GDT: 9/26/20 - 8:00PM EDT - Dallas vs Tampa Bay [SCF Game 5]

[DMB06]

I’m so grumpy today.

this whole sequence is still hard to digest

This is the kind of thing that leads to an inferior team winning a series. If they call the 4 minute PP for the Kuch high stick it's almost guaranteed we would have gone on to win. Our PP has been hot and it's more likely than not, with 4 minutes especially, we score a goal to go up 3-1.

Game over. Series over.

Game 4 they call Point for diving which negates our PP, Serge is called for a penalty to start OT and just like that Dallas has an unearned 4 on 3. Teams will score on that much more often than they won't, Dallas was THAT close to a 3-2 series lead with both "wins" a direct result of unimaginably bad calls in their favor.

It's really getting old. We should have scored in the first OT when we dominated from start to finish, sure, but the reality is the sequence posted here is why we were in OT to begin with.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Also just going to throw this out there:

At even strength, Dallas has outscored us 13-10. We're at where we're at thanks to the power play success we had in Games 2-4. So whether you want to point the finger at Vasi not making enough saves or at the skaters not scoring enough goals, fact is that, as much as we might want to bitch about penalties, or the lack thereof, or whatever, we're not getting the job done at even strength. We say we're the better team 5v5, but the results aren't showing that. And if the last game is any indication, where we only got one power play and that was in the first period, then it's going to have to be at even strength where the fourth win is attained. And scoring 10 goals in, I dunno, probably about 320 minutes or so in this series at even strength (395 overall minutes minus the PP/PK times...I'm using a very rough approximation) isn't good enough. We can't talk about being the better even strength team and be outscored throughout the series at even strength. It doesn't work that way.

I mean it still meant we were 3-1 and that history still in tact.

And my point is that, besides the fact that previous 3-1 leads have no bearing on what will happen on this one, it doesn't matter at all anymore that we haven't lost a series from 3-1 up before, because we're not 3-1 up anymore. Game 5 is over, it's done with. It's completely irrelevant. And besides the fact that 3-1 comebacks happen in the NHL all the time, we know we've seen this core blow 3-2 leads before on more than one occasion. Doesn't mean it'll happen here nor does it mean I'm predicting that. But the only historical precedents that matter now are how we've done when 3-2 up in a series. And that history is spotty, to put it gently.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Verheaghe has the same amount of points as Paquette in 1/3 the games. He's also had a goal called back. He hasn't been anything special but hasn't been that bad either considering he's being asked to play a dump and chase game which doesn't suit him. If Paquette didn't PK or take draws he would have no use and he's 5th choice on the PK right now so not sure why we are even playing him?

Rutta has been fine since he came into the lineup, we are 3-1 with him in. The Perry goal last night wasn't his fault, Hedman didn't play the body or lift the stick of Perry on that play he just got outmuscled in front. Bogosian would be fine as well as I think the defense has been good this series. Vasilevskiy hasn't been at his best and let in some goals he should be getting.

The player who needs to step up is Kucherov. Sure has leads the league in points and set assists records. But the dude has 1 goal in his last 9 games. He has the same amount of goals these playoffs as Gourde. He has 0 PP goals. He had several grade A chances last night he didn't finish. He needs to put the puck in the net.

 

[Fabiobest]

I'm still pretty confident. Last night just feels more annoying then anything. This team can never do things the easy way.

I have a feeling the team is gonna be pretty pissed at themselves for not ending it. I expect big games from everyone tomorrow.

It's the only thing we need.
But I'm doubtful about that...

 

[TheFurryPickle]

Rutta has been fine since he came into the lineup, we are 3-1 with him in. The Perry goal last night wasn't his fault, Hedman didn't play the body or lift the stick of Perry on that play he just got outmuscled in front. Bogosian would be fine as well as I think the defense has been good this series. Vasilevskiy hasn't been at his best and let in some goals he should be getting.
.

I was just about to post the same thing... but alas whats the point here. So ill do it anyway since I did all the screen caps and whatnot.



See here, Victor had a chance to stick lift – but choose not to do that, instead he lifted his stick up and OVER all sticks to try and get the puck.

Right before the drive to the net we see Victor in the middle.. what was he thinking here ??? let Rutta defend two players ??? You know where the puck went right ??

That’s right, to Victors player – look how he just looks back and there is another Dallas player standing there.. again – what is Rutta supposed to do here ??

Now as you can see Rutta stick is being held so he can only put out his foot to stop the puck – and he did, he stopped the first shot on goal – Vassey could have moved back to the crease when it didnt go to goal at first. Hedman just needs to stick lift here...

Geee I better stick lift this guy, my stick is right there, under his - But Hedman did not do that. Note below Ruttas stick is being held under the right arm of the dallas player.

I will lift my stick over his and try and grab the puck says Hedman

Another shot of the same angle right before Perry shoots - Hedman is the blue stick if you are following along at home.

Now the gifs

See how Perry is making a shot and Rutta is like – shit ok better stop this – and did giving enough time for Hedman to get back and help out.



So what does Hedman do to help - Lifts his stick over Perrys stick and allows him the second shot with a full out stretched Jan You could even question why Rutta wasnt facing the puck - bit hard when your stick is being held under the arm of the other player and you cant spin around and use it.





I dont mind when players are shit and get blasted for it.. but felt it was a bit unneeded.

Everyone has a whipping boy it seems.. bit weird if you ask me.

Its game 5 ffs, we never do well on the b2b second game and always cough up early goals. Vassey is worrying me a touch, its like he is super nervous now.

Anyway enough about this crap, lets go win it on Monday. Id personally rather Coburn in the team than Shattenkirk at this rate.

 

[PaulD]

All we need a a serious second line, that is decent to score goals.
All we need is that our defense pays attention after taking the lead.
All we need is win game 6. We have to play on Monday like there's not tomorrow. But for real this time.
But I don't know why...I suppose Dallas will score first in game 6...

every team in the league would like a better second line............ salary cap forces teams to settle.

Tbays needs powerplays to win against Dallas.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

every team in the league would like a better second line............ salary cap forces teams to settle.

Tbays needs powerplays to win against Dallas.

You expect more than six goals in the last 16 games (and one goal total in this series) from your second line when you're the highest scoring team in the league. That's not too much to ask for. Those guys combined to score 56 goals during the regular season in, what, 69-70 games or whatever? Don't make excuses for them; in the offensive end, they haven't been good enough, end of discussion.

You can't expect your top line to score all your goals for you. That's not a sustainable way to win this time of year, yet that's what we're trying to get away with. And maybe we will, but we'll be damned fortunate if that's how it plays out in the end.

 

[PaulD]

You expect more than six goals in the last 16 games (and one goal total in this series) from your second line when you're the highest scoring team in the league. That's not too much to ask for. Those guys combined to score 56 goals during the regular season in, what, 69-70 games or whatever? Don't make excuses for them; in the offensive end, they haven't been good enough, end of discussion.

You can't expect your top line to score all your goals for you. That's not a sustainable way to win this time of year, yet that's what we're trying to get away with. And maybe we will, but we'll be damned fortunate if that's how it plays out in the end.

Expect ? Every fan in the league can says that come play off time. It tougher hockey.

Dallas could says the same thing. You see Benn lighting it up. Rads score yet? Seguin just showed up.......and thats their FIRST line.

Tampa bay wins series with their lethal powerplay.

What they dont want or "expect" is the refs to put the whistles away.

 

[PaulD]

I was just about to post the same thing... but alas whats the point here. So ill do it anyway since I did all the screen caps and whatnot.



See here, Victor had a chance to stick lift – but choose not to do that, instead he lifted his stick up and OVER all sticks to try and get the puck.

Right before the drive to the net we see Victor in the middle.. what was he thinking here ??? let Rutta defend two players ??? You know where the puck went right ??

That’s right, to Victors player – look how he just looks back and there is another Dallas player standing there.. again – what is Rutta supposed to do here ??

Now as you can see Rutta stick is being held so he can only put out his foot to stop the puck – and he did, he stopped the first shot on goal – Vassey could have moved back to the crease when it didnt go to goal at first. Hedman just needs to stick lift here...

Geee I better stick lift this guy, my stick is right there, under his - But Hedman did not do that. Note below Ruttas stick is being held under the right arm of the dallas player.

I will lift my stick over his and try and grab the puck says Hedman

Another shot of the same angle right before Perry shoots - Hedman is the blue stick if you are following along at home.

Now the gifs

See how Perry is making a shot and Rutta is like – shit ok better stop this – and did giving enough time for Hedman to get back and help out.



So what does Hedman do to help - Lifts his stick over Perrys stick and allows him the second shot with a full out stretched Jan You could even question why Rutta wasnt facing the puck - bit hard when your stick is being held under the arm of the other player and you cant spin around and use it.





I dont mind when players are shit and get blasted for it.. but felt it was a bit unneeded.

Everyone has a whipping boy it seems.. bit weird if you ask me.

Its game 5 ffs, we never do well on the b2b second game and always cough up early goals. Vassey is worrying me a touch, its like he is super nervous now.

Anyway enough about this crap, lets go win it on Monday. Id personally rather Coburn in the team than Shattenkirk at this rate.

I want a game 7. So I would rather have Shattenkirk in game 6 than Coburn

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Expect ? Every fan in the league can says that come play off time. It tougher hockey.

Dallas could says the same thing. You see Benn lighting it up. Rads score yet? Seguin just showed up.......and thats their FIRST line.

Tampa bay wins series with their lethal powerplay.

What they dont want or "expect" is the refs to put the whistles away.

Dallas had a significantly less potent offense than we had this season. 239 goals in 70 games (3.41 per game) vs. 169 goals in 69 games (2.45). The three players you just named? 51 goals scored between them. So during the regular season, Killorn/Cirelli/Johnson actually scored more goals than the Benn/Seguin/Radulov trio. Imagine that, huh? Difference is, only Seguin has struggled out of those guys during this postseason. Benn is 8+11. Radulov us 8+10 (though, to be fair, I don't know how many of those came during the round robin games, which I generally exclude when talking about the postseason-proper). Either way, we were the higher scoring team, so I would expect the scoring depth to show up at a rate better than averaging less than one goal every two games in the last three rounds. That's not "sub-optimal"; it's flat-out pathetic.

 

[Fabiobest]

You expect more than six goals in the last 16 games (and one goal total in this series) from your second line when you're the highest scoring team in the league. That's not too much to ask for. Those guys combined to score 56 goals during the regular season in, what, 69-70 games or whatever? Don't make excuses for them; in the offensive end, they haven't been good enough, end of discussion.

You can't expect your top line to score all your goals for you. That's not a sustainable way to win this time of year, yet that's what we're trying to get away with. And maybe we will, but we'll be damned fortunate if that's how it plays out in the end.

This.
I expect more from 2 veteran players...I expect more from 2 5+M dollars players...

 

[God King Fudge]

Perry is absolute garbage but holy shit I would kill for a depth player on our team to be able to score goals.

TJ is beyond useless, you’re not gonna get any contributions from the 4th line.

It was scary to see any line besides the top line and Gourde line out there in OT.

If Tampa doesn’t close this out tomorrow they’re done. If they go from a 3-1 lead, 6 minutes away from a Cup win to game 7, I don’t personally believe they’re mentally strong enough to overcome that.

And ultimately that will fall in the players. Dallas was ready to go home last night. I said before the game Dallas wasn’t gonna lay down. That’s exactly what they did in that first OT. They just laid there and let Tampa do whatever the F they wanted. And you can’t capitalize on that? You gotta take what you’re given. Cry luck all you want, Dallas manufactured their luck. They get someone to the net and they get the puck there. If they get the puck at the net and no ones there, who gives a shit?

I’m mad at the sequence that essentially gave Dallas a free pass to tie it up but at the same time, you shouldn’t have given them any space to breathe given the score and the remaining time but there’s Shattenkirk staring off into space while the play happens around him.

Tomorrow is game 7 for Tampa. Make no mistake about it. This series goes on any further and it is over.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Stamkos not playing in the back-to-back situation made sense. Couldn't risk playing short-handed either with a game the next night and/or with tired guys from the previous night.

Neither Game 6 nor Game 7 would be a back-to-back. If he's in any way able to play, he needs to play. I expect him to be in the lineup tomorrow night.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Also just going to throw this out there:

At even strength, Dallas has outscored us 13-10. We're at where we're at thanks to the power play success we had in Games 2-4. So whether you want to point the finger at Vasi not making enough saves or at the skaters not scoring enough goals, fact is that, as much as we might want to bitch about penalties, or the lack thereof, or whatever, we're not getting the job done at even strength. We say we're the better team 5v5, but the results aren't showing that. And if the last game is any indication, where we only got one power play and that was in the first period, then it's going to have to be at even strength where the fourth win is attained. And scoring 10 goals in, I dunno, probably about 320 minutes or so in this series at even strength (395 overall minutes minus the PP/PK times...I'm using a very rough approximation) isn't good enough. We can't talk about being the better even strength team and be outscored throughout the series at even strength. It doesn't work that way.



And my point is that, besides the fact that previous 3-1 leads have no bearing on what will happen on this one, it doesn't matter at all anymore that we haven't lost a series from 3-1 up before, because we're not 3-1 up anymore. Game 5 is over, it's done with. It's completely irrelevant. And besides the fact that 3-1 comebacks happen in the NHL all the time, we know we've seen this core blow 3-2 leads before on more than one occasion. Doesn't mean it'll happen here nor does it mean I'm predicting that. But the only historical precedents that matter now are how we've done when 3-2 up in a series. And that history is spotty, to put it gently.

I think you are right about the goals 5 on 5 need to be better. We are still outplaying them just not getting enough scoring 5v5. We need to improve there or we might not make it out of this series. Calls are gonna get less and less and the way their players complained about it and then this game changed things doesn't make me confident that we will get calls in the next game or going forward. So they have to get it done 5v5 or I'm not super confident we can win without production from the pp.

 

[Fabiobest]

Perry is absolute garbage but holy shit I would kill for a depth player on our team to be able to score goals.

TJ is beyond useless, you’re not gonna get any contributions from the 4th line.

It was scary to see any line besides the top line and Gourde line out there in OT.

If Tampa doesn’t close this out tomorrow they’re done. If they go from a 3-1 lead, 6 minutes away from a Cup win to game 7, I don’t personally believe they’re mentally strong enough to overcome that.

And ultimately that will fall in the players. Dallas was ready to go home last night. I said before the game Dallas wasn’t gonna lay down. That’s exactly what they did in that first OT. They just laid there and let Tampa do whatever the F they wanted. And you can’t capitalize on that? You gotta take what you’re given. Cry luck all you want, Dallas manufactured their luck. They get someone to the net and they get the puck there. If they get the puck at the net and no ones there, who gives a shit?

I’m mad at the sequence that essentially gave Dallas a free pass to tie it up but at the same time, you shouldn’t have given them any space to breathe given the score and the remaining time but there’s Shattenkirk staring off into space while the play happens around him.

Tomorrow is game 7 for Tampa. Make no mistake about it. This series goes on any further and it is over.

Totally agree with you!!!

 

[Fabiobest]

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

We're in trouble now unless we can get some legitimate goal scoring from outside the top line or top d-pairing.

 

[Fabiobest]

We're in trouble now unless we can get some legitimate goal scoring from outside the top line or top d-pairing.

Sorry but I don't believe anymore in our second line.
It's impossible to hope Johnson and Killer will wake up, because their lack of points is not a news...It's 3 years that they're playing poorly in the playoffs.
So, considering it's not a switch on-switch off mode...

 

[God King Fudge]

We better hope Kucherov, Palat, Point, Gourde, Coleman and Goodrow can handle 30 minutes TOI each cause the rest of the forward group bring literally nothing to the table.

 

[OurlordAndSaviorKuch]

It keeps getting worse and worse doesn't it?

Not even sleep could make last night sting less honestly.

 

[God King Fudge]

I don’t know why there’s a panic around Stamkos. Dude has played 3 minutes in ONE game in these entire playoffs and we’re acting like it’s a huge loss?

I don’t get it.

 

[Fabiobest]

I don’t know why there’s a panic around Stamkos. Dude has played 3 minutes in ONE game in these entire playoffs and we’re acting like it’s a huge loss?

I don’t get it.

For this reason:

We better hope Kucherov, Palat, Point, Gourde, Coleman and Goodrow can handle 30 minutes TOI each cause the rest of the forward group bring literally nothing to the table.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

This has been one of the longest days of my life lol. I just want it to be tomorrow already

 

[Ginger Papa]

I was just about to post the same thing... but alas whats the point here. So ill do it anyway since I did all the screen caps and whatnot.



See here, Victor had a chance to stick lift – but choose not to do that, instead he lifted his stick up and OVER all sticks to try and get the puck.

Right before the drive to the net we see Victor in the middle.. what was he thinking here ??? let Rutta defend two players ??? You know where the puck went right ??

That’s right, to Victors player – look how he just looks back and there is another Dallas player standing there.. again – what is Rutta supposed to do here ??

Now as you can see Rutta stick is being held so he can only put out his foot to stop the puck – and he did, he stopped the first shot on goal – Vassey could have moved back to the crease when it didnt go to goal at first. Hedman just needs to stick lift here...

Geee I better stick lift this guy, my stick is right there, under his - But Hedman did not do that. Note below Ruttas stick is being held under the right arm of the dallas player.

I will lift my stick over his and try and grab the puck says Hedman

Another shot of the same angle right before Perry shoots - Hedman is the blue stick if you are following along at home.

Now the gifs

See how Perry is making a shot and Rutta is like – shit ok better stop this – and did giving enough time for Hedman to get back and help out.



So what does Hedman do to help - Lifts his stick over Perrys stick and allows him the second shot with a full out stretched Jan You could even question why Rutta wasnt facing the puck - bit hard when your stick is being held under the arm of the other player and you cant spin around and use it.





I dont mind when players are shit and get blasted for it.. but felt it was a bit unneeded.

Everyone has a whipping boy it seems.. bit weird if you ask me.

Its game 5 ffs, we never do well on the b2b second game and always cough up early goals. Vassey is worrying me a touch, its like he is super nervous now.

Anyway enough about this crap, lets go win it on Monday. Id personally rather Coburn in the team than Shattenkirk at this rate.

What an awesome Post. I really appreciate the time and effort you obviously put in. Very reasonable points made along with your passion shining through.

Thanks for showing us the light:

 

[God King Fudge]

For this reason:

Yeah I mean I get that and it was fantastic that Steven came in and scored but I don’t think acting would expect him to have those results again, especially in what would likely be very limited minutes on a 4th line.

I just feel like the reactions are a little over the top given we’ve played all but about 3 minutes of the playoffs without him