GDT 11/23 -- Lightning vs. Devils

[The Great Zo]

It's "New Jersey" night at the Forum, as the Lightning play host to the Brodeur-less devils in an oddball 5:00 PM start.

Tampa Bay has points in 3 straight games, while New Jersey is coming off of three consecutive wins. During that stretch, NJ has put up 14 goals.

Mike Mottau, who I once used during a school presentation as "a hockey card representing a player no one has ever heard of," will be out serving the first game of a two-game suspension for his shot on Franz Nielsen.

[Hoek]

Stream @ http://atdhe.net/live-tv-764.html

The new jerseys are as leaked and look slick in action with the pants and socks.

Nice shot of the Tampa Bay wordmark from the goal cam just as the Devils get the first score of the night. Gah. :rolleyes:

Here's hoping those unis have better mojo than that.

[The Great Zo]

Kolzig looks shaky. Not just the goal, but he's slow to react and a little "floppy" too.

Early thoughts on the uniforms: Love the stripes on the bottom that follow the lower seam. Love the color too. Not a fan of the piping -- it just looks like a random awkward oval when viewed from the side.

[backstop]

I like it all except the "Bolts"... there were so many better options. Oh well, at least they didn't totally butcher it

[The Great Zo]

Lightning Killers (tm) in full swing. Clarkson assisted on the first goal. Parise gets the second with Clarkson screening in front.

[Hoek]

Almost 3-0 on a stupid 2 on 1 to give up. Man are they playing like crap.

[aapbolt]

any thoughts on Tocchet as a coach so far? the team looks like they know what they are doing but are still figuring out the system and where to play. the line changes look a bit more crisper and the 30-45 second shifts seem to be working alright so far. this team needs to play with confidence and push the puck to the front of the net though anyway they look better than they did under Melrose.

yeah Kolzig looks weak and not on top of his game tonight...hope he finds it soon or we may see Ramo tonight.

[Sotnos]

The biggest thing that jumps out to me so far is that Jersey is a lot more aggressive on the puck carrier, our guys are still doing the poke check thing. And, as Chief has pointed out a zillion times this season, our guys also have a tendency to panic & throw the puck away blindly in an effort to get it out.

[The Great Zo]

Bad bad goal.

Credit where it's due -- the goal line stick save was pretty slick.

And now down 4-0, the Lightning get their first power play. Maybe, if they are lucky, it will look like even strength instead of the constant PK the game has appeared like so far.

Nope. Still looked like a PK.

[Sotnos]

Got their asses (rightfully) booed on that PP. Nothing working too well tonight.

[bassassin]

At least this pp is getting a couple of chances...

Edit:Put Ramo in now, Kolzig isnt going to do much more.

Edit edit: They read my post just as I posted it :coolwink:

[The Great Zo]

Hey, I have a great idea. Let's trade for Olaf Kolzig, to replace our injured Martin Brodeur.

It's Ramo time.

[Hoek]

..and 5-0.

We're really gonna be able to move Kolzig now. Ugh.

Ramo sent to the wolves.

[bassassin]

Vrbata! Nice set up by Prospal

[The Great Zo]

SCORE. Finally. Vrbata cashes in on some great hard work by Prospal. He missed a shot on a 2-on-1 and battled to get his puck back. Put it across the crease to Vrbata in front.

[Hoek]

At least Vrbata scores. Czech connection with Prospal spares us the shutout.

[The Great Zo]

I think Chief is drunk. Can't count to six, and thought the first NJD goal went high above Kolzig.

[bassassin]

I think Chief is drunk. Can't count to six, and thought the first NJD goal went high above Kolzig.

Ahaha yeah he totally missed Meszaros.

St.Louis score!!!!

Edit: Ahaha did you hear that as well "St.Louis scores his 500th point for the lightning and now they are just down by two":thumb:

[The Great Zo]

Do we have a game? Marty from the sharp angle on a couple of NJD plays that looked as atrocious as some of the Lightning's giveaways.

[The Great Zo]

Penalty shot for Malone!

ROOFS IT!!!!!!!

[bassassin]

Do we have a game?

We do now:happydance:

Edit: Damn you have much cooler adverts than the UK, I mean even the stop smoking ones are amusing:thumb:

[sandwichestime]

i like you ryan malone.

p.s. nice shot

[The Great Zo]

Back to making Clemmenson look like Brodeur again.

Chief: "You don't want to try to get both goals all at once."

:cheers2: :beer:

[The Great Zo]

Hat trick for Zubrus, and the hope begins to fade.

[Hoek]

Got way too aggressive too soon and got burned for it. Oh well, can't fall behind to the Devils anyway.

[Sotnos]

Boy, that 6th one went in & the Bolts went back in their shells again.

[Jester47]

7 goals... "F word"...

[Netminder]

7 goals... "F word"...

2nd period picked a bad time to end,the boys were a little pumped at that point then,dé·jÃ* vu,Hit'em again. Was feeling pretty good about the chances till they came out and got #6 scored on them.

down 2 I thought they made have a slight chance:ohmy: Was hoping they could maybe slop one in to get with in 1,Damn it. That would have been BIG for team and the crowd, They go for long periods,when they just look lost. then they will flash,that they look like a real hockey team. Damn it Man.


Yeah "F" word don't do it justice:doh::doh:

[CTLightning26]

Yeah, that game sucked.
Devils outworked, out skated, out smarted us and Clemmnsen outplayed Kolzig. Honestly, we were getting outshot like 21-5 and it should have been 1-0. I think two of the first three Olaf shoulda had. Not sure what happened on the 4th and 5th i was at the other end, but smitty might have kept us in this one even though we didn't deserve it.
You know who was our worst player tonight? Jussi Jokinen. he was absolutely dreadful. The guy has been playing decent all year, but he seemed asleep tonight.. hopefully, its just a blip on the screen.. and Tocchet? Just give Stamkos one line and stick with it. The kid must have played with every forward 2night. just put him with VInny p and vrbata and let them go.. recchi is better with jokinen..or just play him with vinny and marty and let them go the whole game. the poor kid's head is spinning.
First goal: Heward coulda cleared the puck and didn't.. why is he here? Cripes, bring smaby up or wishart or mihallik. we know heward is mediocre.

[WaiverWire]

This team played with absolutely no character today. They dump in the puck and get out worked every time along the boards. This is gong to be one long season.

[pete]

On the bright side, if the season ended today we'd be picking 4th!

It's like Rick Dudley secretly bought the team and is manipulating us from afar.

[WaiverWire]

On the bright side, if the season ended today we'd be picking 4th!

It's like Rick Dudley secretly bought the team and is manipulating us from afar.

thanks pete. I was sitting in the empty arena, watching a terrible game and wondering where we sat.

[gphockey]

Not the best effort last night.
If I was the coach here is the only correction I would attempt to make now and would require this in practice until further notice.
1- Passes are tape to tape (or skate).
STOP using the boards...its not allowed...institute a kangaroo court and fine the board passes and clearing attempts of any kind.
They don't have any chemistry.
They don't know where their teammate is going to be.
Worst of all they rely on the bounces off the boards to substitute for moving their feet and skating.
No flying frenchman here.
If you can't work together then you have no team.
Cycling drills until they are dizzy.

[CTLightning26]

well, you need to use the boards. You don't want to clear up the middle of the ice all the time...I will admit maybe they use the boards too much.... too many drop passes last night.. they had been better at limiting them recently
--
It's been an inconsistent season.. They have shown the ability to come back several times to get some points, they won at Toronto, Buffalo and Phily, they outplayed Minnesota despite the shootout loss, they are getting good goaltending from Smitty, their defense is improving a bit... but, you have these stinkers like last night, against San Jose, at the Rangers, etc. where you think we're destined for the lottery again.
--
I thought tonight's game was a big bridge game. Got the Rangers and then four road games coming up. Needed to win this one to get to 20 points in 20 games and take advantage of the lack of Brodeur. The thing is, we're only a few points out of the 8th spot, but we're only a few pts from the bottom as well.

[gwf82]

Man I feel bad. A guy my dad works with to my tickets to give to a guy he works with that has a 9 year old son. The kid was super excited to go to the game and then was forced to sit through that garbage. I'm just glad I was on a plane for the entirety of the game.

How bad was attendance? I may actually be able to go on Wednesday, not sure if I want to hustle from the airport to go though.

[RSchmitz]

Its not a total loss. Vrbata and Malone scored, if those two guys can get rolling good things will happen.

[gphockey]

well, you need to use the boards. You don't want to clear up the middle of the ice all the time...I will admit maybe they use the boards too much....

I am just suggesting banning board passes / clears in practice so they may develop some sort of cohesion.

[the_narrow_way]

Who would have thought that NHL players could forget how to pass and receive the puck?

Kolzig was shaky, but he was left hung out to dry. They definitely play better in front of Smith.

Refs with a handful of shitty calls early, to ensure TB gets rolled.

New jerseys looked pretty good. As discussed previously, dropping the 'BOLTS' and adding a text-less logo would be much better.

[Netminder]

Its not a total loss. Vrbata and Malone scored, if those two guys can get rolling good things will happen.


7-3 Is a total loss,you can't spin it any other way.

BTW Malone was -4,as was the "Capitan"

The biggest pair of Bolt googles can't change, that mess,they played fair late in the 2nd,long enough to get 3,then they blew chunks all over the front of those beer league softball unis:rolleyes:

[Avery86]

That game was a lot easier to watch fast forwarded at the quickest speed. I almost actually watched it after they made it 5-3 but thought better of it and was proven correct.

Not looking forward to the Rangers, that's for sure.

[timothy]

Not looking forward to the Rangers, that's for sure.

Hey, NHL2K09 says we are taking that game 5-1. :rolleyes:

[Avery86]

Hey, NHL2K09 says we are taking that game 5-1. :rolleyes:

Oh, right, and Jamie Heward gets a hat-trick. ;)

[Bolthed]

Again, I don't have a problem with the effort. It's the coaching that is a problem. But, unlike Melrose, I think there is some hope that Tocchet will install a cohesive system. I just fear that it's going to take him a while as a first-time head coach.

What we saw yesterday was the clear difference of a team playing a puck-pursuit, heavy forecheck offensive system (and doing it well) against a team that still can't take the puck away and/or get out of its own zone on defense. And the same problem was flipped in the other zone, as Jersey's defensemen had no problem limited a Lightning offense that still has no idea how to effectively gain or possess the puck in that zone. The result was obvious - an easy win by New Jersey.

You can't tell me that the Devils have a great collection of forwards or even that their roster as a whole is loaded with talent. But they played winning hockey against a team that still can't get its head out of its ass. And so I remain concerned as to whether this neophyte coaching staff has the ability to fix these problems, and at the same time I remain deeply disappointed that veterans who have played together (like Vinny and Marty, specifically) aren't doing more on their own.

[the_narrow_way]

I don't understand what happened to Vinny and Marty.

Marty's almost invisible most of the game, and Vinny isn't much better. Vinny also looks really frustrated and clueless on how to change things. Yeah, they both score a pretty goal here and there, but what happened to the pre-lockout players? :noidea:

[Donnie D]

I think we have trouble against any team that has a well defined system. We just haven't had enough time or practices to work through our "new" system.

My hope is that we have not yet progressed in our offensive design to work through the trap. As I said, I'm giving the coach until January to show the design of his system.

That's my half full glass.

[RSchmitz]

7-3 Is a total loss,you can't spin it any other way.

BTW Malone was -4,as was the "Capitan"

The biggest pair of Bolt googles can't change, that mess,they played fair late in the 2nd,long enough to get 3,then they blew chunks all over the front of those beer league softball unis:rolleyes:



How ever did you make it through the lean years

[Bolthed]

Problem is, the Devils don't even trap much anymore. Sure, they do when they've got a 5-0 lead ... but what team wouldn't play it safe then?

I think its fair to lob criticism at Vinny and Marty (and Vaclav when he's on the top line). They've played together effectively for long enough that they should have a better idea out there, even without ANY coaching. I mean, who here thought it was Tortorella that kept them from doing routinely stupid things like drop passes and behind-the-back passes in traffic, charging foolishly ahead while trying to stick-handle THROUGH a defender and insisting over and over and over on trying to thread a perfect pass through more than one defender instead of taking what would clearly be a dangerous shot attempt??? You just have to shake your head at why those guys are playing so poorly.

[chad]

I thought Vinny was pretty good against NSH, Marty too, and not just because they hit the scoresheet. Granted, I don't even look for Vinny to drop down below the circles anymore in his own zone, but he was playing harder than he had been. Small victories.

[Sotnos]

Smitty missing a game (http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=257083&lid=sublink07&lpos=headlines_nhl) fueled a few bad trade proposals from TSN readers.

Sez Sens fan: Time to trade Gerber to them for 2 better players and another 1st rounder.

Sez Habs fan: This might be a good chance for Bob Gainy to trade Halak and get some good talent from an underachieving team.


Might as well have something to chuckle at after that game. :)

[Flycoon]

A few PK shifts for Marty and Vinny might get them going offensively and defensively. And make the PK a bit more aggressive.

[Netminder]

How ever did you make it through the lean years
Through the "Lean years" every one knew what we had,But now we have Boltnation telling us ,What a great team we got,Sorry I am not one to shine anyone On, It is what it is,SPIN don't change it.

They have flashes that they could be better,but they are like sunspots, They happen fast and dont last long. A lot like Vinny's interest in the games this season. Damn shame, cause we know he can be much better than that.

Come Vinny you got the big Buc's and the "C",time to lead,follow or get the hell out of the way.

Your Team, Your Town, your Game, Prove IT:rolleyes:

[TexasBolt]

Sez Habs fan: This might be a good chance for Bob Gainy to trade Halak and get some good talent from an underachieving team.

Let me guess: Does that "good talent" wear #4 and hail from Quebec?

It never ends. :flypig: