Anybodyhome

Speaking of.... I had to read and figure out what all this uproar was and came out of it extremely disappointed. Really? When the best you can do is refuse to drink and/or boycott a crappy beer from a company, and you're probably drinking another beer from the same company, your intelligence is on full display. All I can conclude is that Dylan Mulvaney is living rent free in a lot of folks' heads these days. In the last 30 days, their stock price has dropped .29% and their 90-day profile shows a 10.96% gain. So, yeah, that whopping little over a quarter percent stock price difference is killing the company.

"I play football...." Reminds me of this:

The down side to this series is the fact neither one of these teams are hitting each other. Hamilton may be the biggest guy on the ice, but he's been proven/seen/known to avoid hits rather than dole them out. Even Trouba, fugging goon that he is, either hasn't felt it necessary or he just hasn't lined up his shot on anyone yet. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you can't do it, but there's a time and place and there's a hit within the rules and those that cross the line. But there's no denying that more players have been injured in the playoffs thus far than we've seen the entire regular season- and that's just flat out inconsistently enforcing the rules and bad officiating.

There were a couple lapses, but there were a couple fluky goals for NY as well. So, here's my take: If you put 36 shots on goal with a goalie who gives up rebounds like the Easter bunny gives up jelly beans, you gotta take advantage. The Isles play stay home defense around the net because they know 2 things: Sorokin will give up rebounds and the Canes have net front. Canes need to cycle quicker and rotate 2 guys to the front of the crease. If given the opportunity, shoot the damn puck. If there's a lane, shoot it. Raanta needs the extra day of rest. And now, with a 3-2 series, does RBA go with Freddie, knowing he'll give up and easy 1 or 2 goals and hope the Canes can repeat their 5-goal performance? Or do they stick with Raanta on 2 days rest? Personally, I'm not sure how committed Andersen is to the organization at this point. He's a UFA and has lost the crease to his backup. Not sure myself, just throwing it out there.

3-1 series lead is the recipe for a mental let down knowing there's little chance the Isles win 3 in a row.

Had the Bally app going on the drive down. Great game to hear with Tripp & Mike. Tripp is fed up with the goon game the Isles are playing. Think of this- if NY put forth as much effort playing the game, instead of trying to knock guys out, this might be a 2-2 series.

"Frederik Andersen is unavailable after tweaking something the other day." And, before this latest development, he was suffering from an illness. At some point you have to ask yourself, is Frederik Andersen afraid to step on the ice when playoff time starts? Gotta be honest, RBA sure didn't sound very confident yesterday. And I won't be the least bit surprised if they don't get out of the first round. The only part of this team that remains intact is the blue line. The lines are really a top line, Staal's checking line and two 4th lines with very little offensive firepower. I'll be on the road today, headed down to the coast for the week, so I may stream the game while I'm driving, but that could result in self-induced road rage. But, hey, I'm already looking forward to next season.

Wait, who was in goal for the Devils last night? Some guy I never heard of now has more playoff wins than Vicki Vanacek.

Watching Jets come back from a 4-1 3rd period deficit to tie the game against Vegas with about 20 seconds left. Our buddy Nino, acquired by the Jets at the TDL, has a goal in this one. He averaged almost a point per game after joining Winnipeg. Oh, and anyone of Winnipeg's top 6 forwards would make Carolina better.

I had a 16x32 in-ground when I lived in Greensboro years ago. Was my daily stress reliever when I got home from work and spent an hour or so just vacuuming and cleaning the leaves during the season (Easter thru Halloween). After Halloween, I'd drain it just below the skimmer line, around 12-18", and drain the water from all the lines so they wouldn't freeze. I had a cover as well. There came a time when I had to replace the liner and drained the pool and when it came time to fill it up, I called Greensboro FD and offered them a donation in exchange for the water. They came and hooked their hose to the hydrant and were done in short order. I had a DE filter, learned how to test water myself and did the chemicals myself. There are many variables- how much sun, shade, what kind of stuff is falling into the water. But, if you have the time, I'd recommend just paying someone to get it back to being right and take over yourself. Couple of my neighbors now have pools and they have a pool company come out and do the annual opening and closing of the pool while they take care of it themselves during the season.

After witnessing last night's 3rd period collapse, I think getting out of the first might be a stretch. Also, as a side note/question: When was the last time Freddie Andersen was healthy enough to play the post-season, for any team?

This is the same team that was a couple pieces shy of being a serious contender last year, despite the awful goalie situation. The Canes are really playing with house money at this point. They have less talent on the ice this year than last and are missing more than a few pieces due to injury and the fact everyone in the east got better, in some manner, at the TDL. The fact they'll come back to Raleigh at 2-2, worst case scenario, should be enough for Canes fans. And I can never forget the fact the front office left $10M on the table while everyone else got better, relatively speaking.

How do you give up 4 goals in 4 minutes?

Game. Cannot give up 30+ SOG with a patchwork of forwards.

Can only ask for so many PKs from Raanta.

Raanta playing out of his skull tonight. Regardless of the outcome, he is a stud tonight.

Why do Islander fans do a college football chant?

Be nice if one of the top 2 lines would do something offensively at some point in this series.

Jarvis going into the net with open gloved hand.

It is a shame that the 4 dirtiest teams in the league are all in the east: Boston, Rags, Washington, Isles.

The infamous Rat Marchand move.

3 guys went to the puck, nobody stayed home on the back door.

I thought they might have a little more knowledge of the game. Sounds like a lot of bandwagon hockey idiots that don't know the rules or how the game is played. Good first period. Canes had some opportunities on the offensive end, but when the Isles start to push, they cycle really well and the Canes are challenged to win the board battle and clear the zone.

Not really, but western hockey is different than eastern hockey. The real issue is, especially in the eastern games, is the ref have lost control of the games. The fact that Bunting got a 3-game playoff suspension with a high hit in the midst of a play on the puck, but nothing has been done with the Islander intentional hits and shots on the Canes, Dumba's hit that concussed Pavelski and put him in the protocol, the Boston thuggery that caused the refs to end the game with time on the clock. It's bullsh!t that Bunting got 3 games and Dumba got none. Stupid that nothing beyond interference was called on Martin's hit on Staal and subsequently sitting on him. Pageau's intentional whack that broke TT's hand. McAvoy wanted to start a fight with 3 seconds left on the clock until someone else started a fight instead. I love the intensity of playoff hockey, but it never has to get to the point of injuring the opponents and the league and officials have lost control.

Conventional wisdom was the team overachieved during the regular season and wasn't supposed to be this good for another year or 2. That being said, I was at least hoping the Devils could lean on the Rags a little and wear them out, but they're making this pretty easy and NY might be sitting at home, resting up, and waiting to see who they face next.