Post-Game Talk: Montreal finally beats Tampa 6-2.

[SB164]

I think it was Don Cherry who said tonight that the Bolts looked overconfident before tonight's game. I don't think we'll see that again. Like PricePkPatch said, this will be hard. But this series is definitely winnable imo.

Tyler Johnson was all smiles in the tunnel before hitting the ice. JT Brown was literally skipping. They didn't look like they were about to play a post-season game.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Yep the worst about this trade is we gave a better first round pick for Linden who was a worse player Than Damphousse and just 2 years younger.

So in the end all the moves resulted in

Linden + Sj 1st + sj 2nd
for
Mtl 1st + Damphousse

Such a bad series of moves.

You could expand on that a little.

To Montreal:

Zednik, Bulis, Was 1st, SJ 1st

for:

Recchi, Damphouse, Montreal 1st.

Not as terrible given the absolute thievery of the Linden to Washington trade.

 

[S Bah]

Thread Title should read Tampa Bay doesn't get all the bounces again as they topple in game 4, still leading instead of facing elimination in Montreal on Saturday!
Besides baffling the so called experts, despite a great season behind the stellar goaltending and stifling defensive play of the Habs, people also forgot these are very capable NHL players of the CH.

 

[tinyzombies]

Thread title should be: A Tale of Two First Periods.

Because that's what it is now. If we start strong tomorrow (which we will, it's at home) and get a lead and take control of the game, we're heading to Tampa.

In Tampa, the story will be about a strong first getting us to game 7.

We have the goalie to hold a lead, we just need to put in 40 minutes of strong hockey in two separate games, then lock it down and hand it over to Carey. That's how the Kings did it last year.

Then we come home for game 7.

A tale of two first periods.

 

[tinyzombies]

How the hell is Gilbert leading the team with +6 in the playoffs given that he's seemingly on the ice for every goal against

That's weird.

Gilbert has been solid. So has Pateryn.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Gilbert has been solid. So has Pateryn.

OT Goal in Game #1 differs.

Do yourself a favor and re-watch each PP goal by Tampa in the play-offs. You can reach your own conclusion about which D-man is letting his guy score.

 

[Theosis]

How the hell is Gilbert leading the team with +6 in the playoffs given that he's seemingly on the ice for every goal against

That's weird.

PP goals don't count towards his +/- so, yeah.

 

[Agalloch]

OT Goal in Game #1 differs.

Do yourself a favor and re-watch each PP goal by Tampa in the play-offs. You can reach your own conclusion about which D-man is letting his guy score.

Gilbert sucks on PK but he's really good 5on5.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Gilbert sucks on PK but he's really good 5on5.

Which is why I'm wondering why Gilbert-Emelin is the first D pairing hitting the ice when we take a penalty.

 

[Agalloch]

Which is why I'm wondering why Gilbert-Emelin is the first D pairing hitting the ice when we take a penalty.

I agree.

 

[Nynja*]

Which is why I'm wondering why Gilbert-Emelin is the first D pairing hitting the ice when we take a penalty.

on roule a quatre lignes

 

[Ursus the White]

Thread title should be: A Tale of Two First Periods.

Because that's what it is now. If we start strong tomorrow (which we will, it's at home) and get a lead and take control of the game, we're heading to Tampa.

In Tampa, the story will be about a strong first getting us to game 7.

We have the goalie to hold a lead, we just need to put in 40 minutes of strong hockey in two separate games, then lock it down and hand it over to Carey. That's how the Kings did it last year.

Then we come home for game 7.

A tale of two first periods.

An appropriate title. I like the Dickensian metaphor. Game 5 will be a night of hard times but should we have great expectations about the possible outcome?

 

[Habsawce]

Power play can't get set up because they can't win puck battles down low. Lars Eller never loses puck battles down low, ever. So, let's start the PP with Desharnais who can't win those battles and wonder why they have to constantly re-gain entry the entire time.

Fun times.

 

[Lebowski]

Power play can't get set up because they can't win puck battles down low. Lars Eller never loses puck battles down low, ever. So, let's start the PP with Desharnais who can't win those battles and wonder why they have to constantly re-gain entry the entire time.

Fun times.

Only managed to see the 3rd period yesterday, but I like how they finally switched to an umbrella formation rather than the classical two point guys. There was good puck movement going on, which would have been a lot to ask barely a week ago.

At least they FINALLY made a change. Small steps. But steps in the right direction nonetheless.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Only managed to see the 3rd period yesterday, but I like how they finally switched to an umbrella formation rather than the classical two point guys. There was good puck movement going on, which would have been a lot to ask barely a week ago.

At least they FINALLY made a change. Small steps. But steps in the right direction nonetheless.

They play a hybrid overload-umbrella formation, the problem is they rarely get to switch to the umbrella because they have a hard time moving the box. But on the Petry goal they had one of Tampa's forwards losing patience and that's what triggered the switch to the umbrella formation.

 

[Habsawce]

Only managed to see the 3rd period yesterday, but I like how they finally switched to an umbrella formation rather than the classical two point guys. There was good puck movement going on, which would have been a lot to ask barely a week ago.

At least they FINALLY made a change. Small steps. But steps in the right direction nonetheless.

Yes, after they got Desharnais off the ice and won some puck battles to recover the puck down low.

 

[Nynja*]

They play a hybrid overload-umbrella formation, the problem is they never get to switch to the umbrella because they have a hard time moving the box.

How do you know this is their plan? You dont know what goes on...right?

 

[Lebowski]

They play a hybrid overload-umbrella formation, the problem is they never get to switch to the umbrella because they have a hard time moving the box.

As I said, I recall one PP in the third where the puck movement was great (on Sustr's penalty I believe) and they had a nice passing game that lead to Petry's goal as well. That kind of play would have never, ever happened with the old set-up.

For now, I'm content with seeing progress. Once the player get more confident and assertive with the puck, we should see more of those cross ice passes and quick movement. Hopefully last night's goal gave the guys the confidence they need. Tampa's power-play really came alive after finally scoring against us in game 2. It wasn't any better than ours prior to that.

The one thing I'm not sure I like of the "new" powerplay is Subban creeping in behind the defensemen down low... I'd rather keep him on the point.

 

[tinyzombies]

OT Goal in Game #1 differs.

Do yourself a favor and re-watch each PP goal by Tampa in the play-offs. You can reach your own conclusion about which D-man is letting his guy score.

I decided to look at the highlights and see who screwed up and what happened. So far:

Game 1:
Blame Why What happened
Mtl-Pacioretty lazy dig on puck around boards deflected to the slot Palat picked it up and had point blank chance - Price save
TB-Sustr chipped puck to Mtl in neutral zone in a crowd Turnover, counter, DD hit post, Markov then had open net but quick whistle
TB-Sustr flat footed in slot, not covering anyone Mtl hit the post, Gallagher didn’t lift puck on open net on rebound
TB-Coburn PP - shot from point, a bit slow to neutralize fw in front Gallagher outquicked him and a few whacks at it
TB-Stralman Pacioretty walked around him one-on-one Bishop save
TB-Kucherov (2) After not helping Stralman above, Pacioretty stole puck from him at side of net Nothing
TB-Pacioretty A bit passive covering point man sneak Sustr had point blank shot - Price save
TB-Filpulla Poor pinch at the point (on a PP?) Patches and Pleks 2-on-1, Pleks didn’t lift puck on open net
Mtl-Gilbert didn’t get inside body position, on broken play TB tip - goal
TB-Bishop Pacioretty shot from circle Bishop tries to casually glove it, missed it
Mtl-Petry Passively playing a bouncing puck with stick in neutral zone Bounces over stick, Emelin doesn’t cover and Kucherov goes in a scores goal that was later waved off
Mtl-Pateryn/Gilbert Pateryn’s clearing pass knocked down along boards, pass out front and Gilbert didn’t pick up Kucherov OT winner
Game 2:
TB-Bishop Wrist shot from point by Petry Goal - should have been stopped? Maybe a screen
TB-Stralman Blocked clearing pass deflects to front of net Bishop save on point blank shot
TB-Bishop Fat rebound on soft shot from side boards TB D blocked out, puck cleared from scramble
Mtl-Prust 4-min penalty high sticking killed off
Mtl-Petry Let Hedman walk around him one-on-one Too close - Price save
TB-Stralman Mitchell beats him one-on-one on the PK Too close - save Bishop
Mtl-Subban Weak penalty away from play TB scored on PP to tie game
Mtl-Price One-timer from Filpulla was stoppable for Price Goal
Mtl-Markov Allowed stretch pass from Coburn thru to Stamkos Stamkos walks in and scores

 

[Skip Bayless]

How do you know this is their plan? You dont know what goes on...right?

It's nothing out of this world, most teams do it. It all depends on execution and how good your PP is at managing the puck.

As I said, I recall one PP in the third where the puck movement was great (on Sustr's penalty I believe) and they had a nice passing game that lead to Petry's goal as well. That kind of play would have never, ever happened with the old set-up.

For now, I'm content with seeing progress. Once the player get more confident and assertive with the puck, we should see more of those cross ice passes and quick movement. Hopefully last night's goal gave the guys the confidence they need. Tampa's power-play really came alive after finally scoring against us in game 2. It wasn't any better than ours prior to that.

The one thing I'm not sure I like of the "new" powerplay is Subban creeping in behind the defensemen down low... I'd rather keep him on the point.

They've done this in the PP for a while, what's missing is the execution. And also Tampa was on their heels last night, made some mistakes that helped our group to have an easier time exploiting options cross-ice.

The quick movement will trigger the opponent to move, which will trigger the cross ice passes amongst other options. Subban creeping in behind the D is one of the textbook umbrella plays. He does it cause the top man trying to take the shot away from the point leaves a hole cross ice for the half wall guy to get him the puck and a backdoor opportunity. But the key is that they read and execute the play well, which has been the main issue on the PP.

 

[Camio]

I decided to look at the highlights and see who screwed up and what happened. So far:

Game 1:
Blame Why What happened
Mtl-Pacioretty lazy dig on puck around boards deflected to the slot Palat picked it up and had point blank chance - Price save
TB-Sustr chipped puck to Mtl in neutral zone in a crowd Turnover, counter, DD hit post, Markov then had open net but quick whistle
TB-Sustr flat footed in slot, not covering anyone Mtl hit the post, Gallagher didn’t lift puck on open net on rebound
TB-Coburn PP - shot from point, a bit slow to neutralize fw in front Gallagher outquicked him and a few whacks at it
TB-Stralman Pacioretty walked around him one-on-one Bishop save
TB-Kucherov (2) After not helping Stralman above, Pacioretty stole puck from him at side of net Nothing
TB-Pacioretty A bit passive covering point man sneak Sustr had point blank shot - Price save
TB-Filpulla Poor pinch at the point (on a PP?) Patches and Pleks 2-on-1, Pleks didn’t lift puck on open net
Mtl-Gilbert didn’t get inside body position, on broken play TB tip - goal
TB-Bishop Pacioretty shot from circle Bishop tries to casually glove it, missed it
Mtl-Petry Passively playing a bouncing puck with stick in neutral zone Bounces over stick, Emelin doesn’t cover and Kucherov goes in a scores goal that was later waved off
Mtl-Pateryn/Gilbert Pateryn’s clearing pass knocked down along boards, pass out front and Gilbert didn’t pick up Kucherov OT winner
Game 2:
TB-Bishop Wrist shot from point by Petry Goal - should have been stopped? Maybe a screen
TB-Stralman Blocked clearing pass deflects to front of net Bishop save on point blank shot
TB-Bishop Fat rebound on soft shot from side boards TB D blocked out, puck cleared from scramble
Mtl-Prust 4-min penalty high sticking killed off
Mtl-Petry Let Hedman walk around him one-on-one Too close - Price save
TB-Stralman Mitchell beats him one-on-one on the PK Too close - save Bishop
Mtl-Subban Weak penalty away from play TB scored on PP to tie game
Mtl-Price One-timer from Filpulla was stoppable for Price Goal
Mtl-Markov Allowed stretch pass from Coburn thru to Stamkos Stamkos walks in and scores

PAP went to the bench (so stupid decision) and thus, placed Markov in an impossible position. That goal is on PAP, not Markov.

 

[habfaninvictoria]

Tyler Johnson was all smiles in the tunnel before hitting the ice. JT Brown was literally skipping. They didn't look like they were about to play a post-season game.

Ya and if they were up or had won, Cherry would have had a different spin.. look how loose these guys are... it's all BS, don't buy into the hype

 

[Habsawce]

I'm a little surprised people think Tampa is playing well on the main boards. I think they've been dreadful all playoffs. They're very lucky to get out of the first round, let alone be up 3-1 in the 2nd. I realize results are the only thing that matter, but damn, they have not looked good.

 

[LaP]

The sad thing is we will have more than likely another round of Bishop flopping all over the place

 

[PricePkPatch*]

I'm a little surprised people think Tampa is playing well on the main boards. I think they've been dreadful all playoffs. They're very lucky to get out of the first round, let alone be up 3-1 in the 2nd. I realize results are the only thing that matter, but damn, they have not looked good.

You shouldnt really let the main board bother you. Seriously, let it go.

What matters, in decreasing order of priority:

- who won
- how many games they won
- if the winning team had a "beatdown" game (think Sens vs us, game 3, 2013)
- how tights the games actually were

Few people remember that 3 of the 4 games of last year sweep were 1-goal affairs. They remember the ******* sweep.