EAST Playoffs '23-'24 Round 1: (WC1) Tampa Bay Lightning at (A1) Florida Panthers (FLA Wins 4-1)

[FD19372]

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

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

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!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

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!

[SaucyJack]

Lightning Bolts came in to play.

Holding Florida at bay.

Live to see another day.

Win the series?  Whuddya say?

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

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!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

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.... 

 

[OccamsRazor]

Where's Will has been found...

 

[NHL HHOF]

Florida should have swept!!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Tampa Bay Lightning, once again, will attempt to do what has been historically impossible to do in the NHL playoffs: come back from being down 0-3.

Can they notch another W tonight? By hook, or crook, and make this a 3-2 series?
Or will Florida finally right their ship and continue on their way to a Cup win as they bid adieu to the once former champion Bolts?

Lightning, Panthers....puck drop in just a few!

[FD19372]

On 4/27/2024 at 8:33 PM, OccamsRazor said:

Where's Will has been found...

 

    What about Will's friend, Odlaw Marner? Has anyone seen him?

[FD19372]

Big save early by Vasilevskiy on Tkachuk, right on the doorstep.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Panthers' early strategy seems to be hit the Lightning early and often...wow.

Both teams are also crashing the net more.
Not bad by both sides, gotta say.

I wonder if the Bolts can take advantage of the ultra aggressive Panther forecheck though.
If TB can manage to sneak the puck out of their zone quickly while Florida is going for some smashes in corners or along the boards, they COULD find themselves with some odd man rushes against Bobrovsky.

Easier said than done though....Panthers look tough and determined to finish this tonight!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I know teams have won with just above average goalies recently, but goaltending is STILL a good way to keep your team in games.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is sharp so far, and if he weren't, this game could have easily been 2-0 Florida by now.

No way the Bolts even sniff this opportunity (hell, they wouldn't have even made the playoffs) with the tandem of Johansson and Tonkin in net.
Just no freakin way.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Bolts going to their strength.... the PP.

They absolutely need to take advantage of these!
Panthers have done a good job overall in limiting TB's PP in this series.... Bolts need to turn that around if they have any chance to come back in the set.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Wow...dagger?
Looks like...

Lightning NEEDED to get that next goal....Panthers get it instead.
3-1 game with only 8 minutes to play.

Bolts are gonna need some quick strikes, and get them NOW, but Sergei Bobrovsky, even with his skaters hanging back, is playing brilliantly.

[FD19372]

Might be all she wrote for Tampa Bay. Not a good play by Cernak, allowing Florida's top line to pounce on the puck in the offensive zone. Verheaghe gets it to the front of the net, and Barkov finishes it.

[FD19372]

3-1, Florida.

[mojo1917]

Last ride for this group of Boltz. It seems like change is coming.

 

This has, imo been the best team in TBL history.  Consistently a contender for the cup.  

Hedman the best defenceman in the team's history?

Stamkos the best forward? 

 

They should be used as a model for building a window to compete for championships.

 

FLA is just too good this time.

 

[Math]

The Boston-Florida series will be a good re-match. Boston will be ready this time.

[FD19372]

6 minutes ago, Math said:

The Boston-Florida series will be a good re-match. Boston will be ready this time.

They will be, so will Florida..who is better than last year, and the series will almost certainly go at least 6. I think Bobrovsky is going to be a huge difference maker, though. He is really locked in, and will be very tough to beat (not that Ullmark and Swayman, are chopped liver).

[radoran]

1 hour ago, mojo1917 said:

They should be used as a model for building a window to compete for championships.

 

Picking in the middle of the first round consistently

 

 

Seriously, you're citing a #1 and #2 overall picks as a model to build on.

 

I mean, we agree, but...

 

[Brewin Flames]

In this series tampa was the jelly, florida was the jam....

 

Not sure if i can handle seeing the Panthers again.

 

 

[mojo1917]

7 hours ago, radoran said:

 

Picking in the middle of the first round consistently

 

 

Seriously, you're citing a #1 and #2 overall picks as a model to build on.

 

I mean, we agree, but...

 

The team was legitimately bad when those guys were drafted. 

 

TBL didn't get rid of everyone good to make it happen. 

 

They hit on those picks/ were lucky when they sucked. 

 

 

[radoran]

1 hour ago, mojo1917 said:

The team was legitimately bad when those guys were drafted. 

 

TBL didn't get rid of everyone good to make it happen. 

 

They hit on those picks/ were lucky when they sucked.

 

The point being - they legitimately sucked and picked high.

 

Doesn't really matter how they got there.

 

Again, the strategy of looking for top talent in the 2/3 rounds isn't a bad idea.

 

A strategy where you aren't adding them to two top players?

 

We'll see...

 

[mojo1917]

1 hour ago, radoran said:

Doesn't really matter how they got there.

It does to me.

The Sixers are set to do nothing again.

The Orioles are finally looking pretty good. After only 10 years of being the worst organization in north American sports. 

**** losing on purpose.

If a team is trying to win but is legitimately bad that's one thing, a team constructed to lose? 

**** them. 

I respect you as a poster but no one, not you nor anyone else will change my mind on this. 

Also, I know Hedman and Stamkos were top picks and top guys are needed, or at least guys with an elite skill or two. 

I've known this for a while. 

 

The Flyers will have a top 5 pick (6 now because a boy is fickle), a top 7 (Michkov is a legit top 3 talent who fell) pick a top 15 pick over a 3 year span. Adding to that- additional picks in the 1st round. This team should be able to add high quality players they have 7 cracks at it over a 4 year span.  I think the Flyers 2025 pick will be top 10, I don't think they're better next year. An organization with it's head not in it's ass should be able to make some hay with all that quality coming into the ranks.

 

* I wonder if a mod can move this to a Flyers draft thread or end of year summary thread. I don't think this conversation belongs in a playoff thread.