Post-Game Talk: Senators @ Lightning 6-4 loss

[delchief]

For a guy named 'Bishop' he doesn't move very well diagonally.

Probably 2 of the goals were misplayed. But that was the difference. That plus the fact the Sens had no legs in the 3rd period. I was really hoping they could maintain that 2-goal lead heading into the 3rd as that would have made a big difference. Alas, you can't win 'em all.

I liked Borocop. Thought he looked good as a 3rd pairing guy. Throwing huge hits and providing a new element. Phillips should probably be on the 3rd pairing too. In fact we have 5 guys - Phillips, Lundin, Wiercioch, Borowiecki, and Benoiot - who are 5th/6th d-men. A trade for a legit top-4 defender to play with (and ultimately replace) Gonchar is probably in order. Or else we limp through with what we've got and Wier plays with Cowen next year. Too many similar LDs on this team.

I love this team. Don't care that we lost. They play hard every game. My complaints are minor. Love this group. They'll give the Pens everything they have on Sunday. They play hard for their coach. They attack. Love it.....

 

[UnHappyDude]

QUESTION: For all those watching the game on the FirstRowSports, How was the stream for you? I found it choppy and laggy. I was just wondering if everyone experienced this or if it was just my network?

 

[General Granny*]

The 1st line is invisible
The play dies soon as it hits Greening on the 3rd line
Philips is barely an NHLer on other teams.
Bishop is yeah.....uhmmm

 

[SickDangles]

The 1st line is invisible
The play dies soon as it hits Greening on the 3rd line
Philips is barely an NHLer on other teams.
Bishop is yeah.....uhmmm

1st line invisible? I wouldn't go that far. Spezza is playing great, I would bet we get a new winger in for him before the deadline.

 

[General Granny*]

Boro outplayed Philips in just game last year in SJ and he outplayed him again.

 

[pepty]

It might be time to at least try splitting up Philly and Gonchar. It'd be nice to see Boro AND Wier out there paired up with the vets. Its not ideal but it gives us mobility on the back end at all times. Wier and Gonch seem like a natural fit.

I think that would be better for everyone including Gonchar and Phillips.

A Phillips/Boro pairing might be a poor man's Phillips of yore with Volchenkov and perhaps its time to replace Benoit with Gonchar as a mentor for Wieicioch.

I think the loss to the Bolts was a good thing in that it exposed the flaws in their game that were covered up by stellar goal keeping so they can be addressed.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

I think that would be better for everyone including Gonchar and Phillips.

A Phillips/Boro pairing might be a poor man's Phillips of yore with Volchenkov and perhaps its time to replace Benoit with Gonchar as a mentor for Wieicioch.

I think the loss to the Bolts was a good thing in that it exposed the flaws in their game that were covered up by stellar goal keeping so they can be addressed.

I like this, might just show how critical Anderson is for us. I only got to watch the first period and then highlights last night, but the difference in communication between Bishop and Anderson out there is night and day. Bishop is tentative for obvious reasons while playing the puck and communicating it looked like, while Anderson is a general out there.

The talks of people wanting to potentially trade Anderson makes me visibly cringe.

 

[Dackell]

Trade Bishop for a 7th or anything. Just get him off our roster so he stops taking Lehner's spot!

Benoit and Latendresse suck!

Send Phillip's to the minors!

I've bought my ticket, all aboard the tank train! MacKinnon or bust!

(am I doing it right?)

 

[Quo]

I like this, might just show how critical Anderson is for us. I only got to watch the first period and then highlights last night, but the difference in communication between Bishop and Anderson out there is night and day. Bishop is tentative for obvious reasons while playing the puck and communicating it looked like, while Anderson is a general out there.
The talks of people wanting to potentially trade Anderson makes me visibly cringe.

This is the reason I'm starting to think we never had a chance to recoup that 2nd.

Bishop is a technically good goalie but last night showed he may be missing the necessary intangibles to be "the guy" for anyone.

 

[WhiteLight*]

Spezza has been awful. Nice shot on the PP but that's it.

Switching Alfie from Turris to Spezza because Turris isn't good enough? Come on... Turris > Spezza so far.

 

[Indrew]

I'm glad Michalek and Spezza can play awful but still manage a point every game. Can't wait till they get going... they'll probably play great but produce nothing but shots and posts.

 

[Tundraman]

That performance by Bishop makes me nostalgic for Auld.

 

[WhiteLight*]

I'm glad Michalek and Spezza can play awful but still manage a point every game. Can't wait till they get going... they'll probably play great but produce nothing but shots and posts.

They weren't even on the ice together when they got their points

That line at even strength has been awful, and I mostly blame Spezza

 

[member 137785]

To everyone bashing Bishop, remember this was his first game in weeks, and first NHL game this year. He's allowed one bad game to get his timing back. And it's not like we have an awesome D core this year.

Does anyone think Phillips will retire next year instead of playing? I would doubt it since he has another year at $3 million left on his contract, hard to pass up that kind of money you would think.

 

[Indrew]

They weren't even on the ice together when they got their points

That line at even strength has been awful, and I mostly blame Spezza

Yeah, I know. I'm on your side bro. I know you aren't used to it so I'll let this slide.

 

[Xspyrit]

Greening hasn't looked great all year. Someone earlier made a comment about the plays dying as soon as it touches his stick and its so true. Daugavins on the other hand was all over the ice making things happen. He should stick but who will draw out for Lats on Sunday? Greening is my vote but I think its more likely that O'Brien or Regin sit.

That was me

Also, I was very surprised with Daugavins, haven't seen him play this good ever I think

Bishop didn't have a great game by any means but lets be realistic, he had piss poor luck as well. He really needs to make better decisions when playing the puck though.

Thank you for being realistic. As a goalie, it sucks to be blamed for everything when the bounces simply aren't going your way... Of course he had to shake off the rust so on the first goal he wasn't able to jump on the loose puck quikcly enough but after that, hard to blame him for the goals against... I'll repeat myself because I haven't seen anybody else acknowledging :

- 2nd : He made a nice toe save on a point blank shot, but the 60 goal scorer Stamkos jumped on the rebound very fast before anyone could even react. That's why he's an elite player

- 3rd : He got perfectly screened by Jim O'brien (unfortunately), just at the last second. Impossible to stop the puck when you can't see it. Perfect shot from Hedman, to reddem himself

- 4th : Perfect tip by Malone, likely impossible to stop, another puck that changed direction at the last second, just went over Bishop's gear

- 5th : Pinball bounce, puck went the other way all of sudden, of course he was out of position. I have no idea how can anyone expect a goalie to make that save. It was just a unlucky bounce for the Sens. Credit to Tampa who put some pressure on.

Onto the Pens on Sunday, I'd like to see Wiercioch and Gonchar play together on the 2nd pairing and Boro and Phillips on the 3rd pairing. Phillips is too slow to be a good partner for Gonchar and while Gonchar didn't have his best game, he still was good offensively. Will be interesting when Lundin comes back, makes you think that Phillips and Lundin could be the 3rd pairing and one of Benoit, Weircoich and Boro make the 2nd unit with Gonchar.

I've been saying it since the short camp...

Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Gonchar
Phillips-Borowiecki/Lundin

We can't be sure what we'll have with that 2nd pairing but IMO we could be pleasantly surprised and at least we know we'll have 2 solid pairings (1st and 3rd)... Worst case scenario, split ice-time a bit more evenly between the 2nd and 3rd.

I don't see the big problem in trying Wiercioch and Gonchar together. Cowen was a (younger) rookie last year and they struggled a bit at the start but once they settled, we had a good defense.

Tonights game really made me miss Cowen though. Cowen and Gonchar as the 2nd pairing would dramatically change the look of the defence, in a good way.

Sucks but that's life, a lot of adversity in it. Let's see how the Sens pull through

I've now seen our team play 2 very bad games, one decent and one good. We've been lucky with our opponents and of course anderson stealing things from them. Keep on working away, long ways to go. Forwards need a shakeup.

yep, daug did his job. Same with condra, greening, neil.

The problem is our top six. Wake up. I realize they've been scoring at an acceptable rate, but they've been invisible.

also, our defense is subpar, but we all knew that already. We need to figure out a way to cover for it.

I'm not sure what people are expecting though... Team is 3-1, outscored opposition 15-8 and are 5th in goals for and 5th in goals against. 3.00 for the 5 on 5 ratio.

Is a 3rd or a second tier prospect worth toying with Lehner development and even emotions? everyone in this organization knows he belongs in the NHL, the guy proved everything he had to at the AHL level, won a cup,was the mvp,carried his team on the back, all star,first team selection and so on. IMO, he needs to get NHL coaching,see NHL shooters every practice,sit and learn about NHL offenses,shooters tendencies,mental game and get in every 5-6 games and play.

Well... Murray has read this board... He knows he CAN'T get anything lower than a 2nd rounder for Bishop or he'll never hear the end of it...



Seriously, if Murray is really serious about that "better than a 2nd" thing, it would mean that he applies the HF mentality perfectly, just like most people wished before this situation.

Too bad teens have no idea what they want

 

[member 137785]

If Lehner was called up he might get 10-15 games all year at best, is that good for his development? He's only 21 I believe, goalies usually take longer to develop.

 

[Quo]

That was me

Thank you for being realistic. As a goalie, it sucks to be blamed for everything when the bounces simply aren't going your way... Of course he had to shake off the rust so on the first goal he wasn't able to jump on the loose puck quikcly enough but after that, hard to blame him for the goals against... I'll repeat myself because I haven't seen anybody else acknowledging :

- 2nd : He made a nice toe save on a point blank shot, but the 60 goal scorer Stamkos jumped on the rebound very fast before anyone could even react. That's why he's an elite player

- 3rd : He got perfectly screened by Jim O'brien (unfortunately), just at the last second. Impossible to stop the puck when you can't see it. Perfect shot from Hedman, to reddem himself

- 4th : Perfect tip by Malone, likely impossible to stop, another puck that changed direction at the last second, just went over Bishop's gear

- 5th : Pinball bounce, puck went the other way all of sudden, of course he was out of position. I have no idea how can anyone expect a goalie to make that save. It was just a unlucky bounce for the Sens. Credit to Tampa who put some pressure on.

I agree for the most part with all of this and I actually like how Bishop was tracking the puck throughout the game after the first goal. However, as to the bolded, I think Bishop deserves some criticism for the way he handled (in this case failed to handle) the dump in.

Here comes the puck around the net and Bishop follows with Phillip's behind. Rather than stopping it for his D man or playing it forcefully out the other side to avoid a chasing Conacher, Bishop just skates around the net and lets it slide. Phillip's, thinking that his goalie has come out of his net with some sort of purpose in mind, stops his stride and is overtaken by Conacher who comes out the other side unchallenged with seemingly endless space to make a play. Conacher throws it quickly to the point where Sami Salo can unload one of his vintage slappers through a crowd for Ryan Malone to tip in for the game tying goal. Impossible to stop? Likely on it's face but what led to it was ***** communication between Bishop and his D.

This **** annoys me. The D man cannot be expected to read Bishop's mind every time he gets it into his head to do some ridiculous slight of hand manoeuvre behind his net.

This has happened more than once and it's something I've noticed since we got him. I don't buy the excuse that the D just isn't used to him. Sometimes stupid is just stupid.

 

[Laphroaig]

To everyone bashing Bishop, remember this was his first game in weeks, and first NHL game this year. He's allowed one bad game to get his timing back. And it's not like we have an awesome D core this year.

Does anyone think Phillips will retire next year instead of playing? I would doubt it since he has another year at $3 million left on his contract, hard to pass up that kind of money you would think.

I'd be delighted if Phillips would retire before his contract expires. It would be the best thing for the team. Will he do it? Of course not.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

If Lehner was called up he might get 10-15 games all year at best, is that good for his development? He's only 21 I believe, goalies usually take longer to develop.

At this point you would argue it is best for his development. He has NOTHING left to prove in the AHL anymore. His statement 40 save shutout performance last night just showed it. .948 is unheard of over 22 games.

He is ready for that back-up role where he gets taste in the NHL before becoming a starter so that the pressure isn`t on him yet but still gets his feet wet long enough to make the full dive. Kind of like Cam Ward backing up Gerber; and when Gerber faltered, Ward had enough games as a back-up to be able to play a capable starting role and lead them to a CUP right out of the back-up position.

With that being said, I'd leave him down for a few more weeks, play Bishop a couple more games then deal him, call Lehner up play him a few before season ends and we can move forward with a clear 1A and 1B goalie for next year in Anderson and Lehner.

 

[SilverSeven]

Trade Bishop for a 7th or anything. Just get him off our roster so he stops taking Lehner's spot!

Benoit and Latendresse suck!

Send Phillip's to the minors!

I've bought my ticket, all aboard the tank train! MacKinnon or bust!

(am I doing it right?)

Why would you rather have Lehner sit on the bench and only play a handful of games vs start in Bingo?

How will not letting him play hockey help him at all?

 

[SilverSeven]

They weren't even on the ice together when they got their points

That line at even strength has been awful, and I mostly blame Spezza

I think your nuts. When Spezza is on the ice the puck is in the ther teams end and things are happening.

When he isnt on the ice we spend most of our time in our end.

 

[saskriders]

Why would you rather have Lehner sit on the bench and only play a handful of games vs start in Bingo?

How will not letting him play hockey help him at all?

Maybe 5-10 NHL games would help him more than only getting 30+ save AHL games

 

[VikingKarlsson]

Spezza has been awful. Nice shot on the PP but that's it.

Switching Alfie from Turris to Spezza because Turris isn't good enough? Come on... Turris > Spezza so far.

Agreed. Turris has been the best forward so far this year. He has a great shot and is benefiting from playing with Alfie.

Keep the second line together. I like having 2 scoring lines instead of staking the first line.

 

[Mark Effin Stone]

I thought we looked bad the whole game, you could see the difference between a vocal Andy in the net and quiet/confused Bishop big time.. Hopefully he'll work on that.
Condra was good and it was nice for him to get rewarded for his good play aswell.

Lol at the thread tag

Also big minus to the Refs, they were baaaaaaad.