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Habs-Lightning series discussion thread


BCHabnut

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3 hours ago, Fanpuck33 said:

Time for reactionary fan lines:

 

Anderson-Danault-Toffoli

Tatar-Suzuki-Caufield

Lehkonen-Evans-Perry

Armia-Kotkianiemi-Gallagher

 

Kulak-Petry

Edmunson-Chiarot

Romanov-Weber

 

Jumble the lines, which aren't getting it done. This should have happened before the last 5 minutes last night.

 

Gallagher is beaten to hell and is giving his all, but I don't think there is much left in his tank. Limit his minutes without losing his hear from the lineup.

 

Anderson is constantly going around the D on the right side, but doesn't have a good enough backhand to get the kind of goals he should be getting. Try him on the left.

 

Give the top line some more offensive punch by moving Toffoli there. We need more than one dangerous line and Suzuki-Caufield have been the better guys together recently, so keep those two together.

 

If Tatar isn't checked out as some have suggested, throw him in and see what he can do. In the short term, he looks like a solid fit with the kids.

 

Lehkonen and Evans have done well playing the same role, so let's throw them together. And of the remaining forwards, Perry has been bringing the most, so throw him on with them.

 

Staal and Byron have been the least effective forwards this series, so they are the odd men out up front.

 

Merrill brings nothing and Gustafsson is no longer bringing any real offense. Swap them both out and roll 3 actual pairings.

I’ve been suggesting something similar as well. The other issue with Anderson right now is, that he seems to be going in by himself on most rushes.

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5 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I’ve been suggesting something similar as well. The other issue with Anderson right now is, that he seems to be going in by himself on most rushes.

Anderson is playing like the player Columbus got rid off. Hot and Cold, and playing like a 4th liner when cold.

 

I love him when he is on a streak, but may turn out to be our new Pacioretty

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9 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

 

I love him when he is on a streak, but may turn out to be our new Pacioretty

I hope so. I would guess he will average 20 goals 10 assists.

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18 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:

I hope so. I would guess he will average 20 goals 10 assists.


My interpretation is that he meant the Pacioretty thing in a negative way. 

In terms of his streakiness.

 

I on the other hand would be thankful if Anderson was anything near what Pacioretty was and is. They are different players though, as some like Anderson due to his intangibles and physicality. Whereas Pacioretty was accused of being a perimeter player who shied away from laying the body or cutting into the tough areas of the ice. 
 

Anyway, I want to like Anderson and do enjoy what he brings but I wasn’t a fan of the move and salary at the time. Of course, the move turned out to be solid, but the salary is another question. All is well though as I am genuinely someone who rarely frets about cap issues. 
 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, xXx..CK..xXx said:


My interpretation is that he meant the Pacioretty thing in a negative way. 

In terms of his streakiness.

 

I on the other hand would be thankful if Anderson was anything near what Pacioretty was and is. They are different players though, as some like Anderson due to his intangibles and physicality. Whereas Pacioretty was accused of being a perimeter player who shied away from laying the body or cutting into the tough areas of the ice. 
 

Anyway, I want to like Anderson and do enjoy what he brings but I wasn’t a fan of the move and salary at the time. Of course, the move turned out to be solid, but the salary is another question. All is well though as I am genuinely someone who rarely frets about cap issues. 
 

 

 

Yes, and to be honest he seems to be playing like bad-Patches right now : lots of body checks away from the play since he does not have the puck and no shots from near the crease / blue paint 

 

he has had a couple of rushes and attempts to drive the net but TBL’s top three have steered him away

 

He has been in effective for. While now 

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1 hour ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Anderson is playing like the player Columbus got rid off. Hot and Cold, and playing like a 4th liner when cold.

 

I love him when he is on a streak, but may turn out to be our new Pacioretty

I don’t think we will be lucky enough for him to produce even close to Pactioretty.

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35 minutes ago, xXx..CK..xXx said:


My interpretation is that he meant the Pacioretty thing in a negative way. 

In terms of his streakiness.

 

I on the other hand would be thankful if Anderson was anything near what Pacioretty was and is. They are different players though, as some like Anderson due to his intangibles and physicality. Whereas Pacioretty was accused of being a perimeter player who shied away from laying the body or cutting into the tough areas of the ice. 
 

Anyway, I want to like Anderson and do enjoy what he brings but I wasn’t a fan of the move and salary at the time. Of course, the move turned out to be solid, but the salary is another question. All is well though as I am genuinely someone who rarely frets about cap issues. 
 

 

 

All goal scorers nor

named Ovechkin are streaky. Otherwise there would be a lot more 50, 60, and 70 goal scorers.

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12 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Yes, and to be honest he seems to be playing like bad-Patches right now : lots of body checks away from the play since he does not have the puck and no shots from near the crease / blue paint 

 

he has had a couple of rushes and attempts to drive the net but TBL’s top three have steered him away

 

He has been in effective for. While now 

Anderson’s problem hasn’t been going to the net. It’s been trying to do too much by himself, and being synced and having  chemistry with his linemates.

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1 hour ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Anderson’s problem hasn’t been going to the net. It’s been trying to do too much by himself, and being synced and having  chemistry with his linemates.


like Patches, he needs a center he has chemistry with: his Desharnais

 

It is not Kotkaniemi or Suzuki. I wonder if Danault may be it. 
 

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10 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:


like Patches, he needs a center he has chemistry with: his Desharnais

 

It is not Kotkaniemi or Suzuki. I wonder if Danault may be it. 
 

I wonder if we put him with staal and perry how that would turn out? Those guys open up a lot of ice with their forechecking, it could leave Anderson open a lot . Plus Anderson and Perry both driving to the net could open up more scoring chances. 

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27 minutes ago, Habsfan89 said:

I wonder if we put him with staal and perry how that would turn out? Those guys open up a lot of ice with their forechecking, it could leave Anderson open a lot . Plus Anderson and Perry both driving to the net could open up more scoring chances. 

 

That is interesting, but I do not know how he would perform on a cycling, downlow line. I think playing LW with Danault and Gallagher would give him more scoring possibilites

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Anderson’s game is really singular and he doesn’t use line mates to help him succeed. He does it all himself so it’s tough to find the right spot for him. 
 

I think he might benefit from a player that follows Anderson to the net looking for rebounds. 
 

He isn’t a passer or a grinder, he isn’t great on the boards and he doesn’t cycle. He carries the puck like a beast towards the net and that’s all he has got. 

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2 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Anderson’s game is really singular and he doesn’t use line mates to help him succeed. He does it all himself so it’s tough to find the right spot for him. 
 

I think he might benefit from a player that follows Anderson to the net looking for rebounds. 
 

He isn’t a passer or a grinder, he isn’t great on the boards and he doesn’t cycle. He carries the puck like a beast towards the net and that’s all he has got. 

 

I would add that he lays on the body very well, but you are basically correct. 

 

That kind of heat-seeking missile of a power forward is a nice piece to have around. However, he has to be seen as a supplementary rather than a core piece, and you’re right, he needs a linemate who can work whatever opportunities his one-dimensional play creates. 

 

I’m surprised that at this stage of his career Anderson seems not even to have tried to add another element to his arsenal. Probably just doesn’t have the hockey sense to do it at this level.

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14 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

I would add that he lays on the body very well, but you are basically correct. 

 

That kind of heat-seeking missile of a power forward is a nice piece to have around. However, he has to be seen as a supplementary rather than a core piece, and you’re right, he needs a linemate who can work whatever opportunities his one-dimensional play creates.

In some ways Anderson and Armia have the same potential, both are big, strong forwards. Anderson is faster and has a greater ability to score by driving for the net, but Armia plays a more collaborative game with his linemates and has better defensive acumen.

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3 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

In some ways Anderson and Armia have the same potential, both are big, strong forwards. Anderson is faster and has a greater ability to score by driving for the net, but Armia plays a more collaborative game with his linemates and has better defensive acumen.

 

“Potential” is no longer a relevant word for these guys, though. They’re 27 and 28 respectively. This is the best they likely will ever become.

 

I like them both and think we should keep both of them (Anderson is here for the long run, of course); but we should do so with an awareness of their limitations. Armia is a prototypical third-liner, less consistent than Lehkonen but with more offensive jam. Anderson is a specialist and needs linemates who can adapt to his limitations. 

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58 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Anderson is a specialist and needs linemates who can adapt to his limitations. 

Also overlooking an aspect many fans seems to love...he seems more than willing to pick a fight & drop the gloves and supposedly has good track record doing when does.

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41 minutes ago, DON said:

Also overlooking an aspect many fans seems to love...he seems more than willing to pick a fight & drop the gloves and supposedly has good track record doing when does.

We need guys who can out the friggin puck in the net. We need guys that fight to put the puck in the net, and I want a guy who drops his gloves, after we win, to puck up the friggin cup. The days of winning in the playoffs by dropping your gloves to fight are long gone.

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58 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

We need guys who can out the friggin puck in the net. We need guys that fight to put the puck in the net, and I want a guy who drops his gloves, after we win, to puck up the friggin cup. The days of winning in the playoffs by dropping your gloves to fight are long gone.

I think some of this discussion has been longer-term as well as the next few games ... in particular, his pugilistic skills ... it absolutely plays more of a role in the regular season. 

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55 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

I think some of this discussion has been longer-term as well as the next few games ... in particular, his pugilistic skills ... it absolutely plays more of a role in the regular season. 

Although, the only thing i remember from 2004 finals was Iginla-Lecavallier fought.

 

Don Cherry 2.0 (Bieksa) mentioned Anderson should be fighting Maroon (or some TB guy).

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3 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

“Potential” is no longer a relevant word for these guys, though. They’re 27 and 28 respectively. This is the best they likely will ever become.

I was using it more in the sense of "what they could have been" as opposed to "what they can become in the future". :)

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Guys, I just want to drop a friendly reminder that Josh Anderson put up 17 goals in a 50 game season, he is easily a 22 - 28 goal guy on a full 80 games, and he did so playing in the top 6 for the most part. He has been relegated to 3rd line duties since the playoffs began with even a stint on the 4th line, the heaviness of his game has been more outlined than his goal scoring in these playoffs because of it.

 

He has accepted his role and outside the Suzuki line, the other lines have generally popped in and contributed in games in sequences. There has only been one line truly firing on all offensive cylinders. As a side note, after reviewing most of his first dozen goals, they come generally, with Suzuki and Drouin, a luxury he has not had for quite some time.

 

Enjoy the ride fellas, no time for pissing and moaning and harping on guys who have contributed in getting us to the chance we had in these playoffs.

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25 minutes ago, Link67 said:

Guys, I just want to drop a friendly reminder that Josh Anderson put up 17 goals in a 50 game season, he is easily a 22 - 28 goal guy on a full 80 games, and he did so playing in the top 6 for the most part. He has been relegated to 3rd line duties since the playoffs began with even a stint on the 4th line, the heaviness of his game has been more outlined than his goal scoring in these playoffs because of it.

 

He has accepted his role and outside the Suzuki line, the other lines have generally popped in and contributed in games in sequences. There has only been one line truly firing on all offensive cylinders. As a side note, after reviewing most of his first dozen goals, they come generally, with Suzuki and Drouin, a luxury he has not had for quite some time.

 

Enjoy the ride fellas, no time for pissing and moaning and harping on guys who have contributed in getting us to the chance we had in these playoffs.

I haven’t been complaining about Anderson per se - what I am complaining about is not changing things around to get him and other players going offensively. This team is only going to succeed if all lines are contributing. Right now that is not happening.
the KK-Anderson line in particular sticks out as not having much chemistry and most of Anderson’s rushes have him going in and driving to the net on his own, with non of his linemates supporting him. 
 

If we are going to have any chance to win the next game, we need to het all the lines going. 

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1 hour ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I haven’t been complaining about Anderson per se - what I am complaining about is not changing things around to get him and other players going offensively. This team is only going to succeed if all lines are contributing. Right now that is not happening.
the KK-Anderson line in particular sticks out as not having much chemistry and most of Anderson’s rushes have him going in and driving to the net on his own, with non of his linemates supporting him. 
 

If we are going to have any chance to win the next game, we need to het all the lines going. 

 

In fairness, they had won 11/13 heading into the series, so a bad game 1 didn't merit line changes. It was no worse than the bad loss against Vegas. They didn't mess with the lines then, even after being utterly dominated.  Game 2 they dominated everywhere but the scoreboard, so again, no reason for changes. Now that everything is on the line and they got dominated, it is finally time.

 

We got here because every player on the team has been playing a very specific role and game 2 made it look like they could still succeed with that. Now, an argument could be made that Ducharme should have reacted after Tampa's 4th goal made it clear that the game/series wasn't going to be won by grinding and opportunistic scoring.

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1 hour ago, Fanpuck33 said:

 

In fairness, they had won 11/13 heading into the series, so a bad game 1 didn't merit line changes. It was no worse than the bad loss against Vegas. They didn't mess with the lines then, even after being utterly dominated.  Game 2 they dominated everywhere but the scoreboard, so again, no reason for changes. Now that everything is on the line and they got dominated, it is finally time.

 

We got here because every player on the team has been playing a very specific role and game 2 made it look like they could still succeed with that. Now, an argument could be made that Ducharme should have reacted after Tampa's 4th goal made it clear that the game/series wasn't going to be won by grinding and opportunistic scoring.

You can’t wait two games to make adjustments in the finals. Tampa is a much better team than Vegas - at every position.  Individually KK, Anderson and Byron were doing good things, but as a line they were not clicking - there just does not seem to be any chemistry. We need to not just have our lines grinding out Tampa, we need all our lines to be a legit scoring threat. Danault’s line finally got through -(although Gallagher is still off/injured, and/or snakebit), and the Suzuki line has had its chances. Perry as really been the only threat on the 4th line. We need all 4 lines getting chances and firing on all cylinders to win.  We are outmatched skill wise, we cannot afford to be outworked, or our coached.
 

We worked hard on game 2, and losing that game hurt. If the lines were better synched, I think we would have had a better chance at beating Vasilevskiy. I think ther is no question that he is the best goalie in the league right now, and really don’t understand how he didn’t win the Vezina. When Tampa as dealing with their injuries, he was really the one keeping things afloat earlier in the year.

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