GDT: 12/18/15 - 7:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ Washington

[These Are The Days]

Dude you're an absurd apologist. We've tried pretty much everyone on the damn team on the PP. It's not about talent - a good coach for a PP can make average players put up goals. It's happened in New Jersey for years.

The talent is there. The coaching is not. We have some of the worst special teams shooting differential in the league. That's a system issue.

What talent is there dude? Kucherov turns it over EVERY time he touches it. Killorn can only score on a juicy rebound. Callahan is the butt of whack-a-mole jokes, the Swedes can't QB a power play to save their life and the only guy who turns it over more than them on the man advantage is Tyler Johnson. The list of deficiencies when you compare them against the talent Boucher had to work with is SO obvious.

When a coach tries every possible combination with the same players and continues to get the same results year after year it's thereby a coaching issue? Anton Stralman isn't gonna wake up one day and realize he's a capable power play QB because we fired Jon Cooper. You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.

For God's sake he put on a pass limit/shot clock in practice. Do you see the players doing anything differently than before? You can try to teach "stupid" but you can't make it learn what it's being taught. Do you seriously think they go into practice and NOT do power play drills?

 

[Cigar City]

I'm going to be optimistic here.

We are missing 3 solid PKers (2-3 PP players).
Stamkos was a boss.
The D was actually activating for the first time this season.
Sustr is my fave.

My personal favorite: We played like the Lightning for 30 minutes.

 

[Hoek]

The PP actually got some looks tonight I thought. Still too slow for my taste though. PK on the other hand was a disaster.

 

[dechire]

Notice how Ovechkin actually moves around on the PP. It would be nice if Stamkos was capable of doing the same. Our cycle is garbage.

 

[These Are The Days]

Notice how Ovechkin actually moves around on the PP. It would be nice if Stamkos was capable of doing the same. Our cycle is garbage.

I'm thoroughly convinced that he stands still because the players around him are incapable of passing it to him. There's no real predominant side of the ice where we start the cycle but once we actually make it in and don't turn it over the goes to Stralman. He'll look over his options and the men along the half boards will move until they have possession. Kucherov has a particularly bad habit of standing totally still once he has the puck and from then on you get a bad pass to the point and one deferred shot to another. The others just freeze around Kucherov, including Stralman. Occasionally you'll see Stamkos adjust his angle to get open but really, do the passes ever hit him in the tape?

 

[Flat Ronnie]

Other than the special teams, which were atrocious, one real positive is that top line 5x5. They have looked good recently. When we get healthy I would go:

Names, Kuch, Stamkos
Drouin, Johnson, Palat

 

[DFC]

Darth Ovi. Can't expect to win taking penalties against that guy, regardless of the lead.

Something needs to be done about the PP. The fault lies with everybody, including Yzerman. If Coop can't find a way to muster threats, at the very least, out of our lineup, then Yzerman needs to step in and find someone who can oversee it. Something needs to be changed to suit the players we have, not stubbornly stuck to over and over and over when it's clear these guys can't execute.

Nobody moves. They stand still and pass the puck and then someone shoots into a maze of bodies. I don't believe for a second that NHL players are incapable of following a coach's instructions. There's something systematically wrong.

 

[The Gongshow]

Glad I didn't watch tonight... I checked my phone to see the following scores

1 - 0 Tampa
3 - 0 Tampa
3 - 1
3 - 2
5 - 3 Washington

.........what happened....

 

[Boltsppy]

Glad I didn't watch tonight... I checked my phone to see the following scores

1 - 0 Tampa
3 - 0 Tampa
3 - 1
3 - 2
5 - 3 Washington

.........what happened....

Same here

 

[xteesy]

Other than the special teams, which were atrocious, one real positive is that top line 5x5. They have looked good recently. When we get healthy I would go:

Names, Kuch, Stamkos
Drouin, Johnson, Palat

I'd keep Names/Kuch/Stammer together long term.

They're finally building some chemistry and if they come out looking like they did tonight, every night, other teams will be terrified of Stamkos again.

Glad I didn't watch tonight... I checked my phone to see the following scores

1 - 0 Tampa
3 - 0 Tampa
3 - 1
3 - 2
5 - 3 Washington

.........what happened....

Names/Kuch/Stammer were the only line that was legitimately scaring Washington. When they were out there, we were dominating the offensive zone. Stamkos had 6 shots on goal, 3 of which were nearly goals and one was a goal. You're allowed to hit the crossbar and have one miss a game if you're Steven Stamkos.

Boyle/Callahan/Killorn showed up but their linemates just couldn't get it together. The AHLers really showed tonight. :/

 

[Houdas]

So Šustr is now Norristr?

 

[Iceman]

I watched 2 periods and then went to bed... wake up to 4 Washington goals... like wtf?

And Sustr getting 21:15 icetime and 1:52 minutes shorthanded time? Just a few seconds less than Hedman or something.

 

[Sky04]

I mean, no use complaining about officiating. We got our share of crappy calls going our way too. The difference is they could capitalize. We could barely get any shots off.

This is how I feel, you get some bad calls and some good ones, we've had our fair share of good calls this year.

Don't see a point in complaining about the refs, defense and Bishop were bad tonight.

 

[Sky04]

What talent is there dude? Kucherov turns it over EVERY time he touches it. Killorn can only score on a juicy rebound. Callahan is the butt of whack-a-mole jokes, the Swedes can't QB a power play to save their life and the only guy who turns it over more than them on the man advantage is Tyler Johnson. The list of deficiencies when you compare them against the talent Boucher had to work with is SO obvious.

When a coach tries every possible combination with the same players and continues to get the same results year after year it's thereby a coaching issue? Anton Stralman isn't gonna wake up one day and realize he's a capable power play QB because we fired Jon Cooper. You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.

For God's sake he put on a pass limit/shot clock in practice. Do you see the players doing anything differently than before? You can try to teach "stupid" but you can't make it learn what it's being taught. Do you seriously think they go into practice and NOT do power play drills?

And this is what you and Cooper are wrong. You don't just switch players around and hope for the best. The system is clearly flawed. You can try a million combinations with the wrong system and very little will change.

And yes, that is a coaching issue.

 

[FinnLightning26]

I usually aren't mad after I've slept on a game but I'm still pissed as ****. The play after our third goal was disgusting. It was a definition of throwing points away and we really don't have that luxury this season. I'm just so close to being done with this team.

 

[BoltSTH]

 

[2MinutesforGiraffing]

I'm really glad I was at a watch party (not the official one) last night where $15 bought 'all you can drink' because I needed it. It's frustrating listening to the same old song and dance and nothing changing. If we were at least showing some consistent signs of improvement, I'd be more optimistic. As it stand, our special teams are taking us straight to the bottom.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I'm really glad I was at a watch party (not the official one) last night where $15 bought 'all you can drink' because I needed it. It's frustrating listening to the same old song and dance and nothing changing. If we were at least showing some consistent signs of improvement, I'd be more optimistic. As it stand, our special teams are taking us straight to the bottom.

We're playing the right way...just getting bad bounces.

 

[2MinutesforGiraffing]

We're playing the right way...just getting bad bounces.

The points will come if we just keep playing our game.

 

[Leonardo87]

I'm really glad I was at a watch party (not the official one) last night where $15 bought 'all you can drink' because I needed it. It's frustrating listening to the same old song and dance and nothing changing. If we were at least showing some consistent signs of improvement, I'd be more optimistic. As it stand, our special teams are taking us straight to the bottom.

Next game I'm down for is for the Pittsburgh game, we are doing shots. Not taking no for an answer! By then we will have either turned it around or sunk to the bottom of the abyss.

 

[2MinutesforGiraffing]

Next game I'm down for is for the Pittsburgh game, we are doing shots. Not taking no for an answer! By then we will have either turned it around or sunk to the bottom of the abyss.

I'm out of town for the Pittsburgh game

(shots were had last night - of moonshine)

 

[Leonardo87]

I'm out of town for the Pittsburgh game

(shots were had last night - of moonshine)

Maybe thats a good thing, give the liver some rest. lol

 

[LightningStrikes]

Washington's 77/8 duo is scary as hell. What a game they had.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Pittsburgh isn't doing much. If we're playing Zatkoff, it ought to be a good confidence boosting game.

 

[Todd1a]

i put this on as a bad game for bishop i had a feeling on first one

you got to make some of those saves i get was good puck movement and is ovie but man bishop didnt look great on much imho

nothing else to say i guess sad think we played well enough to get some points and goalie was lacking

just my two cents

We got out worked out skated and bishop could not save or butts tonight like he normally does. This product yzerman has iced sucks period. Ditch stamkos sign kopitar a center that has a two way game that's not a midget.