ROUND ONE : M2 Pittsburgh v M3 Columbus

[sseagle]

Wednesday, April 12, 6:30pm: Blue Jackets @ Penguins | USA, SN 360, TVA Sports
Friday, April 14, 6pm: Blue Jackets @ Penguins | NHL Network, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
Sunday, April 16, 5pm: Penguins @ Blue Jackets | CNBC, SN 360, TVA Sports
Tuesday, April 18, 6:30pm: Penguins @ Blue Jackets | CNBC, SN 360, TVA Sports
Thursday, April 20, TBD: Blue Jackets @ Penguins | TBD
Sunday, April 23, TBD: Penguins @ Blue Jackets | TBD
Tuesday, April 25, TBD: Blue Jackets @ Penguins | TBD

[glen a richter]

Columbus in 7

[cardsfan04]

https://twitter.com/PeteBlackburn/status/853063314347307008 Surely this is a suspension, right? For context, there is ~30 seconds left in a 4-1 game. I'm not sure if it was retaliatory for something or just frustration, but I can't imagine the snowball effect if the NHL lets this go.

And, I'm pretty sure Blackburn is trolling with his tweet. He wrote an article that called the play ugly.

[cardsfan04]

https://twitter.com/Real_ESPNLeBrun/status/853258779680546824 https://twitter.com/Real_ESPNLeBrun/status/853259109759668227 I get what they are saying with the stick breaking (it breaking makes it look worse, but sticks break all the time, yada yada yada), but since when is the stick breaking the line for a suspension or not? He cross-checked him from behind out of frustration, then circled around and hit him (maybe in the head) while he was doubled over. And the puck isn't anywhere around there. It was purely malicious.

[theohall]

Should be a suspension.

[cardsfan04]

They announced a little while ago that he has a hearing today. I know they are totally different plays, but Seabrook got 3 games in 2014 playoffs for a hit on Backes that probably didn't have malicious intent. This didn't have the negative result, but the malice here looks to be a lot more to me. My guess is he gets 1-2 games (which I'm ok with in a vacuum), but I wish they'd come down on the needless and intentional stuff like this harder than they do. Even though the result isn't as bad here, I think this is a lot worse than a hit that wasn't lined up or timed well.

[theohall]

Twitter poll - 82% say suspend him, 10% say fine him, the rest don't think it's punishable at all. I'm betting the 18% are all Columbus fans.

[cardsfan04]

haha, yeah. Jay McKee had an interesting take though. He said something like, "15 years ago players would beg for him to not be suspended and it would be taken care of early in game 3." While I get that, I don't think the NHL can just let this go when the only conclusion (that I can draw anyway) is that he had malice/intent to injure on this hit.

[WaukeeBlues]

Columbus' game plan of trying to stick it to the Penguins with physicality is blowing up in their faces. They also can't afford to lose their cool at the worst times.

They may split this home series but down 2-0 they're done.

Penguins going to wrap this up in 5

[theohall]

The Bluejackets are playing like Team USA in the World Cup.

[glen a richter]

Columbus is blowing a golden opportunity with Letang being out. Pittsburgh is losing to whomever they play next though.

[theohall]

Blowing a 3-1 1st period lead. Ouch!!!

[gaijin]

Blue Jackets are out, and Pittsburgh is on to Round 2. Can't say I'm really surprised. Columbus's surprising record this season just didn't seem to have the staying power needed for playoff success. They never seemed like a legit playoff contender.

[cardsfan04]

I agree. They had that insane winning streak, and while that was really impressive, I think it was a kinda fluky thing that boosted their record above their actual talent level. It's nice seeing them better than a cellar team though.