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What to make of the Tampa Bay Lightning
by Patrick Hoffman on 10/05/08 at 02:45 PM ET
Comments (4)
Not only are the Tampa Bay Lightning not scoring, but they’re also making life difficult for their goaltenders.
Through two games, both of which the Lightning lost by a score of 2-1, the team has scored just two goals and has allowed 80 shots on goal. Yes, they’ve gotten away with it because both Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig have been unbelievable in the two games but can they make it through a full season like that?
This blogger certainly doesn’t think so.
Yes, it’s only been two games and it’s a pretty new team out on the ice but new head coach Barry Melrose must tell them to put more pucks on the net. They only had 21 shots yesterday and took just 19 today.
When your team’s offense is made up of guys like Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Vinny Prospal, Steven Stamkos, Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts and Jussi Jokinen, scoring goals should not be a problem. However, it’s already been a problem through two games as the team hasn’t been able to have any kind of sustained offensive pressure, they’re turning over the puck, and not shooting when they have the room to.
If you’re not generating offense, you better make sure that you have a good defensive system in place and right now, I’m not so sure the Lightning do. Through the first two games, they’ve allowed 80 shots on goal and were letting the Rangers put bodies right in front of Smith and Kolzig. At this rate, the goaltenders won’t last the first month of the season let alone the full campaign.
Again, I know that it’s early on in the season but Tampa needs to come to North America, work on putting pucks to the net, forechecking harder and letting their goaltenders see the shot. If they can’t get these fundamentals down, it’s going to be a long season for Tampa and their fans.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Barry+Melrose, Martin+St.+Louis, Mike+Smith, Olaf+Kolzig, Steven+Stamkos, Vincent+Lecavalier,
Comments
I honestly feel bad for the Lightning fans. That’s just pathetic :(
Posted by Bethany on 10/05/08 at 07:19 PM ET
Well, I don’t know if anyone saw the post-game conference, but Melrose totally ripped into his team. I think my favorite line was something like, “It seems like my guys think they get a 2-minute minor if they shoot the puck.”
Posted by K24 from NYC on 10/05/08 at 08:13 PM ET
Yeah they weren’t exactly what most people thought they would be. Their defense looks bad, like expected, but their goaltending and by that I mean Smith, not Olie the goalie, looks amazing. But people kind of expected their offense to be alright, but they just looked bad. Perhaps as was noted, it is more of a testament to the Rangers d and goaltending, or it could be that they just need to work out their kinks, or maybe they just suck.
Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 10/05/08 at 08:33 PM ET
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Patrick has a tremendous passion for hockey. Besides covering the Rangers and the NHL for Kukla’s Korner, you can also find Patrick’s work over at RLD Hockey, Rangers Tribune, and TheGoodPoint.com.
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If you add a bunch of forwards to your team, it won’t do much to increase you team’s scoring, unless some of those forwards are actually talented scorers. Not one of the new Tampa players was close to point per game scoirng rate last year. not one is a true gamebreaker.
That said, I think Tampa can score more than one goal per game and their being held down against the Rangers is a testament to the Rangers goaltending and defence. The Rangers had one of the lowest goals against last year and I see no reason for that not to continue into this season.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 10/05/08 at 03:47 PM ET