Our playoff roundtable in retrospect
Before the playoffs started, we had a little playoff roundtable that featured five questions for the writers to answer. Despite hockey predictions usually being way off, some of us did pretty well for ourselves. Then again, one of us completely blew his predictions. Read on to find out which of us is a Sens Zero when it comes to predictions:
1) Who will lead the Senators in points in the playoffs?
How it played out: Matt Cullen and Daniel Alfredsson tied with 8 points, but Cullen had 3 goals to Alfie's 2. Jason Spezza was third on the team with 7.
Who was right? Peter and Ryan both said Alfredsson, giving them a point. Mark's heart said Cullen, but his official pick was Spezza. Therefore, though Mark can say "I told you so," he receives no points. Darren picked Spezza as well, leaving him without a point in this round.
2) Will Leclaire make an appearance in the post-season?
How it played out: Pascal Leclaire played in relief for Brian Elliott in Game 4, and played all of Games 5 and 6. Leclaire's save percentage was .920%, Elliott's was .856%.
Who was right? Ryan and Darren both predicted Leclaire would make an appearance, while Mark and Peter were outraged by the idea. None of us predicted Leclaire's heroic Game 5 performance of 56 saves.
3) How does Erik Karlsson perform?
How it played out: Karlsson had 1 goal and 5 assists, good for fourth on the team in points with 6. Somewhat interestingly, he had three games without a point, and three 2-point games. He did, however, finish -4.
Who was right? Ryan is the only one to be correct here by stating that Karlsson would be invaluable. Peter is wrong because he stated Karlsson wouldn't light it up (he did), and Mark is wrong because he was hoping Karlsson would pinch a little smarter (he didn't). Darren neglected to answer this question, for reasons unknown even to him.
4) Prediction for the series' result?
How it played out: Penguins in six.
Who was right? Darren was the only one to nail the prediction on the dot, so he gets the only point here. Mark picked Pens in 7, while Ryan and Peter both picked the Sens to take it.
FINAL SCORES:
Ryan: 3 points
Darren: 2 points
Peter: 1 point
Mark: 0 points (just like Zack Smith!)
Hi folks. Mark here. I strongly protest the scoring of this farce. That is all.