Playoffs 2021 Opening Round: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers (TBL Wins 4-2)

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

 

Are they REAL rivals now?
Could be after this series.

Bolts begin the defense of their Cup against the Panthers.... series posts here!

Edited May 27, 2021 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

To NO ONE'S SURPRISE.... both Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov will be available to begin play in defense of the Cup.

Panthers won the season series against TB, but we all know the playoffs are a different animal, the Cats are trying to take what the Bolts have, and TB now has all three of their big guns available as opposed to just Braden Point....which in turn, could make the secondary scoring much more effective.

In essence, the Panthers are looking at a different SC Champ team then they had been used to seeing most of the year.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Tampa Bay looks TONS more dangerous with Kucherov on the same line with Point and Palat.

Bobrovsky has looked good for the Panthers so far, and lucky for them, he is.
Bolts are all over the offensive zone.

[mojo1917]

This has been the best game on a day full of good games. 

Super fun series,  the Cats are fun.

[Jimtown guy]

I don’t think these 2 teams have a lot of love for each other. This is what playoff hockey is all about and the refs are letting em play 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

As they said on the broadcast, the stars were stars, on both sides, and the goalies made sure this game didn't end up 10-9!

Bolts lead 1-0 on a hard hitting, entertaining affair!

[SaucyJack]

Watching these teams sends me back to when the Caps Cats and Canes battled ‘er out with Bolts and Thrashers in the old Southeast Division.  Sun Belt plus DC.  A memorable 2003 first-round disappointment when Peter Bondra and the lads took the first two in Tampa, only to have Vinnie Lecavalier and Martin St Louis dominate and lead the Bolts to 4 straight wins thereafter, 3 in DC.
 

I always thought they got the South Florida PR wrong when hockey expanded to the Sun Belt in the 90’s.   How can you NOT name them the Miami Ice ?!?  (Too late now.  Profiles of Crockett and Tubbs on the unis might’ve been even though the show had ended for a few years by the founding date.  Oh well...)

Edited May 17, 2021 by SaucyJack

[Brewin Flames]

Here are the highlights...

 

 

[Brewin Flames]

13 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

To NO ONE'S SURPRISE.... both Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov will be available to begin play in defense of the Cup.

Panthers won the season series against TB, but we all know the playoffs are a different animal, the Cats are trying to take what the Bolts have, and TB now has all three of their big guns available as opposed to just Braden Point....which in turn, could make the secondary scoring much more effective.

In essence, the Panthers are looking at a different SC Champ team then they had been used to seeing most of the year.

 

I'm actually a member of many hockey facebook groups, and while i never post...i read alot, and man is it funny to hear all the panthers fans bit*ing about the "blatant cheating" the bolts are doing, circumventing the cap and letting stammer and Kuch play, blah blah blah....i know the LTIR is queationable, but teams have been doing it for years...they act like it's something new. I guess panthers fans are "new" to the playoffs.....lol. A great game btw.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 hour ago, Brewin Flames said:

 

 man is it funny to hear all the panthers fans bit*ing about the "blatant cheating" the bolts are doing, circumventing the cap and letting stammer and Kuch play, blah blah blah....i know the LTIR is queationable, but teams have been doing it for years...they act like it's something new. I guess panthers fans are "new" to the playoffs.....lol. A great game btw.

 

Yea, I know.
Been hearing it from some Leaf fans as well..... as if THEIR team never did that.... lol....

Rules are set up a certain way, the Bolts would be stupid to not take advantage of them, like you said, something teams have been doing for a long time.
Now if the league wants to go ahead and change them for next year for instance, then great..... then business will have to be conducted differently.

Best part for me is, EVERYONE KNEW Kucherov would be back for the playoffs.... at least, from the Bolts' side of things, that was what they were hoping......since deciding for him to have the surgery.
It was timed so that he has the procedure, he misses the time he did, and if he had no setbacks, would be ready in time for the post season.
The wild card here really was Stamkos going down when he did, and I suspect the Bolts "being precautionary", kept him out of the lineup till the post season as well....which in turn helped them snap up or grab some other players along the way DURING the season.

If Kucherov would have come back and stunk up the joint, people would have been like, "oh well, you can't miss that much time and expect to be back strong".
But since he came back like he didn't miss a beat, it is upsetting some fanbases.

Oh well...about time the Bolts embraced the role a bit of "the villain".
Better to be the bad guy and keep winning, than being the cool good guy and always falling short.   

And the game itself.....was a whale of a game, agreed!
Even had the Bolts lost it. 
Very entertaining start to finish.

[Jimtown guy]

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

50 minutes ago, Jimtown guy said:

 

What's interesting here is, TB's Ryan McDonagh also got called for boarding prior to this.

Granted, in Bennett's case, he looked like he came across the ice full speed to make the hit on Coleman, while McDonagh looked like he at least tried holding up.
Not making excuses for McDonagh though....he COULD have avoided contact altogether (thus the penalty call), but I just wonder if the blatant nature of Bennett's hit is what got him his hearing and suspension whereas McDonagh may not get a call from the league office.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

21 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

What's interesting here is, TB's Ryan McDonagh also got called for boarding prior to this.

Granted, in Bennett's case, he looked like he came across the ice full speed to make the hit on Coleman, while McDonagh looked like he at least tried holding up.
Not making excuses for McDonagh though....he COULD have avoided contact altogether (thus the penalty call), but I just wonder if the blatant nature of Bennett's hit is what got him his hearing and suspension whereas McDonagh may not get a call from the league office.

I was just about to post something similar.  I wholeheartedly agree with the Bennett suspension.  But I was surprised the DoPS (more like Dopes) didn’t fine or suspend McDonagh for his hit.  Both were dangerous plays.  
 

 

[OccamsRazor]

On 5/17/2021 at 6:34 AM, Brewin Flames said:

the "blatant cheating" the bolts are doing

 

 

You got some splainin to do Lucy...

 

 

...they got hosed on this call...the Bolts score right after this. I'd be pissed about this.

[ruxpin]

43 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

You got some splainin to do Lucy...

 

 

...they got hosed on this call...the Bolts score right after this. I'd be pissed about this.

This was utter bull####t.    Simply horrific fantasy land "that puck has bamboo in it" bull####.

[pilldoc]

Nuts and Bolts

Nuts and Bolts

 

boy did the Panthers just get screwed!  
 

Simply horrific…. It’s a shame it can’t be reviewed.

[OccamsRazor]

35 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

Nuts and Bolts

Nuts and Bolts

 

boy did the Panthers just get screwed!  
 

Simply horrific…. It’s a shame it can’t be reviewed.

 

Yep that is a quick two goal swing and they lost by one. Bent over and told to grab their toes.

[OccamsRazor]

And now they are down 2 games to none...

[Brewin Flames]

7 hours ago, pilldoc said:

Nuts and Bolts

Nuts and Bolts

 

boy did the Panthers just get screwed!  
 

Simply horrific…. It’s a shame it can’t be reviewed.

 

Remind me again, sometimes the rules slip my mind....can that not be challenged/reviewed ?

[pilldoc]

55 minutes ago, Brewin Flames said:

 

Remind me again, sometimes the rules slip my mind....can that not be challenged/reviewed ?

I stand corrected…. I thought it was not reviewable however I just looked it up….

 

d) The standard for overturning the call in the event of a "NO GOAL" call on the ice is that the NHL Situation Room (which shall include a former referee in the Officiating Department in the decision-making process), after reviewing any and all available replays and consulting with the Referee who made the original call, determines that the goal on the ice should have been allowed because either: (i) there was no actual contact of any kind initiated by the attacking Player with the goalkeeper; or (ii) the attacking Player was pushed, shoved or fouled by a defending Player causing the attacking Player to come into contact with the goalkeeper; or (iii) the attacking Player's positioning within the crease did not impair the goalkeeper's ability to defend his goal and, in fact, had no discernible impact on the play.

 

so why was this not reviewed… FYI… I did watch game in real time and therefore I do not know if it was reviewed or not….

 

 

[ruxpin]

12 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

I stand corrected…. I thought it was not reviewable however I just looked it up….

 

d) The standard for overturning the call in the event of a "NO GOAL" call on the ice is that the NHL Situation Room (which shall include a former referee in the Officiating Department in the decision-making process), after reviewing any and all available replays and consulting with the Referee who made the original call, determines that the goal on the ice should have been allowed because either: (i) there was no actual contact of any kind initiated by the attacking Player with the goalkeeper; or (ii) the attacking Player was pushed, shoved or fouled by a defending Player causing the attacking Player to come into contact with the goalkeeper; or (iii) the attacking Player's positioning within the crease did not impair the goalkeeper's ability to defend his goal and, in fact, had no discernible impact on the play.

 

so why was this not reviewed… FYI… I did watch game in real time and therefore I do not know if it was reviewed or not….

 

 

It wasn't reviewed. The ref cheated and pushed it forward very quickly.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Panthers in an 0-2 hole.
Impossible to get out of? Probably not...especially if the Lightning are gonna sit on leads like they did in this last game.

Bolts should have been pushing for a 3rd or 4th goal, but instead played defense most of the 3rd period capitalizing on the EN goal to finally ice it.

Still...better to be up 2-0 than down 2-0, but hoping TB doesn't get caught up in the home ice hoopla when the series resumes at Amalie on Thursday.

As for the "no goal", most definitely a borderline call that went the Bolts way.
Listening to the Panthers broadcast as the clip up top shows, sure, they are screaming bloody murder.

But watching the same clip from a neutral source, even though it was initially questioned, one can see where Sam Bennett DID use the blade of his stick to push off on Vasilevskiy's pad and it DID cause the goalie to move slightly out of position, before the puck was thrown into the net.

Again, borderline, and the call could have just as easily gone the Panthers way, in which case, a clip of the Lightning broadcast I am SURE would have been used to how badly they were wronged.
Call went TB's way and they will take it....and so would the Panthers had it been the other way around.

Blake Coleman, thus far, has done an EXCELLENT job of irritating and getting under the skin of Florida.
In fact, I would say right now, he is out-hornqvisting Patrik Hornqvist and company.

Panthers are just gonna have to find a way.....but I really do believe the depth and experience the Bolts have over them is paying off.
Borderline calls going their way helps too, but if the Panthers end up losing this series, it won't be because the refs 'took anything away' from them...it will be because they lost to the better team.
Simple as that.

Lots of hockey to be played in this set though.
I've said for years before this season the Panthers play with a lot of heart.
That is still true.
They get Sam Bennett back, and if he can keep from doing stupid things, maybe his team has a shot.

[ruxpin]

16 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

But watching the same clip from a neutral source, even though it was initially questioned, one can see where Sam Bennett DID use the blade of his stick to push off on Vasilevskiy's pad and it DID cause the goalie to move slightly out of position, before the puck was thrown into the net.

Again, borderline, and the call could have just as easily gone the Panthers way, in which case, a clip of the Lightning broadcast I am SURE would have been used to how badly they were wronged.
Call went TB's way and they will take it....and so would the Panthers had it been the other way around.

 

I've seen several sources.  I just see this play entirely differently.  Actually, I don't see any of the above description.  

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

6 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

I've seen several sources.  I just see this play entirely differently.  Actually, I don't see any of the above description.  

 

In the playoffs, something this borderline probably SHOULD have just been let go and the goal allowed.
The Lightning would not have been happy, but then, they would have to swallow that "call didn't go your way" pill.

Not saying this is clear cut......but there DOES seem to be some pushing on Bennett's part, using his blade on Vasilevskiy's left blocker.
Again, could have, maybe SHOULD HAVE, been just left alone and the goal counted.

But it didn't.
And again, if roles were reversed, the Panthers, or any other team for that matter, take the call going their way 100 out of 100 times.
Bolts aren't going to apologize for getting a favorable call.

Florida isn't done in this series.
But if they are going to do anything in this series, they need to stop being outplayed, out goaltendered, and out-hornqvisted as they have been, for the most part, to this point.

[pilldoc]

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

It wasn't reviewed. The ref cheated and pushed it forward very quickly.

Ridiculous …. That is just horrific….