GDT: 4/12/18 - 7:00PM EDT - #2WC New Jersey VS #1AT Tampa Bay [ECQF GAME 1]

[Five Alarm Fire]

He's young. They probably didn't want to put too much on his plate when the game tightened up. We've got some experienced studs who were generally going to get the bulk of those kinds of minutes, I'd think.

I vaguely remember something involving a stick and his face early in the game. And blood.

We have enough experienced guys for that to work all playoffs. Sergachev can slowly figure out the pace while running our second powerplay.

 

[Stammertime91]

Gotcha. Nice luxury to have. Devils have too many 19, 20, 21, 22 year olds in the starting lineup that they cant "hide" them all.

We had a lot of inexperienced guys get their lunch handed to them in 2014 that resulted in 4 scrimmages. Two deep runs after that. You have to start somewhere. Whether you guys lose in 4 or 7 (or win), going through a disappointing postseason or one that doesn't meet your hopes, could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Of course since you're in the east I hope it doesn't help you guys

 

[Coburn and Condra]

Devils fans are a confident bunch, that's okay. I'd guess most of them would probably admit privately that they're the inferior team. That being said, the ones who wanted us as their 1st round opponent because they believe the regular season series entitles them to beat us in the playoffs, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Bolt 45]

We have enough experienced guys for that to work all playoffs. Sergachev can slowly figure out the pace while running our second powerplay.

I agree, I was pretty happy with the way we used and rotated guys tonight.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Penalty kill still didn't look great tonight, I wonder if it's just something we're going to have to win in spite of.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Their fanbase is much more optimistic and patient than ours. That's for sure. If we would've lost it would've been mayhem in here with me sending everybody into panic mode. They got beat 5-2 and act like somebody knitted them a sweater.

Why would you expect Devils fans to be that upset?

It's the youngest team in the entire NHL & was picked by "hockey experts" to literally finish in last place. Yet they made the playoffs.

Tonight was many of their 1st playoff games, and frankly it looked like it in the 1st period. They looked frightened & quickly got down 2-0. After that I was proud of the way they recovered, and even got it back to 3-2 & was really pouring it on Tampa until Maroon's horrible turnover made it 4-2. Baby steps. This playoff experience will be invaluable to a bunch of NJ kids regardless how it turns out.

 

[berlin]

Saturday is a day game ugh.

 

[OurlordAndSaviorKuch]

So just got home game was a blast.

Two things, Our top line was nowhere to be found until the empty netter.

Secondly, Where in the hell were the calls? Devils could basically do anything and not get called. That was borderline boarding in the 3rd.

 

[Blue Liner]

Paging @Blue Liner

Take the next shift kid!

I rarely post during games. I watch them and chime in after.

Very good start to the series. All facets were solid, nerves at a minimum. Like to see more from top line. Said it before and still on it. Bolts in 6.

Before this whole bandwagon thing I had Tampa in the Cup Final.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Why would you expect Devils fans to be that upset?

It's the youngest team in the entire NHL & was picked by "hockey experts" to literally finish in last place. Yet they made the playoffs.

Tonight was many of their 1st playoff games, and frankly it looked like it in the 1st period. They looked frightened & quickly got down 2-0. After that I was proud of the way they recovered, and even got it back to 3-2 & was really pouring it on Tampa until Maroon's horrible turnover made it 4-2. Baby steps. This playoff experience will be invaluable to a bunch of NJ kids regardless how it turns out.

No kidding. I'm not gonna complain about this because being (viewed as) a top Cup contender is preferable to any other alternatives, but with high expectations comes a different mindset as a fan. Being the scrappy underdog with no expectations means anything positive that happens is cause for celebration. When the Cup is the expectation, the viewing lens is completely different.

This is a #8 seed playing a #1 seed. We're the #1 seed. So, yeah, if we were to have lost tonight (or lose on Saturday), yeah, there will be hell to pay, because there's no expectation to be had where we'll be having to steal home ice advantage away from New Jersey.

On paper, this might be the biggest mismatch the Lightning have ever had in a playoff series (in their favor, that is). The only reasons they can lose would be due to being outcoached and putting in poor efforts. Which can happen, but it would be a serious indictment on them. All due respect to New Jersey, but they are overmatched here. We have no excuses.

 

[Stammertime91]

Why would you expect Devils fans to be that upset?

It's the youngest team in the entire NHL & was picked by "hockey experts" to literally finish in last place. Yet they made the playoffs.

Tonight was many of their 1st playoff games, and frankly it looked like it in the 1st period. They looked frightened & quickly got down 2-0. After that I was proud of the way they recovered, and even got it back to 3-2 & was really pouring it on Tampa until Maroon's horrible turnover made it 4-2. Baby steps. This playoff experience will be invaluable to a bunch of NJ kids regardless how it turns out.

It had nothing to do with your fanbase being upset. I just noticed that they are really patient and optimistic. It was pretty much a compliment.

 

[Bolt 45]

Why would you expect Devils fans to be that upset?

It's the youngest team in the entire NHL & was picked by "hockey experts" to literally finish in last place. Yet they made the playoffs.

Tonight was many of their 1st playoff games, and frankly it looked like it in the 1st period. They looked frightened & quickly got down 2-0. After that I was proud of the way they recovered, and even got it back to 3-2 & was really pouring it on Tampa until Maroon's horrible turnover made it 4-2. Baby steps. This playoff experience will be invaluable to a bunch of NJ kids regardless how it turns out.

Meh, that was more of a dig at our fanbase, I think. We can act like a bunch of spoiled kids throwing tantrums after a loss. Expectations change the fan dynamic a bit.

 

[Lightning1995]

Nice win. That’s the Vassy the Lightning need moving forward.

Lines 2-4 were outstanding. Stammer may need a game or two back to take the pressure off Kuch. No need tp panic on the top line, yet.

Big game Saturday, I expect a dogfight.

 

[Matt Watson]

Penalty kill still didn't look great tonight, I wonder if it's just something we're going to have to win in spite of.

"Didn't look great" is a euphemism for pretty bad. We may get away with a lousy PK against NJ, but against Boston or Pittsburgh, not a chance.

 

[Steazy Doo]

"Didn't look great" is a euphemism for pretty bad. We may get away with a lousy PK against NJ, but against Boston or Pittsburgh, not a chance.

The PK was probably the only thing bad about last night. It looked horrendous, 88 is the only reason we never gave one up on their first chance.

 

[Sky04]

Devils fans are a confident bunch, that's okay. I'd guess most of them would probably admit privately that they're the inferior team. That being said, the ones who wanted us as their 1st round opponent because they believe the regular season series entitles them to beat us in the playoffs, I don't know what to tell you.

They know they're the inferior team I've seen most of them state as such, there's some on TB fans on the other-hand who are a little insecure and need to constantly state RS standing for affirmation it's almost embarrassing. In terms of trash talk and tolerance this is probably the most tamed series in the past 5 years.

They thought they matched up better against us who they played better against in the RS than Boston which is a fair point, yeah one team would rather play a team they stylistically match up better against and have a track record somebody call the wambulance. Not sure why you'd take offense to that when this fanbase did the same via MTL , NYR AND CHI in 2015.

 

[ForgotAboutDre]

Devils fans are a confident bunch, that's okay. I'd guess most of them would probably admit privately that they're the inferior team. That being said, the ones who wanted us as their 1st round opponent because they believe the regular season series entitles them to beat us in the playoffs, I don't know what to tell you.

It's okay, more spirit for us to crush.

 

[xteesy]

So just got home game was a blast.

Two things, Our top line was nowhere to be found until the empty netter.

Secondly, Where in the hell were the calls? Devils could basically do anything and not get called. That was borderline boarding in the 3rd.

1 - they were there, they were just being defended against incredibly well. If the Devils did anything right last night it was making sure Steven Stamkos & Nikita Kucherov did not get time and room, ever. Kuch was visibly frustrated and slammed his stick a few times. Stammer ran the puck in but was met with a wall and the 'push' essentially turned into a dump and change.

2 - Welcome to the playoffs

I rarely post during games. I watch them and chime in after.

Very good start to the series. All facets were solid, nerves at a minimum. Like to see more from top line. Said it before and still on it. Bolts in 6.

Before this whole bandwagon thing I had Tampa in the Cup Final.

See that's just not gonna work for us. You're either with us during everything or you're not...

 

[CupsOverCash]

I dont want to be a broken record and dont want to make excuses, but is it possible that the pk didnt look good because of the lead we had? Obviously they need to be better but getting hurt with a lead by 3 because you blocked a shot is a little bs right? Since the pk is about effort, its possible these guys just try their best without having to sacrifice too much at this point in the game. If we were leading by 1 or 2 and we are on the pk I would hope to see much better effort. Just a thought I have about the pk. Maybe they really suck at it.

 

[DFC]

We'll probably have to bring in another Todd Richards for the PK.

 

[Bolt 45]

The weird thing about our PK is that our PK guys get to see how it works in actual practice, right up close, when other teams shut down our first PP unit night after night. I mean, it has to be a mental thing at this point, right?

I'm just going to trust that something will click when it needs to. As was already noted, the PK has to at least be average in the later rounds.

 

[Sky04]

I dont want to be a broken record and dont want to make excuses, but is it possible that the pk didnt look good because of the lead we had? Obviously they need to be better but getting hurt with a lead by 3 because you blocked a shot is a little bs right? Since the pk is about effort, its possible these guys just try their best without having to sacrifice too much at this point in the game. If we were leading by 1 or 2 and we are on the pk I would hope to see much better effort. Just a thought I have about the pk. Maybe they really suck at it.

It wasn't an effort issue they were just sloppy and looked confused, whoever is running the PK sucks.

 

[ThunderRoad]

It wasn't an effort issue they were just sloppy and looked confused, whoever is running the PK sucks.

Isn't it Bowness?

It's an acknowledged weakness yet it's the same result nearly every game. Make a change please.

A weakness that threatens the Lightning’s Cup hopes

 

[Hoek]

I don't remember our PK ever being this bad before. What in the hell changed?

 

[Matt Watson]

"Didn't look great" is a euphemism for pretty bad. We may get away with a lousy PK against NJ, but against Boston or Pittsburgh, not a chance.

The PK was probably the only thing bad about last night. It looked horrendous, 88 is the only reason we never gave one up on their first chance.

That and Girardi's overall play. Easily could have cost us two goals.