Round #1 Eastern Conference: Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs Columbus Blue Jackets (WC2)

[pilldoc]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

That may be so, but you may be without Kucherov.  I saw the replay, just plain dumb what he did.  I'm all for physical hockey but there is no place in hockey for what he did.

 

https://cdn-b-east.streamable.com/video/mp4-mobile/qqmcu.mp4?token=DBQbTB14M-dLTAUdXUTs6A&expires=1555128281

[Jimtown guy]

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

10 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

That may be so, but you may be without Kucherov.  I saw the replay, just plain dumb what he did.  I'm all for physical hockey but there is no place in hockey for what he did.

 

https://cdn-b-east.streamable.com/video/mp4-mobile/qqmcu.mp4?token=DBQbTB14M-dLTAUdXUTs6A&expires=1555128281

 

I just commented on this in the chatbox...
I DON'T want Kuch suspended of course, but if he is, so what?

Bolts can't use that as any kind of excuse. Their lineup depth is second to none.
Next man up. And next man for the Lightning, usually is a top line guy on any other team.

Bolts just need to match the hustle and execution the Jackets showed in this last game. Let the talent take over from there.
Columbus executed their play to PERFECTION...not getting too high, or too low, making things happen, then falling back at the appropriate times, and Bob came up big when he needed to.

Columbus is halfway there, but that's it...halfway. 
Halfway doesn't win you squat in this league.

Bolts take it to'em on the road. Kucherov or no. Looks like they got themselves a bit of fire in the belly towards the end of this debacle.
TB has been an excellent road team all year as well.

[Kings Redeem LA]

On 4/10/2019 at 8:05 PM, pilldoc said:

Ok ...I think the Blue Jackets just gave the Lightning and their fans an official wake up call.... I seriously did not see the Bolts and Vasi giving up 3 straight goals in the 3rd.

 

Now I still believe that Tampa is the better team.....but I be damned...the NHL Playoffs have started.  Be prepared to expect the unexpected. 

 

Is it too soon to say how important Game #2 is now ........ just saying.....

 

1 hour ago, pilldoc said:

 

I have joked that  Game #2 was a must win for the Bolts ....WELL ....... Game #3 just became that game.  Bolts must win Game #3 to prevent going down 3-0.

 

Raise your hand if you saw this coming ..............yeah I thought so .......

 

WTH is happening to this team who ran rough shod over teams during the regular season?????

 

The NHL playoffs are an unruly animal.    
Recent seasons have seen teams such as 

the Caps  and the Rangers  

kick butt in the regular gauntlet and take favorable 

predictions for the playoff one--only to 

get bounced long before the Conference Finals or 

 glory. 

Which's why experts agree that if I want to win a 

Bracket Challenge, my best bet's to pick every team 

that I don't think will advance.  Which would better allow me 

to assist a deserving team to win a title, while personally 

shining along the way from invoking reverse-psychology maneuvers.  

Everything resets to Zero when playoffs begin. 

The games always have to be played to discover a winner. 
Seems there's always at least a couple "Say what?!" series no matter how a regular season finishes. 
All that makes a hockey postseason something to always look forward to. 
And if a Bracket ever dwindles down to a Vegas v. Washington situation, 

we thankfully live in a technology world loaded with Off buttons.    

[yave1964]

  Roenick has made a career out of not being afraid to speak his mind, here is what he said in the postgame:

 

"Tampa is the only team in the playoffs to not elevate their game from where it was in the regular season. The only one. They won the regular season by over twenty points on cruise control and are still playing as if they are on cruise control."

 

  Wow I still cannot believe that Tampa is allowing the CBJ to dominate the series, to set the tone, trying to play the Jackets way instead of playing the way that got them there in the first place. Columbus is contesting every inch of the ice, Point other than his fight with Werenski has been invisible, Stammer has just missed multiple times, Kucherov will amost certainly be suspended, Hedman looks like an angry beaten kid right now, Vasilevskiy looks more like Vasil-leaky. Columbus is protcting bob, making certain that if you go to the net you are going to hurt, McDonough looks like a crossing guard waving people past.

 

  Can they turn it around? Oh God yeah, they are an amazing team and everyone mentioned above is world class, right now Columbus is playing loose, playing with house money with nothing to lose, Tampa is tight, a 4-1 Tampa win in game 3 and it is a series again. But for right now, I agree with JR, it looks as if Tampa threw their collective hats on the ice expecting the Jackets to role over and when Columbus pushed back, so far Tampa has not answered. AGAIN this is more about Tampa instead of what Columbus has done, Columbus has played near flawlessly but if Tampa played their game it would be a different series than it is.

[Kings Redeem LA]

In case Tampa Bay doesn't become one of only a few teams to ever overcome a 0 - 3 playoff deficit, 

does this Columbus series win become the biggest first-round upset since 

Isles over Pens in '93? 

or since ________________? 

 

[pilldoc]

I hear the fat lady warming up..... wow....

 

never saw saw this coming.....

[Puck_Pun]

[Jimtown guy]

First time they have lost 3 in a row all year. Kind of a bad time to do it 

[brelic]

Just joining the thread now, and boy, those first page posts did not age well lol.

 

Tampa Bay does not look like a 128-point team. They look like an 8th seed that snuck in as a wildcard. 

 

I'm lovin' the Jackets' mojo. Ton of credit to them for showing up prepared and dictating the pace of play. Outscoring TB 11-2 over the last 8 periods on their way to a 3-0 series lead?

 

I'll tell you what, though - if there's a team you don't want to give ANY sign of life, it's TB. They'd better end this on Tuesday night.

 

 

[pilldoc]

@brelic

 

Here is an even uglier stat for you to munch on.  Going back to the last 2 games vs. the Capitals in last years playoffs and including the the 3 games so far in this series, the Bolts have been outscored  19-5 in the last 5 playoff games.

 

AND ......

 

in the last 5 games the combination of  Stamkos / Kucherov / Point / Johnson / and Hedman have exactly ZERO points ... I mean a big fat GOOSE EGG here...let that sink in.

 

Now can the Bolts become only the 5th team in NHL history to come back from being down 3-0 ...time will only tell.  They certainly have the talent, but now the question comes do they have they will/desire to do so??? 

 

If not ...then they make history by becoming the first ever President's Trophy winner to be swept in the 1st Round of the NHL Playoffs ....

 

As they say....Tampa Bay ...time is yours ......

[Podein25]

The ONE time I get the 1st overall pick in my local playoff pool and I pick Kucherov (of course). Damn you hockey gods!

[OccamsRazor]

3 hours ago, pilldoc said:

@brelic

 

Here is an even uglier stat for you to munch on.  Going back to the last 2 games vs. the Capitals in last years playoffs and including the the 3 games so far in this series, the Bolts have been outscored  19-5 in the last 5 playoff games.

 

AND ......

 

in the last 5 games the combination of  Stamkos / Kucherov / Point / Johnson / and Hedman have exactly ZERO points ... I mean a big fat GOOSE EGG here...let that sink in.

 

Now can the Bolts become only the 5th team in NHL history to come back from being down 3-0 ...time will only tell.  They certainly have the talent, but now the question comes do they have they will/desire to do so??? 

 

If not ...then they make history by becoming the first ever President's Trophy winner to be swept in the 1st Round of the NHL Playoffs ....

 

As they say....Tampa Bay ...time is yours ......

 

Wow some very interesting stats.

 

I think we need to get a watch on TFG....she pacing the floor somewhere thinking bad thoughts. 

 

I think we need to see if Rick can lift her spirits...

 

[Podein25]

35 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

we need to see if Rick can lift her spirits...

 

May God help us.

 

What TB needs is a collective slap across the face with a rotten halibut.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Well, guess we will see tonight whether TB is gonna make Columbus earn that 4th win or not.

Don't get me wrong, not taking anything away from the Jackets, certainly not implying they haven't earned their 3 wins, but the league's record tying team SHOULD be pushing back harder than they have......

Anyways, took yesterday to not follow hockey at all, try to digest what's been going on with my Bolts, and while I don't like it, I realize credit has to be given to Columbus for executing their gameplans to absolute perfection!
Still though, a team that won 62 games should NOT go down like this.....

Need a win tonight to save at least a LITTLE face....

[Math]

The good point is: If the Lightning lose tonight, I will pass the 99% of my opponents in the bracket challenge (those who picked TB as Stanley Cup champs).

 

The bad point is: Having picked the Flames as the Stanley Cup winner, I will join all these folks if the Avalanche kicks Calgary out...

[Podein25]

I didn't watch the whole series very closely, but watched a bunch of tonight's game. And it's says a great deal about the level of engagement of your team when Braydon Coburn is your best player. Yikes.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Blue Jackets will be moving on to face the winner of the Leafs-Bruins series. They did what many thought was impossible.....I thought it WAS possible, but NOT like this...not a 4-0 series win and the Jackets playing like THEY won the President's Trophy.
In fact, in just about all four games, one could have made the argument that the teams switched roles..... TB looked like the team that just barely got in and was hoping to hang in there, while Columbus looked like the team that was expected to go all the way.
Amazing.
 

Anyways, time to look for some silver linings here.
Not excuses mind you.... Jackets simply outplayed and out executed the Lightning. Plain and simple.
So no excuses will be made from this fan.

 

I promised a forum friend I would tip my cap to his Jackets if they won, and I will stand by that.
Rooting for them now the rest of the way... Vs. Tor or Bos, vs whomever comes from the Metro, vs the Western Champ, if it indeed gets to any of that.

 

Silver linings for TB....yea, there are some.
Too grouchy right now to think of any and this loss will stew for sure, in the minds of every TB player on that roster, the coaching staff, and those of us that have supported the team through the lean times and the good times.

 

Congrats to the Blue Jackets.
John Tortorella proved once again, and to the naysayers, that he IS a winning coach, knows how to formulate a game plan, motivate players (even if he tends to grate on them after a while), and that he IS more than just a collection of media quips and rants.

 

Sergei Bobrovsky showed up, Nick Foligno showed up, Josh Anderson showed up, David Savard showed up....hell, the entire Columbus team showed up.
Their challenge now is to temper that big, big high they are on right now, and be ready to continue to play the way they have against TB vs the other opponents they face....otherwise, their legacy will just be, "Beat President's Trophy winners..... it was enough for us, now let's play golf"

 

Go Jackets vs the Bruins or Leafs.

[OccamsRazor]

On 4/7/2019 at 8:38 AM, OccamsRazor said:

Sorry it's Bob and it's the real season now.

 

So I can't see Bob getting his 6th playoff win.

 

So I went with the sweep...break out the broom.

 

NAILED IT!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Ok yeah not so much....boy is my face read...

 

Sorry @TropicalFruitGirl26 my condolences. Take as long as you need.  I know it's shocking.

 

 

[brelic]

Wow. 

 

The last time the Lightning lost 4 straight games (in regulation no less) was in January 2017.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

4 minutes ago, Podein25 said:

I didn't watch the whole series very closely, but watched a bunch of tonight's game. And it's says a great deal about the level of engagement of your team when Braydon Coburn is your best player. Yikes.

 

Nahhh...TB's BEST player was easily Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Without him, the Bolts likely get blown out in EVERY game in the series.

His forwards played a bit too timid and settled for way too many perimeter shots and his defense left him out to dry more times than I could count.

If anything, a guy like Coburn played like he had all season..that is steady, unspectacular, but doing his job.....but part of his job is NOT to score goals or up the tempo of his team....that falls on the TB stars and leadership core, and none had an answer for the brew Columbus expertly put out there. None.

Vasy...player of the series, such as it was and for what it's worth, for TB.

[Podein25]

2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Nahhh...TB's BEST player was easily Andrei Vasilevskiy

 

I rest my case: without him they get swept in 3 games instead of 4.

[pilldoc]

one word ....

 

WOW ....... 

 

Guess the Bolts have some serious soul searching during the off season .....

[OccamsRazor]

5 hours ago, Podein25 said:

 

I rest my case: without him they get swept in 3 games instead of 4.

 

 

you sir win the week with that post!!!!

 

 

I spit my coffee out this morning...thanks!

 

 

[pilldoc]

No Presidents’ Trophy winner has ever been swept out of the first round of the playoffs, let alone one that tied the NHL’s record for victories. It’s like getting a perfect SAT score and then misspelling your name on a college application.

 

John Cooper is saying that it was special teams. I'm no coach but what little I saw, this was a total and complete domination of one team by another. Not just on special teams but every little aspect of the game you can name. the Blue Jackets passing was pinpoint and decisive. It seemed like all of Tampa's passes that didn't end up in icing ended up on a Blue Jackets players stick.

 

Simply put, the Bolts had no room. The Blue Jackets had all kinds of room and odd man rushes. They clogged the middle yet were the first ones to the loose pucks on the boards. I know rebounds are not a hockey stat but almost all rebound went right to their sticks at both ends of the ice. This was a complete and total beat down. From a Bolts fan's perspective it is hard finding any positives to come from it this series ......

 

As I mentioned before...the Bolts have some serious soul searching to do ......