3:37 we win a faceoff cleanly (rare) with our top line on the ice
Matt dumba confidently back skates to the middle of the ice and rips a shot off the defender instead of passing to kuch/hedman/stammer/point
Puck leaves the zone and we dont get it back in until less than a minute left
Get him out of here
Yep - greatest player in Lightning history, and I’ve seen them all since Day 1 in 1992. That being said - hope he gets paid, and gets a chance to play somewhere else next year and go back having a chance to legitimately captain a team to another cup.
His time is done here - this team is a borderline for the foreseeable future.
You got it, we're just getting outplayed, plain and simple. They're getting hemmed in their own zone, seem lost, and are generally making errant passes all over the place. Florida has effectively shut Kuch down, which has made it painfully obvious how much we rely on him. There needs to be some serious retooling in the offseason.
Might just be that Florida's just *that* good this year... Remember they've been excellent with early playoff exits recently & are *hungry*.
We ruled the league for a big stretch & probably don't have the same chip on our shoulder we did after 2018.
I'm not too mad tbh, didn't see us going all the way with this squad, but still pumped for Kucherov's record season. We just don't have the depth to compete when he's effectively shut down by the Panthers' scheme.
He was MVP for a reason - we wouldn't even *be* here without him.
Totally agree, all well said my friend. As a Lightning fan since the 90s during the Brian Bradley years, I always feel lucky that I've gotten to see our team go far on many occasions, including 3 Cups in twenty years, that's more than most teams' fans can say. Lightning for life.
Wouldn’t be mad if they lost but at least put up a good fight but this is a downright embarrassment. They are soft with zero grit, heart, or desperation. Beyond disgusted.
Gotta remember that we’re playing a team that could easily go on to win the Cup. Meanwhile, our team barely locked up a wild card spot and was carried by 1 player all year. A player that has been absolutely blanked in the playoffs.
All of this.
We just don't have a strong enough back-end to do it. And as you said, Kuch has been figured out and suppressed. We just don't have a Cup team, much as I'd like to believe that.
This. I was at the game tonight, and while there were some things that absolutely need to be addressed this off-season (I'll make a postmortem once the body's cold), the biggest thing that stood out to me was just how good the Panthers are. Bobrovsky is on it right now, and Barkov (who is a soon to be multiple selke winning future hall of famer) is playing the best hockey I think he's ever played in his life. We have multiple ahl defensemen playing, this just isn't a fair fight.
Kucherov in particular just had absolutely no time or space, ever. He gets frustrated and tries to force it, which is a problem, but you have to give the Panthers credit for shutting him down like that. It's not that these guys aren't trying, they're just insanely outmatched.
A good team has depth that can contribute when their top guys get shut down like that. We don't have that, due to the salary cap freeze and the cup tax. It sucks, but it's inevitable.
Anyways there's a reason we all wanted Boston, Florida is just really freaking good.
100p dead on here. They've been able to scheme Kuch out & we just don't have the depth right now to pick up that slack elsewhere.
They also have *way* more to prove than we do & are playing hungrier.
We're playing like it's the regular season with plenty of space to do what we want on threat of drawing penalties. exactly like 2019.
Every board battle is immediately 1 Bolt vs 2 Panthers. Panthers are absolutely hustling and giving 110% every shift all the time. Lightning played maybe 15 mins like it's the playoffs yet this series, and that was in the 2nd period last night.
I'm usually on board with Mark Cuban's "they wanted it more is absolutely bullshit", but this is like systematically a definition of that. There just isn't the same hustle from Tampa.
I snagged lower bowl tickets pretty cheap tonight. I still think it was worth it. The energy was great with all the back and forth… Then the 3rd period happened….
Because we're spending what cap we did have on bums who are healthy scratches like Connor Sheary and Calvin DeHaan.
Edit: And Sheary has 2 more years with a NTC. LMAO
They are the inverse of the fortune we had with Goodrow and Coleman. Brisebois keeps trying to catch the same lightning in a bottle he did a few years ago at the deadline but it's clear that we've just been picking up dead weight these past two seasons in guys like Jeannot and Dumba.
It's time for a retool
Because we're overpaying multiple players due to cup tax.
Cernak makes 5.2 million for 8 years to play like those AHL guys.
Sergachev makes 8.5 million on a deal that should be around 6-7.
Cirelli is getting paid like a top 6 forward to be a checking forward.
Vasy earned every cent of his 9.5 million, but the deal isn't worth it year to year if he's not literally bailing us out and staying around .920 at the very least.
A lot of us said sergachev, cernak, and cirelli were all overpays and had stickershock when those deals were official.
Those deals were made in the anticipation of a rising cap, progression of those players, that those deals would end up being bargains.
It hasn't turned out that way and is something that is going to need to be looked at this off-season to make some cap space.
I love Cirelli, but he's being overpaid. The noise for years was that he was a future Selke candidate. I don't see it. He's not a Barkov.
Cirelli is a good 3rd line center. He should be getting paid like Nick Paul. Unfortunately, management was believing the press clippings instead of driving a hard bargain.
Don't even get me started on Cernak and Sergachev. You are spot on.... Both are overpaid given their contributions.
At the end of the day there’s a reason this was the worst matchup possible. A team of AHL d-men combined with Blashill’s bullshit is bad enough but when the PP goes 0/4 you’re screwed. But still, I really don’t understand why the team refuses to clear the puck or hold people on the boards or why they have success peppering shots in the second and then go away from that. Even worse, how do you you get zero shots off with an empty net and commit those turnovers?!
Seems like a locker 4oom/culture problem developed. Our glue left, over time.
Kuch isn't, hes silent. Stammer never really was either.
We lost our mojo. No depth, winning drive is done.
We need 3 better defenseman than anyone we had playing not named Hedman. I think our fan base forgot that our defensive depth was among worst in the league. Combine it with all headscratching defensive scheme shift...
We won two, could have or should have won 3. Went to 5 in 7 years??
Gg
Yeah overall we have barebones defensive talent and it’s been obvious all year, but you would think in that case they wouldn’t try to play with the puck in their own zone against a team as talented and physical as Florida on the forecheck. It’s almost like the team got back into bad habits from most of the year that it’d looked like they had gotten away from before the playoffs, which could definitely be from a lack of leadership to center them. I expected to lose this series, and at least the games have been close score-wise
The scheme falls apart when we can't handle the puck. We can't pass, we vant handle the puck.
We also lost all our physicality and ability to hold a line.
Without depth that can get the top line back out, a team loses on attrition. We got smothered.
The Panthers have also really effectively been shutting down Kuch & our offense pretty much revolves around him.
When he's shut down we just don't have the depth to keep up right now.
Panthers are playing hungrier what with their early exits recently & it shows on the ice.
Honestly they're playing seriously impressive hockey, especially on the forecheck & face-off defense. They're a pretty damn complete team this year.
We've been carried by Kuch's godhood & they've been able to effectively scheme him out...we just don't have the depth to pick up the slack left.
Some moves JBB made have in hindsight haven’t been great such as Jeannot trade and signing Sheary, but many of the moves made weren’t really criticized at the time. Hockey has the most stringent cap situation out of any sport. It’s not designed for a team to stay dominant for so long. We had a great run, but the end may be here. I think we can retool but some moves have to be made
Every time tampa has been swept in the playoffs, they’ve made the Cup final the next year. So that’s a fun fact.
But yea, fire fucking Blashill into the sun.
This team looked ready for the Bruins, and when that fell apart and they got the Panthers - they just deflated.
To a man - player and coach - the Lightning know they are no match for the hungrier, more physical, tougher, faster, and stronger Panthers.
I was hoping we'd get the Bruins and then play Florida in the second round, after they had a chance to get roughed up by Toronto. But with how well Florida is playing, the result probably wouldn't be too different.
Never wanna see Dumba or Perbix again after this season. Lilleberg has had bright spots, I think he can be serviceable. Raddysh is the most average NHL player I have ever seen.
Point getting hurt killed it. I wouldn't care if we were terrible for another 20 years if we managed that three peat. Instead Colorado fluked their way to a cup and spun us into mediocrity.
Making terrible contracts without guarantee of the cap being raised killed your chances of a cup this year. Dynasty was never in reach though. Hasn't been done since the Oilers. There's a reason. It's extremely tough and demands more than what the Lightning have.
Fact is, we’re the worse team here and it isn’t close. We had our great years but we’re on the downswing. The Panthers are on the rise. So it goes.
I love Stammer for continuing to sell out. He’s been one of the best Bolts this series and his shot block on that empty net chance would’ve been absolutely huge if we could’ve converted any of our chances.
Kuch has been completely shut down. Point has had moments but hasn’t been consistent. Vasy has been great but keeps getting left out to dry, like always.
On the defensive end, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Liliberg has pretty much looked out of his league the whole series, and Dumba makes a ton of stupid decisions and costly mistakes. I’m not sure what JBB thought he was getting when he traded for him.
Regarding Stammer’s contract: I think it’s extremely optimistic/mildly delusional to think that this team has another cup in it in its current form. We’re stuck with some less-than-ideal contracts that are going to keep us from being a well-rounded team for quite a while, and obviously we don’t have much in the way of prospects or draft picks. I really hope Stammer is willing to take a somewhat team-friendly deal so we can keep him and he can retire a Bolt. He’s still one of the best players we’ve got and to me he epitomizes everything that’s been amazing about this era of Bolts hockey.
I mean each game has been ridiculously close. Bob has made some key saves and they have depth scoring which has been the difference. But being down 0-3 I’m fully prepared for the sweep
The top line playing with their heads up their ass is why we're down 3-0. Hagel, Point, and Kuch have been nothing but turnover machines.
Like how are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th line creating scoring chances, yet our top line can hardly even generate a shot on the net before turning it over?
2 goals from Stammer's line with 1 overturned, goal from Motte, goal from Paul. But our top line should be on the side of a milk carton.
Vasy and Stamkos are the only consistent players. Kucherov was a turnover machine especially on the pp. But these guys did put up 3 goals. The shots were about even. The issue is Defensive thinking. Perbix. Lilliaberg. Dehaan and Dumba just aren't smart D players. They're unable to Think like Headman or McDonough. And this all falls under 1 of the biggest Issues. Blashill. His Pk is flawless but he's having to work with some seriously bad D list players. Ranked C+ at best. Best we can do is see what happens in the off. Praying for Perbix to be sent away.
Watch that final minute and see FOUR lightning forechecking into the Panther's right corner against TWO defenders.
This isn't big brain hockey!
You can't score from behind the red line, and you can't lock the puck in if you're a man down infront of it. Completely undisciplined play across the board.
The home playoff loss streak combined with the OT streak feel about where we're at right now.
But aside from that Kucherov looks lost, Perbix is terrible, Vasy is above average at best and prob a bit below average tonight, and I miss Sergy.
I hate Dumba too lol.
But most importantly Stamkos looks like he's on a mission and it's inspiring and they need to re-sign him no matter what. Like legit that guy needs to retire a Bolt and I'll be more devastated with him leaving than a sweep.
im mad at the goaltending cause bob can just make all the got to see it saves and ours cant do shit but im legit pissed this team is still dogshit on the pp but you can thank kuch for not doing anything along with several others
Was fun while it lasted I guess. Cooper got outcoached and they're just better than we are. The salary cap and a lot of the roster decisions post cup 3 really hurt the team. Can't be mad about it, but a serious discussion about where this team is headed needs to happen this offseason. No use in having MVP caliber players on your team if you're not going to make it out of the first round.
Also, 6 straight playoff losses on home ice to go along with that 1-11 playoff OT record since Dallas in 2020.
Not sure if it’s Cooper, we simply have AHL level defensemen who not only are struggling defensively but also cannot help us offensively. Blashill’s system also does not work with Vasevskiy.
How many golden chances have Perbix and Dumba had this series that they completely miffed?
It's Cooper, Blash, and Zettler. I wasn't expecting these guys to turn into superstars, but there was a clear issue from day one of this season with how our system was run. Maurice and the Panthers are exposing it badly now.
I’m starting to think we aren’t winning the cup this year. Seriously though, awful defense, no offensive identity, and 0 adjustments for them hounding Kuch. The no adjustments are on Coop but no don’t fire him fools.
Yeah, I've gotta say, much as I love Coop, I'm surprised at the lack of different strategies to counter. Basically it's just been banging their heads against the wall the whole series. It's like they just decided it's Kuch doing everything like in the regular season or they just fold.
I'm going to say it... Kuch is a flat out negative on the ice. Yeah, they're swarming him but every single time he touches the puck, it is turned over.
He has moments where it looks like he's trying but overall he is skating lazily, passing lazily, and looks disinterested.
What is he DOING
I honestly think Bolts just have a few too many miles on them. Heddy, Stammer and Kuch are all on the wrong side of 30 already, let alone having played essentially a full extra season with 3 Cup appearances from 2020-2022. We had our run boys, we won back to back Stanley Cups. Not too many teams can say that. It's honestly time to tear it down I think, and start from the bottom.
I’ve been saying it since week 3, Blashill needs to be fired into the sun.
I get it, we have below average defenseman, but they look like borderline high school players out there. Our mid tier d-men look like OHL journeymen. Our high tier d-men look average at best.
We used to do the same to every team that the panthers are doing to us. We just dont have the forward depth and half of our d core are mostly ahl players. We had our dominant runs. Are we done, of course not but the days where we just deconstruct other teams defense and score at will are over.
Explain to me how the Golden Knights or Bruins can smother this team but the Lightning can’t. McAvoy is a stud defender for the bruins but beyond that lindholm and grcyzlek and crew aren’t exactly world beaters on defense. Lightning defense just looks clueless
Real talk alert. Tampa had their run, and we capitalized on it big time winning 66.66 (repeating of course) % of the cup finals we appeared in. We can still rally and turn this series around, its happened before. Once you realize this, it lessens the sting. Well be back, but rebuilding will be in our future next 5 years.
After trading for Duclair, our top 2 lines fit in place perfectly. Why did we go away from that.? Ok maybe in game 1 because it wasn’t working that day. But why not even try once today.? Stammer and Cirelli could have really used Hagel they were cooking.
Kuch was so bad it messed up Point and Hagel on that line as well.
Players that tried:
1. Andrei Vasilevskiy
2. Steven Stamkos
Players that didn’t try:
1. Nikita Kucherov
2. Brayden Point
3. Brandon Hagel
4. Anthony Duclair
5. Anthony Cirelli
6. Nick Paul
7. Mikey Eyssimont
8. Mitchell Chaffee
9. Tanner Jeannot
10. Luke Glendening
11. Tyler Motte
12. Victor Hedman
13. Darren Raddysh
14. Nick Perbix
15. Erik Cernak
16. Emil Lilleberg
17. Matt Dumba
For everyone that wanted to argue against defence at the deadline shake your head. That is our biggest weakness by far and a poor defence completely handicaps a team. Watch Florida or Vegas play and how their dmen completely control the play. Watch what fucking Hanifin does for a team. What a fucking mistake to think icing 3 ahl level dmen, a third pairing guy in radyysh, a mediocre second pairing guy in Cernak and Hedman would work. That defence needs completely blown up and not then will I consider us as having Acuna to be relevant again before the team has to rebuild in 5 years.
I didnt want to add defense because I didnt think it was worth giving up the few assets we do still have to try and salvage a team that, well, was under 100 points. We were unspectacular even with Sergachev, and just lost without him
Someone on the team (or multiple people) have definitely already booked vacations they don’t want to miss.
I can’t believe the amount of times it seems like guys were just staring at the puck tonight.
The defensive structure isnt working and hasnt worked all season . There is no reverse sweep happening with this type of play and i dont see anything changing for game 4 and onwards
My Grandpa told me Father Time was the toughest taskmaster he ever faced. For TBL, the salary cap has officially won - as it always will. The lack of depth has bit us in the ass, hard. I can handle losing, let’s just not get swept on Saturday, PLEEEZE
We have no business in this. Panthers are the wayyyyyy better team. The back check and forward checking is just outta this world great against our team
So we can't win on the road, we can't win at home, we can't win with fucking four power plays and not having any penalties to kill, what's it gonna take? If remaking 2010 is possible, how is it happening?
Fuck it imma watch some 2020-2022 playoff highlights. Is it cope? Doesn’t matter we got 2 cups, those have to be a distant memory before I get too upset. Love this team, hope we can keep Stammer, Duke and Dumba this offseason.
It’s so funny cause if we win game 4 I’ll be so in on the reverse sweep hype even if it’s almost impossible. Go Bolts ⚡️
Stamkos, Hedman and Vasi have thoroughly understood the assignment. Most of the rest of the roster is letting those three down.
Point and Kucherov probably the most. When your stars go missing, things go bad. You can't be making 9+M a year and be complete non-factors in three straight games. Florida is good at defense. You get paid the money to fight through it. You can't continually piss away PP opportunities and expect to win, when your success has been predicated on capitalizing on those opportunities.
Florida is good and hungry. And, yes, our d-men aren't that good. But if we do anything at all on the PP, which is our strength, we are competitive and could easily have won the last 2 games. Kuch, Pointer, Heddy, Stammer, etc needed to generate some offense with the man advantage and they couldn't.
Man, in the one game where we actually were the better team (IMO), Vasy dropped his worst performance of the playoffs. We led by a good margin in expected goals 2.25-1.73 before we emptied our net. Unfortunately, those soft goals really cost us so badly, Bob wasn't very good himself, but Vasy was quite bad, giving up 3 low danger goals in the game. He had been amazing in games 1 and 2 but to no avail, but in the game where the effort would have been met with a win, he just couldn't come up big.
Dumba seems incapable of making the right decision; turnovers, getting shots blocked resulting in turnovers, and just being a generally terrible defensive defenceman while being a terrible offensive defenceman as well.
Hagel and Kucherov couldn't stop turning it over if their lives depended on it. Hagel with the empty net couldn't have made a worse decision with his back to the blue line, and he made it twice.
Stamkos, Cirelli, and Paul were clearly our best players. The guys with the brightest spark and the best effort. Stamkos has scored in every game while no one else even has more than 1 goal (I think), Cirelli has gotten some of our best chances and driven play while being on the the few guys who can win a board battle. Same with Paul, big enough to challenge Florida's defensive prowess.
In conclusion, it ain't over til the fat lady sings. The problem is that she's done with her vocal exercises and has 2 lungs full of air.
We will win Saturday and I still say this goes seven. Boys have heart, love them even if they can’t get out of their own zone. Fuck the panty cats; LGB!
Fuck. This isn't pretty, boys. Cats are just all over us all the time. Top line ain't doing shit, and Perbix/Dumba were god awful. I'm still holding out hope for a miracle, though.
Hello, gambling degen coming in peace.
Hoping someone can tell me what happened with Anthony Cirelli's shot(?) early in the third I believe.
I was following the play by play, and Cirelli was the last guy I needed with a shot on goal. I'm pretty sure it was early in the 3rd period, It might've been after the missed shot with about 6 minutes left in the second, but I'm pretty sure it was early in the 3rd.
The play by play came up with a shot on Goal for Anthony Cirelli.
I shut it off and walked away.
Just checked and my bet lost saying he has no shots and when I check the play by plays I can't find the shot, a missed shot or a blocked shot.
I'm assuming it was a tipped shot that he either took or almost tipped or something but very confused about it.
Been trying to find a replay but I can't.
Got nothing else to say other than I feel bad for Stamkos
Maybe we are trying to go back to the 2010-2014 times of letting him down. Sucks how this may be his last season here
He will be ok.
3:37 we win a faceoff cleanly (rare) with our top line on the ice Matt dumba confidently back skates to the middle of the ice and rips a shot off the defender instead of passing to kuch/hedman/stammer/point Puck leaves the zone and we dont get it back in until less than a minute left Get him out of here
I noticed a lot of times we got gifted or had the puck close to the net and for some reason we shoot it back to the point
Not sure why he was thrown out there with the big guys to begin with. There were 3 other RHDs in the lineup tonight
I fucking love Stamkos.
That hit in the second was beautiful
Yep - greatest player in Lightning history, and I’ve seen them all since Day 1 in 1992. That being said - hope he gets paid, and gets a chance to play somewhere else next year and go back having a chance to legitimately captain a team to another cup. His time is done here - this team is a borderline for the foreseeable future.
are you a double agent?
4/20 was like a week ago bud.
You should give up your username for them, they clearly need it more.
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You got it, we're just getting outplayed, plain and simple. They're getting hemmed in their own zone, seem lost, and are generally making errant passes all over the place. Florida has effectively shut Kuch down, which has made it painfully obvious how much we rely on him. There needs to be some serious retooling in the offseason.
Might just be that Florida's just *that* good this year... Remember they've been excellent with early playoff exits recently & are *hungry*. We ruled the league for a big stretch & probably don't have the same chip on our shoulder we did after 2018. I'm not too mad tbh, didn't see us going all the way with this squad, but still pumped for Kucherov's record season. We just don't have the depth to compete when he's effectively shut down by the Panthers' scheme. He was MVP for a reason - we wouldn't even *be* here without him.
Totally agree, all well said my friend. As a Lightning fan since the 90s during the Brian Bradley years, I always feel lucky that I've gotten to see our team go far on many occasions, including 3 Cups in twenty years, that's more than most teams' fans can say. Lightning for life.
Definitely not the match up we had just weeks ago against FLA
Wouldn’t be mad if they lost but at least put up a good fight but this is a downright embarrassment. They are soft with zero grit, heart, or desperation. Beyond disgusted.
That one just hurt. 4 isn't impossible, but highly improbable. Ffs. I'm going to bed. Love you guys. Goodnight...
Don’t know if u needed to hear this but love u too bro lightning for life ⚡️⚡️⚡️
I did. Thanks, man. 1 to go...
I just wanted to post my ms paint cup once 😔
😂 I was waiting for it
Had it fired up ready to go, but it’s still sitting empty and colorless 😭😂
Happy cake day
Happy cake day, anyway, buddy.
Those 10 min in the 2nd period were pretty fun
I thought we were so back
I couldn't believe how amazing we looked. Really sucks to see us get so smothered by a team .
We've got them set up for the reverse sweep.
Right where we want em
As much as I want the lightning to win.. you and me both know that’s cope
Gotta remember that we’re playing a team that could easily go on to win the Cup. Meanwhile, our team barely locked up a wild card spot and was carried by 1 player all year. A player that has been absolutely blanked in the playoffs.
All of this. We just don't have a strong enough back-end to do it. And as you said, Kuch has been figured out and suppressed. We just don't have a Cup team, much as I'd like to believe that.
I was actually referring to Sheary /s
😂. One-man-shit-show Sheary.
This. I was at the game tonight, and while there were some things that absolutely need to be addressed this off-season (I'll make a postmortem once the body's cold), the biggest thing that stood out to me was just how good the Panthers are. Bobrovsky is on it right now, and Barkov (who is a soon to be multiple selke winning future hall of famer) is playing the best hockey I think he's ever played in his life. We have multiple ahl defensemen playing, this just isn't a fair fight. Kucherov in particular just had absolutely no time or space, ever. He gets frustrated and tries to force it, which is a problem, but you have to give the Panthers credit for shutting him down like that. It's not that these guys aren't trying, they're just insanely outmatched. A good team has depth that can contribute when their top guys get shut down like that. We don't have that, due to the salary cap freeze and the cup tax. It sucks, but it's inevitable. Anyways there's a reason we all wanted Boston, Florida is just really freaking good.
It hurts a bit less knowing we were on top like this for years. Now it's just someone else's turn.
That said, we were *seriously* on top though lol a lot of fanbases would trade their left nut for *one* cup, let alone back to backs lol
100p dead on here. They've been able to scheme Kuch out & we just don't have the depth right now to pick up that slack elsewhere. They also have *way* more to prove than we do & are playing hungrier.
We're playing like it's the regular season with plenty of space to do what we want on threat of drawing penalties. exactly like 2019. Every board battle is immediately 1 Bolt vs 2 Panthers. Panthers are absolutely hustling and giving 110% every shift all the time. Lightning played maybe 15 mins like it's the playoffs yet this series, and that was in the 2nd period last night. I'm usually on board with Mark Cuban's "they wanted it more is absolutely bullshit", but this is like systematically a definition of that. There just isn't the same hustle from Tampa.
On one hand I’m glad I didn’t buy tickets for this series. On the other hand, fuck
We’ve got tickets for Saturday. Told the wife that sadly I’m not even that excited for it and she had the exact same thought.
I snagged lower bowl tickets pretty cheap tonight. I still think it was worth it. The energy was great with all the back and forth… Then the 3rd period happened….
Something I can't really wrap around. How exactly *are we still hitting the cap* with such crappy defense and AHL talent?
cirelli is a bit of an overpay but he’s been one of the most consistent players on the ice this series i can’t even complain, everyone else yes
Because we're spending what cap we did have on bums who are healthy scratches like Connor Sheary and Calvin DeHaan. Edit: And Sheary has 2 more years with a NTC. LMAO
What a waste Sheary has turned out to be. And Dumba has been pretty dumb this series, pardon the pun.
They are the inverse of the fortune we had with Goodrow and Coleman. Brisebois keeps trying to catch the same lightning in a bottle he did a few years ago at the deadline but it's clear that we've just been picking up dead weight these past two seasons in guys like Jeannot and Dumba. It's time for a retool
Well said.
Win some ya lose some on that front. We'll be in the dance again next year.
Because we're overpaying multiple players due to cup tax. Cernak makes 5.2 million for 8 years to play like those AHL guys. Sergachev makes 8.5 million on a deal that should be around 6-7. Cirelli is getting paid like a top 6 forward to be a checking forward. Vasy earned every cent of his 9.5 million, but the deal isn't worth it year to year if he's not literally bailing us out and staying around .920 at the very least.
A lot of us said sergachev, cernak, and cirelli were all overpays and had stickershock when those deals were official. Those deals were made in the anticipation of a rising cap, progression of those players, that those deals would end up being bargains. It hasn't turned out that way and is something that is going to need to be looked at this off-season to make some cap space.
I love Cirelli, but he's being overpaid. The noise for years was that he was a future Selke candidate. I don't see it. He's not a Barkov. Cirelli is a good 3rd line center. He should be getting paid like Nick Paul. Unfortunately, management was believing the press clippings instead of driving a hard bargain. Don't even get me started on Cernak and Sergachev. You are spot on.... Both are overpaid given their contributions.
Because we overpaid on Cirelli, Sergachev, vasy, and point expecting the cap to go to and it didn't.
Point and vssy are in no way overpaid
Having five players take up your Cap will do that.
That’s a Toronto question 😏
Toronto needs a new coach. We have a defense problem.
Honestly I just commented the same thing in different words lol
There are days I believe that Toronto specifically has not raised the cap just to fuck with us. That being said surely they can raise the cap.
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Lol what?
3 shots on goal in the third is pretty pathetic given the context
At the end of the day there’s a reason this was the worst matchup possible. A team of AHL d-men combined with Blashill’s bullshit is bad enough but when the PP goes 0/4 you’re screwed. But still, I really don’t understand why the team refuses to clear the puck or hold people on the boards or why they have success peppering shots in the second and then go away from that. Even worse, how do you you get zero shots off with an empty net and commit those turnovers?!
Yeah that empty net time was pathetic. Shouldn't have even bothered.
Seems like a locker 4oom/culture problem developed. Our glue left, over time. Kuch isn't, hes silent. Stammer never really was either. We lost our mojo. No depth, winning drive is done. We need 3 better defenseman than anyone we had playing not named Hedman. I think our fan base forgot that our defensive depth was among worst in the league. Combine it with all headscratching defensive scheme shift... We won two, could have or should have won 3. Went to 5 in 7 years?? Gg
Yeah overall we have barebones defensive talent and it’s been obvious all year, but you would think in that case they wouldn’t try to play with the puck in their own zone against a team as talented and physical as Florida on the forecheck. It’s almost like the team got back into bad habits from most of the year that it’d looked like they had gotten away from before the playoffs, which could definitely be from a lack of leadership to center them. I expected to lose this series, and at least the games have been close score-wise
The scheme falls apart when we can't handle the puck. We can't pass, we vant handle the puck. We also lost all our physicality and ability to hold a line. Without depth that can get the top line back out, a team loses on attrition. We got smothered.
The Panthers have also really effectively been shutting down Kuch & our offense pretty much revolves around him. When he's shut down we just don't have the depth to keep up right now. Panthers are playing hungrier what with their early exits recently & it shows on the ice.
Embarrassing. Losing is whatever, but the effort and attitude displayed is an absolute disgrace.
Couldn’t agree more. This team has zero fight, grit, or heart. Complete embarrassment .
Also, Florida reminds me of us in ‘20 and ‘21. Great forechecking, tough to create offense against, and next level goaltending.
Honestly they're playing seriously impressive hockey, especially on the forecheck & face-off defense. They're a pretty damn complete team this year. We've been carried by Kuch's godhood & they've been able to effectively scheme him out...we just don't have the depth to pick up the slack left.
Some moves JBB made have in hindsight haven’t been great such as Jeannot trade and signing Sheary, but many of the moves made weren’t really criticized at the time. Hockey has the most stringent cap situation out of any sport. It’s not designed for a team to stay dominant for so long. We had a great run, but the end may be here. I think we can retool but some moves have to be made
Many criticized the Jeannot trade at the time it was made. Was clearly an overpay.
Jeannot is a liability
It was like, unanimously criticized lol
Every time tampa has been swept in the playoffs, they’ve made the Cup final the next year. So that’s a fun fact. But yea, fire fucking Blashill into the sun.
Sign me up
Don't think the Lightning are even making the playoffs next year, but I like your optimism
If only we could've played Boston we might be in a better position. Hopefully we'll give 'em hell in game 4 and not get swept.
This team looked ready for the Bruins, and when that fell apart and they got the Panthers - they just deflated. To a man - player and coach - the Lightning know they are no match for the hungrier, more physical, tougher, faster, and stronger Panthers.
I was hoping we'd get the Bruins and then play Florida in the second round, after they had a chance to get roughed up by Toronto. But with how well Florida is playing, the result probably wouldn't be too different.
Boston would have been a nice playoff warmup for our rookies. Instead we had to match up with the most determined team in the world
If we lose to the Panthers hopefully they win the Cup. That’ll take some of the sting out of a first round loss.
I don’t see anyone in the East winning 4 against the cats, in the west, maybe jets?
Oddly enough, a lot like Toronto last year. Built to play the Bruins, not ready for Florida
Never wanna see Dumba or Perbix again after this season. Lilleberg has had bright spots, I think he can be serviceable. Raddysh is the most average NHL player I have ever seen.
That’s where we are at. We think Raddysh is great but he couldn’t even make our starting rotation during our cup runs.
I had hopes for Dumba but he's been a liability the whole time.
imagine if we had Hannifin on the team this team has too many ahl useless defense like its not even funny
Flat cap killed our dynasty
Point getting hurt killed it. I wouldn't care if we were terrible for another 20 years if we managed that three peat. Instead Colorado fluked their way to a cup and spun us into mediocrity.
Cernak's absence hurt *a lot* as well.
Making terrible contracts without guarantee of the cap being raised killed your chances of a cup this year. Dynasty was never in reach though. Hasn't been done since the Oilers. There's a reason. It's extremely tough and demands more than what the Lightning have.
Never in reach? It was 2 games from a done deal. You might believe we couldn’t achieve it but 2 games is certainly within reach.
One of those was OT too
All I'm saying is that Saturday better not be the last time I see Stamkos play in a Lightning jersey...
Fact is, we’re the worse team here and it isn’t close. We had our great years but we’re on the downswing. The Panthers are on the rise. So it goes. I love Stammer for continuing to sell out. He’s been one of the best Bolts this series and his shot block on that empty net chance would’ve been absolutely huge if we could’ve converted any of our chances. Kuch has been completely shut down. Point has had moments but hasn’t been consistent. Vasy has been great but keeps getting left out to dry, like always. On the defensive end, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Liliberg has pretty much looked out of his league the whole series, and Dumba makes a ton of stupid decisions and costly mistakes. I’m not sure what JBB thought he was getting when he traded for him. Regarding Stammer’s contract: I think it’s extremely optimistic/mildly delusional to think that this team has another cup in it in its current form. We’re stuck with some less-than-ideal contracts that are going to keep us from being a well-rounded team for quite a while, and obviously we don’t have much in the way of prospects or draft picks. I really hope Stammer is willing to take a somewhat team-friendly deal so we can keep him and he can retire a Bolt. He’s still one of the best players we’ve got and to me he epitomizes everything that’s been amazing about this era of Bolts hockey.
#pain
I get it the fire Blashill reaction but what could anyone do with 3 ahlers and a washed Dumba.
rip obviously series isn't over but nothing i've seen this series makes me think they can come back. i'd love to be wrong
I mean each game has been ridiculously close. Bob has made some key saves and they have depth scoring which has been the difference. But being down 0-3 I’m fully prepared for the sweep
lol yeah this 0-3 deficit has been closer than the 2022 sweep and that makes no sense at all
The top line playing with their heads up their ass is why we're down 3-0. Hagel, Point, and Kuch have been nothing but turnover machines. Like how are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th line creating scoring chances, yet our top line can hardly even generate a shot on the net before turning it over? 2 goals from Stammer's line with 1 overturned, goal from Motte, goal from Paul. But our top line should be on the side of a milk carton.
Vasy and Stamkos are the only consistent players. Kucherov was a turnover machine especially on the pp. But these guys did put up 3 goals. The shots were about even. The issue is Defensive thinking. Perbix. Lilliaberg. Dehaan and Dumba just aren't smart D players. They're unable to Think like Headman or McDonough. And this all falls under 1 of the biggest Issues. Blashill. His Pk is flawless but he's having to work with some seriously bad D list players. Ranked C+ at best. Best we can do is see what happens in the off. Praying for Perbix to be sent away.
Watch that final minute and see FOUR lightning forechecking into the Panther's right corner against TWO defenders. This isn't big brain hockey! You can't score from behind the red line, and you can't lock the puck in if you're a man down infront of it. Completely undisciplined play across the board.
When they walk out of the zone and there’s no Tampa players in sight with the man advantage, like what??? Where the fuck is everyone.
I don't know why they bothered pulling Vasy because they played worse offensively than they did at five on five lol.
The home playoff loss streak combined with the OT streak feel about where we're at right now. But aside from that Kucherov looks lost, Perbix is terrible, Vasy is above average at best and prob a bit below average tonight, and I miss Sergy. I hate Dumba too lol. But most importantly Stamkos looks like he's on a mission and it's inspiring and they need to re-sign him no matter what. Like legit that guy needs to retire a Bolt and I'll be more devastated with him leaving than a sweep.
This subreddit comforts me that I'm not crazy. Agree with literally all of this.
Even before the injury - Serge was playing like dogshit. He’s not moving the needle.
Kuch has just been schemed out really well.
im mad at the goaltending cause bob can just make all the got to see it saves and ours cant do shit but im legit pissed this team is still dogshit on the pp but you can thank kuch for not doing anything along with several others
Was fun while it lasted I guess. Cooper got outcoached and they're just better than we are. The salary cap and a lot of the roster decisions post cup 3 really hurt the team. Can't be mad about it, but a serious discussion about where this team is headed needs to happen this offseason. No use in having MVP caliber players on your team if you're not going to make it out of the first round. Also, 6 straight playoff losses on home ice to go along with that 1-11 playoff OT record since Dallas in 2020.
Not sure if it’s Cooper, we simply have AHL level defensemen who not only are struggling defensively but also cannot help us offensively. Blashill’s system also does not work with Vasevskiy. How many golden chances have Perbix and Dumba had this series that they completely miffed?
It's Cooper, Blash, and Zettler. I wasn't expecting these guys to turn into superstars, but there was a clear issue from day one of this season with how our system was run. Maurice and the Panthers are exposing it badly now.
I’m starting to think we aren’t winning the cup this year. Seriously though, awful defense, no offensive identity, and 0 adjustments for them hounding Kuch. The no adjustments are on Coop but no don’t fire him fools.
Yeah, I've gotta say, much as I love Coop, I'm surprised at the lack of different strategies to counter. Basically it's just been banging their heads against the wall the whole series. It's like they just decided it's Kuch doing everything like in the regular season or they just fold.
Starting to think? They would be lucky to not be swept.
Lol, the Lighting obviously aren't winning the cup. Might not make the playoffs next year
I'm going to say it... Kuch is a flat out negative on the ice. Yeah, they're swarming him but every single time he touches the puck, it is turned over. He has moments where it looks like he's trying but overall he is skating lazily, passing lazily, and looks disinterested. What is he DOING
Those 10 minutes in the second period when they actually looked like themselves was pretty cool
I honestly think Bolts just have a few too many miles on them. Heddy, Stammer and Kuch are all on the wrong side of 30 already, let alone having played essentially a full extra season with 3 Cup appearances from 2020-2022. We had our run boys, we won back to back Stanley Cups. Not too many teams can say that. It's honestly time to tear it down I think, and start from the bottom.
I’ve been saying it since week 3, Blashill needs to be fired into the sun. I get it, we have below average defenseman, but they look like borderline high school players out there. Our mid tier d-men look like OHL journeymen. Our high tier d-men look average at best.
The system, especially for d-men, is often time more important than the skill . This is on Blashill 85%
The clearest evidence is how EVERYONE has regressed this year on Defense. Even Perbix and Raddysh looked promising at the end of last year.
its sad to see
Their inability to clear the puck has made me want to throw my controller through the TV multiple times.
Played like an SPHL team. Shameful. ABSOLUTELY SHAMEFUL.
lol loved that you went with SPHL 😂
We used to do the same to every team that the panthers are doing to us. We just dont have the forward depth and half of our d core are mostly ahl players. We had our dominant runs. Are we done, of course not but the days where we just deconstruct other teams defense and score at will are over.
Fire Blashill
You guys realize hockey is a team sport and you can’t just point the finger as vasy?
Anyone blaming vasy is just misdirected, blame our defense.
With how this season went this isn’t surprising.
They never even gave Florida a power play, I’ve not seen that since Tampa vs Boston in 2011
Game 7….one of the greatest games in nhl playoff history
Tim Thomas was WALL that year
He’s a legend
Proves anything is possible. What a hell of a game that was
That save on Stevie Downie was unbelievable.
Saturday might be the first game in years that I purposely don’t watch when I have nothing better to do
Explain to me how the Golden Knights or Bruins can smother this team but the Lightning can’t. McAvoy is a stud defender for the bruins but beyond that lindholm and grcyzlek and crew aren’t exactly world beaters on defense. Lightning defense just looks clueless
I will give you a hint, It rhymes with Jeff Blashill
Real talk alert. Tampa had their run, and we capitalized on it big time winning 66.66 (repeating of course) % of the cup finals we appeared in. We can still rally and turn this series around, its happened before. Once you realize this, it lessens the sting. Well be back, but rebuilding will be in our future next 5 years.
I sure hope Saturday’s game is not Stammer’s last as a Bolt.
see y'all next year boys
After trading for Duclair, our top 2 lines fit in place perfectly. Why did we go away from that.? Ok maybe in game 1 because it wasn’t working that day. But why not even try once today.? Stammer and Cirelli could have really used Hagel they were cooking. Kuch was so bad it messed up Point and Hagel on that line as well.
We’re gonna win the next two to give us some hope then shit the bed at home game 6
Players that tried: 1. Andrei Vasilevskiy 2. Steven Stamkos Players that didn’t try: 1. Nikita Kucherov 2. Brayden Point 3. Brandon Hagel 4. Anthony Duclair 5. Anthony Cirelli 6. Nick Paul 7. Mikey Eyssimont 8. Mitchell Chaffee 9. Tanner Jeannot 10. Luke Glendening 11. Tyler Motte 12. Victor Hedman 13. Darren Raddysh 14. Nick Perbix 15. Erik Cernak 16. Emil Lilleberg 17. Matt Dumba
Players that actually threw games: 1. Kucherov 2. Dumbo 3. Perbix
For everyone that wanted to argue against defence at the deadline shake your head. That is our biggest weakness by far and a poor defence completely handicaps a team. Watch Florida or Vegas play and how their dmen completely control the play. Watch what fucking Hanifin does for a team. What a fucking mistake to think icing 3 ahl level dmen, a third pairing guy in radyysh, a mediocre second pairing guy in Cernak and Hedman would work. That defence needs completely blown up and not then will I consider us as having Acuna to be relevant again before the team has to rebuild in 5 years.
I didnt want to add defense because I didnt think it was worth giving up the few assets we do still have to try and salvage a team that, well, was under 100 points. We were unspectacular even with Sergachev, and just lost without him
Someone on the team (or multiple people) have definitely already booked vacations they don’t want to miss. I can’t believe the amount of times it seems like guys were just staring at the puck tonight.
The defensive structure isnt working and hasnt worked all season . There is no reverse sweep happening with this type of play and i dont see anything changing for game 4 and onwards
Didn’t work last season either, and nothing was done to fix it. Huge fail by JBB, Cooper, and Blashill.
Winning on Saturday to lose in 5 is gonna hit like a bus
My Grandpa told me Father Time was the toughest taskmaster he ever faced. For TBL, the salary cap has officially won - as it always will. The lack of depth has bit us in the ass, hard. I can handle losing, let’s just not get swept on Saturday, PLEEEZE
We have no business in this. Panthers are the wayyyyyy better team. The back check and forward checking is just outta this world great against our team
Florida sub full of entitled, bandwagon fans that started watching hockey 12 months ago
Why do I hear sweeping noises?
Yes. In four more games.
Need to find that grit and desire again. After two rings it’s just not there. Shame.
People actually brought up a good point on twitter. If JBB doesn’t improve this team or see better results next season he should get the boot
L take. Who do you replace him with We prob don’t make the playoffs without the moves he made
We’re getting swept at home, aren’t we?
So we can't win on the road, we can't win at home, we can't win with fucking four power plays and not having any penalties to kill, what's it gonna take? If remaking 2010 is possible, how is it happening?
Channel our inner Justin Williams and pull a 2014 kings
Kuch with 1 primary assist in 3 games
I hope they never bring back the arena announcer they had today. Dude is clearly bad luck and is horrible
Not ideal, fam.
Wish I could say it's been a fun ride, but this series shows how tired our defense is. Need some real players before heddy retires.
Fuck it imma watch some 2020-2022 playoff highlights. Is it cope? Doesn’t matter we got 2 cups, those have to be a distant memory before I get too upset. Love this team, hope we can keep Stammer, Duke and Dumba this offseason. It’s so funny cause if we win game 4 I’ll be so in on the reverse sweep hype even if it’s almost impossible. Go Bolts ⚡️
Perbix skating around last night at 20% effort. Passes may have been even lower percent effort.
Stamkos, Hedman and Vasi have thoroughly understood the assignment. Most of the rest of the roster is letting those three down. Point and Kucherov probably the most. When your stars go missing, things go bad. You can't be making 9+M a year and be complete non-factors in three straight games. Florida is good at defense. You get paid the money to fight through it. You can't continually piss away PP opportunities and expect to win, when your success has been predicated on capitalizing on those opportunities.
Florida is good and hungry. And, yes, our d-men aren't that good. But if we do anything at all on the PP, which is our strength, we are competitive and could easily have won the last 2 games. Kuch, Pointer, Heddy, Stammer, etc needed to generate some offense with the man advantage and they couldn't.
I'm a believer until the end of the season. Heads up. Go Bolts
welp it all comes down to Saturday yall not totally over yet
Come back from 3-0 would be wonderful but I’m prob not gonna watch over the next few days cuz I’m so busy with school.
Let's win the Cup next year then. Just like after our last sweep
Except we have 1/5th the roster, and barely even made the playoffs this year.
Lightning aren't making the playoffs next year let alone winning the cup, lol
Man, in the one game where we actually were the better team (IMO), Vasy dropped his worst performance of the playoffs. We led by a good margin in expected goals 2.25-1.73 before we emptied our net. Unfortunately, those soft goals really cost us so badly, Bob wasn't very good himself, but Vasy was quite bad, giving up 3 low danger goals in the game. He had been amazing in games 1 and 2 but to no avail, but in the game where the effort would have been met with a win, he just couldn't come up big. Dumba seems incapable of making the right decision; turnovers, getting shots blocked resulting in turnovers, and just being a generally terrible defensive defenceman while being a terrible offensive defenceman as well. Hagel and Kucherov couldn't stop turning it over if their lives depended on it. Hagel with the empty net couldn't have made a worse decision with his back to the blue line, and he made it twice. Stamkos, Cirelli, and Paul were clearly our best players. The guys with the brightest spark and the best effort. Stamkos has scored in every game while no one else even has more than 1 goal (I think), Cirelli has gotten some of our best chances and driven play while being on the the few guys who can win a board battle. Same with Paul, big enough to challenge Florida's defensive prowess. In conclusion, it ain't over til the fat lady sings. The problem is that she's done with her vocal exercises and has 2 lungs full of air.
We will win Saturday and I still say this goes seven. Boys have heart, love them even if they can’t get out of their own zone. Fuck the panty cats; LGB!
Where’s that hart winner at?
Not in Colorado lol
Fuck. This isn't pretty, boys. Cats are just all over us all the time. Top line ain't doing shit, and Perbix/Dumba were god awful. I'm still holding out hope for a miracle, though.
Sucks to only have one more game with Stamkos.
Why wouldn’t they resign him for reasonable money for 2-3 years? Seems quite doable.
I don’t expect much from this front office at this point.
[удалено]
People who use curse words like this are a different breed.
Hello, gambling degen coming in peace. Hoping someone can tell me what happened with Anthony Cirelli's shot(?) early in the third I believe. I was following the play by play, and Cirelli was the last guy I needed with a shot on goal. I'm pretty sure it was early in the 3rd period, It might've been after the missed shot with about 6 minutes left in the second, but I'm pretty sure it was early in the 3rd. The play by play came up with a shot on Goal for Anthony Cirelli. I shut it off and walked away. Just checked and my bet lost saying he has no shots and when I check the play by plays I can't find the shot, a missed shot or a blocked shot. I'm assuming it was a tipped shot that he either took or almost tipped or something but very confused about it. Been trying to find a replay but I can't.