This was on the OT winner. I’ve seen this sitaution way too many times this year where 4/5 guys just sit there puck watch and forget to find or locate the trailer. Do you think this is coaching or just low hockey iq on the players part?
by Witty-Ad-5969
17 Comments
Just straight up being out hustled.
Coaching mostly, but also Low IQ
What we should discuss in kucherov not doing shit on that 2 on 1 with duclair
JBB really needs to address our bottom 6 and bring in some decent defensemen. I know we have a shoestring budget, but we cannot ice this team and expect a lengthy playoff run
Also just a random rant. But why the FUCK did no one go after Tkachuk after he was laying on Vasy celebrating? The 2020-2021 team would’ve morphed him into the ice. But our guys just skated away. WTF
78 getting boxed out by 19 is the whole problem here. And it happens a lot. Rookie D? Bad coaching? Needs to be fixed.
I think it’s hockey IQ tbh. Cernak pretty much caught in no man’s land and takes neither guy out of the play or cuts off the pass. It’s not quite a 2 on 1 but it’s the same concept that has plagued the back end all year. Just can’t allow cross ice passes regularly and expect not to get scored on.
Not scoring on that double minor killed us
Well Dumba dropped the ball. He had a prime chance to be a hero. His lack of offensive experience hurt us there. Lilliberg’s inability to Play defense cost 2 goals. He turned over the Puck for Bennet behind vasi. And again at the blue line being incredibly slow. He obviously isn’t ready for the playoffs but we have no one else. 🙁
Can we talk about how bad we have been in playoff OT since the bubble cup? I believe we have won 1 OT game since the ECF of the bubble.
We need Sergi back
lol some dumb fans are blaming Lilli for this one 😂.
My favorite player is cernak but he’s the one who is caught out of place and behind.
Nothing lilliberg did here is bad as a defenseman
Defense playing like crap, kucherov trying a new move over and over where he doubles back to the blue line after a zone entry and always loses the puck, 2 empty net misses, a double minor we couldn’t score on.
I love this team, but this post season roster isn’t the one thats gonna get it done.
I would look at coaching every single D player has regressed in the past two years.
When the team relies on Vasy too much we lose
The freeze frame is difficult to explain. However, if you watch the entire play it is easy to find the breakdown.
1) Turnover in our own zone puts everyone out of position
2) Stamkos – #91 was originally in position to cover the trailer. He attacked the puck, but he is not a defenseman so that was his first reaction. I’m not even sure if he saw him.
3) Cirelli – #71 is trailing the play from the beginning. He could have sprint to pick up the trailer but failed to follow through. He pulled up as he became even with the puck. He is also not a defenseman, so this is not out of character.
4) Cernak – #81 originally went to play the puck, however he stayed in no-man’s land. Once he saw Stamkos charge, he MUST retreat to the goal. A simple move back would have closed the passing lane.
5) As the play progresses, Cirelli and Hagel converge on Lundell.
6) Cernak, even with time to recover, still does not drop to the goal and the Lundell makes the pass to Verhaeghe.
7) Once that pass is made, Hagel, Cirelli and Stamkos are out of the play.
8) Cernak turns and trails Verhaeghe. He weakly tries to make a stop. He should have hooked, tripped or slashed Verhaeghe to disrupt the shot and taken the penalty. Instead, he makes a weak attempt to stop Verhaeghe and ends up useless.
9) Finally, Lilleberg never drops to the goal. He stays in the circle where Stamkos is already defending. If he had dropped to the goal, he would have been there to meet Verhaeghe as he moved across the crease in front of Vasey.
The defensemen let Vasey down all night.
[Final goal: Lightning vs. Panthers Game 2](https://youtu.be/fui7VvmV7vo)
Trading Ryan McDonagh might be the biggest mistake this franchise has made.
In times like these we’re really missing Sergy on defense 😕