In the East, I don't think what kind of game the other team plays will matter when facing either Crosby's Line or Malkin's for fifty minutes out of sixty. W Frankly I don't think any of the other teams will play strong enough defensively to cope. The only way an East team can beat them is with a Conn Smythe trophy worthy series from their goalie.

There are a few goalies that may be capable. I don't think that either of Ottawa's 3 million dollar men are.

Oh no, I totally agree with you that they should be able to handle Ottawa this year-- luck of the draw on injuries. But there have been (and are) teams that can shut down Crosby and Malkin.... They themselves are hard to shut down without penalty, but the rest of their lines are not yet firm enough AS LINES to ensure ultimate solution of the massive amount of scouting dedicated to grabbing bragging rights for "We beat the Pens."

For me, the real playoff thrill will be seeing how Therrien adjusts systems over the 7 games of each series to see if they can overcome this. The team right now does not KNOW that they can do this-- maybe they can, and maybe they actually will. But in the end, it's the team that best multitasks systems that ends up on top. And systems are a hard thing to play around with. (I'm talking systems, not strategies, here.)

As I said, I hope I am wrong... but it's been quite odd how often this past several years all of my suspicions and opinions have been immmediately borne out-- not only by analysts' comments but by team stats and results. Apparently I'm a pretty good observer and trend-spotter-- I wish it would pay off in my business marketing, but as long as I keep money out of the equation (LOL), I am usually spot on. [shrug] Who knows why?

So I don't bet, myself; but I'd caution anyone who is planning to put any money on the Pens just yet (other than sponsors and ticket buyers, LOL). We'll see if they can pull it off.

~Susan