Tampa Bay Montreal Game 1 Game Thread

Why isnt there a thread for it...? I guess i'll ellect this as it then...

I cant remember the last time I saw a GDT on here, I think that the main Lightning board is off somewhere else, which would probably be the place to go for a GDT

Im not going to give the link, but Shappa is right, it is somewhere else.

mmmmm... ok! I guess you guys use another board.

Either way, good game tonight. Lecav & St. Louis were very strong. Montreal had no legs today and Tampa got an easy win. Hopefully we'll see a more competitive game 2.

The Habs gave an half-assed performance but your guys sure didn't! Very good game by the Lightnings, they were opportunistic and they wrecked havoc in our defensive zone. Your guys were just skating around the Habs as if they were total pylons.

Gotta give props to them. That's why I picked the Lightnings to win the series, but I'm still disappointed by the Habs. I didn't think they'd win, but I tought they would at least try to. Anyways, the better team won!

I've never seen Sarich hit like that. Helluva shot. Would have been nice if Sarich had his hand free earlier to start clean, but credit goes to that hit.

Of course, I care more about the scoreboard. A long way to go.

I expected a little more energy out of the Habs. Toward the end of the first they started to get a little jump.

Glad to have Lecavalier back.

Hey chad, just a funny little thing you might like I saw at the game tonight: they were auctioning off or raffling away a signed Dingman jersey. ;)

I must say I'm extremely pleased. Before the series I said vinny would dominate and lead the lightning in scoring this series. Way to go vinny the habs killer.

Very impressive job by the Lightning tonight.
Sure they looked dangerous & very quick.

The Habs gave an half-assed performance but your guys sure didn't! Very good game by the Lightnings, they were opportunistic and they wrecked havoc in our defensive zone. Your guys were just skating around the Habs as if they were total pylons.

Gotta give props to them. That's why I picked the Lightnings to win the series, but I'm still disappointed by the Habs. I didn't think they'd win, but I tought they would at least try to. Anyways, the better team won!

To be honest, I don't think the Habs were "tired" (they've had 4 days off now) or "just didn't have their legs", like the announcers kept trying to say. That's a cop out. The Habs just hadn't yet shifted their mental gears from the plodding game of the Bruins to the speed game of the Bolts. It was their brains missing, not their legs. I thought it looked like they were starting to adapt later in the 1st period, but they were just having so much trouble in their own zone that eventually the wheels fell off completely in the 2nd and they packed it in.

For Bolts fans, this was not exactly an atypical Habs game. This is maybe the worst they've played so far in the playoffs, but it wouldn't have been out of place in the regular season. I guess it kind of points out the worst of what my scouting report indicated... our D will make tons of mistakes and giveaways if they're pressured, and if you pinch at the blueline you can strip us and victimise us.

I don't see the Habs being able to adjust their gameplan enough in a short span of games to make a series of this. They won't have the balls to run and gun with the Bolts (and honestly, I think that would be their only hope, slim as it is.... do it, and pray our goalie somehow saves the day... it almost certainly wouldn't work either, but the collapsing weak trap is *guaranteed* to fail. The only other option is to try to get rough, but I can't see the Habs pulling that off either.)

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

Theodore deffinatly played great despite the score. If the rest of the team raises its level somewhere near his, this will be a longer series than it looked after the first game; and deffinatly much more competitive.

Actually, I think Julien's only hope is to go all out clutch-n-grab and hope the Lightning's power play remains in a deep slumber. Adopt the 96 Panthers' slogan: cheat to win.

-Pete Choquette

Actually, I think Julien's only hope is to go all out clutch-n-grab and hope the Lightning's power play remains in a deep slumber. Adopt the 96 Panthers' slogan: cheat to win.

-Pete Choquette
I don't necessarily agree with this one. Montreal is not a clutch and grab team and although I think TB has one of the fastest teams in the NHL, Montreal can certainly have a very fast transition game as well. Montreal is notorious for having brutal games after a bit of a layoff. No, they weren't tired....no they didn't have tired legs....they were just out of sync tonight and will get better as the series goes on. The Habs have some great defensive technicians in Juneau, Dowd, Begin, Sunstrom and Bulis and it's a matter of getting the right combination to slow down Vinny and Martin. Also, our scoring has been rather streaky this year, but if it starts to roll down hill look out, Khabibulin may be in for a rough ride. Congrats to the Bolts, though, they deserved this one tonight. :bow:

Actually, I think Julien's only hope is to go all out clutch-n-grab and hope the Lightning's power play remains in a deep slumber. Adopt the 96 Panthers' slogan: cheat to win.
-Pete Choquette

That is of course what the sensible hockey people will say. It is what any sane coaching staff would do, and I expect it is exactly what the Habs will try.

I'm just trying to be a bit insane here with my run-and-gun soapboax, because I think the Habs basically suck at playing all-out clutch-n-grab. *If* they can do it, they'll have to give their Juneau/Dowd/Bulis/Dackell/Begin/Sundstrom types up front an inordinate amount of icetime. Ergo no goals. And those guys plus our D just aren't sound enough to allow us to beat the Lightning in 1-0 games. On the otherhand... like you say... if we can just get around 30 minor penalties doing it... maybe 1-0 isn't such a stretch after all... :)

Hey chad, just a funny little thing you might like I saw at the game tonight: they were auctioning off or raffling away a signed Dingman jersey. ;)

I wonder how much someone bid on that. Whatever they had in their pocket?

I can't complain about him lately, though. There was once or twice last night where he made me a little nervous, but he's coming on again in the playoffs.

I still laughed when ESPN said, after Sarich was called TB's best fighter, "They also have tough-guy Chris Dingman!"

Eric Perrin did better in that end-of-game scrum than Dingman has in most his "fights."

Excellent posts Pete and Blind Garden- kudos to you BG you do good work. My own take on this is that the Habs will attempt to get physical first, and push the Bolts around, and then go to their speed, try to get mismatches and exploit them. That means quick line changes and counting on Theodore to stand on his head. I thought that Souray getting physical was just the start of that strategy-even though it was at the end of the game, b/c that would set it up for today's game. If that does not work, then look for clutch and grab and hope that the Bolts PP stays silent. Of course, I could be way off base and all we see is the speed game.

I wonder how much someone bid on that. Whatever they had in their pocket?

I'm pretty sure it was the $2 per ticket raffle to benefit Tampa General Hospital...

-Sharon

On a defense first team, the one cardinal sin is the forwards as a group leaving the zone without the puck. I thought the spacing between defense and forward the other night was awful. TB will create turnovers and make the defense make decisions before they want to. You have to be sound positionally to beat this. If the second fore checker is unimpeded and the 3rd man is alone in the slot, you get a 4-0 game. Esp. if you have finishers like TB has. I don't think mtl. will be excessively physical, I don't think they have the horses to play that game. When they've played well this year, it's been thru solid team play, supporting the puck and not leaving the D on an island. Problem is that there are 2 teams on the ice and TB may be able to take away what Mtl. wants to do. Mtl. will fare a lot better being more patient, TB will give up chances, it's hard to avoid if you forecheck that agressively. The thing is that you have to cash in and find rebounds.

What was up with the cheap chot from koivu on Vinny tonight? Are the habs getting a bit frustrated? And darn if markov didn't get an academy award nomination for best acting in a supporting role. I have not seen such a good dive since gary roberts did it here. In fact Barry smellrose said he should have been sitting for the rest of the period for his acting. Just curious if this is what we can expect in game 3. I thought Juliens line changes helped the habs, especially the rolling line changes, it should be interesting to see if they continue that in game 3. Also thought the habs brought their A game tonight- they played really hard towards the end of the 2nd and into the 3rd.

What was up with the cheap chot from koivu on Vinny tonight? Are the habs getting a bit frustrated?

Just trying to get him riled up. It's standard hockey operating procedure, isn't it? Get some leather/wood/aluminum/composite material onto the opposition star, see if it gets him off his game and taking retaliatory penalties. It works pretty good on Joe Thornton.

And darn if markov didn't get an academy award nomination for best acting in a supporting role. I have not seen such a good dive since gary roberts did it here.

It wasn't really a "dive". Nor a very good act. Markov has officially earned himself a reputation in these playoffs as a guy who will stay down and play up the severity of a hit against him. Didn't help him here, though, just made him look bad. It was a legit minor penalty, and the refs weren't fooled into biting for anything more serious.
I thought Juliens line changes helped the habs, especially the rolling line changes, it should be interesting to see if they continue that in game 3. Also thought the habs brought their A game tonight- they played really hard towards the end of the 2nd and into the 3rd.
I think the forward lines and the goalie brought their A games. At least, after the 1st. The only problem with the line jugglings were that Julien stuck with trying his matchups even into the second half of the third period when we really need to load up our offensive lines and try to get back in it. Koivu's line didn't get enough icetime.

It wasn't really a "dive". Nor a very good act. Markov has officially earned himself a reputation in these playoffs as a guy who will stay down and play up the severity of a hit against him. Didn't help him here, though, just made him look bad. It was a legit minor penalty, and the refs weren't fooled into biting for anything more serious.


I completely agree. Roy did throw his elbow into the face of Markov, but Andrei acted as if his skull had been fractured. There is no place in the game for that kind of garbage. Montreal should be starting to lose credibility in the eyes of NHL refs with the stunts they are pulling (2 incidents in the 1st round, 1 in today). I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lightning get more leeway in what they get away with on the ice this series.

I completely agree. Roy did throw his elbow into the face of Markov, but Andrei acted as if his skull had been fractured. There is no place in the game for that kind of garbage. Montreal should be starting to lose credibility in the eyes of NHL refs with the stunts they are pulling (2 incidents in the 1st round, 1 in today). I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lightning get more leeway in what they get away with on the ice this series.

Not sure if that message will get through. Toronto's been doing it for 3 years now.

After the initial Ribeiro act, I expected the embarassment from that the media would have generated would have sent a clear message to the Roberts and Tuckers and Louganises of the world. No dice.

I think the Tucker double-flop in Game 7 vs. Ottawa was only barely "worse" than Ribeiros.

I just think this stuff is the exact opposite of what hockey is all about.