Joe and I would like to express our condolences to those affected by the tragic shootings that occurred today at Virginia Tech University. Already being called the deadliest campus shooting in American history, reports indicate that 32 people have been killed while many others have been injured — some quite serious.

The gunman is also among the dead, Virginia authorities report.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the students and faculty of Virginia Tech along with their families.

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Take a look up top, notice something different? Thanks goes out to Dustin, aka UnderDogX for his amazingly awesome job on the new site banner. We likes it, so you should too!

As we did with Game 1, it’s time for 2 Man Advantage’s Playoff Breakdown: The Awesome, the Not So Awesome, and the Downright Ridiculous

THE AWESOME: Johan Holmqvist.

Like I had mentioned in the last breakdown, I really thought Holmer would rebound in Game 2 and put together a sparkling performance. And, hey, guess what happened? Johan put on a mother f’n SHOW, turning aside 34 shots for his first career postseason win. He made quite a few nifty saves, easily outplaying Marty Brodeur. Good for Holmqvist, bad for New Jersey.

THE NOT SO AWESOME: The no-call on Martin St. Louis after he bushwacked Rad Brad Lukowich in the face with his stick late in the third period with the game still in reach for the Devils. Even worse, not a single official called the play dead after Lukowich was sent sprawling to the ice, throwing his stick and gloves away as he clutched at his bloodied face. At least Rad Brad returned, but who’s to say whether the non-call played a key role in the Devils’ loss?

THE DOWNRIGHT RIDICULOUS: Zach Parise’s postseason play. This kid is ridiculous. Seriously, he’s phenomenal. Not much can really be said for his teammates tonight, but Zach has continued to shine in the 2006-07 campaign. While we can’t take too much away from tonight’s loss, we can look at Parise and take a nice, fresh breath of air and realize that, well, even though we don’t have too much offensive power, we do have the Zach-Attack on our side. It’s very comforting when you’re looking at Vinny Lecavs and Brad Richards square in the eye…and St. Louis from a couple feet above.

So, the series is knotted at one, can’t say I’m shocked whatsoever — I knew this was coming. It’s all about the momentum now, and the Devils need to come back strong on Monday in Game 3’s affair to really have a good shot at this series. Sure, the postseason is still very young, but you do not want to wake a sleeping giant like the Tampa Bay Lightning. I’m not too upset about the game, I mean, the team did have its fair share of chances and did whack a couple posts to boot, but it’s always nerveracking losing any game in the postseason.

Oh, and by the way, Scott Gomez totally let me down tonight. Sheesh, the thanks I get for actually praising the poo-head. Looks like I’m going to have to go back to calling him Poomez until further notice.

And for a final note, I’d like to give a word of advice to a select few of the boys for Game 2:

____Almost time for Game 2 folks. For those who will be attending — have fun and be LOUD! We might not be able to sell out our arena, but we sure as heck can make it sound like we’re, uh, a sell out crowd. Alas, Joe and I will be at the game as usual, so if you happen to see one of us wandering the concourse, please, try not to punch us in the face. That would really ruin our day.

And now for a little something I’d like to call “2 Man Advantage’s Playoff Breakdown: The Awesome, the Not So Awesome, and the Downright Ridiculous.”

THE AWESOME: Scott “Oh hey, I actually CAN prove I’m a capable playmaker” Gomez.

That’s right. I said it. Scott mother f’n Gomez. Heavily pooed on by 2 Man Advantage for the majority of the season, Joe and I really were holding Mr. Gomez to a very high standard for the postseason. So much bark, so little bite, Gomer needed to prove that his fancy puck handling could actually translate into fancy goals and fancy assists. The result of Game 1? Three fancy assists for Scottie G, and a ton of great plays to boot. We’re legitimately surprised with Gomez’ play tonight, and that’s a great thing. Keep it up, Scott, and you just might get that $5 million after all.

…yeah, right.

THE NOT SO AWESOME: Backdoor blasphemy! Okay, maybe not blasphemy, but it did get a tid bit ridiculous how easily Lightning offense *cough*Martin St. Louis*cough* were able to just sit at the side of the net waiting patiently for, well, you know, a goal. A bit more concerning is the fact that as many times as this happened, the Devils defense never seemed to catch on, or worse yet, didn’t seem to care. Unfortunately, this leads me to….

THE DOWNRIGHT RIDICULOUS: Johnny O-friggen-duya. I know, I know, he’s a rookie and all and this was his first taste of NHL postseason glory, but come on, could the guy have possibly looked any worse than he did tonight? Johnny, your positioning was a mess and your penalties were awful. If it weren’t for a nice block he made with his stick in the third period, I would have called for the Swede’s head by now. Alas, I will give him another chance. Actually, no, I won’t. I want Richard Matvichuk in the lineup. Okay, I’m kidding, sort of, but if Johnny is playing Saturday, then Johnny needs to step it up Saturday, fo’ sho’.

Aside from all of that, I’d like to take a brief moment and mention the fact that, yes, I do feel bad for Johan Holmqvist. Poor man had some flashes of brilliance during the game (did you SEE that save he made in the first?), but, Holmy, what the HECK were you thinking by not covering the puck with Patrik Elias and Scott Gomez skating in on you late in the third period with the game still in reach? Wow. I’ll chalk it up to a rookie mistake, but you just can’t do that, buddy, not even with a goal deprived team like the New Jersey Devils as your opponent. I fully expect you to bounce back on Saturday, because, well, you really gotta step up now.

Granted, neither team exactly dominated the game, but the ultimate edge does have to go to the Devils who pounced on every opportunity imaginable and found a way to expose Holmqvist for a few weak goals. Marty was once again solid in net, but the defense needs to mightily step up in Game 2 or we’ll be seeing a tied series heading to Tampa Bay. Got it?

____ The Senators are kicking the avacados out of Pittsburgh right now! Poor Banana Pads…his defense absolutely gave up on the game, now didn’t they? Or, uh, did they not even show up? 6-2 Sens as we speak. Oh, and that shuffle you hear is the sound of dozens of hockey analysts feverishly trying to change their playoff predictions…

IN OTHER ACTION, the Sharkies are up 4-2 over the Nashville Forsbergs, while Dallas/Vancouver and Minnesota/Anaheim kick their series off at 10:00 and 10:30 PM ET. It should be good times. A point of note, if I may, Jonathan Cheechoo took a nasty knee-on-knee hit from Scott Hartnell and has not returned to the ice since. Ouch.

UPDATE:  Crosby and Gonchar gave the Senators a bit of a scare in the third period with a couple of late goals, but Ottawa holds on to take Game 1 with a 6-3 final.

Did a little searching today, found two awesome Lightning blogs that I highly recommend. Want some great coverage from the oposing viewpoints? Check out Bolts Blog and Boltsmag (both links open in new windows). Oh, and RJ, I forgive you for picking Tampa Bay to triumph over the Devils for the series. I kid, I kid.

In all honestly, we’d love to hear from any Lightning bloggers or fans — don’t be strangers ’round here. We don’t bite…I think.

So, I’m definitely looking forward for this series to begin. Joe and I will both be at the game on Thursday, cheering our little butts off. It’ll be good times, really.

Well, I hope so, at least. Damn Bolts better not thunder on my parade. It will seriously ruin my day. Only thing worse would be if I had been struck by lightning.

Those Lightning cliches don’t get old, do they? It’s like I’m brewing a whole big storm of ‘em!

I better bolt from this post now before I make an even bigger idiot of myself!

…I’m sorry.

EDIT: A little something for Mr. Bechtel. Enjoy, my friend.
NOTE: 2 MAN ADVANTAGE DOES NOT CONDONE NOR SUPPORT THE DECAPITATION OF ONE, MISTER VINCENT LECAVALIER BY ONE, MISTER MARTIN BRODEUR. SERIOUSLY.

The NHL’s Regular Season has ended, and 16 proven teams will spend these next 2 days with a ripe harvest of ice bags and Advil. 6 months & 82 games worth of action has earned these teams a well-deserved calm before the storm. Our New Jersey Devils will open up the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The series kicks off on Thursday, April 12th @ 7:30 in New Jersey.

For a FULL schedule of the series CLICK HERE « C’mon, ya know ya want to. I made it all pretty-like!

Despite this being a #2 vs. #7 matchup, this is one of the more even playoff series planned for Round 1 in the Eastern Conference. The Devils did not fare very well against Tampa during the season, posting a 1-2-1 record, but the playoffs are a brand new page. (See: 2006 Edmonton Oilers) The Devils will no longer have to deal with the swagger of the NHL’s Salary Cap, a parasite that, in my eyes, kept the team from showcasing it’s true talent all season long.

The on-ice product for this series will be quite an exciting one, as it features superstars such as Martin St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier and 2004 Conn Smythe Winner, Brad Richards. That tandem will have the monumental task of besting the league’s best goaltender, Martin Brodeur. Tampa’s inexperienced netminder will have to deal with the likes of Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Travis Zajac - a line that has given the opposition nightmares all season long. Like I said, the matchup is a lot more evenly set than most think.

The only thing left to do is stock up on beer and your favorite drive-thru combination meal for the next few months. The Yanks can wait - the NHL Playoffs are just about to start.

Oh don’t make fun, I know it’s a wonderfully cliche headline, but who can resist? Alas, a Metro rematch would have been quite fun with the Rangers, but hey, the Bolts ain’t no slouches. Certainly not a team to be sneezed at by any stretch of the imagination, the Lightning are going to be one mighty tough opponent for the Devils to overcome, so, uh, let’s hope we see a healthy lineup and an inspired Scott Gomez and Patrik Elias skating out there on that oh-so-wonderful ice. We are surely going to need all the offense we can get.

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Predictions?

I’ll pass. Not my Cup of tea. Good luck to Tampa Bay and its fans, let’s hope for a good series!

…Grant Marshall would totally kick ass right about now, by the way.

____So, we gots one more regular season game left in the 2006-07 campaign. So sad. 81 games so far, and not a single contest did we see a man by the name of Richard Matvichuk grace the lineup card. Also so sad.

I miss Mr. Matvichuk. Seriously.

I know, I know, I really talked Andy Greene up during the whole David Hale debacle, but he’s kinda really sucked lately. It’s all about development, sure, and I’m sure Greeney will be a fine Devil come next season, but, uh, what about Richard?

Sunday marks Richie’s last chance to don black and red in the regular season that is ‘06-’07, and I’m kind of really hoping he’ll finally shake what many fans have (somewhat) endearingly deemed as his “salary cap injury.” Oh, I know they jest.

While hopeful for an appearance during Sunday’s Continental Airlines Arena Farewell (again, so sad), reports indicate that Mr. Matvichuk does not need to suit up during a regular season game in order to appear in the playoffs this season. Yes, there has been quite a bit of controversy lately as others are saying Richie Rich does need to play at least one game in order for post-season glory, but as usual, the ball’s in Lou’s court, and it’s a good thing at that — seems like he’s one of the only people out there who can actually make sense of the CBA’s silly rules.

What can be said through all of this, though, is that at the end of the day…I still miss Richard Matvichuk.