GDT: 3/14/24 - 7:00PM EDT - New York Rangers vs Tampa Bay

[RussianGuyovich]

duclair is obviously a shot of life to our forwards, and dumba doesnt have the same ostentatious display of skill, but he seems to be well positioned and with his third period ice time he is apparently trusted by the coaches. we really needed another experienced defenseman, so even though his talent isnt at the level of duclair he fits a need better, imo

raddysh/cernak/dumba is a sold right defense

 

[bigdaddio]

their goalie punching people for no reason is the only dirty play i can remember this game

After the game was out of reach somebody checked Asseymont in the knee. Looked dirty but of course the announcers missed it.

 

[Bartleby]

Two of the three were very little chance. Bad turnovers in front of the net and a breakaway where the lone D slid waaaay too soon making it a 2 on zero. Vasy made some nice saves on one-timers later on.

The Duke and the Dolphin played well especially Duclair who was moved to the first line after the first.

Been kind of out of it for the past week or so (my daughter just had her first kid!), is Dumba called The Dolphin? If so, why?

 

[bigdaddio]

Been kind of out of it for the past week or so (my daughter just had her first kid!), is Dumba called The Dolphin? If so, why?

No. I'm just making up a thing from Huck Finn. A guy with a name screen name Bartelby the Scrivener should know this

 

[Bartleby]

No. I'm just making up a thing from Huck Finn. A guy with a name screen name Bartelby the Scrivener should know this

Nice. And yes, you're right.

 

[JFleegs]

Also a nit pick but why does Engblom say shit like point didn’t get his stick on that sick toe drag goal when he clearly does? Dude you are the lightning commentator, you’re supposed to be a hype man for your team. #bringbackchief

 

[LightningStrikes]

Easy win, go Bolts!

Toldcha!

 

[FinnLightning26]

What a great performance after that awful first period. I really hope Duclair can keep this up. He's been awesome in the two games he's played and if he does, he's a must keep.

 

[Stammertime91]

After Duclair was traded, I wanted to see him with Kucherov and Point. I definitely think Kuch can make him a 25-30 goal guy, easily. Just needs to build the chemistry. I thought Stamkos looked good again minus his typical stick handling gaffes. Point was horrible defensively and then flipped a switch because him and Kucherov took over and made it look easy.

Fleury is a liability out there and so is Perbix. Perbix is absolutely horrible. There's not a worse defenseman on this team than him. He's just out of his element. His clears are weak, his decision making is rushed, there's nothing from this game he can honestly look at and be confident with. Give me CDH over Fleury and call up Crozier. Would much rather die on the hill with those two than Fleury and Perbix. I've seen enough.

Duclair trade is looking like money right now. Really good fit. Ace, Paul, and even Sheary were strong on the forecheck. Really hope Jeannot comes back healthy with a fire under his ass because we could use the physicality out there.

 

[DMB06]

We're undefeated since our trades, maybe we'll never lose again.

 

[Ducati Boy]

Also a nit pick but why does Engblom say shit like point didn’t get his stick on that sick toe drag goal when he clearly does? Dude you are the lightning commentator, you’re supposed to be a hype man for your team. #bringbackchief

Yeah. I noticed that too. I mean you don’t have to be freaking Jack Edwards but …

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Looked like we were going to get shutout, then Point and Kucherov went God Mode. Duclair has been huge for this team so far.

 

[OffBy1]

I only got to see the third period, but sounds like it was the best one. Point's 2nd goal was Igor abuse. In the third it looked like Point had emerged from his season long semi-hibernation.

This is the type of game I've been wanting to see before I could believe we can do anything in the playoffs - truly beat a good playoff team like the Rangers. Hopefully it wasn't just because "Igor's better" was in net.

Duclair's pass to Point on what ended up being his goal was nice. The advanced stats I saw on Duclair didn't highlight his passing or playmaking abilities, so that was great to see.

JBB may have pulled off some goldilocks trades for this season - giving them a snowball in hell's chance of doing something this playoffs without having to give up too much. That will hinge on whether we can resign Duclair for a reasonable amount. But for now, they've reinvigorated the former corpse of this team.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Point has been particularly limp in the D zone this season.

As I've mentioned in several threads, Point is coasting defensively for likely one or a couple reasons:

1. They rely on him so much offensively
2. He has his Cups/money, this is regular season hockey, he will coast a lot
3. 3 injuries since 2022, physical preservation taking over, less bite/edge as a result

 

[Lightning1995]

Couldn’t watch last night unfortunately but was even tracking this one was fun. For those that complained about giving up too much for Duke, shame on you……oh wait that was me!

Go Bolts

 

[Rschmitz]

Couldn’t watch last night unfortunately but was even tracking this one was fun. For those that complained about giving up too much for Duke, shame on you……oh wait that was me!

Go Bolts

We did give up too much, like Hagel and Paul etc. but JBBs overpays mostly work out. Mostly….

 

[OffBy1]

As I've mentioned in several threads, Point is coasting defensively for likely one or a couple reasons:

1. They rely on him so much offensively
2. He has his Cups/money, this is regular season hockey, he will coast a lot
3. 3 injuries since 2022, physical preservation taking over, less bite/edge as a result

I think I could repeat this for you myself at this point. I can take the next one for you if you'd like a break

Not to saying I 100% agree, but they are good theories. I'd lean toward #2 as he gave us a career year in the first year of his big new contract. Kind of hard to have career high performances and bust ass every single year, especially in the regular season and when the team is getting worse multiple years in a row.

There's also the simple fact he's a human and we can't expect robotic consistency from season to season or even eight seasons in a row.

 

[Tampa22]

 

[Bartleby]

As I've mentioned in several threads, Point is coasting defensively for likely one or a couple reasons:

1. They rely on him so much offensively
2. He has his Cups/money, this is regular season hockey, he will coast a lot
3. 3 injuries since 2022, physical preservation taking over, less bite/edge as a result

I think I could repeat this for you myself at this point. I can take the next one for you if you'd like a break

Not to saying I 100% agree, but they are good theories. I'd lean toward #2 as he gave us a career year in the first year of his big new contract. Kind of hard to have career high performances and bust ass every single year, especially in the regular season and when the team is getting worse multiple years in a row.

There's also the simple fact he's a human and we can't expect robotic consistency from season to season or even eight seasons in a row.

I'm sure that there are elements of all three at play, but I would lean towards #3 as the most dominant factor. Back when it became apparent that he was something more than your average third rounder he was getting almost as much ink for his defensive play as his scoring prowess. There was even some Selke talk. But then when the injury bug started biting you could see a pretty pronounced drop off in his defensive aggression. I would not be surprised at all if he was under orders from Coop to tone it down and save himself a bit. That's a long and expensive contract he's got which sort of gets back to #1.

 

[DFC]

As I've mentioned in several threads, Point is coasting defensively for likely one or a couple reasons:

1. They rely on him so much offensively
2. He has his Cups/money, this is regular season hockey, he will coast a lot
3. 3 injuries since 2022, physical preservation taking over, less bite/edge as a result

Our entire team, minus Hagel, generally coasts through the regular season. Point used to be an exception, but not so much in the last few years. I don't think he's lost the ability to play defense or anything. I think that's just not being asked of him right now.

Offensively, when the playoffs start, you always see him take a few more physical risks. He was also injured in the 2021 playoffs. He will start attacking the net more with the puck and might well get injured again. He's on pace for well over 40 goals, so I'm not sure how much we can criticize him for not being a perennial 50 goal scorer.

I think it's more about preservation than cups/money though. I think that's true for most of our players.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Our entire team, minus Hagel, generally coasts through the regular season. Point used to be an exception, but not so much in the last few years. I don't think he's lost the ability to play defense or anything. I think that's just not being asked of him right now.

Offensively, when the playoffs start, you always see him take a few more physical risks. He was also injured in the 2021 playoffs. He will start attacking the net more with the puck and might well get injured again. He's on pace for well over 40 goals, so I'm not sure how much we can criticize him for not being a perennial 50 goal scorer.

I think it's more about preservation than cups/money though. I think that's true for most of our players.

Point has picked it up significantly over the last month, but until then, he was not only poor defensively, but lacked any offensive creativity and really wasn't using his speed enough to generate chances. He's turned it on recently as I alluded to, he's been much more dangerous.

 

[OffBy1]

His second goal was vintage Point for me - scoring when he really shouldn't have been able to.

 

[DFC]

Point has picked it up significantly over the last month, but until then, he was not only poor defensively, but lacked any offensive creativity and really wasn't using his speed enough to generate chances. He's turned it on recently as I alluded to, he's been much more dangerous.

I think since the trade deadline there's been more of a sense of urgency. Maybe all the media coverage highlighted how "not a given" the playoffs were for this year's team, and how, at least for a minute, they looked like underdogs to get in. He's definitely attacking more in dangerous areas. From my POV, for him, that's where you can tell if he's trying to hit the upper gear. He starts driving the net a lot more in the playoffs, for instance, whereas in a ho hum regular season game, he can be more of a perimeter player. That's true of all of our better playoff performers though.

 

[T REX]

Had some family stuff going on...but let me say.

CROW...it's delicious. It's underrated. And I have all the recipes!

 

[Rschmitz]

Had some family stuff going on...but let me say.

CROW...it's delicious. It's underrated. And I have all the recipes!

Is that you, Bill Skarsgard?