I just watched Tim Connolly score the opening goal against Philly in Buffalo, and I can't quite believe what I just saw.
On a Buffalo power play, Connolly took a breakout pass in the slot in the Sabres defensive zone. Then, skating at about three-quarters speed, Connolly casually made his way up the ice, with the Flyers backing up all the way, essentially leaving Connolly completely untouched.
Connolly, not looking a gift horse in the mouth, just kept skating straight up the center of the ice. Just inside the blue line, Sami Kapanen tried a weak stick check, which forced Connolly to do some nice stickhandling, but nothing that would ever make a highlight video.
Eventually getting around Kapanen, Connolly eventually got below the face off dots without before lifting a wrister over Robert Esche's glove hand. 1-0 Sabres.
Not. Touched. Once. Ken Hitchcock must be throwing a clot right now.
UPDATE: With it being 3-0 in Buffalo with the Sabres leading, NBC has switched to Dallas-Colorado, now tied 2-2 midway through the 3rd period.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Say good-bye to Dallas, the third team to exit this year's playoff. And after another playoff disappointment, how long will Dallas hang onto Marty Turco?
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Carolina takes a 3-2 lead in the series with a 3-2 victory at home. Boy, has this turned around right quick.
BTW -- I wasn't paying very close attention to the commercials during the Carolina-Montreal game, that was until this ad came on.
It looks like I'm about a month behind the curve, and a lot of folks simply can't stand this ad:
While I
Leper Messiah 
Wow, Brunette with the OT winner. Remember when he did that to eliminate the Avs?
Stars fans, be grateful, we were finally put out of our misery by Brunette’s OT goal this afternoon. We all went into the playoffs with high hopes for our team, only to witness some of worst hockey, goaltending, short-handed goals, blown leads, OT and, at times, puck handling, we could have imagined from our 2-seed team. I think it would have been more painful to drag the series on and win a game or two more only to go down at the end anyway. I wasn’t a fan of Turco going in, and this certainly hasn’t helped my opinion.
BTW, your thoughts on April 19, re: Stars in the playoffs, turned out to be quite prophetic.
The real question might be who wants Turco considering the huge deal Armstrong signed him to this year. Ugly.
Re: the Ford commercial and 13 Stories – I know that crew! That band has been around Atlanta forever and seemingly change their sound to mirror whatever the popular taste of moment is. Or maybe I’m just jealous that they landed a song on a major commercial and one of my bands didn’t.
My position on Ford has always been summed up by the following: my immigrant grandfather worked at the plant in Dearborn for a while after he finished high school and owned Ford stock, but he never drove a Ford a day in his life.
As a Caniac, I’ve been tolerating that commercial for at least the past month. What I can’t stand is how, vocally, the lead singer scoops the crap out of the “Beep-beep” notes — if she’s punching the horn, the pitch shouldn’t be sliding all over the damn place unless the car’s sick. (Which, being a Ford, it might be.) (Sorry, minor music nerdery over now.)
Spectacular goaltending at both ends in Carolina-Montreal — either team could have put up a 4- or 5-spot in this game without much effort if not for Huet and Wardo. Not Carolina’s best game, but we’ll sure take it.