict bruins in 6, but i dont expect a cake walk. bruins have played decent in last 3 weeks... but poorly for two months before that. washington is clicking right now, backstrom is back, and they played great towards the end of the season. i like bruins chances, but i would not lay -165. thats too high chalk. its freaking hockey. im also concerned that Thomas could get burnt out. they rested him a couple games, but not as much as they needed too. Thomas has gotton burnt out in the past when overworked. If Tukka can come back and play at high level it will boost my confidence. but we dont know how well he'll play when coming back. will there be rust? maybe. maybe not. we dont know. if bruins were -150 or less id take them. not -165.

Do i think bruins will win? Sure. but i dont think the price is right at -165.