GDT: 4/23/24 - 7:30PM EDT - #1 WC Tampa Bay @ #1 Florida [ECQF GAME 2]

[Sky04]

The reason is clear, it's #88, the guy you've been saying was washed since last year's the Toronto series and that the the rest of us were pretty much in denial on it, etc. Granted - he did play the worst hockey of his career in that Toronto series and continued to do so up through the last month of this season, but he looks like he's fully back to peak form right now.

Even with how well he played last night, FL still missed the net on multiple glorious scoring chances - I don't expect that to continue. We should be losing these games by multiple goals with the way our team defense has played. Last year it was Vasy letting the rest of the team down. Kuch, Point, and most of the rest of the team has let him down thus far.

Nobody said he was washed, they said he was sucking and needed to be better especially at his caphit, which he had to be. So thanks I guess I was right?

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Crozier and Lilleberg weren't great at all tonight but were still somehow nowhere close to our worst defensemen. Feel bad for Hedman having to put the entire unit on his back.

And before people start talking positively about what Sergachev may have done in this series, just remember that he would have rimmed it around the boards to no one right onto Tkachuk's stick to set up an easy 2v1 scoring chance.

Goals: Hagel, Stamkos, Point, Stamkos.

Someone else outside of our top scorers has to get the job done. Kucherov has been piss poor for the most part but you need Paul, Duclair, Cirelli, Eyssimont to get one.

Chaffee has been exposed for the most part as weak "depth" although he was better later in Game 2.

Crozier actually played decently for his first playoff game, I can't fault him too much. I've got love for Lilleberg but man he had a forgettable one, though. He had at least five times where he should have skated and made a pass and instead threw a puck up the wall to nobody, with the exception of OT where he just didn't make a play and gave the puck away. Honestly, that whole OT sequence is f***ing embarrassing, everyone was in the zone yet nobody actually played defense.

I'll say though there were like... 3 or 4 times though that Duclair seemed to think he was just playing hockey against his buddies and having a good time, until Ekblad absolutely pasted him next to the net. Maybe he'll get his head out of his ass and ramp up the effort. I love Motte as a third liner but if he can only play 6 minutes a night you might as well replace him with someone else. I love Cirelli at times but man if you gave me a dollar for each time he had a stride on someone, gained the zone, and then just turned into the boards and stopped while he gets double teamed, i'd have enough to buy another overpriced Sam Adams variety pack.

Also predictable that people will still find a way to shit on a guy who isn't even playing. If you think Sergachev wouldn't make a drastic improvement to this defense you're being foolish or just ill informed.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Crozier actually played decently for his first playoff game, I can't fault him too much. I've got love for Lilleberg but man he had a forgettable one, though. He had at least five times where he should have skated and made a pass and instead threw a puck up the wall to nobody, with the exception of OT where he just didn't make a play and gave the puck away. Honestly, that whole OT sequence is f***ing embarrassing, everyone was in the zone yet nobody actually played defense.

I'll say though there were like... 3 or 4 times though that Duclair seemed to think he was just playing hockey against his buddies and having a good time, until Ekblad absolutely pasted him next to the net. Maybe he'll get his head out of his ass and ramp up the effort. I love Motte as a third liner but if he can only play 6 minutes a night you might as well replace him with someone else. I love Cirelli at times but man if you gave me a dollar for each time he had a stride on someone, gained the zone, and then just turned into the boards and stopped while he gets double teamed, i'd have enough to buy another overpriced Sam Adams variety pack.

Also predictable that people will still find a way to shit on a guy who isn't even playing. If you think Sergachev wouldn't make a drastic improvement to this defense you're being foolish or just ill informed.

He would be better than De Haan and others yes, but his predisposition for passing the puck to no one, leading to an interception and puck in the back of our net was astonishingly bad to start this season. He's an offensive defenseman who if he isn't scoring a ton of points, is a net neutral or even net negative because his defensive zone play is nowhere near adequate for the amount of money he is making.

 

[OffBy1]

Disagree, Florida has outplayed us significantly in the 2 games so far and have somehow only barely come out with a win in both games.

Nobody said he was washed, they said he was sucking and needed to be better especially at his caphit, which he had to be. So thanks I guess I was right?

With the consistency of a metronome you've pointed out when we lose due to Vasy but when he keeps the team alive in the playoffs against a better opponent, you're mystified as what happened. Sure, pat yourself on the back.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

He would be better than De Haan and others yes, but his predisposition for passing the puck to no one, leading to an interception and puck in the back of our net was astonishingly bad to start this season. He's an offensive defenseman who if he isn't scoring a ton of points, is a net neutral or even net negative because his defensive zone play is nowhere near adequate for the amount of money he is making.

So you keep saying this, but i'm going to guess we haven't picked up on this happening to everyone on the blueline this season? Like this is a recurring theme, up the wall to nobody - mostly because the forwards we attempted to shoehorn into the bottom six have mostly played like ass. That "pass the puck to nobody" is supposed to be to a forward on the wall who flew the zone early. I've seen almost every defender on this team do it this season. I promise this isn't exclusive to Sergachev, no matter how badly we seem to need to hate him around here.

 

[Stammertime91]

Crozier actually played decently for his first playoff game, I can't fault him too much. I've got love for Lilleberg but man he had a forgettable one, though. He had at least five times where he should have skated and made a pass and instead threw a puck up the wall to nobody, with the exception of OT where he just didn't make a play and gave the puck away. Honestly, that whole OT sequence is f***ing embarrassing, everyone was in the zone yet nobody actually played defense.

I'll say though there were like... 3 or 4 times though that Duclair seemed to think he was just playing hockey against his buddies and having a good time, until Ekblad absolutely pasted him next to the net. Maybe he'll get his head out of his ass and ramp up the effort. I love Motte as a third liner but if he can only play 6 minutes a night you might as well replace him with someone else. I love Cirelli at times but man if you gave me a dollar for each time he had a stride on someone, gained the zone, and then just turned into the boards and stopped while he gets double teamed, i'd have enough to buy another overpriced Sam Adams variety pack.

Also predictable that people will still find a way to shit on a guy who isn't even playing. If you think Sergachev wouldn't make a drastic improvement to this defense you're being foolish or just ill informed.

I'm glad someone else noticed that about Duclair as well. He also hasn't turned it up at all with his effort. I know that was a critique when we got him that he's a bit lazy and waves the stick, but even on the forecheck it looks like he's planning the afterparty with Florida. Like wake the f*** up man.

Sergachev would be an improvement but tbh I'd rather just keep him out. God forbid he gets hurt or is rushed into this series and has a set back of any kind. Or gets hurt again in the middle of a physical series. We could use his two way game right now to alleviate some of the CDH/Dumba outlets that's for sure.

 

[Headman]

Again with the OT loss. How many is that in a row? Not sure of the stat...

Not closing in OT is why we came within two goals of becoming a dynasty and joining the club of three teams ever to win three consecutive Cups. Two OT goals vs. COL would have done the deal.

Here's hoping for a quick turnaround in this series and a trip to the Conference Semifinals!

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Again with the OT loss. How many is that in a row? Not sure of the stat...

Not closing in OT is why we came within two goals of becoming a dynasty and joining the club of three teams ever to win three consecutive Cups. Two OT goals vs. COL would have done the deal.

Here's hoping for a quick turnaround in this series and a trip to the Conference Semifinals!

They were a top 6 forward or two away from the 3 peat. That means healthy Point plus having someone like Robert Thomas or Kirill Kaprizov (could have drafted both) in the lineup.

Having additional top 6 forwards means those games don't go to OT most likely

 

[flying squirrel]

We played good enough to win last night, but our defense is not good enough to steal games we get outplayed. We invested in Jeannot total bust, Sheary total bust, DeHann hasn't been good, Dumba total bust, and Duclair who played well in season play but is a nonfactor right now. Imagine if we used the picks to acquire Dumba and Jeannot to acquire an actual top 4 defenseman and a bottom 6 guy that is good at blocking shots, playing physical, and isn't pure crap at defense.

Yeah, agree. Lightning played well enough and probably should've won, didn't take advantage of opportunities. Lightning surely could use some secondary scoring, Dmen scoring, and everyone else sinking their opportunities. Especially during 4:00 PP during 3rd period when 2-2. Plus Lightning got taste of own medicine and got Vasy'd. As unfortunate this was, one can only tip ones hat to that! Bob played well, but wish Lightning would've made him more uncomfortable with aggressive pressure. Hopefully Lightning can build off the positives, take advantage of opportunities, and get whole team contributing. Not going to freak out just yet, but it's get it done time for Lightning or go home.

<<< Below comes from all what I've read here after loses, not from quote taken >>>

Not going to talk of blowing team up, trading players, etc. either. Will wait until players/coaches are done battling for Lightning, themselves, and us fans in playoffs. But will say this now, BriseBois/Lightning have been dealt a tough hand. From having to deal with flattest cap any "Cup" winners have ever dealt with during cap era. GM is fair game right now, so.....

Dominant NHL teams, Cap growth from 1st "Cup" >> 2 yrs after last "Cup" won.

• Chicago 2010-2017 >> 75,000,000 - 56,000,000 = 21 mil growth to keep (7yrs).
• Pittsburgh 2009-2019 >> 79,000,000 - 56,000,00 = 23 mil growth to keep (10yrs).
• Lightning 2015-2024 >> 32,000,00 - 69,000,00 = 14 mil growth to keep (9yrs).

BriseBois/Lightning cap growth while trying to 3-peat.

• Lightning 2020-2023 >> 82,000,000 - 81,000,000 = 1 mil growth to keep (3yrs).
• Lightning 2019-2024 >> 83,000,000 - 79,000,000 = 4 mil growth to keep (5yrs).

Numbers above are rounded to million, and data is not 100% perfect, but very close to numbers. The above paints picture needed: we can see that during Lightning's most dominate run ever, they had to deal with scraps trying to keep it all together.

Lightning and GM's have dealt with smallest scraps any NHL powerhouse has ever dealt with during cap era. Especially at end of that awesome run! BriseBois has made some great production -vs- cost moves at beginning, and during 3-peat attempt. But some moves that weren't best cost -vs- production. But I doubt we're even this competitive without those moves made. Plus, I think trade cost GM paid for some players didn't help those players at all. I mean at all!!!! That was not smart by GM, but at same time... Wondering how many Lightning fans could've taken that.... "Cap-crap chicken sandwich" and turned into a decent "Cap chicken soup". It's never easy making chicken crap into chicken soup! GM/Lightning did OK considering Lightning didn't have much ingredients, or much left in cupboard to cook with. I'll leave rest for off-season talk after we have all of playoffs to consider. Trust me, not all is sunny times with GM.....

Go Lightning !!!!

 

[JTBF81]

They were a top 6 forward or two away from the 3 peat. That means healthy Point plus having someone like Robert Thomas or Kirill Kaprizov (could have drafted both) in the lineup.

Having additional top 6 forwards means those games don't go to OT most likely

Having a healthy Point and Cirelli(since he was basically playing with one arm done) plus having Killorn actually do...anything may have been enough to get it done.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Having a healthy Point and Cirelli(since he was basically playing with one arm done) plus having Killorn actually do...anything may have been enough to get it done.

And to think they probably got outpossessed 65/35 for the series and were still just a Colton backhand that went just over the crossbar and a Kucherov shot off the crossbar away from a 3-peat is pretty incredible. The way they dug in defensively after Point got hurt in Round 1 was classic dynastic Lightning. Wish the 2018 team had a semblance of the mental fortitude of the 2022 team, then we're looking at a relatively easy Cup win in 2018.

 

[Outl4w]

Yeah, agree. Lightning played well enough and probably should've won, didn't take advantage of opportunities. Lightning surely could use some secondary scoring, Dmen scoring, and everyone else sinking their opportunities. Especially during 4:00 PP during 3rd period when 2-2. Plus Lightning got taste of own medicine and got Vasy'd. As unfortunate this was, one can only tip ones hat to that! Bob played well, but wish Lightning would've made him more uncomfortable with aggressive pressure. Hopefully Lightning can build off the positives, take advantage of opportunities, and get whole team contributing. Not going to freak out just yet, but it's get it done time for Lightning or go home.

<<< Below comes from all what I've read here after loses, not from quote taken >>>

Not going to talk of blowing team up, trading players, etc. either. Will wait until players/coaches are done battling for Lightning, themselves, and us fans in playoffs. But will say this now, BriseBois/Lightning have been dealt a tough hand. From having to deal with flattest cap any "Cup" winners have ever dealt with during cap era. GM is fair game right now, so.....

Dominant NHL teams, Cap growth from 1st "Cup" >> 2 yrs after last "Cup" won.

• Chicago 2010-2017 >> 75,000,000 - 56,000,000 = 21 mil growth to keep (7yrs).
• Pittsburgh 2009-2019 >> 79,000,000 - 56,000,00 = 23 mil growth to keep (10yrs).
• Lightning 2015-2024 >> 32,000,00 - 69,000,00 = 14 mil growth to keep (9yrs).

BriseBois/Lightning cap growth while trying to 3-peat.

• Lightning 2020-2023 >> 82,000,000 - 81,000,000 = 1 mil growth to keep (3yrs).
• Lightning 2019-2024 >> 83,000,000 - 79,000,000 = 4 mil growth to keep (5yrs).

Numbers above are rounded to million, and data is not 100% perfect, but very close to numbers. The above paints picture needed: we can see that during Lightning's most dominate run ever, they had to deal with scraps trying to keep it all together.

Lightning and GM's have dealt with smallest scraps any NHL powerhouse has ever dealt with during cap era. Especially at end of that awesome run! BriseBois has made some great production -vs- cost moves at beginning, and during 3-peat attempt. But some moves that weren't best cost -vs- production. But I doubt we're even this competitive without those moves made. Plus, I think trade cost GM paid for some players didn't help those players at all. I mean at all!!!! That was not smart by GM, but at same time... Wondering how many Lightning fans could've taken that.... "Cap-crap chicken sandwich" and turned into a decent "Cap chicken soup". It's never easy making chicken crap into chicken soup! GM/Lightning did OK considering Lightning didn't have much ingredients, or much left in cupboard to cook with. I'll leave rest for off-season talk after we have all of playoffs to consider. Trust me, not all is sunny times with GM.....

Go Lightning !!!!

WE got chicken sh** in Jeannot, Sheary, and Dumba.