Eastern Conference Final: Tampa Bay Lightning (2) vs. New York Islanders (6)
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
I won't deny that Barry Trotz is a great coach... but playing Andrew Ladd in game 2 over multiple better options, watching him get caved in all game, and then putting him out in the final minute of regulation all for him to watch Kucherov score the game winning goal just proves all coaches are idiots.
Guilt Trip
Active member
In all fairness Kucherov wasn't Ladd's guy to cover. he was Pulock's but point made. Ladd wasn't good though and it's not really his fault. He only played 4 games this season and only 26 the previous season. It was a very weird move by Trotz. At first you maybe thought he's in for playoff experience but that was his first playoff game since the 15/16 season. Maybe Brassard was hurt, but I don't know why they took him out. Looks good on them though. I hope they go out 4 straight. They had a golden chance last night with Point going out in the 2nd and Killorn gone early in the 1st with the 5 min major/game penalty. I don't think NYI's first goal should have counted either. Clutterbuck clearly knocked Bogosian into Vasilevskiy, who is lights out.CarltonTheBear said:
Guilt Trip said:
Both probably deserve some blame there. Maybe it's Pulock's guy when you're drawing the x's and o's but with 8 seconds left Ladd was covering nobody in the middle of the ice. Should have been more aware of his surroundings and realized where the threat was.
Guilt Trip
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I can def agree with that. Same as Leo. He wasn't covering anyone. For a team that is so defensive minded, they really crapped the bed in the last 15 seconds or so. They looked totally lost out there.CarltonTheBear said:
herman
Well-known member
Guilt Trip said:
I think it's more credit to the Tampa offense manipulating the defensive box by drifting players in and out of the play that opened up the seam play (and Kucherov sneaking into quiet ice). Boston and Tampa's top lines do this very well, timing passes in the midst of defenses settling back into their formation and sorting out assignments. I'll bet the Isles where breathing a quick sigh of relief that Point's slot shot was blocked and he faded back to the blue line while a defenseman changed and McDonagh's (in an unthreatening location) pass completely handcuffs them.
https://twitter.com/JhanHky/status/1304068405079805954
bustaheims
Active member
CarltonTheBear said:
Yeah. The goal itself was a quick play, so, I don't want to lay too much blame on anyone for it specifically, but Ladd looked completely lost for that entire sequence. He never found a guy to cover, and he just kinda skated in circles in that area of the ice.
bustaheims said:
I'm still in awe that he was on the ice at all in the dying seconds of a tied game, especially since his entire line (along with Pageau and Komarov) just had a terrible, terrible game (0-8 in shot attempts in over 6 minutes of play). Just a brutal coaches decision too. Looking at the shift charts, the Cizikas line was sitting for 2 shifts and would likely have been fresh enough to finish the game out.
Justin Bourne did a pretty good breakdown of that GWG for Tampa the other night, and expanded on my thought about how Ladd may have done the right thing when it comes to drawing up a defence on a clipboard but in an actual game situation blew it:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/islanders-go-wrong-late-game-breakdown-lightning/ said:
Frank E said:
It's more like he should have been playing a combination of the two. "What gets lost with players is those guidelines, and you haven't done your job just by getting to that spot. You've done your job when you get to that area, look around, and find a guy to cover" is what Bourne wrote that I thought was a good summary for why Ladd messed up.
And to Ladd's credit this is probably where most defensive breakdowns happen. Every player on the ice knows where his defending "zone" should often be but hockey is sloppy and plays very rarely happen as you draw them up on the whiteboard. The difference between a good defensive player and a bad one is knowing how to react to plays once you're in your "zone".
Guilt Trip
Active member
Islanders are horrible to watch. 20 shots after 4 periods in an elimination game. They have 4 shots from the slot. TBay has 21 from the slot. Please put them out if my misery lol.
Guilt Trip
Active member
Haha, yup. Totally outplayed and they end up winning on a 2 on 1 from a fanned shot. Hopefully Point will be back Thursday.lamajama said:
Hobbes
New member
It's hard to imagine either of these teams being able to defeat Dallas. I suppose if Point is back for the Bolts they'd have at least some chance, but even then I wouldn't be very confident of their chances.Guilt Trip said:
I hope the NHL's GMs and coaches don't use NYI as yet another gold standard of how to suck the life out of a hockey game while maintaining a winning record. I endured the clutch and grab era...not really keen for a return to it.
Guilt Trip
Active member
For sure. The number of non interefence calls is crazy. Like I've said, this is hard to watch. Isles had no business winning that game last night. Totally outplayed. Hedman is a beast.Hobbes said:
L K
Active member
It's interesting how the NFL, NBA and hell even baseball (catchers can't block the plate, pitchers have to face at least 3 batters, talk about trying to limit shifts) are making moves to limit defensive play while the NHL is content to have clutch and grab hockey continue to roar back into prominence.
Even a few years ago the league decided to actually call slashing penalties for the first few months of the season, penalties went up and everyone freaked out, and then they just went back to not doing that.