GDT: 2/28/13 - 7:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ New York Rangers

[The Wyzerhood]

Tampa Bay is the home of the stick check. You'd think these guys are practicing to be wizards with how much they wave their sticks around. There's no toughness. When Conacher is the guy sticking up for your stars there is an absolutely enormous issue.

After a game like this? I don't know what you do. I will say that if they come out and lay down against Boston like they usually do, the season is just about over with the Pens and the Devils right behind them.

Honestly, what happened to Aulie? Or even Vinny for that matter (even though we don't want him dropping the gloves too often)?

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

When is the last time Yzerman has commented on this team? Honest question.

He's been very quiet this season. Next to nothing.

 

[warlord6]

He's been very quiet this season. Next to nothing.

He misses Detroit right about now I bet.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

Let's not get that started up. I can just see the main boards now.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Its not just coaching we have no on ice leadership. Vinny tries but he hasn't looked good the last 10 games. Stamkos is a great player he just doesn't have the qualities you see in a captain, this team is gonna be in trouble once Vinny leaves. Brewer and Carle are veterans but neither is a player I'd look up to if I was a rookie. There is some much wrong with this team right now. Vasileskiy needs to be a Vezina winner and do it soon csuse we haven't looked good since Downie left.

 

[TampaBolt]

Its not just coaching we have no on ice leadership. Vinny tries but he hasn't looked good the last 10 games. Stamkos is a great player he just doesn't have the qualities you see in a captain, this team is gonna be in trouble once Vinny leaves. Brewer and Carle are veterans but neither is a player I'd look up to if I was a rookie. There is some much wrong with this team right now. Vasileskiy needs to be a Vezina winner and do it soon csuse we haven't looked good since Downie left.

Stamkos does have the qualities to be a captain, work ethic, humble, hard worker you may say he is not vocal but that comes with age. He is the type that leads by example on and off the ice. Give him time cause he is the future captain.

 

[jg39]

Well, looks like I didn't miss much with the Bolts tonight. Sounds like Garon was on though.

I feel like Conacher is going to drop 'em with Chara next game

 

[CSampson]

We're gonna get ****ing destroyed on this road trip.

 

[Sky04]

Stamkos does have the qualities to be a captain, work ethic, humble, hard worker you may say he is not vocal but that comes with age. He is the type that leads by example on and off the ice. Give him time cause he is the future captain.

You need to show those qualities consistenly to be a leader, and nobody on this team has been doing that.

If your best players are making stupid, dumb, lazy plays, that transitions through the entire team, Stamkos is making bad decisions when he has the puck, he's opting not to shoot on high quality chances and can't recieve a god damn pass half the time, likewise with St.louis while Lecavalier can't cash a perfect scoring chance if his life depended on it.

Even the 3rd/4th liners who've looked amazing for the first 12 games have started looking sloppy.

Im almost ready to throw in the towel with this season, we have much more talent up and down the lineup than last year and we're playing even worse, this team doesn't belong in the playoffs barring a miraculous change in play. I'd rather watch some quality teams go head to head.

 

[Maelmoor]

Im not angry, nor sad just utterly disappointed with this team, I really think we got a solid playoff team on paper, do I overestimate the players? Now it just feels like "meh", even if we would win the division it would be cause SE sucks this season, not cause we are good...and we would be knocked out right away...

Im usually optimistic..

 

[LightningStrikes]

SOG: 25-42
1st: 3-20
2nd: 8-15
3rd: 14-7

Nash: 12
MAB: 5
Killorn: 4

Faceoffs: 19-38
Stammer: 5-20 25%
Vinny: 6-18 33%
Thompson: 5-8 62%
Pyatt: 1-4 25%
Pouliot: 1-3 33%
Crombeen: 0-3 0%
Killorn: 1-1 100%

Hits: 16-21
Pouliot: 4
Marty: 2
Thompson: 2

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[HoseEmDown]

Stamkos might be the worst 1st line C at faceoffs. Whenever a team ices it and seems tired like we might get a good scoring opportunity he loses the draw. He needs to really step up in the circle.

 

[zeykshade]

I think I'm going to adopt a policy of "Accelerationism". I hope this team ****ing implodes every game and gets mauled until something happens with this coaching staff.

I don't care for how this team looks in any zone or phase of the game. It's hilarious. Garon provides goaltending and no one else shows up. If the team shows up, the goalies disappear.

Young D that started the season looking amazing (not Brian Lee), look timid and panicked. Aulie looks like he's lost and his balls are in Boucher's desk drawer or some ****. Brewer and Carle are huge disappointments. I just wonder how they're coached to be so bad?

 

[T REX]

Question for the regulars

Longtime Lightning fan here. I was watching last night and was so incensed by their play it caused me to sign up.

My question is this, why did we change lines at the end of that power play with roughly 20+ seconds left to kill. I read the clearing pass was interfered with by a ref? Is that accurate? We were caught with our pants down and the second I saw it I knew NY was going to score. Why could we kill another 20 seconds and change lines after the penalty was over. I thought it was an awful idea.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

After watching all the post game player interviews and Boucher, I'm feeling a bit more optimistic. I know, it's probably unwarranted. But they seem to have gotten over the insert cliche of your choice about getting chances and so on, and have gotten to the point of taking a hard look in the mirror and not liking what they're seeing.

We'll see, but I think there will be better efforts in the near future. May not translate into wins (Bruins, yikes!), but the work will be there. Fingers crossed.

 

[zeykshade]

Longtime Lightning fan here. I was watching last night and was so incensed by their play it caused me to sign up.

My question is this, why did we change lines at the end of that power play with roughly 20+ seconds left to kill. I read the clearing pass was interfered with by a ref? Is that accurate? We were caught with our pants down and the second I saw it I knew NY was going to score. Why could we kill another 20 seconds and change lines after the penalty was over. I thought it was an awful idea.

MSL fired the puck into the linesman.

 

[dbieon12]

its not just coaching we have no on ice leadership. Vinny tries but he hasn't looked good the last 10 games. Stamkos is a great player he just doesn't have the qualities you see in a captain, this team is gonna be in trouble once vinny leaves. Brewer and carle are veterans but neither is a player i'd look up to if i was a rookie. There is some much wrong with this team right now. Vasileskiy needs to be a vezina winner and do it soon csuse we haven't looked good since downie left.

We need Dave Andreychuk. Get him a sweater.

MSL fired the puck into the linesman.

Yeah. He said he raised his stick for a second to warn the linesman but that means that Marty had time to adjust his clearing shot. Based on the replay, he had a pretty wide opening to clear the puck.

 

[nhljohnson]

After watching all the post game player interviews and Boucher, I'm feeling a bit more optimistic. I know, it's probably unwarranted. But they seem to have gotten over the insert cliche of your choice about getting chances and so on, and have gotten to the point of taking a hard look in the mirror and not liking what they're seeing.

Last night's postgame interviews wasn't a matter of players and staff suddenly lifting of the veil, suddenly realizing they'd been duping themselves; they looked genuinely shaken.

In a number of the games past, much of the underlying fundamentals were at least encouraging. It was isolated poor performances (i.e. a skater struggling for a stretch of the game, subpar goaltending) and periodic breakdowns (turnovers and positional mistakes) that opponents seemed to be converting at an abnormally high rate, especially early in games, that, when combined with an anemic power play and an ability to convert on most of the high-quality scoring chances they earned or were handed to them, helped explain the poor results. The bad was easy to spot but some of the results (bad bounces, sudden propensity of posts, missed nets, etc.) were somewhat mystifying. Hence the fairly positive message you heard game after game.

That wasn't the case last night. They didn't spout off about missed chances being there because, for the first 40 minutes, there really weren't any as the Lightning were busy being unconditionally steamrolled. It wasn't until the Rangers essentially went into a prevent defense that the Lightning were able to mount any significant offensive pressure. With the exception of Garon, there wasn't much, if anything, else to hang their hat on.

 

[InjuredChoker]

I had my doubts. Must pick it up, can't count on SE sucking so much that this level of play leads to postseason.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

This team just keeps getting worse, worse performance this season.

More than minor changes have to be done