GDT: 3/10/18 - 1:00PM EDT - Montréal vs Tampa Bay

[Bolt 45]

I didn't watch the whole game. I tuned in right before the 2nd goal. How was McDonagh??

From what I saw he looked pretty solid, made a couple nice plays.

Rusty, but worth the price of admission. I don't know why I assumed he was less of an offensive guy. Great instincts. He switches gears and goes on the attack way quicker than I was expecting. Really excited to see where things go from here.

Edit: As a bonus, I thought Girardi looked a little more comfortable and sharper, too. And I've been happy with Girardi's play as it is.

 

[berlin]

Yeah so anyway, another 2 points, keep winning boys!

 

[Matt Watson]

You said they were gonna get beat in the playoffs because we're not good except in overtime. When all the evidence suggests we're still one of the best, if not the best, teams in the league.

Please, point me to where I said we're going to get beat in the playoffs? All I can say is that there sure are a lot of folks on this board have a serious reading comprehension problem. Schools these days, I guess.

 

[DFC]

Please, point me to where I said we're going to get beat in the playoffs? All I can say is that there sure are a lot of folks on this board have a serious reading comprehension problem. Schools these days, I guess.

You said we look like a middle of the pack team, aside from when we play pond hockey, and noted that the playoffs don't have 3-on-3. I'm not sure how else you expect people to take that.

 

[Matt Watson]

You said we look like a middle of the pack team, aside from when we play pond hockey, and noted that the playoffs don't have 3-on-3. I'm not sure how else you expect people to take that.

No joke, and I'm not kidding even a little bit, you need to take some classes on reading comprehension if what you have written here is what you took from my original post. So far off the mark I can't fathom how you got from A to B.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

I thought McD looked like hot garbage. But I also not surprised that a dude that hasn’t played in a month, and is inserted into a new system was less than ideal. Honestly though, he looked less lost in the system, as just super rusty. His skating was terrible.

 

[DFC]

No joke, and I'm not kidding even a little bit, you need to take some classes on reading comprehension if what you have written here is what you took from my original post. So far off the mark I can't fathom how you got from A to B.

Or you need to take classes on how not to accidentally lead logical readers to conclusions you didn't intend. Pretty much everybody who read your posts thought the same thing. So maybe the problem isn't in the way we interpreted it.

 

[Matt Watson]

Or you need to take classes on how not to accidentally lead logical readers to conclusions you didn't intend. Pretty much everybody who read your posts thought the same thing. So maybe the problem isn't in the way we interpreted it.

Nice try.

 

[Matt Watson]

I thought McD looked like hot garbage. But I also not surprised that a dude that hasn’t played in a month, and is inserted into a new system was less than ideal. Honestly though, he looked less lost in the system, as just super rusty. His skating was terrible.

Yeah, he was rusty and made some bad mistakes, but his skating? What were you watching?

 

[These Are The Days]

No shootouts, no 3 on 3 OT in postseason. Lightning right now have the skills to win the NHL equivalent of pond hockey games but otherwise they look like a middle of the pack team. Eventually and always play down to the level of their opponent. Always.

Nice try.

You're literally beating yourself at your own game dude.

We've been watching a Lightning team in desperate need for another defenseman since pretty much Christmas. When Dotchin fell back to earth the rest of the defense did too. Why don't we give McDonagh like 3 weeks before we start making statements about pond hockey?

 

[Matt Watson]

Final point on OT and SO wins.
Nashville is 10-0 in its last 10 games. 20pts
TB is 9-0-1 in last 10 games. 19 pts

At first glance, pretty damn close, almost dead even. However, a closer look would tell you that NV had 8 regulation wins and 2 OT wins with zero shootouts and a +23 goal differential while TB had 3 regulation wins 2OT wins 1 OT loss and 4 SO wins with a +6 goal differential. Oh, and for NV six of the ten games were played against + .500 teams. TB, five of the ten games were against +.500 teams.

Is anyone really going to make an argument that these two teams are playing anything close to equally as well? OT and shootouts are an entertaining skills competition. Fun to watch, but a joke.

 

[The Macho King]

Hose's alt is somehow worse than his main account.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

Yeah, he was rusty and made some bad mistakes, but his skating? What were you watching?

I saw a guy having trouble transitioning in front of the defending net, and struggling to keep track of his cover responsibility. I.E., exactly what I described: a proven veteran defenseman who was shaky and rusty due to a new system and being off the ice for a month. What were you watching?

 

[Matt Watson]

I saw a guy having trouble transitioning in front of the defending net, and struggling to keep track of his cover responsibility. I.E., exactly what I described: a proven veteran defenseman who was shaky and rusty due to a new system and being off the ice for a month. What were you watching?

Much of what you said is true, but I think if you polled most of the people on this thread I believe you would find that most of us thought his skating was the one thing that looked pretty darn good.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

Much of what you said is true, but I think if you polled most of the people on this thread I believe you would find that most of us thought his skating was the one thing that looked pretty darn good.

Full disclosure: I want to reiterate that I know McD is an excellent skater. He will be great for us. That said, I am glad he is healthy now and will have some games under his belt before the playoffs.

 

[Stammertime91]

Just finished watching the game. Stamkos and mainly Kucherov on those cross ice passes in the first half of the game had me aging, badly. I thought it was a pretty lackluster 40 minutes. We had a nice turnaround in the final 8-10 minutes of the 1st but those first 40 were driving me crazy.

I thought McDonagh was rusty, outside of that, he made some nice plays and some bad ones. No need to worry about him.

I was really impressed with Dotchin towards the beginning.

Quiet games for the most part from a lot of guys. I thought Erne, Cirelli and Paquette did their job well. Paquette gets two thumbs up for the hit on Gallagher. Miller was good. He seemed to get better as the game went on. He's been a perfect fit on this team and something we have lacked for a long time. What a great addition to the team. Point as always is money when you need it. Domingue played good and didn't have too many grade A chances against him but he stood his ground.

This team is deep. With Cirelli, Erne, Conacher and possibly Peca being depth players in the playoffs (take your pick of whoever when Palat gets back) we have a really nice team. I've been disappointed with Palat the past year but when he comes back, the line combos of 91-86, 21-37, and 18-9 are going to be unreal. Then a 4th line that's an energy and hitting line - wuuuuuuuuut. I'm really looking forward to seeing a healthy lineup.

100 points is nice too!

 

[These Are The Days]

Dotchin looked better than he has in ages. That wasn't a great game but it was probably his best in a month. Please God let him keep up the effort because if Coop wants to run Hedman-Dotchin, Sergachev-Stralman and McDonagh-Girardi then be my guest. Send Sustr on a rocket to the damn sun. I seriously cannot stand this kid pissing himself every time he needs to make a simple outlet pass out of the zone.

Edit: I just realized that I called him a kid by instinct. He's 27........ 27 and you'd swear he plays like someone 7 years lesser his age. He's so bad I called a 27 year old man old enough to be my brother a kid like he's Sergachev.

 

[Alan Wake]

Final point on OT and SO wins.
Nashville is 10-0 in its last 10 games. 20pts
TB is 9-0-1 in last 10 games. 19 pts

At first glance, pretty damn close, almost dead even. However, a closer look would tell you that NV had 8 regulation wins and 2 OT wins with zero shootouts and a +23 goal differential while TB had 3 regulation wins 2OT wins 1 OT loss and 4 SO wins with a +6 goal differential. Oh, and for NV six of the ten games were played against + .500 teams. TB, five of the ten games were against +.500 teams.

Is anyone really going to make an argument that these two teams are playing anything close to equally as well? OT and shootouts are an entertaining skills competition. Fun to watch, but a joke.

Someone is fun at parties and tries far too much to make up for their shortcomings by trying to work numbers to their advantage on a message board.

Post that on the Golden Nuggets board. I'm sure that'll stroke their ego and you might even get a fair few likes for your efforts. Free advice, take it. I'm not upset. A win is a win no matter if it's an inch or a mile. Anybody that has raced would tell you the same thing. Or anybody that watches hockey rather than speaks Corsi.

While you're counting, tell us the faceoff percentages between each team for all 10 games. Shot totals, passing percentage, shots blocked... basically anything that doesn't matter. That should fill your life with some brief importance.

 

[Matt Watson]

Someone is fun at parties and tries far too much to make up for their shortcomings by trying to work numbers to their advantage on a message board.

Post that on the Golden Nuggets board. I'm sure that'll stroke their ego and you might even get a fair few likes for your efforts. Free advice, take it. I'm not upset. A win is a win no matter if it's an inch or a mile. Anybody that has raced would tell you the same thing. Or anybody that watches hockey rather than speaks Corsi.

While you're counting, tell us the faceoff percentages between each team for all 10 games. Shot totals, passing percentage, shots blocked... basically anything that doesn't matter. That should fill your life with some brief importance.

And yet your reply is longer than my post. If you want to practice amateur psychology I suggest you follow Lucy's lead and put up a stand on the sidewalk. You can charge a nickel.

 

[Matt Watson]

Oh, and by the way, this is a hockey board, you know, where we talk about hockey stuff.

 

[Rschmitz]

Stop with personal back and forth

I like the Domingue kid, his playstyle is similar to Vasi which I think the D in front of him appreciate. No flailing about, no cartwheels. Gets into position and makes the saves in close which let's the D settle into what they are supposed to do every game.

Erne is doing everything he can to stay on the team. I'd hate for him to go the way of Richard Panik and lose him for nothing when he's been effective in a lower line role. We have so much bottom 9 talent coming up though.

 

[Matt Watson]

Stop with personal back and forth

I like the Domingue kid, his playstyle is similar to Vasi which I think the D in front of him appreciate. No flailing about, no cartwheels. Gets into position and makes the saves in close which let's the D settle into what they are supposed to do every game.

Erne is doing everything he can to stay on the team. I'd hate for him to go the way of Richard Panik and lose him for nothing when he's been effective in a lower line role. We have so much bottom 9 talent coming up though.

So when decision time comes for the playoffs, is it Budaj (assuming he is healthy) or Domingue? I like Domingue's aggressiveness but Budaj has some playoff experience, though not much and the record isn't great. I would choose Domingue based on what I have seen so far.

Agree with you on Erne but do believe he will become a numbers casualty.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

The only way a backup plays in the playoffs is if vasy gets hurt, and if that happens we wave buh-bye to our cup chances. And also we’d call up dom/budaj whoever’s not already here and they’d start based on meritocracy, with budaj probably getting the veteran first chance.

 

[Rschmitz]

So when decision time comes for the playoffs, is it Budaj (assuming he is healthy) or Domingue? I like Domingue's aggressiveness but Budaj has some playoff experience, though not much and the record isn't great. I would choose Domingue based on what I have seen so far.

Agree with you on Erne but do believe he will become a numbers casualty.

Agree with you on both points

 

[Hoek]

Yeah I'm not concerned about the backup position this postseason because I think we'd be screwed with no Vasi regardless, but would support Domingue being full time backup next season. Then again if it's a really short term injury I could see Domingue at least being able to give us a chance to win a game versus Budaj.