TropicalFruitGirl26

Giroux, just now, had an open net, but couldn't control the puck long enough to take a shot. Bolts got away with one there.

Yes, he's in there. Bolts doing a good job on his line though...whenever Giroux and his line are out, Bolts get somebody out there and make them spend most of their shift at their own end.

Travis Sanheim may wanna fill out a police report... He just got robbed by a Russian mugger wearing a goalie mask......

3rd period, puck dropped... Game ON!!

Game getting a bit chippy. Both sides looking to antagonize the other. Yanni Gourde certainly is trying to do that to the Flyers. Raffl with an unnecessary crosscheck on Stamkos just now. Refs letting stuff go for now. So far, its all been 'love tapping'. But it may escalate, especially if the game gets to where one team takes more control. Right now, both teams are trying to stir, but doing it carefully in a 1-0 game.

Bolts break the ice.... Maroon.... 1-0 TB

No score after 1. Bolts with some real nice pressure near the end of the period. I will say this for the Flyers, they are doing a hell of a job getting in shooting lanes and using sticks to disrupt a lot of the TB attempts at plays and set ups. It served Philly well during that double minor they killed off, and served them well during the Bolts zone time near period's end. Bolts looked like they may have turned up the physical play the first period. Will Philly respond to that? Travis Konecny certainly was fired up a bit, both after being called for the high sticking infraction and after getting rubbed out along the benches by Coburn. He needed a stepladder, but he did get in Coby's face a bit.

Bad, bad TK.... 4-min high sticking minor. First real big test for the Flyer PK...even moreso than the first TB PP chance.

Braydon Coburn stirring some stuff up a bit in front of the Flyer net. He has been good about doing that recently, without taking penalties. Getting under the skin of the opponent. In this case, his former team.

Tricky shot from the point for Philadelphia, but Andrei Vasilevskiy seems to be on point and made the stop. JVR has managed to get some net front presence. Good for Phi, bad for the Lightning. I'd like to see him kept asleep of course, but Flyer fans wanna see him do just that: bother and screen the goaltender.

Alexander Volkov in the lineup for TB. He is a young AHL player the Bolts have been wanting to bring up, but his development has been a bit slow. He made his NHL debut earlier in the year, but got sent back down after just four games. He is a good sized checking forward with some offensive skill.

Puck is dropped... Game ON!!

Bolts bring in their 9-game winning streak to Philadelphia and while I'd agree TB should be favored here, as we saw in the last game, the Flyers are, for whatever reason, a completely different, and dangerous team at home. 14-2-4 home record for the Flyers says that if the Lightning don't bring their "A" road game, Philly could end the streak. I think special teams could play a big role in this game. TB has one of the better PP in the entire NHL (currently ranked 2nd), however, even though the Flyer PP is middle of the pack, the Flyers ARE a top 5 team in drawing penalties for PP opportunities, so TB can't play "stupid" in this one and give Philly shots on the man advantage. PK units..... both sport around an 82% efficiency rate. For the Flyers, I believe that is pretty much what it has been most of the season, a solid number for that unit. For TB, 82% represents an upgrade from the 78-79% they had been in earlier in the year. So yea, special teams is what I will be watching in this one.

Looks like the Sabres really do want to give Lawrence Pilut a real look. He was called up due to an injury to Jake McCabe, well, McCabe is back in the game against Vancouver, but Pilut is still in the lineup. Not sure yet who was scratched, but I am pretty sure the Sabres want to give Pilut every chance to stick around and someone else is simply going to have to sit down. EDIT: Looks like its Colin Miller riding the pine in favor of Pilut.

You are right...he is THEIR number one.

LOL... @WordsOfWisdom , I think you are a fascinating, informative, certainly entertaining poster, but this REEKS of "fan low self esteem"! Understandable in a way, because of the run the Leafs have had facing Boston, but still, nutty as a fruitcake! From a Lighting standpoint, I certainly HOPE Boston is thinking "tank to face the Leafs" because that would tell me that not only have they taken their focus off the goal (the Cup), but they would then be trying to manipulate the system.....and, despite the history in the playoffs between Boston and Toront, could very well blow up in their collective rat fink faces..... and I would be beside myself with glee at that point! For the record, no, I don't think Boston is tanking to face Toronto. Personally, I think the Bruins are going through a bit of the adversity that every team faces at some point in the season. Till they started losing those bunches of games, they really hadn't had any hardships, especially with the rest of the division, including the Lightning, seemingly in a slumber. Now the Leafs are playing better, the Bolts are playing better, hell, even a low rung team like Ottawa plays hard every game out, and a team like Florida is always seemingly hanging around near the top three and some nights, play like a number one team, so now there is more pressure on the Bruins as they look in the rear view. The "Boston is tanking to play us" reminds me of some Bolts fans last season who scoffed when I said I'd rather face Pittsburgh, at a time when the Penguins looked like they may finish as the low wild card. "No!", they ridiculed, "I want nothing to do with Pittsburgh" (because apparently, Pittsburgh, like Boston had Toronto, allegedly had our number), "I'd rather face Columbus or the Islanders", they said. Well, we know how THAT worked out for the Bolts, don't we? Or going back further, some Wild fans when Minnesota always seemingly ran into Chicago who promptly eliminated them....whenever the Hawks fell on some rough patches, some fans were like, "They are trying to match up with us!". Nutty. Fruitcakes. All. Anyways, I did get a good chuckle out of this thread. If that was your intention, you have succeeded admirably! As for the Leafs, hey, if they face the Lightning I certainly am hoping the Bolts grind that "other blue n white team" down to powder and toss them out to the tune of 4-0 in the series! I know, I know...you are shocked to hear this coming from me! But if the Leafs face the Bruins, I will root Leafs all day and night, in hopes that Boston really DID try to manipulate the system, got what they wanted......but are then left to ponder "hmm...irons, drivers, or fairways?"

Well, Minnesota did better than I thought they would with zone time and possession with the extra attacker, but end result was still a loss. Team was game, but Calgary, with a bit of luck on their side, pull out yet another win against the Wild. Real tough week coming up for Minnesota starting Sunday.. Home vs Vancouver Road at Pittsburgh Then back home for a pair against the Lightning and Stars.

Calgary seemed content to just play "prevent" about 10 game minutes ago, and the Wild simply are unable to crack that defensive shell the Flames are playing in. Chances, but no conversions has been the story. Now looks like BB is gonna have 6 skaters. This probably won't go well.

Almost got one... great pressure by the Wild, but Mr. Post thwarts Minnesota.

Talbot DOES produce the rebounds. Wild need to just keep peppering him. Eventually there will be one he can't corral or his defense can't clear for him.

Stalock doing Stalock things.... went all the way out to play that puck...and nearly turned it over with him almost to the blue line

Flyers continue their winning ways at Wells Fargo. 14-2-4 now after this win.

That shift by Coots at the end of the PK...now that is what fans wanna see from him. Calmly killed off the clock, baited Wilson into a check, made him mostly miss, puck deep, get the line change, Caps PP over, Wilson was left with nothing but mumbling under his breath.

Ovechkin left with lots of time and space....NOT a good idea....

You know, I am actually a big Sean Couturier fan (I proposed a trade some seasons back for some a forward or defenseman and a pick from the Lightning for him, but Hextall never returned my call..), but he seriously needs to get ahold of his emotions. I get hockey can be emotional, but ever since Tom Wilson got under his skin, he took a bad penalty and slamming sticks all over the place. Cool, calm and collected is the better Coots rather than on edge, emotional, and spazzy. Take it easy out there Sean! Do your thing and the rest falls into place!