The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

I'm not terribly greedy. I don't need the thrill of an overtime goal by the Sens to feel like I got my money's worth. A 2-0 lead throughout the entire game is just fine.

But, at the end of the day, it might have turned out to be one of the most exciting games I've seen live and since it was also the result I wanted, made it that much better. It couldn't get quite more dramatic than those last two minutes of play: the goalie had been pulled, a player in the penalty box, one of the defending Senators playing without his stick thus effectively making it a 6 on 3 1/2. I'll give credit to the Lightning, when it sunk in their season was coming to an end, they poured it on and had no quit. But the Sens' resolve came through, and although many will say beating an 8th seed isn't much of an accomplishment, well, I think the Red Wings might disagree with you if they escape from the first round. The parity of the league is quite good (Devils vs Rangers notwithstanding). The fact that the Lightning are the defending Stanley Cup Champions cannot be ignored. To win the Cup, I think it's only just to have to take it away from the team that has it. Ottawa did so, now they have to go through three more teams to have the right to keep it.

Other thoughts:

Two rows behind the players' bench is pretty sweet, although for financial purposes not something I will do anytime soon (well, maybe in the fourth round)...Everytime Vincent Lecavalier went back to the bench, he looked defeated or like he was about to cry...Tampa Bay's Sean Burke played what could have been his last NHL game and turned in a great performance...Martin Havlat and Wade Redden were the two best players in the series...Ray Emery answered his critics with a series save percentage of .924...Alfie didn't score last night but logged the most minutes out of all Sens' forwards with 25+ minutes...I noticed Havlat and Jason Spezza chirping at each other after Havlat's goal, not sure what they were disagreeing about...Nice to see Meszaros score last night. He looked pumped after that and did wonders for his confidence...Antoine Vermette's shot block in the last minute of the third while playing without his stick was second best only to Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff's blocked shot that left him with an injured wrist...Tim Taylor returned the puck to Ray Emery from game 1 that he said he threw in the garbage. Emery ended up giving said puck to a young Ottawa fan as he left the ice. While I'm all for giving out stuff to the kids, I think Emery will regret doing that later...Wade Redden hoisting a Stanley Cup over his head could be the story of the playoffs if it happens. I was wondering who he was pointing to after being named the game's first star, turns out it was his brother who flew in with Wade and the rest of the family just one day after burying their mother...Peter Schaefer is overshadowed by his linemate Martin Havlat but had a helluva series...We can say now it was a good thing to rest Chris Philips' injured knee...Instead of those annoying thundersticks, they handed out red "Sens Army" wristbands. Apparently a portion does go to the Ottawa Senators Foundation charity...I hope Ottawa draws Montreal next round, just like I hope Calgary and Edmonton advance so that Canadian fans will be treated to two Conference semi-final all-Canadian matchups, thus also guaranteeing two Canadian teams will finish in the final four...Twelve to go.