GDT: 6/1/21 - 7:30PM EDT - #3CD Tampa Bay @ #1CD Carolina [CDF GAME 2]

[bov]

Up until the last minute, they didn't really take it to us though. They had the puck, but we forced them to the perimeter. It felt like a John Tortorella win.

That said, Canes were legit dangerous in the last minute, and we did get a couple of bounces there. But overall, it looked like we were executing a gameplan -- be patient, keep them on the outside, and capitalize on mistakes.

Also, gotta give Carolina's defense a lot of credit. They got in front of a lot of our shots or forced them wide. It seemed like a pretty even game, but I feel like we executed slightly better.

I'm kind of with you on the Tortorella aspect but when you look at shots and chances, it's clear as day. Carolina had us on the back foot FAR more than we had them. Yes, we were solid defensively but they had plenty of grade A chances. With the vast majority of goalies in this league, we are 1-1 at best. Carolina has outplayed us clearly imo, I actually agree with Brind'Amour's comments for the most part. Championship teams find a way, which we have, and I am grateful that Columbus taught us that lesson. We have capitalized on a limited number of opportunities, but make no mistake, Carolina has carried the play.

 

[BoltsFanPinellasPark]

What was the final verdict on the canes goal? Offsides? If so, video? Thx!

 

[OurlordAndSaviorKuch]

Pretty sure it was offsides but Coop wasn't risking that penalty. So he let it go and trusted in his Goalie and defense as he should.

 

[BoltsFanPinellasPark]

Pretty sure it was offsides but Coop wasn't risking that penalty. So he let it go and trusted in his Goalie and defense as he should.

Ya, that makes sense, just wondering if someone had an up or down answer.

 

[DaBolts]

Pretty sure it was offsides but Coop wasn't risking that penalty. So he let it go and trusted in his Goalie and defense as he should.

Smart play because a 6 on 4 powerplay at that point in the game could have been a disaster.

 

[Sky04]

They're never wrong on an offside call so I doubt it was offside.

 

[DFC]

I'm kind of with you on the Tortorella aspect but when you look at shots and chances, it's clear as day. Carolina had us on the back foot FAR more than we had them. Yes, we were solid defensively but they had plenty of grade A chances. With the vast majority of goalies in this league, we are 1-1 at best. Carolina has outplayed us clearly imo, I actually agree with Brind'Amour's comments for the most part. Championship teams find a way, which we have, and I am grateful that Columbus taught us that lesson. We have capitalized on a limited number of opportunities, but make no mistake, Carolina has carried the play.

Chances were 11-9 in their favor, which is pretty much par for the course on a road game. The majority of their shots came from the outside and were harmless. We waited for them to make a mistake, and we're a better team at capitalizing on mistakes.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Am I the only one that couldn't stand that game last night? I thought it was completely awful for both teams. Other than the obvious positive that we won, that was one of the most boring/worst playoff games I remember watching two teams play.

Idk, the Lightning are my favorite team and nothing I enjoy more than watching them play, but it doesn't get more suck ass than that lol

I mean, I still hate the Devils for being the ones who sent this sport to the stone ages with their playing style for most of the years between 1995-2003 (I mean, they did have a few years in there where they actually were among the top goal scoring teams in the league, in the interest of total fairness I suppose), but they won three Cups during that time so I'm guessing their fans were more than ok being enemies if it meant winning several championships.

Kinda the way I'm looking at this too. I'll take a boring 2-1 win every single game if it gets us to four wins before four losses across four straight rounds.

 

[Sky04]

I mean, I still hate the Devils for being the ones who sent this sport to the stone ages with their playing style for most of the years between 1995-2003 (I mean, they did have a few years in there where they actually were among the top goal scoring teams in the league, in the interest of total fairness I suppose), but they won three Cups during that time so I'm guessing their fans were more than ok being enemies if it meant winning several championships.

Kinda the way I'm looking at this too. I'll take a boring 2-1 win every single game if it gets us to four wins before four losses across four straight rounds.

I agree, I'll take the W in any way shape or form in the playoffs. That was an awful game, pretty sloppy offense on both sides and did look like a a dull mid regular season game outside of the last 5mins but not every playoff game is a nail biter.

 

[bov]

Chances were 11-9 in their favor, which is pretty much par for the course on a road game. The majority of their shots came from the outside and were harmless. We waited for them to make a mistake, and we're a better team at capitalizing on mistakes.

Not wholly disagreeing but again, with virtually any other goalie in the league, we're not up 2-0. Not a chance in hell, and the mood here would be far different. Getting outshot 2-1 is being outplayed no matter how people try to spin it. Even looking at the goals so far, we're not doing anything special or "earning" much of anything. Goodrow's should have never gone in and Killorn just throws it on net blindly from the blueline. Plus the PP goal in game 1. We are incredibly fortunate so far, and this is not sustainable against a team of Carolina's calibre.

I like our game with the lead in terms of locking things down, but we will need to be better to close things out. I expect offense to show a bit more on both sides in Tampa, think we're due for a higher scoring game. Really curious to see how game 3 plays out.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Not wholly disagreeing but again, with virtually any other goalie in the league, we're not up 2-0. Not a chance in hell, and the mood here would be far different. Getting outshot 2-1 is being outplayed no matter how people try to spin it. Even looking at the goals so far, we're not doing anything special or "earning" much of anything. Goodrow's should have never gone in and Killorn just throws it on net blindly from the blueline. Plus the PP goal in game 1. We are incredibly fortunate so far, and this is not sustainable against a team of Carolina's calibre.

I like our game with the lead in terms of locking things down, but we will need to be better to close things out. I expect offense to show a bit more on both sides in Tampa, think we're due for a higher scoring game. Really curious to see how game 3 plays out.

Just going to preface by saying that, on the whole, I don't entirely disagree with you. Being up 2-0 with two road wins that both came in one-goal games is a fortunate outcome when you're playing a team as good as Carolina. That's a fact. Hopefully that's something this team can take advantage of with the next two games coming up. Gotta find a way to win at least one of these home games.

That being said, there's nothing wrong with leaning a bit on your goaltender when:

a) You're generally conceding low-danger shooting opportunities

b) You're playing on the road in the Stanley Cup playoffs against one of the NHL's best teams

c) Your goaltender is Andrei Vasilevskiy

As has been pointed out, the "scoring chances" - a term I've always found slightly nebulous but I'll go with it here - was much more even than the overall shot totals indicate. If you're saying chances overall would slightly favor Carolina but that it's otherwise very close, you're basically turning it into a game of which goaltender do you trust more to shut the door. Against most goaltenders on a given night, Andrei Vasilevskiy is going to win that battle. It's why he makes $9.5M. Not to say Nedeljkovic has been poor at all - rough goal in Game 1 aside - but obviously we have more reason to feel comfortable in net overall between the two teams.

That said, Vasi is something like 72/74 on saves in this series, and he had a shutout in Game 6 vs. Florida as well, which was about another 25 shots. He's rocking ~.980 S% these last three games. That will eventually start to go down, so we definitely do need to find a way to get the forwards going just a little bit more soon. Both in this series and, hopefully, in future series. The good news is that they probably will, but we will need it soon enough. I know what I wrote a few minutes ago, but you can't expect to hold Carolina to 0-1 goals every game. And, for sure, can't afford to give Carolina an early goal in Game 3, either. Don't want to give them early confidence and a lead to work with for the first time in the series.

 

[bov]

Just going to preface by saying that, on the whole, I don't entirely disagree with you. Being up 2-0 with two road wins that both came in one-goal games is a fortunate outcome when you're playing a team as good as Carolina. That's a fact. Hopefully that's something this team can take advantage of with the next two games coming up. Gotta find a way to win at least one of these home games.

That being said, there's nothing wrong with leaning a bit on your goaltender when:

a) You're generally conceding low-danger shooting opportunities

b) You're playing on the road in the Stanley Cup playoffs against one of the NHL's best teams

c) Your goaltender is Andrei Vasilevskiy

As has been pointed out, the "scoring chances" - a term I've always found slightly nebulous but I'll go with it here - was much more even than the overall shot totals indicate. If you're saying chances overall would slightly favor Carolina but that it's otherwise very close, you're basically turning it into a game of which goaltender do you trust more to shut the door. Against most goaltenders on a given night, Andrei Vasilevskiy is going to win that battle. It's why he makes $9.5M. Not to say Nedeljkovic has been poor at all - rough goal in Game 1 aside - but obviously we have more reason to feel comfortable in net overall between the two teams.

That said, Vasi is something like 72/74 on saves in this series, and he had a shutout in Game 6 vs. Florida as well, which was about another 25 shots. He's rocking ~.980 S% these last three games. That will eventually start to go down, so we definitely do need to find a way to get the forwards going just a little bit more soon. Both in this series and, hopefully, in future series. The good news is that they probably will, but we will need it soon enough. I know what I wrote a few minutes ago, but you can't expect to hold Carolina to 0-1 goals every game. And, for sure, can't afford to give Carolina an early goal in Game 3, either. Don't want to give them early confidence and a lead to work with for the first time in the series.

Don't get me wrong, I'll take those road efforts and love the way TB is sticking with their defensive structure and limiting high danger chances. I'm just a bit surprised by all the comments acting like Carolina isn't doing their part. I don't even like the Canes, but listening to the NBC feed and most of this forum, you'd think they were doing something wrong when in reality, they have played well enough to win (to say the very least) in both games and it is largely due to the difference in goaltending. Leaning on Vasy tends to work out, but being on your heels and "weathering the storm" is a difficult line to walk.

Regardless, I think game 3 could have a bit more going on not only in terms of offense, but rough stuff as well. My main criticism of Carolina is that they're soft, but I think they'd be wise to ruffle some feathers and try to get TB away from their game a little bit.