Logical Progression wrote:
Sbisa's still in the league? Must be a 7-8 D-man on isles at this point. He sure delivers a great pizza.
Indeed, he's their 7-8 D-man. Actually, he could be considered the 8-9. They have Hickey rotating in for people who need rest (read- Boychuk), so Hickey is 7th. Then they have Sbisa and Seidenberg. Sbisa played a few games early on and Trotz seemed unimpressed.
So with the D corps that they've used, and the resurgence of both Greiss and Lehner under Korn and Greco, the Isles surrendered exactly ONE HUNDRED less goals this year than last year. Fucking astounding. Trotz wasn't kidding when he first took the job and proclaimed that "fixing that would be easy". Good enough for Greiss and Lehner to take the Jennings Trophy. Isles haven't won much hardware in the past 35-40 years, so that's awesome.
It will in fact be the Isles vs Pens, with the Isles having home ice advantage. Shame they finished 1 point behind the Caps. Would have been awesome to win the division for the first time in 31 years. But this is the first time they'll have home ice in a series since that same 31 year span. Holy shit.
Oh - 3-0 win vs the Caps in game 82. Filppula returned from his hyper extended elbow- and scored 2 goals. Martin with the empty netter. Lehner was great when he needed to be, and calmly turned everything else aside.
Looking forward to the playoffs, regardless of how they do vs the Pens. You know Crosby will score a shitload. Can the Isles shut down their other guys, and which Matt Murray will show up? And of course- can the Isles actually score a PP goal? If not, the Pens may get a lead and then just beat the shit out of the Isles, not worrying about playing short. Letang not being concerned about taking a penalty doesn't sound good for Lee, who always has great battles with Letang.
At this point, I'm just happy they proved everyone, including me, wrong and made the dance.