GDT: 10/16/17 - 7:30PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ Detroit

These Are The Days

Oh no! We suck again!!
May 17, 2014
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Tampa Bay
Got pretty badly outplayed at times but Vasy played great and the team worked hard to get the win. It's a tough week but this was a good start.


Just as an fyi le tir means the shot, not the try(tirer = to shoot). Shots are tirs, goals are buts, assists are aides, points are points

Bah I know diddly about French. Thanks for the correction
 

DFC

Registered User
Sep 26, 2013
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It wasn't always pretty, but it's a road win against a divisional opponent. That's a big win.

I'm kind of terrified to see what kind of effort we put forth tomorrow in NJ. These are the games we historically mail in, even at the best of times.
 

Werewolf

Registered User
Oct 29, 2013
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Not excited about this win. From a Lightning TEAM standpoint they are not playing well...the wins are coming off individual heroics. I have reason to be cautiously concerned.
 
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MattM92

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Dec 8, 2010
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Not excited about this win. From a Lightning TEAM standpoint they are not playing well...the wins are coming off individual heroics. I have reason to be cautiously concerned.

Agreed. Kucherov has been otherworldly. Vasi has been fantastic. Eventually Vasi is going to have a weak game or Kuch is going to be held off the scoresheet. We still lack the structure in our zone and breakout.
 

Steazy Doo

Registered User
Jan 31, 2013
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Going to respectfully disagree with the both of you. Kucherov is obviously otherworldly, but it masks some other really good things that have happened. The team passes the eye test. Your stars can still carry the offense, and the other lines are helping much more then they're hurting. Killorn and Johnson duo has been very good. Point and Gourde are puck hounds every single game. Girardi/Coburn/Stralman have veen fantastic in their roles, and Hedman is Hedman. What about that fourth line?

The big thing is do we "look" like the better team. Does it feel like we've earned our wins? To me, it's been a yes to that question the last four games. We look really good in general, maaaybe not as much tonight. I'm a little surprised that some are of the mindset we don't look good as a team.
 

The Macho King

Back* to Back** World Champion
Jun 22, 2011
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I thought it was a pretty even game overall. About half the game they were scrambling and half we were. I thought our D looked good in the third as well. Vasi played well.

Wasn't a perfect win but it's not like we stole the game.
 

Sky04

Registered User
Jan 8, 2009
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Not excited about this win. From a Lightning TEAM standpoint they are not playing well...the wins are coming off individual heroics. I have reason to be cautiously concerned.

What is this? Usually you're the optimist, I'm the pessimist I thought it was a good win overall. Vasi only let in 2 goals despite being hammered in the first, 4th line was gritty, Johnson scored, Palat-Point-Gourde were creating a ton and of the 1st line did their job.

Detroit's system is a lot more fast paced this year and they were 4-1 going into tonight, one of the best teams in the East to start the season. They're playing better than Pittsburgh and we had them scrambling for large parts of the game.

Seeing a lot of improvements as the seasons continues.
 

Sky04

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Jan 8, 2009
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It still amazes me how Hedman can make a cross ice pass from left to right onto Kucherov's tape but can't hit Stamkos cleanly 5 foot away going right to left.
 

The Macho King

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Jun 22, 2011
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It still amazes me how Hedman can make a cross ice pass from left to right onto Kucherov's tape but can't hit Stamkos cleanly 5 foot away going right to left.
He's not getting it into his wheelhouse at all. It's kind of amazing.
 

Sky04

Registered User
Jan 8, 2009
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He's not getting it into his wheelhouse at all. It's kind of amazing.

You can really tell he's hesitant to make that pass, I've seen numerous times over the past couple games where Hedman's gone for the shot despite a screen where 9/10 players would pass to Stamkos for the one-timer.

Stamkos to his credit has been making smarter puck plays on the PP now, guys got a Thornton statline.
 

DFC

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Sep 26, 2013
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You can really tell he's hesitant to make that pass, I've seen numerous times over the past couple games where Hedman's gone for the shot despite a screen where 9/10 players would pass to Stamkos for the one-timer.

Stamkos to his credit has been making smarter puck plays on the PP now, guys got a Thornton statline.

Saw that too with Hedman. There was once tonight I was so sure that he actually did make the pass that I was kind of surprised when I realized he'd just tossed the puck on goal. But I think having Stamkos over there is part of why Kuch is getting so wide open at times.
 

TheDaysOf 04

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Bolt 45

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Oct 19, 2015
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Decent outing tonight. Felt like we started cruising a bit after going up 2-0, but we turned it up in the third when we needed to. Vasy was a huge part of this win... Detroit played like they really wanted this one, and he definitely kept it from getting out of hand. This was a deceptively tough win, and the guys really dug in to get the 2 points.
 

Glide5

Registered User
Apr 16, 2012
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It was not a pretty win, but it was a big win. These were the games that we would blow last year. When you look at the prior week, we would have gone 2-2 or like 1-2-1 not 4-0. The team has a lot of room for improvement, but they are at least getting the wins right now. I just hope they can take that next step towards becoming a complete team. But if Kuch can score 100 goals it wont matter either way :p
 

These Are The Days

Oh no! We suck again!!
May 17, 2014
34,348
20,092
Tampa Bay
Couldn't agree more with Cat Bowser if I tried.

The Lightning have improved in every game since the Panthers loss. We have been so conditioned to other teams dominating us for long stretches that we are forgetting that sometimes the other team is going to push back and they're going to trap you for a little bit. Sometimes it's going to take three heroic saves. And sometimes they're going to clog up the neutral zone and we're going to be resorting to dump and chase tactics.

For the most part in this win streak we've been carrying the momentum of the game on our stick for about 65% of the time. We still need work but there are stretches when our defensive zone breakdown of the opposing forecheck is surgical (particularly whenever Callahan and Gourde are on the ice) and our transition through the neutral zone has been the best I have seen in YEARS. It is clear the guys are putting their work in and are more conscientious about their on ice positioning.

How many times did we see Bishop leave the net and get the puck to break us out of whatever funk we were in and make a pass up ice to say.... Ondrej Palat. The other team is completing a partial change and we're hoping to see if we can start a 3 on 3 rush. Palat's gathering as much speed as he can and if we hurry we might be able to slip behind a defender. But then suddenly a shrill noise can be heard piercing the air.

Whistle on an offsides to Alex Killorn... or Stamkos... or Johnson.... or Callahan.... or Brown. Then Johnson lethargically hunches over for his 7th straight faceoff loss and the other team marches right back down and proceeds to beat the shit out of us while we sit around and wait for Bishop to go get the puck. We'd see this maybe a half dozen times a game or more? This is not the case anymore. We charge in, attack and the worst thing that happens is that we force a faceoff in their zone.

We are not perfect but if we want to grade the forecheck out of a 0 to 10 we're consistently at a 5 to a 7 as opposed to a 2.5 to a 4 over the last few years. Geez it's almost like we're actually trying out there!

Kuherov is carrying a big portion of the load but that's because he's arguably the best and most dangerous winger in the game not named Ovechkin. We've had marvelous scoring distribution. We have had 23 goals scored on the season and even though Kucherov accounts for 7, the other 16 is from 9 other players. If that's not a team effort then I don't know what is.

Don't forget... the other team is trying to win too
 
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The Macho King

Back* to Back** World Champion
Jun 22, 2011
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One thing I have noticed - too many unnecessary icings. Either dumping it in short of the red line or ill-advised stretch passes. I'd like to see that cleaned up.

I mean - there are definitely things to fix. Breakout has been inconsistent. Sometimes we look great in the NZ sometimes we look bad, and I think we are still not consistent in zone entries. But there are fewer instances of passing up great shots to make prettier passing plays, in zone coverage is generally solid, and I think our D are doing great at the points keeping pucks in and pressure up. Also our forecheck has been really good.

Things are tightening up as the season goes. Hopefully we can continue on a positive trajectory.
 

CupsOverCash

Registered User
Jun 16, 2009
16,373
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They played well against a division rival on the road in their new building. You know they are going to be pumped up to play us every time. Even though I don't think their roster is anything to write home about, they still have talent as well and will make plays. Pretty much every team in the NHL now days has at least some talent and they can win any given night. Our team has some of the best talent in the league but it's also them working hard too. Last year they had no urgency. This year they look hungry. Which was what I was hoping for when we started the year.

You know what else is huge? Vasi has made the saves when he has to. He's been scored on quite a bit but he's making some pretty incredible saves at the same time. Ones that keep us in games and for a goalie is as young as he is, he is definitely playing very well as a starter. He should be confident with these wins and hopefully that leads to some development as a starter and he can clean up some other parts of his game.

Overall can't complain too much with this team. Stamkos and Kucherov are just dynamite together. Once Stamkos gets his feet back under him again and he feels back into the swing of things he will put up some serious numbers too. He already is with Kucherov playing beside him. Just knowing that isn't the top potential for the duo should be scary for other teams. Johnson looks to be back. Palat is playing well early in the season.

I think Sergachev is doing ok but he's still not ready yet for bigger role. It could still happen this year but it's not clicking yet. Maybe they send him back? Yzerman does like the 2nd round picks. I hope not because he's still better than Sustr. Stralman is awesome. Love the way he plays. Hedman is Hedman.

This team is playing well and they just need to keep it up. The effort and urgency need to stay where it's at for that to happen.
 

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