GDT: 10/17/19 - 7:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ Boston

[FinnLightning26]

It was a fun game to watch but man, the PK and Kuch are just the shits. Kuch's blind passes made me want to punch him.

 

[retr0]

It was a fun game to watch but man, the PK and Kuch are just the ****s. Kuch's blind passes made me want to punch him.

I would like to be optimistic, but it’s going to be a fast exit come playoffs if this is what they can muster. Anyway Kuch had a ”slow” start last year so I have some trust in him to turn it up soon.

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[FinnLightning26]

I would like to be optimistic, but it’s going to be a fast exit come playoffs if this is what they can muster. Anyway Kuch had a ”slow” start last year so I have some trust in him to turn it up soon.

Yeah, he will turn it around like always but it's frustrating to watch when you know he can be so much better.

 

[Maelmoor]

Nice win!

Bruins first line is still really good, but after that they don't have much in terms of scoring. Reckon they will go hard to pick up some scoring depth at the deadline.

 

[Lightning1995]

The 5v5 play was encouraging

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Even if we had lost we outplayed them 5v5 and that's all I could ask after our crappy 5v5 recent performances. This was by far our best game this season and really happy about it.
PK needs to get better though, we will not win the cup allowing so many PP goals

 

[BeingTheThunder]

Even if we had lost we outplayed them 5v5 and that's all I could ask after our crappy 5v5 recent performances. This was by far our best game this season and really happy about it.
PK needs to get better though, we will not win the cup allowing so many PP goals

Agree about the PK, I'm not trying to minimize how poor it's been, however not every team runs a line of Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Marchand out for their man advantage. It looked horrible and giving up 3 in 5 opportunities is horrible but I think the PP unit we went up against mattered almost as much as how poorly we defended the PP.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Agree about the PK, I'm not trying to minimize how poor it's been, however not every team runs a line of Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Marchand out for their man advantage. It looked horrible and giving up 3 in 5 opportunities is horrible but I think the PP unit we went up against mattered almost as much as how poorly we defended the PP.

That PP always seems to score on us. They do it quickly too. Couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen their PP goals come almost right after the faceoffs to begin the PP.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

I like the way we played. We clearly had the better of them 5 on 5 - while the PK was atrocious they can't really be blamed for that last fluke goal. Reffing was, as expected, ugly. But Boston really had very few 5 on 5 chances that scared me.

That being said, teams built like Boston have never really been the concern for me in a playoff series. I think we match up well against them and Toronto. It's the Metro powerhouses that concern me.

 

[Letsgobolts21]

Even though the PK was somewhat bad/somewhat unlucky---first goal we block the shot and can't clear and Bergeron makes a beauty pass for the goal, last one is a fluke deflection (albeit after several quality chances)--we are still taking too many penalties--but other than the Cirelli trip at the end--none appeared to be the stupid/careless type--and I thought 2 of the calls were pretty soft.

Boston's PP is obviously lethal--but so far this season, this PK style looks way too much like 17-18--where they fall into the passive box very quickly, versus last year always hounding the puck.

5 on 5 play was much better.

I think it's been lost, but we are 1 of 2 teams to only have had 1 home game so far--and most have at least 3---the other is Minnesota. Of course we come home for 3 against 3 really good teams so home may not treat us any better but I'm encouraged.

Kuch has not heated up yet, but it's coming. The good news is there is a lot of room for improved play.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I like the way we played. We clearly had the better of them 5 on 5 - while the PK was atrocious they can't really be blamed for that last fluke goal. Reffing was, as expected, ugly. But Boston really had very few 5 on 5 chances that scared me.

That being said, teams built like Boston have never really been the concern for me in a playoff series. I think we match up well against them and Toronto. It's the Metro powerhouses that concern me.

For me its seemed like Boston has really just had success over us in special teams. Playoffs doesnt reward good PP teams as much as good 5v5 play and we have seemed to be better than them in that department when we play them so they dont scare me as much as they used to. If they got another top 6 goal scorer Id bee little more scared to play them in the playoffs.

 

[T REX]

Agree about the PK, I'm not trying to minimize how poor it's been, however not every team runs a line of Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Marchand out for their man advantage. It looked horrible and giving up 3 in 5 opportunities is horrible but I think the PP unit we went up against mattered almost as much as how poorly we defended the PP.

Problem is come playoff time you will see lines like that in every round almost.

 

[Max McBolt]

The PK is just a hot mess.

Could be better with Brayden Point on it.

I understand why they decided to stop using him on the PK.

But I also feel that if players like Bergeron & Marchand can play 5/5, PP, PK and still be effective, then Point could do it to.

 

[CupsOverCash]

A lot of talk from Boston fans saying they need to get another top 6 goal scorer. I think we could use one as well. Im not super confident in our depth scoring as it is. Would love another threat in the top 6 somewhere but not sure who or where we can get one or if we will even look for one. Maybe they just break up the top line. Probably most likely thing to happen.

 

[Letsgobolts21]

A lot of talk from Boston fans saying they need to get another top 6 goal scorer. I think we could use one as well. Im not super confident in our depth scoring as it is. Would love another threat in the top 6 somewhere but not sure who or where we can get one or if we will even look for one. Maybe they just break up the top line. Probably most likely thing to happen.

I think they end up breaking up the top line at some point. Not sure how they shuffle it, but unless the S/Point/Kuch line starts dominating like Boston's top line there is no reason to play them together.

 

[Sky04]

A lot of talk from Boston fans saying they need to get another top 6 goal scorer. I think we could use one as well. Im not super confident in our depth scoring as it is. Would love another threat in the top 6 somewhere but not sure who or where we can get one or if we will even look for one. Maybe they just break up the top line. Probably most likely thing to happen.

Can't afford it, we already had a forward casualty in Miller over the off-season. Our scoring is still in the upper half of the league. Our defense? Bottom half.

The capspace we gain should be used might be used to secure a defenseman, the D is awful this year with less depth to boot.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Can't afford it, we already had a forward casualty in Miller over the off-season. Our scoring is still in the upper half of the league. Our defense? Bottom half.

The capspace we gain should be used might be used to secure a defenseman, the D is awful this year with less depth to boot.

I agree about our D. I am just worried about the offense drying up in the playoffs again if our top guys cant score goals. Need somebody else to step up. Just not sure if they can or will.

 

[DistantThunderRep]

A lot of talk from Boston fans saying they need to get another top 6 goal scorer. I think we could use one as well. Im not super confident in our depth scoring as it is. Would love another threat in the top 6 somewhere but not sure who or where we can get one or if we will even look for one. Maybe they just break up the top line. Probably most likely thing to happen.

A lot of the problem is line distribution. The lines aren't balanced and while it feels weird to say, the team really misses Paquette down the middle. I think it's time to sit Verhaeghe for a game to reset and watch. Run 11F 7D and slot Ruuta in for a game and see what happens.

 

[Sky04]

I agree about our D. I am just worried about the offense drying up in the playoffs again if our top guys cant score goals. Need somebody else to step up. Just not sure if they can or will.

Well, there's only so much you can do in a salary cap world. They've already blown/wasted all years they had on efficient contracts, we had 3 years where Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov combined for 5.65m in capspace, 2 of those years were a missed playoffs and a 1st round exit. Now the high caphits kick in and you lose the support, the big guys have to step up and earn their pay.

 

[CupsOverCash]

A lot of the problem is line distribution. The lines aren't balanced and while it feels weird to say, the team really misses Paquette down the middle. I think it's time to sit Verhaeghe for a game to reset and watch. Run 11F 7D and slot Ruuta in for a game and see what happens.

Its a crazy thing to complain about because they have been very successful scoring goals. I just worry about the playoffs more than anything. When things dry up. Its happened way too many times.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Well, there's only so much you can do in a salary cap world. They've already blown/wasted all years they had on efficient contracts, we had 3 years where Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov combined for 5.65m in capspace, 2 of those years were a missed playoffs and a 1st round exit. Now the high caphits kick in and you lose the support, the big guys have to step up and earn their pay, no other choice.

Well maybe they can get some guy after some cap space accrues for the deadline. Another thing to think about which your point made me think about is these guys did give a discount on their deals so as time goes on the cap should go up. While other teams pay similar players to huge deals, these guys helped us out and maybe they are able to do some big things then as far as bringing in other players. Thats not this year though so not really going to know how that will unfold until a few years and we have no idea who will even still be worth their contract by then. Just a thought I had.

 

[Master P]

Really hope Kuch picks it up soon. The McDavid circle jerk on the main boards is already becoming unbearable. Leave it to oiler fans to somehow overhype mcdavid.

 

[Master P]

Something else i'd like to point out is that Stammer is sitting at a 60% face of win percentage. I'm really impressed with how he's improved in this area of the game over the past 2-3 years.

 

[BeingTheThunder]

Something else i'd like to point out is that Stammer is sitting at a 60% face of win percentage. I'm really impressed with how he's improved in this area of the game over the past 2-3 years.

I'm really impressed with how he's rounded his game out from an overall perspective. His backchecking, forechecking and leadership skills all seem to be improved this year in addition to his significant improvement in the faceoff circle... Like he is finally starting to grow into the C that we've been looking for ... I understand it's early but there's just something different about him this year..and I like it.