GDT: 12/31/23 - 7:00PM EDT - Montréal vs Tampa Bay

[TheFurryPickle]

lol we will not make the playoffs

missed our 2 goals, then the 3rd due to the kiddos.. I see we won

I reckon we are winning round 1 now of the playoffs.

 

[LightningStrikes]

EZ win

 

[Felonious Python]

The boys just saved Coop from like a 20k fine by making the 'no whistle goal' irrelevant.

 

[JTBF81]

2 points needed and secured! It may not have been a masterpiece, but it's a W! Happy New Year!!

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

"Bad team disappear"

 

[Stammertime91]

That was.... eventful and shambolic. Thankfully elite goal scorer Watson was put in the game and laid off the steam to save Montambow's career by not blasting a 120mph shot by him.

In all seriousness, that WTF goal was on the players. The ref clearly motioned to Montembeault with his right hand to play it. All the nerds on the ice got relaxed. Can't blame the refs or Montreal. We lose focus and that was no difference. Intent to whistle has always been bullshit and only bails out the refs on bullshit calls, that was not and 100% on the players.

I absolutely loved Kucherov telling Gallagher to get the f*** off the ice at the end lmao. Great way to end the year.

This team is lousy, disinterested but still talented. That should've never been the first 35mins. We lost Cernak and got outplayed by Montreal... a weird ass game we got a win in, but that was pitiful. f***.

"Bad team disappear"

He was checking JJ's eyes and asking him "how do you see those shots from far out?"

He made a few crazy saves, credit to him tonight.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

With some of the injuries tonight:

Hedman - 2 assists, +2, 29:52
Perbix - 1 assist, +2, 25:15
Raddysh - 24:30
de Haan - 1 goal, 18:57


Season highs for Hedman, Perbix, and Raddysh

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

This team is lousy, disinterested but still talented

That's kinda the thing, isn't it? During that three-year run of going to the Final every year - especially in the 2nd and 3rd years - there was sort of a feeling around the team that was like they knew they were at their peak, they knew what they were capable of, and that kinda gave them steam. Remember the first half of 2021-'22 when Kucherov and Point both missed a lot of time and we still not only managed to stay afloat but actually thrived for quite a while without them. They knew they were Cup-level good and that fueled them. I dunno, I don't wanna say it quite like this, but maybe they feel their better days are past them now and trying to win the Cup is harder with what they have now? Also obviously cap attrition has forced some longtime faces out the door...Pally, McDonagh, and Killorn off the top of my head. Even more than on the ice, that's a hell of a lot of locker room leadership that you can't just replace in free agency.

When these guys have their heads screwed on straight, they're still at least a playoff-level team, but the consistency just isn't there like it used to be. And that's why we're halfway through the season and still sitting on the outside looking in. We keep waiting for that 10-15 game stretch where we get 20 out of 30 points that might stabilize us, but it just hasn't happened yet. Three game homestand out of Christmas and the first 2.5 games of it were just terrible. We salvaged two points against one of the NHL's worst teams tonight after falling into a 2-0 deficit for the third straight game. We can't keep starting games like this.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Happy new year boys!

 

[Todd1a]

missed our 2 goals, then the 3rd due to the kiddos.. I see we won

I reckon we are winning round 1 now of the playoffs.

Nope we’re still missing the playoffs

Jets, wild and Boston how many wins next week ?

 

[T REX]

i'll take it but we got major problems

 

[Stammertime91]

That's kinda the thing, isn't it? During that three-year run of going to the Final every year - especially in the 2nd and 3rd years - there was sort of a feeling around the team that was like they knew they were at their peak, they knew what they were capable of, and that kinda gave them steam. Remember the first half of 2021-'22 when Kucherov and Point both missed a lot of time and we still not only managed to stay afloat but actually thrived for quite a while without them. They knew they were Cup-level good and that fueled them. I dunno, I don't wanna say it quite like this, but maybe they feel their better days are past them now and trying to win the Cup is harder with what they have now? Also obviously cap attrition has forced some longtime faces out the door...Pally, McDonagh, and Killorn off the top of my head. Even more than on the ice, that's a hell of a lot of locker room leadership that you can't just replace in free agency.

When these guys have their heads screwed on straight, they're still at least a playoff-level team, but the consistency just isn't there like it used to be. And that's why we're halfway through the season and still sitting on the outside looking in. We keep waiting for that 10-15 game stretch where we get 20 out of 30 points that might stabilize us, but it just hasn't happened yet. Three game homestand out of Christmas and the first 2.5 games of it were just terrible. We salvaged two points against one of the NHL's worst teams tonight after falling into a 2-0 deficit for the third straight game. We can't keep starting games like this.

Agreed. I don't see us making it playing down the stretch like this. There really wasn't much urgency even after Cernak got sent to the shadow realm. Too much left the locker room over the years to bail out Kucherov, Point, Stamkos and Hagel taking a night off. I don't look at the roster and see many more nights where CDH and unlikely suspects like Watson come through clutch. That's quite the drop off from Coleman, Maroon, Perry, Johnson, Palat, Cole, etc. I just don't see it. I'm giving them until mid January, but this game was a mess and not really anything to be proud of.

Our defense is in absolute pieces right now and teams don't make it far like that.

 

[Todd1a]

i'll take it but we got major problems

Agreed

 

[Sky04]

Happy New Year to all ya'll not on my ignore list.


(There is none cause I'm not 12)

 

[Rschmitz]

Nope we’re still missing the playoffs

Jets, wild and Boston how many wins next week ?

All of em

 

[b0lthed]

Good point about the leadership departures from the dressing room. We used to rarely lose 3 in a row. Those days seem long gone …

 

[Rschmitz]

Little discussed topic tonight is all of the hurt Bolts. Cernak took a nasty shot tonight hopefully he is ok

 

[Sky04]

Cernak takes a heavy hit and a nasty elbow to the head, he's mAdE oF gLaSs, I'm sure you guys think Kucherov or Point would be able to take those unscathed right?

 

[Renopucker]

I saw the replay a couple of times. Guy's skates, both of 'em, were off the ice. Plus a forearm...That was a nasty hit. If it wasn't Cernak, the Bolt would have been totally laid out and needed a stretcher. And the TSN guys , who have recently become jackoff-type homers, thought the hit was A-OK. Pathetic.

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[JoVel]

We're getting a lot of "well a win's a win" wins these days.

 

[Stammertime91]

Cernak takes a heavy hit and a nasty elbow to the head, he's mAdE oF gLaSs, I'm sure you guys think Kucherov or Point would be able to take those unscaled right?

2/3 big contracts have gotten injured recently. Cirelli is the last man standing.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[Byrddog]

These issues are not going to be solved overnight. One would think Stamkos and Heddy could carry the on ice leadership . It appears they are lacking in the leadership area. Short of the PP not one element of the team is playing well. Kuch night in night out earns his paycheck the rest not so much. People have called me out for criticizing Hagel but last night was his 17th game in a row without a goal sure his big contract does not kick in until next season but a streak approaching 1/4 if a season without a goal is a issue. Cirelli continues to just be underwhelming. Point has not been as dominant. Very little depth scoring and the D scoring has vanished.

GAA is above 3 and GFG has dropped to 3.2. Not much room for mistakes. With limited cap both areas can not be addressed at the same time. What we would like to see and what JBB does is probably going to be vastly different. Any method taken is gong to take a while .

 

[FinnLightning26]

They had to get absolutely embarrassed to wake the f*** up. Not a good look playing against a bad team after losing two straight at home.

Next three games look really tough. The Jets are on a tear, playing in Minnesota is an automatic loss and the Bruins are Bruins. I guess we should be happy with even three points from the next three games.