GDT: 5/24/16 - 8:00PM EDT - #2 Pittsburgh VS #2 Tampa Bay [ECF GAME 6]

[Brie]

And we lost the game right about there, no Coop, you can't put your whole focus onplaying 'd' when you play like this, if you're going to let up 30+ SOG per game and let in at least 3 then you need to put more focus on playing offense and socing goals.

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

Not play Matt "the anchor" Carle.

 

[Antiramie]

I gotta know what Cooper's game plan was. There was an obvious shift in strategy in the third considering the abysmal 11 shots from the first two periods were more than doubled.

It's simple. His "normal" mode was ****, so he went to "desperation" mode, which is every other coach's normal mode (i.e. tell your guys to skate and shoot the puck).

 

[DFC]

I didn't like Coop starting our bottom six so much in the offensive zone, but I give him a lot of credit for finding ways to get our scorers on the ice in the 3rd. Our lines were downright unpredictable, and we seem to do better that way. He wasn't capable of something like that last year.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Not play Anton "the anchor" Stralman.

Fixed

 

[Antiramie]

And we lost the game right about there, no Coop, you can't put your whole focus onplaying 'd' when you play like this, if you're going to let up 30+ SOG per game and let in at least 3 then you need to put more focus on playing offense and socing goals.

It was embarassing how quickly our D-men were peeling back off the blue line in the first two periods. Maybe it's cause we still had Carle back there instead of KK then or maybe it's because Cooper coaches scared.

 

[Antiramie]

Hedman -4...ouch.

 

[wxkid23]

Choke job. Gotta have a repeat of MSG last year or we are done

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Well uhhh, how good was Koekkoek?

Very good. We need to give him more ice time. Game 5 and 6, Coop and Bowness have started him out slow in the 1st and 2nd periods and then amped up his minutes in the 3rds when we needed goals for both attempted comebacks. Time to let the kid off the chain and give him more minutes/responsibilities. We can't be afraid that he can't handle it, because he's shown he can. He's super smart, he's making good decisions, he's challenging plays instead of shying away from them, and he's able to process the game at a very high level. We. Need. Him. He's not just a warm body, he's making a positive difference out there.

 

[Stammertime91]

Coburn. Wtf? He has to be hurt.

The giraffe was the best dman in the d zone tonight. Not even joking.

Yeah I agree.

Fixed

Unfortunately one has to play. I thought KK played his way onto the team this postseason. What a game by #29 tonight. He's a major improvement on that bottom pairing, instantly ahead of Nesterov, Carle and at times Coburn. Seems like Stralman has been to blame for about half the goals in this series and that's no joke.

We can win this on Thursday but it's not gonna be easy and we need game 5 Isles + last year's team to show up if we wanna advance. If we dont, it's gonna suck big time for Vasy. His confidence and future can really be grounded if he pulls through for this series but if not, much like this entire year, it can be a stagnant one for him. I don't know what's up with Filppula, Kucherov (let's get real, he's been a non factor minus 5 minutes in game 5, Coburn, Hedman (bad game every other game), and Palat. Palat is snake bitten and just not generating chances. Flip is a faceoff wizard Teddy Purcell. Kuch skates around all game looking for a money shot, very little hustle. Coburn has been ****. I was all for the resigning of him but at 3.7, he's looking like a gamble. Hedman has been off, making poor decisions.

Good thing is we have a tendency to steal games from teams even when playing for 5-10 minutes. Bad thing is, I don't think we can get away with that against the Pens in their rink come thursday.

 

[dbieon12]

Yeah I agree.


Unfortunately one has to play. I thought KK played his way onto the team this postseason. What a game by #29 tonight. He's a major improvement on that bottom pairing, instantly ahead of Nesterov, Carle and at times Coburn. Seems like Stralman has been to blame for about half the goals in this series and that's no joke.

We can win this on Thursday but it's not gonna be easy and we need game 5 Isles + last year's team to show up if we wanna advance. If we dont, it's gonna suck big time for Vasy. His confidence and future can really be grounded if he pulls through for this series but if not, much like this entire year, it can be a stagnant one for him. I don't know what's up with Filppula, Kucherov (let's get real, he's been a non factor minus 5 minutes in game 5, Coburn, Hedman (bad game every other game), and Palat. Palat is snake bitten and just not generating chances. Flip is a faceoff wizard Teddy Purcell. Kuch skates around all game looking for a money shot, very little hustle. Coburn has been ****. I was all for the resigning of him but at 3.7, he's looking like a gamble. Hedman has been off, making poor decisions.

Good thing is we have a tendency to steal games from teams even when playing for 5-10 minutes. Bad thing is, I don't think we can get away with that against the Pens in their rink come thursday.

Not defending him but Stralman is probably not 100% and he has not adapted to playoff hockey and he is still not anticipating the Pens' speed or passes. Physically maybe 85% but mentally like 30%.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Matt Carle needs to be scratched next game. And last game. And the game before that.

Koekkoek is better than Carle and needs to play instead of him but what did Carle do so wrong this game? The one goal he was on for was far from his fault, we just turned it over and they were on a 3 on 2 so he took his man who was driving the net and tied him up, maybe he screened Vasilevskiy but if he leaves him alone and Hornquist deflects the puck or bangs in a rebound everyone is on his ass. Stralman was in the box for the 1st goal and got walked on the 3rd, not sure why he should play next game or Coburn who has been terrible this round.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

And we lost the game right about there, no Coop, you can't put your whole focus onplaying 'd' when you play like this, if you're going to let up 30+ SOG per game and let in at least 3 then you need to put more focus on playing offense and socing goals.

We have to be better though. A lot of the goals this series have come off of our mistakes and continuing to leave Vasy out to dry and putting the game on his shoulders. That said, the best defense is a good offense.

 

[Legionnaire11]

This entire response doesn't address the most important part of my post. Bishop is injured. People expecting him to come back and be the hero with a ****ing sprained leg or whatever are kidding themselves.

This right here. I would never in a million years want to see a switch in goal right now, Bishop won't be 100% and Vasy hasn't been the problem. If Bishop was good enough to start and win game 7, he would have probably already been back.

 

[dbieon12]

Unfortunately, I think Murray (@home with his team) will outplay Vasilevskiy (on the road) in the massive pressure game 7.

If there's one goalie who I think can come back after missing games 2 through 6 and play well in game 7, it's Brodeur... but Bishop could, too.

 

[DFC]

Koekkoek is better than Carle and needs to play instead of him but what did Carle do so wrong this game? The one goal he was on for was far from his fault, we just turned it over and they were on a 3 on 2 so he took his man who was driving the net and tied him up, maybe he screened Vasilevskiy but if he leaves him alone and Hornquist deflects the puck or bangs in a rebound everyone is on his ass. Stralman was in the box for the 1st goal and got walked on the 3rd, not sure why he should play next game or Coburn who has been terrible this round.

What did Carle do right?

 

[Stammertime91]

Not defending him but Stralman is probably not 100% and he has not adapted to playoff hockey and he is still not anticipating the Pens' speed or passes. Physically maybe 85% but mentally like 30%.

Yeah no doubt. I would've rather him not played at all to be honest. KK has been more than capable and Sustr has done well. Oh well, too late to erase all those goals that Stralman has let by him.

This right here. I would never in a million years want to see a switch in goal right now, Bishop won't be 100% and Vasy hasn't been the problem. If Bishop was good enough to start and win game 7, he would have probably already been back.

I dont think people genuinely expect him to play seeing as he isn't ready, it was more of a jeer at how we play with each of them in net. I'd rather take bishop on one leg cause for some reason they like him more than vasy. I straight up can't recall a game this year where they played a full 60 minutes and didn't leave him out to dry all game. Game 1 was about the closest and even then, Vasy was incredible to keep us in it.

 

[Boltswin]

We led, they tied, they led, we tied, we led, they tied...

Not liking that pattern going in to game 7.

 

[Stammertime91]

What did Carle do right?

 

[Stammertime91]

We led, they tied, they led, we tied, we led, they tied...

Not liking that pattern going in to game 7.

When in doubt,

46-0-1. Anything can happen.

 

[dbieon12]

When in doubt,

46-0-1. Anything can happen.

Shouldn't it be 47-1-0?

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

This right here. I would never in a million years want to see a switch in goal right now, Bishop won't be 100% and Vasy hasn't been the problem. If Bishop was good enough to start and win game 7, he would have probably already been back.

Yeah probably. If he himself is saying he's not ready yet, then it's probably even worse than last year when he played on 1 leg vs Chicago. And that was questionable. He did a pretty good job, but he fought it hard and struggled through those games. Sometimes it was painful just watching him. Idk. It's hard to say without seeing him actually move around. It totally sucks, but it is what it is.

 

[Stammertime91]

Shouldn't it be 47-1-0?

Otl. But yes now it's 47-0-1.

 

[Boltswin]

That disallowed goal stings a lot more now than it did in the 1st.

To me it seemed like it actually bothered the team this time. They have been a lot better about not letting these things change the way they play, but I thought we got worse after that happened.

 

[dbieon12]

To me it seemed like it actually bothered the team this time. They have been a lot better about not letting these things change the way they play, but I thought we got worse after that happened.

The question is philosophical.

Does the 2 inches that Drouin is considered offsides by affect the outcome of the play more than the 2 minutes that the game is delayed affects the outcome of the game?

In most cases, I'd say the latter has more effect.