Game 5: Hurricanes @ Devils SORTACAP!

10:08 PM: I’m gonna call it a night, boys n’ girls.  Thanks as always for hanging with me.  Goodnight!

10:05 PM: It’s funny how my Sorta-Caps always turn into LiveCaps at the end.  Devils lead the series, 3-2, game 6 in Raleigh Sunday – if the Capitals beat the Rangers tomorrow night, then our game Sunday will likely be on MSG+ at night.  If the Rangers win, our game will likely be on NBC during the day.  I’m pulling even moreso for the Caps tomorrow, ’cause, well, I got work on Sunday.

10:03 PM: Doc, doing the usual end-of-game TV stuff…”This game is a copyrighted event, you don’t want to monkey with our attorneys, ’cause they’re tough.”  Bwahahaha.

10:01 PM: Three stars:  3. Andy Greene, 2. David Clarkson, 1. Martin Brodeur.  I love Andy Greene, and I can’t stand the Hurricanes, but Ward should have been one of the three stars.

10:00 PM: YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!  Jesus Christ I could not handle letting one up late again.  Holy god.  Game over, Devils win, 1-0, and there will be at least one more playoff game at the Rock.  Oh god it feels good.

9:58 PM: Okay, after the icing it was a Hurricanes time out.  Now it’s a Devils time out, after a drive is covered by Brodeur.

9:56 PM: Oduya without a stick in the defensive zone, Martin picks up the pick and goes all the way up ice, Elias with a blast, Ward loses the rebound way out of the net but no one can connect with Ward out of position.  Eventually, Devils ice the puck, Devils time-out, and there’s 23 seconds left with a faceoff in the Devils zone.

9:55 PM: HOLY GOD WHAT GLORIOUS CHANCES!  Ward out of the net, less than a minute to go.

9:53 PM: Wow, shots are 40-39 Devils.  The goalies are by far the stars tonight.  Two minutes to go.

9:50 PM: Again, Chad LaRose is given room to move.  Again, Marty’s up to the task.  Scary nonetheless.  Four and a half minutes left.

9:49 PM: Pandolfo sprung on a glorious breakaway and stopped by Ward!  Drats!

9:47 PM: Andy Greene is playing out of his freakin’ mind.  He’s gotta be at at least a half-dozen shots, as a third-pairing defenseman.

9:46 PM: Bad defense there.  Rolston bounces it off the boards back to Martin, who’s not really paying much attention…

9:45 PM: Devils to the PP, Eaves takes…some sort of penalty.

9:43 PM: We can’t keep thinking Chad LaRose is Chad LaRose and therefore doesn’t require attention.  He’s playing out of his mind this series, stop letting him WALK RIGHT IN ON GOAL UNTOUCHED!  Luckily Marty’s not asleep.

9:40 PM: Nine minutes left in the game.  That stomachache I had during game 3?  It’s back.

9:38 PM: HUGE glove save by Cam Ward on Parise.

9:37 PM: Blue Jackets give up a goal with less than a minute left in their game, after taking a too many men on the ice penalty, and Detroit has swept Columbus.  Shame.  Philly beats Pittsburgh and lives to fight another day.

9:32 PM: Playoff hockey is hazardous to one’s health.

9:29 PM: Penalty: Killed.  Phew.

9:27 PM: Colin White’s out of the box.  Johnny Oduya’s in the box.  He done cross-checked a Hurricane.

9:25 PM: Game back on.

9:07 PM: Aaaaand that’s the end of the second.  Hurricanes will start with a minute of PP time when the third starts, and the Devils lead 1-0.

9:05 PM: White to the box for roughing with less than a minute to go in the second.

9:04 PM: Must be embarrassing, Chad LaRose, to be thrown to the ice by Brian Gionta.

9:00 PM: Blue Jackets/Red Wings game is nuts, 5-5 after 2.  C’mon Jackets!

8:59 PM: Jesus Christ, Mike Rupp.  It’s not often you can get sprung on a breakaway like that from Marty Brodeur.  The least you could do is PRETEND like you don’t have hands of marble and maybe, y’know, not get pickpocketed from behind?

8:52 PM: Okay, it was tipped by Clarkson.  I was so excited for the Mean Greene Goal-Scorin’ Machine.  Now he’s just a Mean Greene Assist-ing Machine.  I’ll take it anyway.

8:50 PM: GOAL!  Andy Greene with a rocket from the point!  Possibly tipped by Clarkson in front, 1-0 Devils!

8:46 PM: Much as I don’t like to give other team’s players affectionate nicknames, particularly pains-in-the-ass like him – but Ryan Bayda needs a nickname.  Ryan VHS Or Bayda?  Ryan Bayda-kerotine?  Ryan Alpha Bayda Parking Lot?

8:44 PM: Still no score, 12 minutes left in the second.

8:37 PM: Clarkson got sammiched by opposing sticks.  No penalty.

8:33 PM: So much for that PP.  Rolston goes down for holding, 4-on-4 for a minute or so.

8:30 PM: Second period on, it looks like Marty was indeed cut by the skate blade of the Hurricane.  He’s still out there, so I guess he’s good?  Starting the period with the fire that we need, and Tim Gleason interferes with Parise, so the Devils to the PP.

8:11 PM: No score after one.  Andy Greene is shooting like he wants to keep playing beyond tonight.  I like that.  He’s talking to Stan Fischler now, and looks weird with a playoff beard.  Devils looked good late in the period and might have scored with there were a few more minutes in the period.  Gotta come out with that kind of fire to start the second.

8:05 PM: Alright.  Alright.  Marty gets tripped, but if the last few days have done anything for me, it’s gotten me intimately acquainted with NHL rule 69.1, and since the dude who took Marty’s feet out from under him was being pushed/trying to avoid contact, it’s no penalty.  Somewhere in the resulting play, Marty picks up an interference penalty, and seems to be kind of hurt, though he’s still playing.  Might have been cut by the skate of the offending Hurricane.

8:04 PM: I…have no words.  I want to see a replay before I completely freak.

7:54 PM: THAT was the big save by Marty that we desperately needed.  Great play by Johnny O, cutting out the passing lane on that 2-on-1.

7:43 PM: Oooooh that’s rich, goalie interference on David Clarkson three minutes into the game.  Is that how it’s gonna be?

7:34 PM: Anton Babchuk, he of the four goals against the Devils and the cannon of a slapshot on the powerplay, is a healthy scratch this evening for Carolina.  Allow me to ask the same question I’m sure most New Jersey (and Carolina) fans are asking when I say…B-WHAAAAAA?

7:15 PM: Hey gang.  Can’t commit to being here all game long for a true LiveCap, so I’m going to check in every once in awhile with thoughts and observations.  Consider this an open thread for game discussion.