Stanley Cup Final

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
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South of North
The 2 softies on Vasy early killed them
Yeah, that was wild and not great. TB has to hope Pointer comes back at full strength next game. His presence in the lineup was a huge lift and he played real minutes (17 and change), but now he needs to pot some goals.

I thought Nick Paul had a beast of a game, and I'm primarily talking about his play AFTER the goal. He was all over the ice, making good plays on D, good decisions entering the OZ, and kept the puck moving and played physical. I thought his most forgettable shifts were when his linemates couldn't keep the zone and he had to do more on D. Not sure if this will continue, but he's only 27 (so not age related), so you might think it has more to do with Pointer bumping everyone down--but even then he led all TB forwards in TOI at 18:42. Did I mention he's a UFA??
 

LoweTek

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May 30, 2005
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Did Vas not pick up that pass by Nichushin? He was WAAAAAAAAAAAY late getting across.
Note all the white jerseys converging on the puck carrier to Vas' right? Not pick up the pass? His defense was out of position and allowed a forward to be all alone in front. Not much Vas can do when defenses collapse to the puck like that.
 

durandal1707

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Apr 18, 2007
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Lightning's defense isn't what it used to be, but I'm not sure how you keep this Avs squad off the board.
 

MiracleOfO2704

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Jul 12, 2005
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Note all the white jerseys converging on the puck carrier to Vas' right? Not pick up the pass? His defense was out of position and allowed a forward to be all alone in front. Not much Vas can do when defenses collapse to the puck like that.
Oh, I’m not blaming Vas for that. But he kicked when Nichushkin passed to Burakovsky as if he shot. And yeah, his defending skaters didn’t help by totally screening him, leaving Burakovsky all alone.
 

durandal1707

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Apr 18, 2007
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So how exactly did they lose two games to the Blues?
They had one genuinely bad game where they put up a 31% xGF and got shutout. The other one was a game where the Blues had an 18% shooting percentage (which might be on Kuemper).
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Sep 9, 2008
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Last 8 minutes after the 4th goal have been interesting.

Tampa Bay is just committing interference on Avalanche players in the neutral zone. Pretty blatantly at times. Seems like the only chance they have and I guess why not dare the refs to call it when down four?

The Avs are just unstoppable cruising through the neutral zone. If Tampa can’t find something to slow them down they cannot have any hope of keeping up. Let‘s see what the refs do.
 

durandal1707

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Apr 18, 2007
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I wouldn't count out Tampa yet, but they looked like a team that had the shortest offseason and a hundred more minutes of playoff hockey tonight. Perhaps the altitude was a factor as well, and returning to sea level plus last change at home may give them a chance to adjust a bit.

Still, they got their doors blown off, even taking into account the Avs' 22.6% :oops: shooting percentage. 5v5 expected goals were still 1.52 to 0.31 (83% Colorado) while actual 5v5 goals were 4-0. The Bolts have to find a way to slow the game down, and while I don't think Vasilevskiy was particularly terrible tonight, he has to bounce back or this will be a short series.
 

VORP Speed

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Apr 23, 2010
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The Lightning need some Tour de France doctors to tune them up before the next game in Denver. That was embarrassing. Looked like the squirt team showed up for the pee wee game.
 

wibi

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Jul 15, 2005
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The Lightning need some Tour de France doctors to tune them up before the next game in Denver. That was embarrassing. Looked like the squirt team showed up for the pee wee game.
I was thinking more of a midgets versus pee wee team based on how free Colorado was moving tonight. This game was unreal
 

durandal1707

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Apr 18, 2007
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So great to have a sport known for its speed brought to an absolutely halt for minutes over a few millimeters.