GDT: 1/21/13 - 1:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ New York Islanders

[The Yzerplan]

Well atleast the 3rd period was great.

I would like to see Tyrell play tomorrow, didn't like Labrie at all. Aulie wasn't that great either aside from the hits, so Mikkelson could work.

 

[bov]

Jesus PK shut your mouth.

 

[bassassin]

And play Mikkelson or Bergeron? Neither is a happy option.

Mikkelson.

I liked what I saw from him at the end of last season, moves the puck out well. Less physical than Lee, but surely he can't play as boneheaded as Lee.

Also I want to see Tyrell in tomorrow against Carolina.

 

[HeavyHammer]

Aulie wasn't that great either aside from the hits, so Mikkelson could work.

I have to disagree on that. Aulie has been a pleasant surprise these first 2 games. The only mistake I saw him make was that penalty he took.

 

[Dave C]

Penalties cost us. For 15 minutes of the 3rd we were disciplined and look what happened.

Ah well. 2 points from the canes please

 

[bassassin]

I have to disagree on that. Aulie has been a pleasant surprise these first 2 games. The only mistake I saw him make was that penalty he took.

Agreed. And I can even understand that, fight someone try and spark something.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I have to disagree on that. Aulie has been a pleasant surprise these first 2 games. The only mistake I saw him make was that penalty he took.

For me, he has to be cautious because he's looking for hits that take him out of position. He pinched in far a few times to lay a player out and got caught down low on the ensuing rush.

He's got to be smart about when to play it safe and when's the opportunity to crush someone. Otherwise I like him a lot and I think he should stay and be a regular on our blueline while we figure out a rotation of men for the 7th, and 8th spot.

 

[Stammertime91]

Standouts:

-St louis, surprised?
-Conacher, again, he's the next MSL in my opinion, with more experience and less mistakes, he'll fit in anywhere in any organization. What talent that kid has.
-Carle, few mistakes but was miles ahead of Brewer
-Pyatt, nearly every shift he had, he did everything right. Cant ask for more.
-Lindback, not all four were his fault, he played very good, cant say that too often when your goalie lets in 4.


Meh.
-Lecavalier
-Stamkos, doesnt have the sharpness from last season, really needs to wake up...honestly, he's been transparent in 5 out of 6 periods.
-Hedman, he frustrates the hell out of me but he was okay, still boneheaded decisions, clearly doesnt learn that you cant pull a Paul Ranger stretch pass from end to end when there are 3 Isles in your way.

Bad/disappointing:
-Lee, bad decision making.
-Brewer, terrible gap control for a seasoned veteran, I'd rather have Ohlund.


Pretty harsh, I know its only the second game and they are still rusty and Im not expecting 6 goals every game but there isnt time for this. There is NO time to lose to these mediocre teams when we have a team that can score in every possible way. Too much effort just to blow it at the end and not come away with at least a point. Just my armchair analysis so to speak. Oh well, hope we do to the canes what our neighbors, the panthers, did to them the other night.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

At least the game had some emotion in the end.

Canes next... with Semin... ugh...

 

[The Macho King]

Takeaways from the game:

The obvious... we started tooooo slooooooow. They controlled the first two periods. Lindback kept us in it as well as he could, but we hung him out to dry.

Speaking of Lindback... who else is excited about him? That 5 on 3? Damn.

 

[zeykshade]

At least the game had some emotion in the end.

Canes next... with Semin... ugh...

Semin AND LaRose...If they played the Bolts all 48 games, they'd finish tied for the Art Ross. Hate playing either of them.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

Semin AND LaRose...If they played the Bolts all 48 games, they'd finish tied for the Art Ross. Hate playing either of them.

Oh god. I forgot they had Semin now. He gets like 75% of all of his goals against the Bolts.

 

[Matt UK]

I think the positive thing from this is that most/all of the negatives from this game can be put down to rusy and lack of practice. Lets see how things pan out seven/eight games.

 

[Stammertime91]

A guy just made a thread on the NHL talk section talking about how good Nabokov is and how everyone overlooks him. He's mediocre at best and his haydays are behind him...amazing how much praise somebody gets just by having a good day. Well he ought to be, look at his salary, games played and the chances he had to go deep but never went anywhere. Now he's where he's at given his past. Still a decent goalie, just humorous people are that blind.

 

[zeykshade]

Folks were calling Stamkos a bust early as well. If hfboards is anything, it's full of hyperbole.

 

[Stammertime91]

Folks were calling Stamkos a bust early as well. If hfboards is anything, it's full of hyperbole.

Everybody was ready to send Ovechkin packing the other night.

Everybody was ready to send Jagr home after prediciting him and Whitney were going to bring home hardware. Hilarious people are so deluded. If anything, I'd say tampa is looking to be a playoff team, I know its extremely early but I'll say they are playoff material. Too much talent and they are clicking quite rapidly. give it another 3-5 games for mistakes to wear(though there needs to be no mistakes made at all but nobody is perfect).

I dont think anybody here is expecting a 2011 playoff run with Lindback and Garon in net with the way Brewer plays. Putting him out there is such a liability, I thought it was a wrong move bringing him here since day 1. Need somebody determined for the puck and ALERT, not watching who is only infront of him but everywhere. Frustrating, because that was our game to lose, and we did so putting Brewer out there. Not just his fault, but a lot of mistakes were caused by a veteran named Eric Brewer. Grr.

 

[The Wyzerhood]

Standouts:

-St louis, surprised?
-Conacher, again, he's the next MSL in my opinion, with more experience and less mistakes, he'll fit in anywhere in any organization. What talent that kid has.
-Carle, few mistakes but was miles ahead of Brewer
-Pyatt, nearly every shift he had, he did everything right. Cant ask for more.
-Lindback, not all four were his fault, he played very good, cant say that too often when your goalie lets in 4.


Meh.
-Lecavalier
-Stamkos, doesnt have the sharpness from last season, really needs to wake up...honestly, he's been transparent in 5 out of 6 periods.
-Hedman, he frustrates the hell out of me but he was okay, still boneheaded decisions, clearly doesnt learn that you cant pull a Paul Ranger stretch pass from end to end when there are 3 Isles in your way.

Bad/disappointing:
-Lee, bad decision making.
-Brewer, terrible gap control for a seasoned veteran, I'd rather have Ohlund.


Pretty harsh, I know its only the second game and they are still rusty and Im not expecting 6 goals every game but there isnt time for this. There is NO time to lose to these mediocre teams when we have a team that can score in every possible way. Too much effort just to blow it at the end and not come away with at least a point. Just my armchair analysis so to speak. Oh well, hope we do to the canes what our neighbors, the panthers, did to them the other night.

Completely disagree with your assessment on Brewer. I thought he made a couple of crucial stops for us defensively and it wasn't so much his gap control but a lack of awareness that led to Grabner's breakaway goal. It's just his lack of foot speed that leads one to believe he has poor gap control. He should have been in your "meh" category.

Not sure why Hedman "frustrated" you so much. He's not a natural puck distributing defenseman and he threw down plenty of good hits and closed down the gap on the opposition quite well. He even tried to get involved offensively and already looks better than he did last season.

 

[HoseEmDown]

It was only 3 ridiculous posts, i've been reading the main board too much so may have over reacted.
Whoever said Aullie wasn't good today needs lasik cause he was great today, I don't mind him pinching if he's gonna lay a big hit the wingers need to pick up their man.
Hedman looked good too, most hits I've ever seen him make.
The fowards don't seem to have much chemistry cause there were way too many bad passes.
Lets see which team shows up tomorrow.

 

[The Wyzerhood]

Everybody was ready to send Ovechkin packing the other night.

Everybody was ready to send Jagr home after prediciting him and Whitney were going to bring home hardware. Hilarious people are so deluded. If anything, I'd say tampa is looking to be a playoff team, I know its extremely early but I'll say they are playoff material. Too much talent and they are clicking quite rapidly. give it another 3-5 games for mistakes to wear(though there needs to be no mistakes made at all but nobody is perfect).

I dont think anybody here is expecting a 2011 playoff run with Lindback and Garon in net with the way Brewer plays. Putting him out there is such a liability, I thought it was a wrong move bringing him here since day 1. Need somebody determined for the puck and ALERT, not watching who is only infront of him but everywhere. Frustrating, because that was our game to lose, and we did so putting Brewer out there. Not just his fault, but a lot of mistakes were caused by a veteran named Eric Brewer. Grr.

Are you just trolling or were you watching a different game? Brewer wasn't nearly as bad as you make him out to be.

 

[Stammertime91]

Are you just trolling or were you watching a different game? Brewer wasn't nearly as bad as you make him out to be.

I watched the entire game. He was mediocre...left the whole side open on their 4th goal if I remember correctly and then he doesnt even pay attention to who is behind him while his partner and Thompson are covering one man. They have him...cover your guy.

Nice attempt at a snide remark but its true, anybody who watched, should not be pleased with Brewer. maybe Im a bit harsh on him and Hedman but Brewer is experienced. His mistakes shouldnt be coming that often. This goes back to last year too. Understandable for some other dmen on our team but for him, they should be minimal. Put him in the "meh" category then, but he was not what you want to see from out #3/4 dman, and most of the times #1/2 dman. Tsk tsk.

 

[Stammertime91]

Completely disagree with your assessment on Brewer. I thought he made a couple of crucial stops for us defensively and it wasn't so much his gap control but a lack of awareness that led to Grabner's breakaway goal. It's just his lack of foot speed that leads one to believe he has poor gap control. He should have been in your "meh" category.

Not sure why Hedman "frustrated" you so much. He's not a natural puck distributing defenseman and he threw down plenty of good hits and closed down the gap on the opposition quite well. He even tried to get involved offensively and already looks better than he did last season.

Yes, frustrated, its frustrating, becoming frustration. I know he's not a puck moving defender but he gives it up with these "stand 50 feet away and poke the puck" moves instead of getting in there and F**KING the guy up! He's a big boy and if he used that more to his advantage he wouldnt give it away so damn easily.

And its not just Brewer on the breakaway, go watch Ullstroms(IIRC) goal where Brewer gave him too much space at the blueline. Any defender knows that you collapse on a 2 on 3 if you're tight in front, not at the blueline. He was practically the left dmans right hip. Just my opinion but its mainly angering me. How the holy **** we fail to beat the Isles again is the part that annoys me. We still fail to beat them.

 

[The Wyzerhood]

I watched the entire game. He was mediocre...left the whole side open on their 4th goal if I remember correctly and then he doesnt even pay attention to who is behind him while his partner and Thompson are covering one man. They have him...cover your guy.

Nice attempt at a snide remark but its true, anybody who watched, should not be pleased with Brewer. maybe Im a bit harsh on him and Hedman but Brewer is experienced. His mistakes shouldnt be coming that often. This goes back to last year too. Understandable for some other dmen on our team but for him, they should be minimal. Put him in the "meh" category then, but he was not what you want to see from out #3/4 dman, and most of the times #1/2 dman. Tsk tsk.

On a 3 on 2, you can't completely commit to one guy. If he completely covered the left side of the ice, that would have left Aucoin wide open in the middle. Sure, he could have stayed a little more to the right but I really fail to see how that's a huge knock on his gap control. Thompson wasn't on the ice and the last forward back couldn't catch up to Macdonald on the right.

You're the only one claiming Hedman had a mediocre game. We all thought he played well and was physical throughout the whole contest.

 

[The Wyzerhood]

Yes, frustrated, its frustrating, becoming frustration. I know he's not a puck moving defender but he gives it up with these "stand 50 feet away and poke the puck" moves instead of getting in there and F**KING the guy up! He's a big boy and if he used that more to his advantage he wouldnt give it away so damn easily.

And its not just Brewer on the breakaway, go watch Ullstroms(IIRC) goal where Brewer gave him too much space at the blueline. Any defender knows that you collapse on a 2 on 3 if you're tight in front, not at the blueline. He was practically the left dmans right hip. Just my opinion but its mainly angering me. How the holy **** we fail to beat the Isles again is the part that annoys me. We still fail to beat them.

It's not Hedman's nature to just go out there and destroy people. If he constantly went out onto the ice looking for big hits, it'd take him out of position and he'd sacrifice very important defensive zone positioning. Even though physical aggression isn't a natural part of his game, he's been doing very well in the physical department and he had a few hip checks and body checks that successfully removed the Islanders' forwards off the puck.

 

[BoltingAway]

I thought Hedman and Brewer both played solid for the most part. Hedman was way more aggressive than last year, and Brewer made some solid plays.

Lee on the other hand is making me want to pull my hair out with some of these penalties. I'd like to see him swapped out with Mik tomorrow night...and probably Labrie for Tyrell.

 

[The Wyzerhood]

I thought Hedman and Brewer both played solid for the most part. Hedman was way more aggressive than last year, and Brewer made some solid plays.

Lee on the other hand is making me want to pull my hair out with some of these penalties. I'd like to see him swapped out with Mik tomorrow night...and probably Labrie for Tyrell.

This is exactly how I saw the game. Lee has not been good in either of our two games this year and it'd be nice to see Mikkelson get a game in to see if he can provide more stability on the 3rd pairing with Aulie. Labrie was just ineffective and made some poor decisions on the ice. In hindsight, we didn't really need his size and grit in today's contest.