TropicalFruitGirl26

2 minutes ago, FD19372 said:

I'm not much of a fan of Nylander. All the talent in the world and takes monumentally dumb penalty in the offensive zone. A momentum KILLER. The Leafs had the Bruins against the ropes and had a great chance to get within one, but Nylander with a huge brain fart ..throwing DeBrusk down to the ice. It's not rugby or football, Willie.

This just in....

Nylander wants OUT of Toronto  

Someone please take away all Toronto players' license to carry firearms....
They keep shooting themselves in the foot....

Scotiabank Arena was an absolute morgue up until that goal by Marner.

3-1 Boston now.
Plenty of time left for Toronto to make a comeback, however, do the Bruins have another gear themselves?

3-0 B's.

Rat Man and Pasta Man combined for that third goal.
Toronto fans, who had been sitting on their hands this whole period are now letting the Leafs have it with the boos raining down on the ice.

 

I really don't understand how the Leafs can be down 2-1 in this series and now down 2-0 in this game.

I mean....they have Ryan Freakin Reaves!
ALL season long, hell, PRE SEASON....kept hearing about the difference maker Reaves.
He was constantly being quoted and given airtime...

Always had all the 'right' things to say.

Why isn't he putting the team on his back while he smacks Bruins players left n right all over the arena?
Eh? EHHH??  

Leafs back to being the same ol Toronto club we all know and have fun at their expense at?

Boston executing very well, already up in the series and look like they are in firm control of this one.
Rat Man with the latest goal.... 2-0 Bruins midway through the 2nd.

Leafs do have the firepower to dump a bunch of goals on the Bruins, especially with Nylander back, but like the Lightning in the other series, playing from behind constantly is a HARD way to make a playoff living!

3 minutes ago, SaucyJack said:

Lightning Bolts came in to play.

Holding Florida at bay.

Live to see another day.

Win the series?  Whuddya say?

Central Florida fans can only pray.... 

OEL with the fake tough guy act...
Knock it off, Single Ply.... you go getting in Jeannot's face knowing full well you got teammates that will get between you and him, and an official right there.

As for the Bolts, they live to see another game.
More cliches are in order of course.

Now ALL they have to do, is repeat today's results Monday in Sunrise.
Piece o'cake, right? Yea.....

At any rate, Bolts have given me at least one more game of hometown NHL hockey!

O, Captain!
My Captain!

Stamkos gives the Lightning some breathing room as Florida was playing with all sorts of momentum.

Establishes the zone, finds other players, then gets lost in the shuffle, only to re-appear where the Panthers weren't expecting him to!
5-3 Lightning.

Keep that foot on the gas, boys!

6 minutes ago, FD19372 said:

The Lightning are playing their best game of the series, and playing with a lot of tenacity.

And yet, the lack of clean zone exits still haunts them.....they are making their living the hard way. All season long!

2nd period.
Puck dropped.
Game ON!

Just now, OccamsRazor said:

 

Should have went down as soon as that 3rd goal went in.

If the Lightning add any more goals before Florida can score, Stolarz probably will be in.
Anthony did have a pretty good season for Florida. 
At times, HE even looked like the number one.

16 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

Time to yank Bob he looks cooked...

Stolarz time??

Bolts up 2-0 in the first of must-win games.
Just scored a short hander.
They are gonna need that, and a whole lot more. 

History for teams down 0-3 is not on their side.
I believe the stat read off the other day was 98% that they LOSE the series!

Possibly the last Bolts game of the season for me?

Man, I know the Panthers are good, as I've been saying they ARE Cup contenders this year and that last season's run to the Finals was NO FLUKE...
But still, don't wanna see my boys go out in a sweep or even in five.
Tampa Bay is better than that, although their manner of defending and their mindset under pressure betrays that somewhat.

If Florida were to beat the Lightning in 6 or 7 games, I could accept that as, "Well, my boys competed, but they just weren't good enough".
Losing in 5 or in a sweep...even against a good team, is a very tough pill to swallow.

I don't know what kind of plan Julien Brisebois has for the off season (getting Stamkos signed better be priority number one however!), but swapping around some personnel on the blueline or alter the kind of defense they play (maybe that entails changing the assistant in charge of that), from zone (current form) to man to man (what they played when they were successful), is definitely in order!

As for today's game, cliche time...
One shift at a time, one period at a time, one game at a time...
4th game is the hardest to win....
Ain't over till it's over (thanks Yogi!  )
Bolts haven't lost till the Panthers have won...
Etc, etc, etc....

It's all they and us fans of the team have left!

 

1 hour ago, Habs2026 said:

Hi, what they do with their first round picks will tell us more.

True.
And, they DO have a decent draft board to work with the next two years.

Of course, even this may change depending on whether they continue to stockpile picks or trade some away from some "now" players.

6 hours ago, Habs2026 said:

I really like the way this team is trending. Marty St Louis has done a great job of steadily guiding the young talent and their depth on defense seems to be superior. With a little luck on the injury side they could be competing next year to make the playoffs in a very tough Atlantic division. What say you?

I too like the way the Habs are being built, however, and I could be wrong of course, I think it will take more than just into next year before we see the Canadiens compete, much less acquire, a playoff position.

You said it yourself: The Atlantic Division is quite deep and it will take much more than just putting together a bunch of talented young players to succeed....see Ottawa Senators, see Buffalo Sabres, see Detroit Red Wings...you get the idea...
The Canadiens still have to learn to play together, what to do in the various game situations, and yea, STILL add to their talent pool and come up with a legit number 1 goalie.

With MSL at the helm behind the bench, I have no doubt those players are learning to play the right way, but, as you know, this whole thing is a "process".
Some teams try to cheat a bit and skip parts of the process...oftentimes blows up in their front office faces.
Others, like the Habs, take it every step at a time.....and in doing that, they take longer to get to where they want to be, but once there, should be sustainable.
I just think next season is too soon still.

Always a step behind.

And always a step behind a legit SC contender puts you on the brink of elimination....

There we go...now THAT one will count...not a PP goal, but Stamkos with the brilliant tip in after the feed from Hedman squares things for the Lightning.
1-1 start of the 2nd

Edit: Looks like that was a PP goal...tail end of it.
Either way, Bolts needed that badly!

Now....they need to shore up their overall play, especially 5 on 5

2 minutes ago, SaucyJack said:

They really must have priests in attendance next game to perform last rites.  

Or at least one of those flaming ships they send out to sea for the Scandinavians on the team  

@mojo1917

Looks like the Isles haven't fixed their hinges yet for Game 3.

Already down 2-0 midway through the first....

Just now, SaucyJack said:

This reminds me of Euro-Football goals disallowed per Video Assistant Referee (VAR).  Far more goals disallowed for offsides there than in hockey.

Well, FWIW, the refs DID get the call right....much as I don't like it.

Bolts pushed back afterwards once again, but ran out of time.
I believe they will still have a slice of that PP left to start the 2nd?
Will have to look.

Two big shots as the period comes to a close....Bob makes a huge save on one....and then Brayden Point BEATS Bob, but can't beat the post.
Wow.

The hockey gods must have cloud dollars on Florida....

Poof...no goal.

Florida retains the 1-0 lead.
Talk about bad timing on that fall...

Third time's the charm for the TB PP.
Finally got one.
Clean technique leads to the goal.

Oh, but wait...Florida is challenging for offsides....