GDT: 12/9/14 - 7:30PM EDT - Washington VS Tampa Bay

[TheDaysOf 04]

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[TheDaysOf 04]

https://twitter.com/TBTimes_JSmith

Same lines at #tblightning skate: Killorn-Stamkos-Callahan/Palat-Johnson-Kucherov/Paquette-Filppula-Connolly/Drouin-Boyle-morrow

Bishop first off ice so he'll start tnite for #tblightning vs @washcaps

 

[AlphaCatalyst]

Team is usually good for a bounce back after an less than imprissive outing, Hope the trend contiunes. Always nice to beat the caps even if they are no longer a division rival.

Go Lightning

 

[DFC]

I think we'll get a good effort tonight, if nothing else. I fear Ovechkin though. We need to play a disciplined game to keep him off the PP. (Remember that four goal game?)

Hopefully Stamkos will be on his A game tonight. I think the lineup will stay the same until we lose a couple in a row. It's pretty balanced, even if there are obvious holes in it, like Killer at 1LW.

EDIT:

Erik Erlendsson ‏@erlendssonTBO 7m7 minutes ago
JT Brown back in the lineup tonight while Droiun looks to be sitting out along with Barberio #TBLightning

...This is starting to become a problem. With everything Yzerman says about what's best for young players (minutes, minutes, minutes), I have a hard time believing he doesn't grind his teeth a little bit every time this happens.

 

[Brie]

I really hope that the team will ready to play Lightning-hockey tonight and give a full 60 minute effort.

...This is starting to become a problem. With everything Yzerman says about what's best for young players (minutes, minutes, minutes), I have a hard time believing he doesn't grind his teeth a little bit every time this happens.

I agree, I also feel that they could rest Morrow a bit more than they do to make sure that we have him ready later on in the season and rotate him and Brown a bit, but sitting Drouin of all players (especially after having him play on the 4th line) isn't going to do him or the team any good.

 

[Sky04]

Why are we sitting Drouin against Washington's shaky and slow defense....If he needs to sit fine, but at least do it for games where he'd struggle...Seems like Coop is getting Brown in there because it's "his turn" or something.

In hindsight, looks like it would've been better to keep him up last year, let him "learn" the game last season on a weaker team and come out ready for this season instead of spending a meaningless year in jr.

 

[Leonardo87]

I think we'll get a good effort tonight, if nothing else. I fear Ovechkin though. We need to play a disciplined game to keep him off the PP. (Remember that four goal game?)

Hopefully Stamkos will be on his A game tonight. I think the lineup will stay the same until we lose a couple in a row. It's pretty balanced, even if there are obvious holes in it, like Killer at 1LW.

The lines looked pretty good offensively last game, just could not find the back of the net. The triplets line needs to keep it simple, they made too many turnovers last game, just keep it simple, enough of the fancy passing back and forth and those brutal back passes.

As per the Stamkos line, two spots are locks on that line, imo. Cally and Stammer are finding each-other and scoring. They need a better LW to play with. Triplets line has Palat and he does so much to add to that line. Stamkos line needs that at LW as well. The answer is someone who Coop does not want there yet. I just think putting Flip there for now might be the best choice until we know we have our set LW for that line. I can't even remember the last time Flip had a 5 on 5 point.

 

[The Macho King]

If only we had a LW that had the offensive skill to hang with Stamkos, and was primarily a playmaker.

If only.

If only.

Damn... this is starting to get on my nerves. Drouin was like the only guy that showed up last game, and he gets scratched today.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I really hope that the team will ready to play Lightning-hockey tonight and give a full 60 minute effort.



I agree, I also feel that they could rest Morrow a bit more than they do to make sure that we have him ready later on in the season and rotate him and Brown a bit, but sitting Drouin of all players (especially after having him play on the 4th line) isn't going to do him or the team any good.

Lightning-hockey is 40 minutes at best

 

[Sky04]

Most of Drouin's points have come from the brief stints he gets with the skilled players on the team have they not?

Kucherov, Johnson, Palat, Stamkos, I bet more than half his points include those guys in it despite playing very little time with them.

 

[DFC]

The lines looked pretty good offensively last game, just could not find the back of the net. The triplets line needs to keep it simple, they made too many turnovers last game, just keep it simple, enough of the fancy passing back and forth and those brutal back passes.

As per the Stamkos line, two spots are locks on that line, imo. Cally and Stammer are finding each-other and scoring. They need a better LW to play with. Triplets line has Palat and he does so much to add to that line. Stamkos line needs that at LW as well. The answer is someone who Coop does not want there yet. I just think putting Flip there for now might be the best choice until we know we have our set LW for that line. I can't even remember the last time Flip had a 5 on 5 point.

Killorn has been an improvement on Flip for that line. Flip and Stamkos just don't seem to mesh at even strength.

A lot of Coop's decisions right now are just kind of strange. Sitting Drouin tonight, after he was one of our more dangerous forwards in the last game. Playing Connolly on the PP when we've had a lot of success with Palat in that spot on the 1st unit.

The Drouin thing is worrisome though. The BP podcast has on at least two occasions brought up Rob Zettler saying something to the effect of: the level a prospect will best develop at is wherever he's going to get the most minutes. That seems to reflect the organization's philosophy (thus sending Drouin down last year and letting others marinate in the A). Sitting this kid, and then giving him 10 minutes per night when he plays, when he's showing some pretty clear flashes of brilliance in those limited minutes, while meanwhile Connolly is being gifted an opportunity on the 1st PP unit, is pretty baffling.

 

[Fred89]

Killorn has been an improvement on Flip for that line. Flip and Stamkos just don't seem to mesh at even strength.

A lot of Coop's decisions right now are just kind of strange. Sitting Drouin tonight, after he was one of our more dangerous forwards in the last game. Playing Connolly on the PP when we've had a lot of success with Palat in that spot on the 1st unit.

The Drouin thing is worrisome though. The BP podcast has on at least two occasions brought up Rob Zettler saying something to the effect of: the level a prospect will best develop at is wherever he's going to get the most minutes. That seems to reflect the organization's philosophy (thus sending Drouin down last year and letting others marinate in the A). Sitting this kid, and then giving him 10 minutes per night when he plays, when he's showing some pretty clear flashes of brilliance in those limited minutes, while meanwhile Connolly is being gifted an opportunity on the 1st PP unit, is pretty baffling.

I bet they're looking to trade Connolly at this point.
Scratching Jo doesn't have any sense except for wanting grit on the 4th line and being unable to scratch Connolly because they're pumping his value..

 

[DFC]

I bet they're looking to trade Connolly at this point.
Scratching Jo doesn't have any sense except for wanting grit on the 4th line and being unable to scratch Connolly because they're pumping his value..

I'm on board with that theory about Connolly too. But I'm not sure it's worth messing with the confidence of a 19 year-old who needs minutes. And deserves minutes.

"Well, we think he’s an incredible talent, a very intelligent hockey player, great hockey sense, great vision. We just feel he’s better served by playing another year of junior hockey. I don’t want him being in and out of the lineup. I don’t want him playing limited minutes. Our assessment was he’s better off playing another year of junior hockey, hopefully playing for Canada at the world junior championships and developing there." - Steve Yzerman, September 2013

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/lightning/gm-yzerman-explains-connolly-drouin-decisions/2144533

I guess sitting Morrow is too obvious a solution for Coop's liking.

 

[Leonardo87]

Killorn has been an improvement on Flip for that line. Flip and Stamkos just don't seem to mesh at even strength.

A lot of Coop's decisions right now are just kind of strange. Sitting Drouin tonight, after he was one of our more dangerous forwards in the last game. Playing Connolly on the PP when we've had a lot of success with Palat in that spot on the 1st unit.

The Drouin thing is worrisome though. The BP podcast has on at least two occasions brought up Rob Zettler saying something to the effect of: the level a prospect will best develop at is wherever he's going to get the most minutes. That seems to reflect the organization's philosophy (thus sending Drouin down last year and letting others marinate in the A). Sitting this kid, and then giving him 10 minutes per night when he plays, when he's showing some pretty clear flashes of brilliance in those limited minutes, while meanwhile Connolly is being gifted an opportunity on the 1st PP unit, is pretty baffling.

I am on the fence with the whole Killorn or Flip at LW. Killorn has had some good games, and some bad games on that line, same as Flip. Plus Stamkos has also not been 100 percent at times , and then you had the Callahan injury in the beginning of the season so it kind of throws the entire line in disarray.

I suggested in the other thread, that Palat should go back on the top PP unit. That unit of Hedman - Stamkos - Palat - Flip - Callahan was deadly.

As per Drouin, scathing him is mind-boggling right now. It seems every-time he gets going, he gets scratched. Once Drouin hits the 40 game NHL mark, there should be no excuses not to give him top 6 mins, imo. The kid is starting to play well, and to put him on a line with some veterans in the top 6 will improve his game all around.

 

[BohemianRhandomly]

I must be the only person alive who isn't upset/confused about Drouin being scratched. We do have other players to develop besides Drouin; Brown hasn't played on occasion either and he does need some ice time. I guess I tend to look at the bigger picture - winning the game, rather than worrying about who is scratched and who isn't. I'm a little amazed at the amount of focus that's being put on this one player every game. And part of me feels that worrying about Drouin's ice time so much feels like bad karma somehow; he will likely get increased ice time when another player goes down due to injury - that will happen soon enough. I'm just puzzled by all the impatience surrounding one player.

 

[Brie]

I just keep seeing Drouin becoming this Stamkos/Callahan hybrid player (mixed with everything he already is himself) if he ever got the chance to play with them, wow what a dominator he could develop into.

I just don’t understand what would be so bad to at least test him playing with Stamkos and Callahan, if they are worried about minutes then they can always switch the 1st line and the 2nd line for a few games while Drouin gets used to it. Now while I think both Boyle and Morrow are great guys and players it’s not really the type of player that Drouin should become and therefore he shouldn’t be playing with them, and also he’s a playmaker and neither of them are really goal scorers (they do score but not consistently) and so most of his plays will go unnoticed because no one is there to finish on them.
Besides both Stamkos and Callahan great players at what they do, and can help Drouin out while he learns, and they also both know the importance of being good mentors and how it can help young players develop having played with some great players themselves (Stammer with guys like MSL and VL4 and Cally with guys like Jagr, Shanahan and Drury).

 

[c_robio]

I didn't mind Drouin going to the Boyle/Morrow line because while Filppula is great at handling the puck it doesn't mesh with Drouin imo. To me Filppula is the guy you want starting in the defensive end and getting the puck to the offensive end.

I realize Drouin will have to pay his dues before he gets a chance in the top 6 but looking down the road, don't Killorn and Filppula have good chemistry ? I've only started watching Tampa consistently this season but I think I remember reading this.

I would even prefer Filpulla back to the top line, and a line of Drouin-Killorn-Connolly. That would work well imo.

To me Paquette should be Morrow's successor, and you can rotate Morrow/Paquette/Brown as wingers with Boyle

 

[The Macho King]

I just keep seeing Drouin becoming this Stamkos/Callahan hybrid player (mixed with everything he already is himself) if he ever got the chance to play with them, wow what a dominator he could develop into.

I just don’t understand what would be so bad to at least test him playing with Stamkos and Callahan, if they are worried about minutes then they can always switch the 1st line and the 2nd line for a few games while Drouin gets used to it. Now while I think both Boyle and Morrow are great guys and players it’s not really the type of player that Drouin should become and therefore he shouldn’t be playing with them, and also he’s a playmaker and neither of them are really goal scorers (they do score but not consistently) and so most of his plays will go unnoticed because no one is there to finish on them.
Besides both Stamkos and Callahan great players at what they do, and can help Drouin out while he learns, and they also both know the importance of being good mentors and how it can help young players develop having played with some great players themselves (Stammer with guys like MSL and VL4 and Cally with guys like Jagr, Shanahan and Drury).

I guess my thing is if he's not playing with Stamkos/Callahan, Boyle/Morrow would probably be the best option. Those guys will defer to him offensively. It's not a good fit defensively - and that's a line that I think Coop would prefer starting 80% of the time in the Dzone, but purely from a developmental standpoint it makes sense.

To the guy saying we "have other talent to develop" - sorry, but the development of JT Brown is not as important to the future of this franchise as the development of Jonathan Drouin. Also, why not scratch Connolly or Paquette if the whole reason is to "get young guys in"?

Drouin has shown his talent. Meanwhile, Stamkos is forced to be a playmaker. Meanwhile, Killorn has 1 point (a secondary assist on a goal entirely set up by Stamkos) in the past four games. Our top line is barely a threat - let's put him up there and see how it works.

 

[DFC]

I must be the only person alive who isn't upset/confused about Drouin being scratched. We do have other players to develop besides Drouin; Brown hasn't played on occasion either and he does need some ice time. I guess I tend to look at the bigger picture - winning the game, rather than worrying about who is scratched and who isn't. I'm a little amazed at the amount of focus that's being put on this one player every game. And part of me feels that worrying about Drouin's ice time so much feels like bad karma somehow; he will likely get increased ice time when another player goes down due to injury - that will happen soon enough. I'm just puzzled by all the impatience surrounding one player.

It's because winning the game isn't the big picture. Making sure this kid develops into a franchise quality player is the big picture. And we have some very contradictory things happening in that regard: Yzerman preaches one thing, Cooper does something else.

I love guys like Brown and Paquette, but they're not going to be nearly as important to this franchise in the long-term as Drouin. And besides, the simple answer is to just give Morrow the night off when somebody else needs to rotate in. Instead, we're sitting the one guy who most needs the minutes.

 

[2MinutesforGiraffing]

The irony here is that we're possibly pumping up Connolly's trade value at the risk of creating another Connolly situation.

#FreeDrouin

 

[HoseEmDown]

I bet they're looking to trade Connolly at this point.
Scratching Jo doesn't have any sense except for wanting grit on the 4th line and being unable to scratch Connolly because they're pumping his value..

Who would replace Connolly in the lineup? Paquette, he has 1 point in the last 9 games and hasn't scored a goal in 10. Brown, he has 3 points all year and 2 of them came in one game. Drouin isn't a goal scorer and with a playmaker like Filpulla already on the 3rd we need someone to shoot and that's Connolly.

 

[JS91]

I don't get why they keep scratching Drouin, unless it's just to bump Connolly's value up. He is playing really well considering who he has to play with and how he is scratched pretty much every other game, yet they keep just scratching him.
The only reason I can think of is Yzerman especially telling Coop to play Connolly as much as possible so that he can score some goals and get higher value. I'm really hoping that they give Drouin a chance to play on the top line or at least make him a regular on the 3rd line after the Christmas/the possible Connolly trade.

 

[The Macho King]

Who would replace Connolly in the lineup? Paquette, he has 1 point in the last 9 games and hasn't scored a goal in 10. Brown, he has 3 points all year and 2 of them came in one game. Drouin isn't a goal scorer and with a playmaker like Filpulla already on the 3rd we need someone to shoot and that's Connolly.

I kind of agree. If we're trading Connolly, that means we're bringing a winger back, because we don't have someone in the system that can replace him right now.

 

[Obviously]

Cooper is going to ruin Drouin and I'm going to hate him for it

 

[DFC]

Cooper is going to ruin Drouin and I'm going to hate him for it

Druined.