GDT: 5/15/18 - 8:00PM EDT - #1A Tampa Bay @ #1M Washington [ECF GAME 3]

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Bolt 45

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Oct 19, 2015
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Do you guys think that if Erne is good to go he should replace Cirelli? I like the kid a ton but it just seems like he's been a non-factor as of late. Maybe its just me.
I thought he looked pretty good tonight. The only issue with him right now is size, and that's just a rookie thing that requires an offseason to fix. I like Erne, but Cirelli just strikes me as a really a savvy player. I'd imagine he's going out and doing exactly what the coaches are asking him to do.
 

DFC

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Sep 26, 2013
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I doubt Erne would be an improvement. I think it's more likely he'd show up with his "timid" game, and we all know how that looks. Bowling Ball Erne, I wouldn't mind.
 

LonLon Lei

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Feb 27, 2018
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I sooo wanted to watch this!!
More of this later, soon plz!!!
Funny recently Strals's been aware of the camera as much as Killer
 
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LonLon Lei

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Feb 27, 2018
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I thought McD played pretty well tonight. He was streetfighting people along the boards. All our D were kind of struggling to get the puck out of the zone at times. The Caps are good. It'll be more about damage control than domination.
yeah, I mean he still does make occasional mistakes (just like many others on our team, like Kuch)but I get bothered sometimes by how his defensive works are taken for granted. Haven't his and Strals' works been way more demanding than Heddy and G? It's only getting tougher and tougher as we move on.

I really liked it when he literally took the pain to do the job and went back to the bench, Strals patted him, like a good bigger brother.
 
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xteesy

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Jun 19, 2014
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yeah, I mean he still does make occasional mistakes (just like many others on our team, like Kuch)but I get bothered sometimes by how his defensive works are taken for granted. Aren't his and Strals' works been way more demanding than Heddy and G? It's only getting tougher and tougher as we move on.

I really liked it when he literally took the pain to do the job and went back to the bench, Strals patted him, like a good little brother.

Strals is an old man on our team, he's got 3 years on McD
 

LonLon Lei

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Feb 27, 2018
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oh I wanted to say Caps's been dirtier than B's..
Really hoping no one gets hurt!!
Also, we need to play clean, too!
 

LightningStrikes

Champa Bay Lightning
Nov 24, 2009
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We're relying strongly on our PP giving me flashbacks of 2011 when no penalty was called in game 7 against Boston and we lost 0-1. Gotta produce more on even strength.

That said, great comeback win by the team. Now it's a series!

Caps scored on a not called icing, Holesby is back and we looked a lot better positionally in our own zone. Lots of positives to build on.

The number of shots against is still a bit concerning, but the number of scoring chances was almost even (slightly in favor of Washington though).
 

LightningStrikes

Champa Bay Lightning
Nov 24, 2009
26,063
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No better time to teach him than now and no better time to learn than the playoffs if you're Sergachev. I applaud Cooper for getting him out there when he did for every reason Eddie and Pierre argued against. If you're not gonna put him out there with the game out of reach then when exactly is he supposed to be out there? They'll gush over McAvoy playing in every situation with Chara but this is where they draw the line? Sergachev is young but he cannot be sheltered forever. Right now the focus is just on easing him in and Cooper gave him just the right use at just the right times. Next year I'm sure we'll see more responsibility given to Sergachev. I hate to say it but I don't think it's much of a secret that we are grooming him to one day be Robin to Hedman's Batman. It's a shame but the talking heads will never see the big picture that Lightning fans will of what Cooper was trying to do there.
Victor Batman and Robin
 
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VoluntaryDom

Formerly DominicBoltsFan / Ⓐ / ✞
Oct 31, 2016
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Yeah I'd even say among the entire playoff forwards, not only on this team, though I don't know what's happening in the West much.

But I do believe he's really a selfless player and that's exactly what makes him such an awesome contributor in a lot of aspects of the game.
It would be between him and the Jets Mark Scheifele.
 
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VoluntaryDom

Formerly DominicBoltsFan / Ⓐ / ✞
Oct 31, 2016
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Good win boys. Obviously it’s bad luck this series for me to post in GDT before game so I won’t. Nice to see Hedman beasting so hard.
 
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These Are The Days

Oh no! We suck again!!
May 17, 2014
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Killer will come around. The guy only ever scores big goals. I hate to say it but all 3 games in this series were never really all that close. Game 1 got off on the wrong foot and game 2 was pretty much doomed as soon as the Caps equalized it because we would not stop shooting ourselves in the foot. game 4 well.... that game was in hand the moment it started. None of these situations is prime Alex Killorn time. Let's pretend for a minute that we make some unprecedented history by winning this out and making the SCF. If I had some Monopoly money to bet, I'd bet it all that Killer comes through later this series. I'm still nervous for game 4 but we proved last night what I always knew deep down -we can skate with them and beat them. Just stay focused and composed.

The only remaining issue I have is that we'll have to play smart and not take penalties and we'll have to focus on stronger clears along the walls at even strength. There is so much concern for how we're gonna stop their cycle. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there IS no defense for a cycle on its game like that once it gets going. No one has figured it out ever. All you can do is clog passing lanes, block shots and hope you get lucky on both or that you get even luckier for someone up high along the blue line to mishandle the puck. Sometimes you get lucky and it only ever really works if the team you're playing against does not move their feet, careless or simply has players making stupid plays. None of this will happen with DC.

The key will lie in converging on the backcheck in numbers on any dump in. Swarm the boards, free the puck or simply hop on it while loose. Get a man in motion on the counter attack up ice and make sure that first pass out of the zone is crisp and precise. What happens thereon from the neutral zone doesn't really matter. You can lug it up ice and dump it. Do that and you'll never see the cycle. It's all fundamentals. It's all the crap we EVER hear players talk about to us fans. "Pucks in deep" "Loose pucks" (btw massive LOL's that they speak in plural as if there is more than one puck at once) and also "compete level" otherwise we'll be spending all night swinging our sticks at moving targets and praying we just aren't screening Vasy.
 
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These Are The Days

Oh no! We suck again!!
May 17, 2014
34,124
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In the meantime just stay positive and keep sending good vibes up north. It sounds superstitious but that sort of stuff really does matter. Be the calm in the storm. Does a storm fear itself? Is it conscious of its own magnificence? f*** no. We ARE the storm. All the pressure is on the Capitals. Not us. It was never on us. We are not the team that's made blowing series leads an art form for a decade and hasn't been to a SCF in 20 years. We're a team filled with guys who have made comebacks down multiple games -some to these very Capitals like McDonagh and Girardi. Others like Kunitz had to win the SCF in 7 games while down 3-2 to the Red Wings. Does anyone here REALLY think these Captials stand a chance against those late 2000's Red Wings? I'll give em 6 games at best.

If we win tomorrow then nothing... NOTHING that has ever happened in this series matters.
 

CupsOverCash

Registered User
Jun 16, 2009
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We need our depth to step up. Our best players are playing well this series but I want to see Killer, Gourde, Miller, and co start to ramp up their games and produce. Especially in game 4. I think it will be a classic game. Hopefully we come out on top.
 
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These Are The Days

Oh no! We suck again!!
May 17, 2014
34,124
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Well said @AlwaysSunnyInTampa


Also always sunny in philly is an awesome show :thumbu:

Ahh thank you. All you need to know about my sense of humor is in that show. I've otherwise made hopeless optimism and the 900 word soliloquy an art form. I am truly blessed to be a man of so many words who lives in the child-like bliss of his own ignorance.

You should really try it some time bruh
 
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