Post-Game Talk: Lightning def. Canucks - 4-2 (Highmore, Motte)

[Hammer79]

Huh

Horvat was the best player on the team along with Motte, OEL and Hughes

Petey looked relatively very good and was trying things all night

Boeser looked like a slug. I'd give him 3 more games before really criticizing anything about him

Horvat was not good, not sure what game you were watching. Dude is our captain and for most of the season, hasn't even one of our top 3 Canucks on the ice. He had maybe one scoring chance and fanned on it.

EP is still struggling with puck control, he put the puck 20 feet over the net on a break away.

Really, only our 4th line showed up tonight. BB had chances to tie it, but the one with the open net man advantage is what sunk us. 3 more games? How long has this been going on with BB before we can criticize him?

 

[These Are The Days]

Nah, we're selling. None of our top players showed up tonight. Horvat was bad, EP was awful. Brock Boeser fanned a couple of times. Only our 4th line showed up. Yes, we had shot advantage, but our PP is toothless and TBay capitalized on their chances while we fanned on ours. Our PP setup was particularly poor and it's been a trend for several games now.

Winning more consistently always makes you harder on the team's performance. Our PK is just really damn good. I didn't see failure on your end. Like yeah there were whiffs, penalties and EP not making good on his break but that's just crap that always happens any game. If you wanna blame something, we engineered our way to a 2-0 and made it the difference. I'd blame that over a few guys having a tough night. Lol trust me, we might win a lot but our entire offense dies all at once too. But you guys punched us in the mouth all night long and looked good doing it. The Lightning just do a lot of stuff well is all. I'd feel fantastic after this in your shoes. It's just hard to after years of Benning f***ing up pretty much everything

 

[LordBacon]

I remember when i started watching the canucks and ice hockey in general back in 2010, the canucks could suck for 50 mins but then show up for like the last few minutes and still win.

That game felt the exact same, only we're on the other side.

 

[Hammer79]

I wouldn’t be so hard on the boys, the fought hard against a team that is back by the best goalie in the league, Tampa is awesome and they have the best goalie to boot, it’s simple not fair

Tampa didn't even play their A game, it was that we couldn't get much set up on our PP's and we had more than enough of them to do something. Vasi was fine, but let's not give him too much credit. We didn't make life hard enough for him.

 

[canuckking1]

I wish Green got the hard part of the schedule instead. So many easy points were wasted early in the season.

 

[BWJM]

Demko and the top 6 dried up in Florida.

Not blaming Demko. Tampa scored on good chances, just talking about the goalie gods shinning down on him.. that is all.

 

[Hammer79]

Winning more consistently always makes you harder on the team's performance. Our PK is just really damn good. I didn't see failure on your end. Like yeah there were whiffs, penalties and EP not making good on his break but that's just crap that always happens any game. If you wanna blame something, we engineered our way to a 2-0 and made it the difference. I'd blame that over a few guys having a tough night. Lol trust me, we might win a lot but our entire offense dies all at once too. But you guys punched us in the mouth all night long and looked good doing it. The Lightning just do a lot of stuff well is all. I'd feel fantastic after this in your shoes. It's just hard to after years of Benning f***ing up pretty much everything

I'd say the Lightning took us lightly and they were right to do so. Our PP had no teeth and our star players are all off their games. EP going 20 feet over the net on a breakaway isn't a new development, that kind of stuff has been happening with him all year. We had possession advantage in the 2nd, but our first PK was a disaster, then we let one in with 20 seconds to go when we leave a man all alone up front. Just not sharp enough mentally to beat a good team. We streaked against a bunch of teams on back-to-backs and missing guys, now we are getting back to our pre-Bruce issues now that we are playing contenders.

 

[timw33]

I remember when i started watching the canucks and ice hockey in general back in 2010, the canucks could suck for 50 mins but then show up for like the last few minutes and still win.

That game felt the exact same, only we're on the other side.

That's a good way to describe it.

Like, on Tuesday Tampa barely, just barely, broke a sweat annihilating Buffalo 6-0. They know they need to pace themselves and save their energy and effort for stronger opponents. Felt like that tonight.

 

[Scorvat]

That’s the thing with having expectations that aren’t in the toilet like they were the previous seven years. The bar wasnt on the ground - it was buried deep underneath.

When you raise the bar, it’s really hard to meet expectations.

They’re in tough here. Hard schedule the rest of the season in terms of strength of schedule.

I say points don’t really matter because of my own personal lack of care for whether they make it or not, but if you’re cheering for the playoffs, they’ve gotta be grabbing nearly 2 of every 3 games here.

there hasn't been many times in the last 8 years where I thought the team deserved to win and where I actively wanted them to win.

I just want the team to win and deliver performances that indicate org wide change from the previous regime. I gotta make up for 6 years of apathy. Playoffs are to distant to be a believable thing to hope for at the moment

 

[Johnny Canucker]

Honeymoon is over buys. Back to the real team. We knew changing the coach wasn’t gonna change the 20 players on the ice.

EP40 licks pouch.

 

[Johnny Canucker]

there hasn't been many times in the last 8 years where I thought the team deserved to win and where I actively wanted them to win.

I just want the team to win and deliver performances that indicate org wide change from the previous regime. I gotta make up for 6 years of apathy. Playoffs are to distant to be a believable thing to hope for at the moment

We are entering another rebuild. JR wants to build his own team. He’s already said so. If we trade JTM Or BB it’s full rebuild.

I don’t expect to see EP40 here next year. Hope we get a good return tho … although seems unlikely.

 

[Scorvat]

Horvat was not good, not sure what game you were watching. Dude is our captain and for most of the season, hasn't even one of our top 3 Canucks on the ice. He had maybe one scoring chance and fanned on it.

EP is still struggling with puck control, he put the puck 20 feet over the net on a break away.

Really, only our 4th line showed up tonight. BB had chances to tie it, but the one with the open net man advantage is what sunk us. 3 more games? How long has this been going on with BB before we can criticize him?

I don't think this type of negativity is warranted for these performances. The team generated chances, controlled play and never really looked outclassed by 2 SC contenders that are largely healthy. The team dominated play for large stretches of the games and if it wasn't for Bob or Vas they could have put up 10 goals across the 2 games

For the first time this season we had the worse goalie. If we get Demko on a good performance who knows we might take both games and there is an entirely different tune in this gdt

I thought Horvat was a beast along the boards that really opened things up for both Pettersson and Garland. That line generated chances all night long and I hope Bruce gives them an extended run. Can't disagree about Pettersson hands but atleast he was looking to and actually creating plays. With a bit of puck luck he may have had 2 points

 

[BWJM]

EP40 licks pouch.

I lol'd at this.. and I'm one of those crazy believers.

 

[Hit the post]

I forgot throughout the era of error how frustrating hockey can be. Team played 2 very good games against elite teams and came away with 0 points

Yeah I'm still umpteen times more positive as compared to under the previous regime where we'd absolutely get dominated on the ice by the other team but our goaltending "stole" the "W" in the end.

 

[Hit the post]

I lol'd at this.. and I'm one of those crazy believers.

 

[likash]

We are entering another rebuild. JR wants to build his own team. He’s already said so. If we trade JTM Or BB it’s full rebuild.

I don’t expect to see EP40 here next year. Hope we get a good return tho … although seems unlikely.

There won't be a full rebuild. That ship has sailed. We need to rebuild the defence around Hughes and get rid of the stupid contracts Jim left us with. It will be very hard but maybe JR can pull it off.
JR and Bruce are not here to tank. They are here to try and get something out of this core for the next 16 months. There is a reason Bruce has a 2 year contract.

 

[Diversification]

I don't think this type of negativity is warranted for these performances. The team generated chances, controlled play and never really looked outclassed by the 2 SC contenders that are largely healthy. The team dominated play for large stretches of the games and if it wasn't for Bob or Vas they could have put up 10 goals across the 2 games

For the first time this season we had the worse goalie. If we get Demko on a good performance who knows we might take both games and there is an entirely different tune in this gdt

I thought Horvat was a beast along the boards that really opened things up for both Pettersson and Garland. That line generated chances all night long and I hope Bruce gives them an extended run. Can't disagree about Pettersson hand's but atleast he was looking to and actually creating plays. With a bit of puck luck he may have had 2 points

Agreed. This was one of the more promising performances Petey has turned in this season. He actually created some chances tonight. Pulling yourself out of a slump is usually a whole lot of close misses until the points start coming.

As an example, really liked his jam on the PP to start the 3rd. Chip and charge to gain the zone, outmuscled his man in the corner to maintain possession. Didn't come to anything, but that kind of killer instinct will pay off if he sticks with it.

 

[God]

EP40/Horvat/Garland was very good tonight. 8 to 2 on scoring chances, 4 to 1 on high danger corsi.

It's just one of those games that didn't go their way, but they absolutely deserved to be in it. Can't say the same for a lot of their losses this season.

 

[God]

Also those backhand chances that go over the net do look like kicking a field goal but realistically you're trying to get the puck as high as you can on your backhand, so a lot of the misses look egregious given the angle of the shot. It was a good scoring chance.

 

[Hammer79]

I don't think this type of negativity is warranted for these performances. The team generated chances, controlled play and never really looked outclassed by 2 SC contenders that are largely healthy. The team dominated play for large stretches of the games and if it wasn't for Bob or Vas they could have put up 10 goals across the 2 games

For the first time this season we had the worse goalie. If we get Demko on a good performance who knows we might take both games and there is an entirely different tune in this gdt

I thought Horvat was a beast along the boards that really opened things up for both Pettersson and Garland. That line generated chances all night long and I hope Bruce gives them an extended run. Can't disagree about Pettersson hands but atleast he was looking to and actually creating plays. With a bit of puck luck he may have had 2 points

We had 3 prime scoring chances tonight and scored on 2 of them. The third, Bo threw into Vasi's blocker. At no point did we make Vasi's job hard. I don't know how you are putting this on Demko, the first goal was a beauty one timer on the PP by Stamkos, the 2nd we left a man out front. Demko was not our problem tonight, blaming it on him is some kind of BS, I've got to say.

Our chances were generated off of outlet passes by Hughes and OEL, not because Horvat was a 'beast'. The difference was the anemic PP, which falls on our top 6. We had our opportunities, but no one goes to the dangerous areas. No goalmouth scrambles, no juicy rebounds. Our offense came off of quick plays by our 4th line.

 

[Tomatoes11]

I think Ep would be fine with a change of scenery. We might regret trading him but if that’s what he needs the only thing we can do is maximize the return.

 

[Scorvat]

Agreed. This was one of the more promising performances Petey has turned in this season. He actually created some chances tonight. Pulling yourself out of a slump is usually a whole lot of close misses until the points start coming.

As an example, really liked his jam on the PP to start the 3rd. Chip and charge to gain the zone, outmuscled his man in the corner to maintain possession. Didn't come to anything, but that kind of killer instinct will pay off if he sticks with it.

An encouraging performance rather then good for me. Still the 3rd best player on his line and to many moments of indecision and reaching instead of skating and making plays.

He has done this like 5 times this season where he delivers a promising performance that you can take as hope for a breakout only to ghost for the next 5 games. We just got to be more patient and hope this time it leads to actual results

 

[These Are The Days]

I'd say the Lightning took us lightly and they were right to do so. Our PP had no teeth and our star players are all off their games. EP going 20 feet over the net on a breakaway isn't a new development, that kind of stuff has been happening with him all year. We had possession advantage in the 2nd, but our first PK was a disaster, then we let one in with 20 seconds to go when we leave a man all alone up front. Just not sharp enough mentally to beat a good team. We streaked against a bunch of teams on back-to-backs and missing guys, now we are getting back to our pre-Bruce issues now that we are playing contenders.

When you're coached for years like you're shit team, contenders beating you causes a mental battle "back to the mean" from you came. This is a hard process that's gonna be filled with mental lapses and some poor execution. There was plenty of that tonight but believe me, you guys handled yourselves immaculately with the creativity you had out there. I hate to be all "Look what we did to Calgary" but you're a non-muffin shot away from Boeser from a tie game.

You're right about what you're seeing in that they fell very short of Tampa but I'm seeing the positives in that under Green Tampa wins 5-1. That's not to throw stones in your house either. That's just how bad things were getting



You're getting there. Trust me. It's about your team believing it

 

[Scorvat]

We had 3 prime scoring chances tonight and scored on 2 of them. The third, Bo threw into Vasi's blocker. At no point did we make Vasi's job hard. I don't know how you are putting this on Demko, the first goal was a beauty one timer on the PP by Stamkos, the 2nd we left a man out front. Demko was not our problem tonight, blaming it on him is some kind of BS, I've got to say.

Our chances were generated off of outlet passes by Hughes and OEL, not because Horvat was a 'beast'. The difference was the anemic PP, which falls on our top 6. We had our opportunities, but no one goes to the dangerous areas. No goalmouth scrambles, no juicy rebounds. Our offense came off of quick plays by our 4th line.

I'm far from blaming Demko, just indicating that I thought we had the worse goalie in the last 2 games.

He's no longer playing at a superhuman level and the team is struggling to win. It's not his fault at all

 

[orcatown]

Good effort but you are going anywhere depending on the Highmores and the Mottes to carry your offense. As long as the your major offense players are shut down or unable to convert, then unlikely to have chance against good teams. PP needs to start doing something.

Good

Hughes - so much better than anyone else on the team. Always plays like he cares and has huge high end potential. Hopefully new regime can somehow surround him with better players

Motte - again say that he provides probably the most consistent play of any of the players. Best PKer and one of the best two way players on the team. Is creating offense through checking and has better offensive tools than given credit for. A must re-sign and dumb of Benning not to sign him longer term.

Highmore - sort of mini-Motte. 4th line has been better since he returned.

Not Good

Poolman - obvious he can't skate well enough . Lurches about when he tries to turn and soon as the game speeds up he is done. Way too often in this game he was aimlessly skating around in his slot area around checking no one and ended up allowing people to get inside position on him. Another anchor Benning has left behind. Looked like a poor off-season signing and is becoming one.

Podkolzin - effort is there but you can see he is getting caught trying to figure things out rather than just reacting to situations - got to expect that to happen to any rookie. Might be hurt but looked like he got the hook for much of the third.

Boeser - Little better late but overall baggage. Isn't skating well enough to stay effectively in the play once the play a starts going from end to end. No doubt the crazy quarantine policies have a lot to do with him losing the edge he showed in December.

Myers - huge drop off in play. Has gone from being on top of the play and controlling situations to be simply reactive and getting caught flat-footed. Him and OEL got bogged down in their end far too much and weren't skating well enough to get angles for passes.

Others

Demko - some important saves but another not in the same place he was going into the break.

Horvat - ended up a -2 but I thought two way effort was there. However, needs to put away those chances.

Hunt - better than usual, especially in his own end.

Pettersson - there were spots in the game (like when he was hitting the man coming late) where he was doing better but still not much of any finish. Could say that at least he was getting chances.

If the road trip goes as we kind of suspect it will, the Canucks, under Rutherford, may well be sellers. . However, hope this not turn into another death march.