GDT: 5/3/16 - 7:00PM EDT - #2 Tampa Bay @ #4 New York [ECSF GAME 3]

[CupsOverCash]

When we played smart tonight we dominated. When we played careless, we paid for it. Bishop made some key saves to keep it close. We miss Stralman and I think Brown is a guy we miss a lot too. Drouin is my hero!

 

[The Gongshow]

Sustr didn't look good tonight, man I miss Stralman so much

 

[Volodya Krutov]

I knew he was ******* good but Stralman might be a top 3 player on our team. Defensively we're not the same without him.

 

[dbieon12]

I knew he was ******* good but Stralman might be a top 3 player on our team. Defensively we're not the same without him.

Sturdy defenseman. Reliable against opposing top lines. Excellent exit passer.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Who is that? does he play for the Bolts?

Only played 02:43. 4 shifts. All in the first period.

Another interesting one:

Nesterov - 08:45
Koekkoek - 11:35

 

[Stormbreaker]

Only played 02:43. 4 shifts. All in the first period.

I don't think we'll be seeing him again, made me miss Carle no it didn't

 

[Stammertime91]

Who is that? does he play for the Bolts?

Yes, he plays bad. Lol.

Sustr and Coburn need to be better in game 4. When you look at their goals though, first one Nesterov goes for a walk, he simply cannot do this. Can't remember 2 and 3 cause there were so many but Paquette putting Garrison in a pinch hurt for that 4th. If we limit our mistakes defensively, we win this game easily. We make it so hard on ourselves with weak plays on the boards, not moving it out quick enough and terrible coverage down low. HAVE to be tighter defensively in game 4, they're going to play very desperate. They don't want to let it slip 3-1 heading to Tampa.

Ben was good when needed, can't blame him.

 

[The Gongshow]

I don't think we'll be seeing him again, made me miss Carle no it didn't

I sure don't. Keep Carle off the ice

edit: got me with the white text, well done

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[VinikToWinIt]

Awwwww, Coop.

 

[DFC]

I still credit Bishop with a big save in the 3rd. Down 4-3 with 8:15 left, he snags a wide open shot with his glove.

Bish deserves a lot of credit for this one in general. The fact that we came out of the 1st tied 1-1 is pretty insane on its own.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I used to watch Subban bombs in Montreal games with envy. I guess I don't need to anymore.

 

[Flat Ronnie]

We may sneak past NYI but we get destroyed by PIT/WAS playing like this.

We are winning games against two not so great teams. I know some don't think we need Stammer (and obviously Stralman) but I completely dissagree. We've been scoring goals but our offense has looked helpless oftentimes. Thank god for Drouin is all Ill say.

Our defense has been a complete train wreck in the playoffs so Stralman can't get back soon enough.

Right now we're looking a lot like the Golden State Warriors - winning games without Curry against average teams, but the Spurs are waiting in the wings and if Curry isn't back they get crushed.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

We may sneak past NYI but we get destroyed by PIT/WAS playing like this.

We are winning games against two not so great teams. I know some don't think we need Stammer (and obviously Stralman) but I completely dissagree. We've been scoring goals but our offense has looked helpless oftentimes. Thank god for Drouin is all Ill say.

Our defense has been a complete train wreck in the playoffs so Stralman can't get back soon enough.

Right now we're looking a lot like the Golden State Warriors - winning games without Curry against average teams, but the Spurs are waiting in the wings and if Curry isn't back they get crushed.

I think our offense will be ok, but we certainly need Stralman to be in top shape before that series if it comes.

 

[Hoek]

LOL what a cowardly flop by Hickey. I'm glad the Isles lost BECAUSE of that, not the hit. What a dope Capuano is for crying about it.

 

[Stammertime91]

If Stralman is out for game 4 and we win, leave him out til next round unless Isles force a game 6. We need him ready. That should give Brown time to come back and Stamkos should be nearing a return. It's only 3 games in but I'm looking wrong so far, the caps may still be chokers. They've run into a hot Matt Murray and cannot win. I hope if by chance we make it to the ECF, that the team is Pittsburgh because we've beaten them before but that will take an effort of epic proportion to win that to be honest. With the current team, we need to be better, and possible additions will need to be sharp from the get go.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

We may sneak past NYI but we get destroyed by PIT/WAS playing like this.

We are winning games against two not so great teams. I know some don't think we need Stammer (and obviously Stralman) but I completely dissagree. We've been scoring goals but our offense has looked helpless oftentimes. Thank god for Drouin is all Ill say.

Our defense has been a complete train wreck in the playoffs so Stralman can't get back soon enough.

Right now we're looking a lot like the Golden State Warriors - winning games without Curry against average teams, but the Spurs are waiting in the wings and if Curry isn't back they get crushed.

If you excuse me I read an handful of your previous posts and I can't clearly say I'm fan of your tone Sir. This place is enough of a ****hole when we're losing one game, no need to add drama to the ballet if you ask me. Let's enjoy this great victory for tonight. They're dropping like flies on the pitt-wash series and with everyone healthy we can go toe to toe with any team. Tomorrow is another day.

 

[Boltswin]

LOL what a cowardly flop by Hickey. I'm glad the Isles lost BECAUSE of that, not the hit. What a dope Capuano is for crying about it.

This is what I came in here looking for. It looked like some serious embellishment to me. It may be the camera angle, but it doesn't look like Boyle made much contact with the head (if any), his elbow looked like it stayed down, and Hickey was trying to sell it.

 

[Flat Ronnie]

If you excuse me I read an handful of your previous posts and I can't clearly say I'm fan of your tone Sir. This place is enough of a ****hole when we're losing one game, no need to add drama to the ballet if you ask me. Let's enjoy this great victory for tonight. They're dropping like flies on the pitt-wash series and with everyone healthy we can go toe to toe with any team. Tomorrow is another day.

Well sir, what exactly was I wrong about? You couldn't possibly have watched this team last year and say we are playing well. Our defense has been atrocious at times and I have no idea how we're scoring when TKO isn't playing lights out. This is by no means a good Lightning team we are watching right now. We've seen this team be exponentially better over the past 2 years.

And also, DET and NYI are probably 2 of the 4 worst teams in the playoffs this year and we are lucky enough to have gotten both of them.

I'm super happy that we won but not happy about how we're playing against average teams.

We can beat PIT/WAS but it's gonna take a great effort by a full squad.

 

[DFC]

We may sneak past NYI but we get destroyed by PIT/WAS playing like this.

We are winning games against two not so great teams. I know some don't think we need Stammer (and obviously Stralman) but I completely dissagree. We've been scoring goals but our offense has looked helpless oftentimes. Thank god for Drouin is all Ill say.

Our defense has been a complete train wreck in the playoffs so Stralman can't get back soon enough.

Right now we're looking a lot like the Golden State Warriors - winning games without Curry against average teams, but the Spurs are waiting in the wings and if Curry isn't back they get crushed.

Stamkos is pretty much a complementary player on this team. Would we like to have him? Sure. Do we NEED him? The evidence is stacking up against it. It's not like our offense didn't look helpless at times with him in the lineup too. Hell, our PP has been better without him.

Johnson and Kucherov are both, at this point, more proven playoff contributors. They've each outscored Stamkos while playing fewer games. Not to mention the timing of that scoring. If we're talking about desperately needing Stamkos so he can play 2C... well, it's probably better to look at cheaper options.

 

[Iceman]

Nice to see other forwards chipping in tonight as well.

Also, when are we giving Stamkos' money to Hedman?

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Well sir, what exactly was I wrong about? You couldn't possibly have watched this team last year and say we are playing well. Our defense has been atrocious at times and I have no idea how we're scoring when TKO isn't playing lights out. This is by no means a good Lightning team we are watching right now. We've seen this team be exponentially better over the past 2 years.

And also, DET and NYI are probably 2 of the 4 worst teams in the playoffs this year and we are lucky enough to have gotten both of them.

I'm super happy that we won but not happy about how we're playing against average teams.

We can beat PIT/WAS but it's gonna take a great effort by a full squad.

Look on the bright side and you could also see many things to be optimistic about. Stralman will settle the defense down, we scored 11 goals on a Greiss that looked like a wall against a very good Florida team. Tonight depth gave us the win. Come on mate let's have a bit of fun for once here.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Does anyone have the full post game presser from Coop?

 

[DFC]

Look on the bright side and you could also see many things to be optimistic about. Stralman will settle the defense down, we scored 11 goals on a Greiss that looked like a wall against a very good Florida team. Tonight depth gave us the win. Come on mate let's have a bit of fun for once here.

Agreed. It's also important to note how rosey we're seeing last year in hindsight when, if you look at the threads, it's not like we were overly optimistic during that run either. There was a LOOOOOOOT of gloom and doom on these boards during that cup run. We have to stop pretending this year's team is so much worse. We had a lackluster regular season, sure. We failed to meet expectations. Worse, we were a pretty boring team to watch. But a switched flipped on in the playoffs, and we now look pretty damn strong, and we're playing the exact brand of hockey we played last year. Again: Things weren't as rosey as people seem to remember it.

Maybe we won't make it past the Pens/Caps. Or maybe we won't make it past the Isles. But let's not pretend this is a bad team. And, I'm with you--let's enjoy it. Especially now that we're back to being a fun team to watch.

 

[DFC]

Nice to see other forwards chipping in tonight as well.

Also, when are we giving Stamkos' money to Hedman?

There are at least four guys I don't want to risk losing for the sake of keeping Stamkos: Johnson, Kucherov, Hedman, and Bishop. Every one of them has proven more than Stamkos in the playoffs. Being within spitting distance of a point-per-game when you've played 30+ playoff games is no joke.