Playoffs: #2 (A)Tampa Bay vs. #3 (A) Detroit

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Spending the day at a horse ranch this afternoon guys, so won't be able to see the game live, but will definitely DVR and watch what goes on in the evening.

 

All I can say is....Bolts protect the puck better, Bishop be a bit more engaged in the game, and the rest of the Bolts...just rain shots on Mrazek like you did in Game 1...MAKE him steal another.

 

Chances are, if Mrazek is forced by the team in front of him to make 40+ saves a game, he will falter at some point.

 

Go Bolts!

[yave1964]

Chances are, if Mrazek is forced by the team in front of him to make 40+ saves a game, he will falter at some point.

  The Wings gave up their most shots of the entire season and had their least. That is unlikely to say the least to continue.

 

I think Babs REALLY likes the idea of lefty-righty D a LOT, and that may push Marchy over the top to get the nod. But you are correct that the pluses and minuses make that a tough decision, and if they are close in ability, the Righty Is going to get the nod.

And that is why Marchenko is playing, three righties, Zidlicky, Marchenko and Glendening in the same lineup, WOW.

 

  Like I told TFG, we gave up our most and shot our least of the year and still came out ahead. Unless Bishop has better than a .886 save pct. if we get the shots closer to even, not necessarily even but CLOSER, we could actually make short work of the Bolts. We absolutely cannot take them lightly, they are easily the most skilled team I have seen this year, as far as puck management and what they do with the puck on their sticks. But pretty teams don't usually go far in the playoffs. We need to bloody them up a bit. They were zero for seven on the power play and only average on it during the regular season which is baffling considering the talent on the club.

Sometimes you just gotta take one for the team.

Thanks! Anything we can get to give us an edge we will take!!

[yave1964]

Best home team in Hockey played like it yesterday afternoon, absolutely deserve props. Johnson, wow what a player. Overlook him at your own peril.

 Back to Detroit for two, the Wings need at least a split if not a sweep, but cannot think too far ahead. Gotta win Tuesday at the Joe.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Fine example of what the Bolts are capable of when they are playing 'right'.

 

The game plan was pretty much the same as Game 1...hell, even the lineup was unchanged....the difference was, Ben Bishop played to his capabilities, the Bolts defense was much more responsible, and chances they did get in Game 1 that weren't being finished, were absolutely finished in Game 2.

 

Mrazaek was great in Game 1, but still, there were times in the game when he wasn't quite in position, wasn't quite ready, Bolts got the Detroit defense scrambling around....but failed to put him what should have been sure goals.

Not so in Game 2.

 

Bolts put away major chances...and this was helped by the fact that in Game 2, they actually GOT second and third chances at Mrazek, which of course, they really weren't getting in Game 1, as Detroit severely limited second and third chances there.

Eventually, the Bolts KO'ed Mrazek after the 2nd period....in comes Howard, plays reasonably well, but plain to see he was not up to snuff quite yet.

 

And for a 'pretty team' the Bolts sure did mash on Detroit players all game.

I thought the Lightning did a good job physically in Game 1, but seems they upped the ante in that department in Game 2.

 

In fact, many times during the game, the top line of Callahan-Stamkos-Killorn played more like a checking 3rd line than a top line...yet still managed to produce

 

Now the series shifts to Detroit, and yes, the Bolts need to learn to be consistent winners on the road....but you know what?

Despite being a sub 500 team on the road this year, they did pull off some wins throughout the season in some tough buildings such as MSG, the Bell Centre, Honda Center, MTS Centre, played well enough to win in places like Scott Trade, and yes, some wins at Joe Louis as well early and midway in the year.

 

Peter Mrazek's exit after the 2nd period yesterday MAY have brought in some questions as to who starts in goal, but personally, if I were Detroit, I'd give him another goal.

From a Bolts' standpoint, I'd be salivating if they brought in Howard who had been riding the pine for much of the time down the stretch.

 

No disrespect to Howard, as I have always thought him to be more than capable net minder, but it was Peter Mrazek who helped Detroit hang on and get into the post season, it was Peter Mrazek who stopped 44 of 46 in Game 1....I say, unless confidence is totally gone in the young man, give him another goal, in front of his home fans, where he will have all the support necessary (along with some pressure....hey, goes with the territory) to get back to being the guy that had been keeping Detroit afloat.

 

If the Bolts hammer Mrazek again, then maybe turn to Howard for Games 4 and 5.....but I do think the Wings should stay the course with Mrazek.

Maybe put the onus on the Detroit defense to pick things up a bit in front of him.

 

Wings will have home ice, they can have last matchup....Mike Babcock, being the excellent coach he is, will SURELY take advantage of having last change...but he will need his players to execute on the ice.

 

At the end of the day, Detroit did what any road underdog team wants, and that is to grab a game on the road and return home no less than even.

Mission accomplished there.

 

Best of 5 series now, boys.

[jammer2]

Spending the day at a horse ranch this afternoon guys, so won't be able to see the game live, but will definitely DVR and watch what goes on in the evening.

 

All I can say is....Bolts protect the puck better, Bishop be a bit more engaged in the game, and the rest of the Bolts...just rain shots on Mrazek like you did in Game 1...MAKE him steal another.

 

Chances are, if Mrazek is forced by the team in front of him to make 40+ saves a game, he will falter at some point.

 

Go Bolts!

 

 

 

 A VERY NICE call TFG....as per usual, your superior hockey knowledge shines through!!

[jammer2]

Johnson, wow what a player. Overlook him at your own peril.

 

 

 I swear Yave, to this very day, seeing ALL 32 teams pass up on Johnson not only for 1, BUT 2 ENTIRE drafts is far to mind boggling to wrap my head around. It will always be one of the all time misses by EVERY scouting staff in the whole league. Not one of these teams even thought to take a 7th round flyer on this immensely talented guy????   How does this happen??  I suspect his size....he was 5'8 played a major role in his being undrafted, but there are so many glaring examples of size not being a factor in NHL careers....that excuse is LAME at best. It's been proven over and over, heart can overcome any size deficiency......Theo Fleruy, Danny Briere, Johnny hockey.....the list is long and very talented.

 

 Even more mind boggling....he played for the friggin Spokane Chiefs of the WHL....to this day, the only American team to win the Memorial cup on Canadian soil. This was only 2008 when the Chiefs put themselves in the record books.....so it's not like he played for some obscure NCAA team that was never scouted properly, literally HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of scouts saw him multiple times........WOW....WHAT A MISS!!!

[yave1964]

Brendan Smith and Abdelkader are back in the lineup tonight for the Wings, two of the Wings best hitters and Abdelkader allows the Wings to move Zetterberg back to the second line and Sheahan back to the third where he belongs. In short, the Wings are a lot more dangerous team now than they were in the first two games.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Brendan Smith and Abdelkader are back in the lineup tonight for the Wings, two of the Wings best hitters and Abdelkader allows the Wings to move Zetterberg back to the second line and Sheahan back to the third where he belongs. In short, the Wings are a lot more dangerous team now than they were in the first two games.

 

 

This is a big deal.

 

Was reading a report on their return just this morning.

Abdelkader brings elements in that a guy like Weiss does not and Smith brings in more experience and intensity over Marchenko.

 

Wings still face the dilemma of 'pick your poison' as it relates to which lines they want to cover with their best lines and defense pairings, but like you said, splitting off Datsyuk from Zetterberg gives the Wings, for sure, at least TWO potentially potent lines instead of one.

 

From a Bolts' standpoint, the gameplan shouldn't change much, although, with Abdelkader in the lineup, they will have to account for him and his shenanigans...and if the Bolts are smart, they will stick to their gameplan and not buy too much into what Justin is selling. 

 

To that end, if need be, guys on the Bolts like Cedric Paquette, JT Brown, and Brendan Morrow can match some of the 'extra curriculars' Mr. Abdelkader will bring.

 

But I do agree....with these two in, the Wings just got upgraded. And combine that with having last change at home, the Bolts face a more challenging situation.

[yave1964]

THIS.

 

The Wings hit everything on the ice, putting Smith and Abby back in got us going.  As perfect a game as we can play.

 

Mrazek, again was very, very god, but I am telling you, he has not played his best game of the series as of yet. Tampa has only been shut out twice all year, both by Mrazek. But again, he can play better, he will play better.

 

 Bishop was good. Very good in fact. Killorn was incredible. Stamkos has went three games without a goal, he was pretty much a non factor all night.

 

 Hedman was very good. I saw him technically sound strip the puck from Zetterberg twice tonight. Brendan Smith and Kyle Quincey were fantastic, hitting everything and pinching in, Zidlicky as well, simply al over the ice. 

 

 That damn Boyle almost had another shorty. Wow can he play.

 Morrow looked old and slow. No way do I play him in game four, Drouin needs to be in there.

 

 Tatar and Nyquist were both all over the place, playing very well.

 

Stallman was lights out.

And lastly, Paquette is a punk. I am trying to keep this clean, his deliberate trip on Mrazek was a garbage play, Abby absolutely drilled his turtling ass. What a wimp. Cheap shots the goalie and covers up when he has a player chasing him down for retribution. Absolute wimp.

 

Great game, for those of you who thought the Bolts were winning in five or less, sorry, not going to happen. The Wings are giving them all they can handle and then some.

[yave1964]

This is a big deal.

 

Was reading a report on their return just this morning.

Abdelkader brings elements in that a guy like Weiss does not and Smith brings in more experience and intensity over Marchenko.

 

Wings still face the dilemma of 'pick your poison' as it relates to which lines they want to cover with their best lines and defense pairings, but like you said, splitting off Datsyuk from Zetterberg gives the Wings, for sure, at least TWO potentially potent lines instead of one.

 

From a Bolts' standpoint, the gameplan shouldn't change much, although, with Abdelkader in the lineup, they will have to account for him and his shenanigans...and if the Bolts are smart, they will stick to their gameplan and not buy too much into what Justin is selling. 

 

To that end, if need be, guys on the Bolts like Cedric Paquette, JT Brown, and Brendan Morrow can match some of the 'extra curriculars' Mr. Abdelkader will bring.

 

But I do agree....with these two in, the Wings just got upgraded. And combine that with having last change at home, the Bolts face a more challenging situation.

Abdelkader simply ran over your boys tonight. That cheap punk play by Paquette was answered by Abby.

In a lot of ways the Bolts are married to Morrow even though he has been dreadful in the series, he does hit, and Drouin does not, as the series goes longer the physicality will ratchet up every game, Drouin simply is not that type of player.

 I know the final was 3-0 but it was intense. I don't know about you though, but I get pretty sick of every whistle leading to a board meeting. Give it a rest. Play on the ice while the game is being played, the after the whistle face washing gets out of hand.

 Anyway, good game by both, like I posted elsewhere Tampa has now been shut out twice this year, both times by the kid. And I really do not think you have seen his best game of the series yet.

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

I dunno. Yeah, Mrazek gave up 2 goals in. game 1, but that was a DANG good performance and will be tough to beat. Mrazek was very good tonight, although let's be honest, TB was playing the pipes tonight and a couple of other golden opportunities where TB sent the puck wide, and things could have gone MUCH differently had those netted. That said, I don't think this will be Petr's last solid performance in net this series. There's more coming, but that Game 1 performance was pretty special and will be tough to top.

I LOVED ABBY tonight, and I loved the play of this game, a playoff game which was tightly contested. The 3-0 score was misleading as far as how close this game really was. But the tone he set made a huge impact.

I have to strongly agree about the play of Smith, and I won't say I told ya so, but there has been a Red Wing contributor who has called for Babcock to use the bench and the press box with somewhat regular players to motivate them to play better--no names mentioned. Smith was both physical and responsible. He responded EXACTLY how good players respond when their coach sits them when they are healthy. In short, the benching worked. No disrespect to Marchenko, but Smith made and makes us a better playoff team than Marchy does this year. He's come a long way in the last couple years, because there's no way I would have said that about Smith 2 years ago. No way.

The ability to run 3 good offensive lines plus Glennie's Grinders makes all the difference. Well, the home ice and last change doesn't hurt either. We just plain match up better this way.

I thought Babs had it right when he was asked after the game if he was concerned about the consistent lack of shots. He looked for a moment at the scorecard and said, "I see here it says they got 22. We got 21. Sounds like a playoff hockey game to me." Dead on! Not that I wouldn't like to see a few more shots--of course I would. But we will NOT beat this team in a 7-now-5 game series trying to beat them in a shootout. That is a recipe for almost certain failure. This kind of tight, low-scoring, physical contest is the ticket to us moving on. Having the personnel in place to let us play our best game matters.

I think the biggest difference was our interfering with the Bolts leaving their own zone. If they leave their zone consistently clean with a running start through the neutral zone like they did in Game 1 and somewhat less in Game 2, we lose more than we win. We hamper that process and we will win more than we will lose. Today was Exhibit A for that. Hope to see more of it in Games 4 & 5. If we do, it may be that there won't be a Game 6 or 7.

Honestly, I thought it was our best hockey game since the Montreal game that we lost when Montreal broke the 0-0 tie in the third. Though we lost that game, it was one of our more complete games. This one, we won using the same recipe. Keep playing like this and we move on, perhaps to see if we can keep doing it against that same Habs team.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Alright....we get to do this again tonight.....

 

Dear Bolts,

Some PP goals please?

Thanks.

 

Yours Truly,

Sandy

[flyercanuck]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Dear Sandy, sorry but we need a high pick this draft....you can cheer for the Minny-Apple 

 

with a promise to cheer Tampa on next season

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Well, the PP was still a bust, but thankfully, Tyler Johnson and his "screw this...yall ain't gonna do nuthin, I AM" attitude pulled the Lightning through!!

 

Like I've been saying all along...the THREAT of the Lightning putting up goals in bunches is ALWAYS there.

 

WAYYY too early...but if the Bolts win it all and Johnson continues performances like he has thus far, he is the slam dunk Conn Smythe winner, IMO.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

And this is what it's come down to for the Lightning:

 

It's been lose one, even up, lose one even up...now they lost one, need to even up, then win again.

Possible, but man the Wings defense and goaltending is making that look MUCH harder than it looks.

 

All us Bolts fans can lean on is the fact that Lightning CAN strike quickly and often.

Detroit, when playing flawlessly (like this game) can shut down a high powered offense like Tampa Bay's....but Detroit is FAR from flawless and there is always that chance...that chance where they let up and feel the full brunt of unmitigated goal scoring.

 

That has to be the mindset for us fans.

For the players....hmm, I wonder if anyone on TB's bench or film crew has noticed if ya move the puck around quickly and don't give Mrazek time to 'set', he isn't NEAR as effective.

Goals scored and missed golden opportunities, more often than not, came from that type of approach.

 

If Mrazek is squared to the shooter and ready, he will likely stop the shot....unless you can go high like Mr. Johnson can do.

Easier said than done for the Bolts of course, Detroit has done a good job on defense in their own zone to not ALLOW too much East-West passing to loosen them up.

Just throwing that out there...hopefully someone on the TB bench sees that as well, and more importantly, the players can execute.

 

Losing another one isn't an option for the Bolts now.

 

On to Joe Louis.....Wings up, but they STILL haven't won 4 yet.

They gotta prove they CAN.

 

Go Bolts!

[SpikeDDS]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

Mrazek was a bit better even when not set in this one as compared with the other games. That glove save on Val Filpula's one-timer on the PP was a great example of that.

The Bolts remind me of the pre-Stanley Cup winning Detroit Red Wings in the mid-90's. Lots of shots, and if they can score a bunch, they win. But if they can't, they don't. And in the SCPs, there's just little room in a tight game like this one, so more times then not, they got beat by a hot goaltender and a lesser team that mucked it up enough to stifle the offense. History has a tendency to repeat itself. History has a tendency to repeat itself.

And as @yave1964 has noted, when this starts happening repeatedly and then you add he pressure of looming elimination, the tendency is to press and to rush shots rather than taking BETTER shots, so you end up with lots of poor-quality shots. In the third, there was a 2-on-1 where passing to the odd man would have made for an easy goal. Instead, he took the shot, and Mrazek made the save. This was one of your best scoring chances of the day, and it was only a shadow of what it could have been. Frustration mounting.

Stamkos is absent in this series. He is not playing well. It is hard to overcome when your best player is not playing well, especially when he is responsible for as much of the team scoring as he has been this season.

With the way the Bolts surged after his exit last game and compare that to the rest of the series, Luke Glendening has really established his name as a shutdown grinder of repute.

And Mrazek is certainly making a name for himself as well.

I thought Kronwall and Erickson played very solid games today.

It seems odd that when you win 4-0 that the people you think played well are D-men who scored no goals.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

The Bolts remind me of the pre-Stanley Cup winning Detroit Red Wings in the mid-90's. Lots of shots, and if they can score a bunch, they win. But if they can't, they don't. And in the SCPs, there's just little room in a tight game like this one, so more times then not, they got beat by a hot goaltender and a lesser team that mucked it up enough to stifle the offense. History has a tendency to repeat itself. History has a tendency to repeat itself.

 

 

 

^^^^

THIS actually occurred to me the other day!

 

If Stevie Y truly is building the Bolts in the image of the Red Wings (as many have speculated) then he will surely take steps to ensure the Bolts don't go TOO far down the path of all or nothing offense.

After all, he was part of those teams and was witness first hand how the Wings were before and after.

 

Not saying Yzerman is going for a carbon copy of the Detroit organization, but a close facsimile will do just fine.....only this time, hoping he can identify what was right and wrong with the Detroit teams he was on and fix it quickly with this Bolts team.

 

Even if the Lightning somehow come back and win this series, the Red Wings have proved that a good defensive plan and disruption of all offense minded players CAN and does work.

You can bet other teams take notes of these things and apply them to the Lightning accordingly....its one of the reasons I think the Bolts have such a hard time against a team like the Bruins DESPITE being younger, faster, and more offensively capable than the Bruins.

 

How the Wings are playing the Lightning in this series is pretty much how the Bruins play ALL the time at their best.

[yave1964]

@SpikeDDS@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Lets be honest, if it weren't for the most remarkable 8 minutes of Johnson's career, and he is a hell of a little hockey player, but if it weren't for a insane streak of eight incredibly dominant minutes by Johnson this series is over.

 

 Tampa went all year without being shut out, now they have been shut out by Mrazek 3 times in less than a month., Amazing.

 TFG, Steve added Boyle as his Kris Draper, great pickup, and Callahan as his Shanahan, another great move. The problem, as I see it is what I pointed out before the series, the Bolts are still a bit soft and do not know how to win.

 Nesterov BTW, I haven't mentioned him before in here, I know he got threw in with all the injuries, but wow can the kid move the puck. He gets turned around and caught out of position but his vision with the puck on his stick  reminds me of a ten year vet. I like a lot of the little soldiers on Tampa, J.T. Brown has had a few great games. But like I said, 8 minutes of Johnson at a Gretzky level is the only reason Tampa is not scheduling tee times.

 

 What I LOVE about Mrazek is the icewater in his veins. He got absolutely drilled by the Penguins right before Howie came back, a month later he stoned them. He got lit up by Tampa in the regular season, a few weeks later he shut them out. He got killed in game 2 was brilliant in game 3. The team choked away game 4, everyone talked about what he would do in game five, would the bubble burst. He has answered that in spades.

 So back to Detroit for game 6 where Babs has last change, and if needed, I pray to god not, but if needed back to Tampa for game 7 where Mrazek has now won twice in three playoff games against the best regular season home team in hockey. I gotta love our chances.

 If we lose the series, I will look back over the long summer at eight minutes of hockey during game 4. Just an incredible display. But tonight, we answered the bell and have the Lightning on the ropes and questioning themselves.

[yave1964]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Too late now, but should they have ridden Bishop this far? I mean, he hasn't been bad, but he hasn't stolen a game the way that a goalie needs to do in the postseason.

[pilldoc]

Gotta give credit where credit is due.  I honestly thought with how dominant the Bolts were during the regular season that they should be able to win this series.  Gotta give the Red Wings credit.  They are playing their best hockey of the year.  With the play of Mrazek, it surely looks like Howard will need to find work somewhere else.

[yave1964]

Gotta give credit where credit is due.  I honestly thought with how dominant the Bolts were during the regular season that they should be able to win this series.  Gotta give the Red Wings credit.  They are playing their best hockey of the year.  With the play of Mrazek, it surely looks like Howard will need to find work somewhere else.

The Wings will shop Howard for a second rounder, but if we have to offer someone our first for them to take him, I guess we gotta pull the trigger......

[jammer2]

The Wings will shop Howard for a second rounder, but if we have to offer someone our first for them to take him, I guess we gotta pull the trigger......

 

  I was skeptical at the length of the deal Holland handed Howard when it first went down, with good reason. This guy is signed for 4 more years at 5.3 mill, he's still serviceable, but obviously declining. I don't even think a 1st rounder gets it done. I can't see any GM in his right mind taking on a 31 year old declining goalie at that price for 4 more years. The only good thing is it's not a +35 contract....the only way to get out of this mess is for Howard to retire. Problem is, he's a proud guy, I just can't see that happening. Maybe a wink, wink nudge deal could take place, where Howard is given a job in the org, allowed to collect his current salary, just not playing. This is a real mess.

[J0e Th0rnton]

@SpikeDDS@jammer2@yave1964@pilldoc@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Saw someone make this, had to post it

[J0e Th0rnton]

Thornton gets this treatment a lot. lol

[jammer2]

@J0e Th0rnton  If I'm Tyler Johnson's agent, I'm out house shopping right about now!