Dabura

Early whistle much?

Noticed that. One too many injections? You could hear a pin drop in this barn.

To be fair, he's been playing hurt for most of the season. And, while streaky, he's actually been one of the more consistent scorers in the league in terms of totals. He didn't make Team USA because TRUCULENCE! GRIT! BLUE-COLLAR! TUFFNESS! PHYSICS! And how did that work out for you, Brian? Granted, I'm biased. He's a local product and I got to play against him way back in peewee. And he had an immensely screwed up childhood, making the fact that he went pro at all really remarkable. At the end of the day, he's a pure goal-scorer with fantastic "pedigree" (drafted #2 behind...Crosby, if memory serves). And, being only 27, it's entirely possible that he hasn't played his best hockey yet.

Or they could just trade him to the Oilers.

Could he stay on with the organization, just in a different capacity? I'd like to see that happen. Personally, I think the whole thing is kinda bulls***. I mean, I get it. I understand why it has to happen. But, to me, Barry Trotz isn't the reason why the Predators missed the playoffs. No Rinne + No top-end forwards = No playoffs. Now, Rinne's situation is, of course, no one's fault. But the top six? That's on the general manager. And if it's built the way it is because there's no money, then it's on the ownership.

It recently occurred to me that the Wild, for all their big acquisitions, are basically where we are, at least far as the standings are concerned. Which is kinda crazy. I thought about maybe doing some research and number crunching and such, but I realized I didn't care enough. Thankfully, Adam Gretz exists: The Minnesota Wild, the playoff bubble, and the importance of homegrown talent [Adam Gretz, SBNation] Thoughts? Did the Wild "do it the wrong way"? Are they doomed? Are we going to have the last laugh? Etc.

You sound just like Babcock. Or maybe Holland. Either way, I'm confused.

If I look at it objectively, I think Roy should win it. Mike Babcock is the best hockey coach in the world, period. But that's not at all how it works with the Jack Adams. It's not like the Hart, where the same guy can win it every season. It's, Who blew expectations out of the water this season? And that's Roy. Babs - widely regarded as the best in the business - dealt with injuries and got his team into the playoffs, barely. Roy - with no coaching experience at the pro level - inherited a godawful young team and has it challenging for first in the absurdly tough Western Conference with a couple games left. Babs had to coach kids. Roy...had to coach kids. I don't necessarily like that they look at it this way. But they do. Which is why Roy will win. And, honestly, good for him. I hate him, but you can't deny that what's happening in Colorado is amazing.

Also, if you think about it, this team doesn't necessarily know what to do with a "meaningless" game. Like Babs said, we've been fighting for our playoff lives for almost the whole season. We were definitely due for a big letdown. This was the ultimate trap game. I'm just rationalizing now.

Yeah, I agree with all of this. I think the inability to capitalize isn't like "puck luck" where they get a free pass. Usually, failing on 700 chances means your head is up your ass, and I think that was mostly the case tonight. But, given our youth, it's remarkable that this hasn't been a big issue this season. We've had nights like this one, but every team does. You'd like for this to not be your second-to-last regular season game with something important on the line, but whatever. Maybe they'll learn from it. I do think wanting the Pens as much as people do is asking for trouble. And when I think about Crosby, Malkin, Neal...and Kindl, Lashoff, Howard...and our legendary ability to make so-so goalies look unbeatable...that could very easily be a clean sweep for the bad guys, same as Boston. The way things have gone this season, where the worst that could happen, happens, and we think it's the end of the world...and now we look back on it and realize that it probably had to unfold that way...maybe it's the same thing here. We had to lose tonight, because we have to face the Bruins, because that's The Plan, or something.

You never know.

This team is only truly engaged if it's a David-Goliath situation and we're David. We blow as Goliath. Which is why I kinda want the Bruins anyway. I'm not sure we'd really show up against the Pens, but I'm pretty sure we'd show up against the Bruins.

Oh well. At least the Jackets lost.

We really miss Z. And E. And most of all, Emdog.

Two too many men penalties in one game. That's impressive.

Thing is, Ward hasn't actually done anything. And he hasn't had to. They could've had, like, a chair sitting there in the crease and the score would be the same.

Longest intermission ever.

FWIW... We were down 2-0 going into the third in our first game against the Hurricanes, earlier this season. Weiss won it in OT.

This is incredible. Absolutely incredible.

FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT GUYS

Hey, it's a Quincey penalty! Knew something was missing.

Ward for Vezina.

Kindl-Lashoff making me want to cry.

Seriously, it's not this hard to score. The Leafs do it all the time.

Just getting embarrassed. By ourselves.