Post-Game Talk: 3-2 win

[teugen]

Hate the Djoker since his antics with COVID... But not a bad champion to take a page or two from.

Barky's work to get faster and quicker have lead to probably his best-level ever, another Selke, and what seems to be a great start to the playoffs, which hasn't been the case the last few years.

So good work Sasha, congrats on the changes !

Barky even has some gritt these days. He is playing way harder than couple years back. Got to love it.

 

[Gentle Man]

there's a lot of room between fire wagon hockey and what we saw.

the only way I can think of to put it is that we played down to the speed TBL wanted to play at. as it happens, it worked today. I just don't think we'll see that game again this series.

I think it's just different now

Cooper used to gameplan against us by keeping the game quiet and low event.

If anything, Tampa might try to make it even more quiet. They will try to get our shot total down closer to the teens.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Lightning are gonna do whatever they can to get as much special teams action as possible. If that means firewagon hockey, they'll do it.

 

[Chessarmy]

Barkov with a filthy pass to Verhaeghe on the PP

Bobrovsky excellent saves all night and picking up right where he left off last playoff

Forsling excellent. Reinhart excellent. Tarasenko physical and fitting like a glove on Barky's wing.

A great start to the playoffs. I think, based on just this game, it seems obvious to me they were conserving their energy and sandbagging a bit toward the end of the season - but that's just my opinion.

 

[Felidae]

Man, you really have ptsd with those Bolts lool

They won't be in this series, unless Gary wants it.

Rest easy, you're too much stress, all your posts lately have been about fear...

Just... Trust your/this team and...

BELIEVE !

Yeah probably from the Tampa sweep and islanders series back in 2015-16 lol

I think my concerns are legit though. Their offense is lethal and it looks like Vasi is finding his game. That's far from the best Tampa had to offer (and tbf same can be said for us). I expect the upcoming games to be more hard fought, and us taking more penalties..

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Yeah probably from the Tampa sweep and islanders series back in 2015-16 lol

I think my concerns are legit though. Their offense is lethal and it looks like Vasi is finding his game. That's far from the best Tampa had to offer (and tbf same can be said for us). I expect the upcoming games to be more hard fought, and us taking more penalties..

It's like this: do I think we have what it takes to beat Tampa? Absolutely.
Do I have a lot of respect for their team, hell yes. Vasi at his best is a gamechanger of his own, they have all the experience, some star players and excellent special teams. It looked like they would miss at the beginning of January, and then they had a very strong second half of the season.

The good news is, Bob can be a gamechanger as well if he's on the top of his game. Tampa's PP is lethal, but our PK has been very strong as well, and if we can keep the penalties down, that takes away quite a bit of that advantage. The Panthers are also a more experienced team than in either of their previous meetings.

This is the best team we've ever had. Fingers crossed for another deep run.

 

[ShootIt]

The team came out fast and hard hitting to start the game. Really took Tampa off their game till that defensive zone F.O. loss and most skaters wanting to go up ice.
But's it's really not that sustainable, and eventually always going for a hit will lead to a penalty/odd man rushes if they miss and/or tire out our guys too. I think you obviously want Tampa to realize if they go into the dirty areas they will get hit but at the same time if Maurice tells Kullikov to hit every time he's on the ice he'll be gone with a 5 minute major lol.

 

[Prominence Problem]

Eetu with 6 hits, wtf.

Ekblad and OEL 5 each

Starman was awesome! Definitely an underrated player last game. Makes to see how much he is missed in the finals last year.

I think it's just different now

Cooper used to gameplan against us by keeping the game quiet and low event.

If anything, Tampa might try to make it even more quiet. They will try to get our shot total down closer to the teens.

I think the Panthers need to play even more physical.
If Tampa tries to turn the tempo of the game down by lowering shots taken, Panthers need to step up the physicality.

 

[BabyBennettov]

Yeah probably from the Tampa sweep and islanders series back in 2015-16 lol

I think my concerns are legit though. Their offense is lethal and it looks like Vasi is finding his game. That's far from the best Tampa had to offer (and tbf same can be said for us). I expect the upcoming games to be more hard fought, and us taking more penalties..

Lightning have good to great structure because of Cooper.

Bolts have probably/arguably the greatest offensive player on the planet.

Tampa has a killer in net that can/has own(ed) our team for years.

Those are facts, I respect that Tampa team.

Other facts though:

- We have amazing structure as all our metrics show for the last two years, thanks to Maurice.

- We have the best two-way player/center on the planet and it’s not even arguable IMO.

- We have a Lightning-killer that beat probably the greatest Tampa roster of their « run ».

…

Soooooo… I’m not saying it will be easy, I’m not saying don’t respect the Bolts.

I’m saying two things:

- Respect and trust your team that you love, and that has showed you over the last two/three years what they are really made of.

- It will take A LOT going for them to be able to beat us… And I mean A LOT.

No need to be afraid or not being confident !

Stressed out ? Yes you can ! It’s the playoffs and we are the Panthers, it’s normal. lol

 

[BabyBennettov]

It's like this: do I think we have what it takes to beat Tampa? Absolutely.
Do I have a lot of respect for their team, hell yes. Vasi at his best is a gamechanger of his own, they have all the experience, some star players and excellent special teams. It looked like they would miss at the beginning of January, and then they had a very strong second half of the season.

The good news is, Bob can be a gamechanger as well if he's on the top of his game. Tampa's PP is lethal, but our PK has been very strong as well, and if we can keep the penalties down, that takes away quite a bit of that advantage. The Panthers are also a more experienced team than in either of their previous meetings.

This is the best team we've ever had. Fingers crossed for another deep run.

You have the same concerns, but are handling it much better than our friend @Felidae hihihi

Hope the best for you milady !

Pretty sure Panthers will reward you for being strong and handling everything.

Enjoy the ride !

 

[Amorgus]

Despite what Maurice says, there were more hits than in any other game so far in the playoffs. It was just low event hockey because both were structured. It was very physical. Maybe it wasn't as entertaining as the Winnipeg-Colorado game but those teams decided to go full firewagon hockey, which isn't sustainable in the playoffs.

Didn't they say at dome point in the 3rd that there were already 100 or so hits?

 

[CHGoalie27]

They all seem to agree they're not winning if the refs swallow their whistles so let's hope that it stays 5 on 5 as much as possible.

For the first time in the Stamkos era, they finished a game with less power plays than us and they're bitching as if the refs haven't helped them along all these years

 

[PatchesOhoulihan]

I’m extremely confident in this team. They’re built for the playoffs thanks to Pomo. And I was one of the biggest doubters when he was hired.

That stick check by Barky was sick

Stay out of the sin bin and this series is ours

 

[Stanley Cup Boundd]

Barkov with a filthy pass to Verhaeghe on the PP

Bobrovsky excellent saves all night and picking up right where he left off last playoff

Forsling excellent. Reinhart excellent. Tarasenko physical and fitting like a glove on Barky's wing.

A great start to the playoffs. I think, based on just this game, it seems obvious to me they were conserving their energy and sandbagging a bit toward the end of the season - but that's just my opinion.

And we some quality depth with Lorentz, Okposo, Gadjovich, Ballsinski, Mahura, which we didn’t have last year & could make a huge difference if we make another long run.

 

[KW]

I don’t think Tampa will be able to slow the game down and lower the shot attempts all that much. To do that they’d need to control the puck more than they have, including keeping the puck securely in their D zone… but our heavy forecheck forces them to move the puck and try to take it to their o zone… which is counter to slowing the pace down.

 

[CoolioFunk]

That was a well played game. I noticed in past series with Tampa, we almost came out tooo hard and would get riled up way too easily and then Tampa would feast on us with pps. This time we still brought intensity but it was well placed and not too out of line. We can’t afford to give them those extra man opportunities as we easily overwhelm them 5 on 5. Keep this play up and things look good!

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

If I'm the coaches. I'm preaching: play good defense. Don't even worry about offense. The offense will come with the talent, and the natural energy from being in the playoffs. Telling the defensemen, stop with all of the random pinches and chasing guys around the ice out of position, some more than others *cough* Mikkola *cough*. Be smart about pressuring. That's the way to win it all.

 

[KW]

I can’t find the quote right now but on the PP goal, Swaggy said that he just went to the net stick down and didn’t even see Barky’s pass. In other words, Barky scored off Carter’s stick…

 

[Chessarmy]

It's just game one, but obviously a huge step in the right direction for us. Tampa is a demon we have yet to slay.

I share in the optimism for this playoff run based solely on the personnel changes from last year. We have much more depth this time around and talent, especially with the addition of Tarasenko. I'm way more confident in our defense - and Bobrovsky seems poised to repeat what he accomplished last year.

Never too high, never too low...

 

[zeroG]

I think it's just different now

Cooper used to gameplan against us by keeping the game quiet and low event.

If anything, Tampa might try to make it even more quiet. They will try to get our shot total down closer to the teens.

well, it's working!

in these types of games, all you need is one PP or a bounce to turn a game around. and those guys have the players to capitalize.

I suppose we'll find out whether these guys can find some more gears when TBL starts playing and takes a lead.

 

[zeroG]

I can’t find the quote right now but on the PP goal, Swaggy said that he just went to the net stick down and didn’t even see Barky’s pass. In other words, Barky scored off Carter’s stick…

yeah, exactly.

from the high replay, you could see Barkov tracking verhaeghe as he cruised to the far post. like shooting fish in a barrel.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

If I'm the coaches. I'm preaching: play good defense. Don't even worry about offense. The offense will come with the talent, and the natural energy from being in the playoffs. Telling the defensemen, stop with all of the random pinches and chasing guys around the ice out of position, some more than others *cough* Mikkola *cough*. Be smart about pressuring. That's the way to win it all.

I think the Mikkola/Montour pairing is going to burn us at some point. Just be prepared for it.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

I think the Mikkola/Montour pairing is going to burn us at some point. Just be prepared for it.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Ghoste]

I thought Hagel was their best guy yesterday. Always liked that kid from his Chicago days.