Michael Stuart: Nabokov Strong, Kucherov Lucky as Lightning Defeat Hurricanes

The cancer the last game gave me has gone into remission.

Solid game by Nabby and Kucherov - the Russians came through tonight.

Connolly looked great also. I like how he throws the body around.

Drouin and Filppula also looked a bit better tonight.

Ward was awesome - he stood no chance on either goal.

Bolts were the better team, need to get out of taking so many penalties lately and pot the premium chances. Also change up the PP get Garrison back on the 1st unit full time with Heddy.

Naby and Ward played great.

With Palat out it will be interesting to see how they change the lines through this 5 game road trip if he is out for a week. I say give Drouin a chance on the top line.

2-2 on the home stand, its not like they played horrible but that is a disappointment.

If they improve some of the dumb defensive zone turnovers and get some breakouts they can be successful on this upcoming road trip.

Got some heavys coming up on the 5 game road trip so they need to be prepared to get the teams best shot and expect it to be physical. Use their speed and skill.

Looking forward to watching, I think they break out of their scoring slump.

Lucky bounces wins

So Drouins not going to the WJC? With the logjam we have up front and the fact that he doesnt have a regular spot in the lineup I would think it could be good for him to get some important minutes in the tourney.

Dont really agree with this decision, anyone have a though why SY dont want him to go? More then the injury risk ofc.

So Drouins not going to the WJC? With the logjam we have up front and the fact that he doesnt have a regular spot in the lineup I would think it could be good for him to get some important minutes in the tourney.

Dont really agree with this decision, anyone have a though why SY dont want him to go? More then the injury risk ofc.
- Cloud

Drouin has come a long way since starting in the nhl , why make him go back to dominating teenagers again , something he's proven he has no business doing twice already, and go back to old habits he can get away with ? YZerman says he doesn't want to stall his nhl progression , and playing against those players will , or maybe it won't , but why take the chance

Drouin also said himself he'd rather stay with the lightning , so I'm sure that has something to do with it as well

And yZerman also said there's opportunity for more ice time for drouin . I thought he had a really good game last night , was happy to see him with some kind of scoring line ... Hopefully a sign of things to come , I'd want to see him with stamkos again , palat Johnson and kucherov work too good to split up, but to be honest I haven't liked our 1st line this year .. I didn't like filppula stamkos and Callahan and I don't like Killorn stamkos Callahan , put drouin ther

Drouin has come a long way since starting in the nhl , why make him go back to dominating teenagers again , something he's proven he has no business doing twice already, and go back to old habits he can get away with ? YZerman says he doesn't want to stall his nhl progression , and playing against those players will , or maybe it won't , but why take the chance

Drouin also said himself he'd rather stay with the lightning , so I'm sure that has something to do with it as well

And yZerman also said there's opportunity for more ice time for drouin . I thought he had a really good game last night , was happy to see him with some kind of scoring line ... Hopefully a sign of things to come , I'd want to see him with stamkos again , palat Johnson and kucherov work too good to split up, but to be honest I haven't liked our 1st line this year .. I didn't like filppula stamkos and Callahan and I don't like Killorn stamkos Callahan , put drouin ther
- RileyB77

He dominated the junior league, against a WJC team theres a hole different story.

But if he said himself that he wanted to stay and if hes game has been picking up lately (havent seen a full game for a long time, here in sweden the game starts in the middle of the night) then he should be better of getting some premium minutes with the top lines. Looking forward to see him tomorrow night against the caps


I hear what youre saying about our first line. Acctually our biggest logjam is at center. Filppula is to good to play a 3rd C role, so is Johnson. Sure filppula isnt as dominant as last year (i was kind of suprised he was in the bottom of our teams +-) but he still makes great plays.
Then we have Boyle and Namestikov so moving Filpp to wing is a natural move but its not ideal for the team tampa has this year.

He dominated the junior league, against a WJC team theres a hole different story.

But if he said himself that he wanted to stay and if hes game has been picking up lately (havent seen a full game for a long time, here in sweden the game starts in the middle of the night) then he should be better of getting some premium minutes with the top lines. Looking forward to see him tomorrow night against the caps


I hear what youre saying about our first line. Acctually our biggest logjam is at center. Filppula is to good to play a 3rd C role, so is Johnson. Sure filppula isnt as dominant as last year (i was kind of suprised he was in the bottom of our teams +-) but he still makes great plays.
Then we have Boyle and Namestikov so moving Filpp to wing is a natural move but its not ideal for the team tampa has this year.
- Cloud

I have no problem with Tyler at 3c , makes our team more dominant I felt, I know it's hard to slot drouin in with out quality wingers who have experience now and are stronger but I hope we can get him in there somewhere

I have no problem with Tyler at 3c , makes our team more dominant I felt, I know it's hard to slot drouin in with out quality wingers who have experience now and are stronger but I hope we can get him in there somewhere
- RileyB77

Yeah i could see TJ at 3rd C to but the line with 18 nad 86 is to dominant to play 3rd line minutes. sorry for being diffuse

Yeah i could see TJ at 3rd C to but the line with 18 nad 86 is to dominant to play 3rd line minutes. sorry for being diffuse
- Cloud

No such thing as 3rd line minutes. Guys get ice time based on matchups, zone starts, specialty teams, and how well their line is doing.

Yeah i could see TJ at 3rd C to but the line with 18 nad 86 is to dominant to play 3rd line minutes. sorry for being diffuse
- Cloud

I'd like to be able to tell you that I knew what diffuse means , but I can't lol

To me , and I've seen it been said here too , our 3rd line and our 2nd line don't have much differences , it's the 1st line that we should see higher performance from and be able to distinguish that top line from the other 2 . With a superstar like stamkos there's no reason we can't have an extremely explosive too line that dominates every line .. And I'm not seeing that from our top line , I like stamkos and I like Callahan and I like Killorn too he's one of my favorites but I don't think he should be on a top line with stamkos andcallahan, put another offensive exploding talent up there with Callahan by them and I think that would be a great top line

No such thing as 3rd line minutes. Guys get ice time based on matchups, zone starts, specialty teams, and how well their line is doing.
- Feds91Stammer

Yeah but the further down the lines equals less priority doesnt it? I see your point but theres a reason a 3rd line usually has less ice time then the 2nd.

Yeah but the further down the lines equals less priority doesnt it? I see your point but theres a reason a 3rd line usually has less ice time then the 2nd.
- Cloud

Yes but like I said there is so much more that goes into it. Look at last night for example, Fil played 20:41 (1st line minutes) and Stamkos played 17:45 (2nd line minutes) because that is how the game played itself out.

Yeah but the further down the lines equals less priority doesnt it? I see your point but theres a reason a 3rd line usually has less ice time then the 2nd.
- Cloud

Here is some good info on drouin and world juniors :

http://www.tampabay.com/s...-to-world-juniors/2209978

Yeah but the further down the lines equals less priority doesnt it? I see your point but theres a reason a 3rd line usually has less ice time then the 2nd.
- Cloud

Here is some good info on drouin and world juniors :

http://www.tampabay.com/s...-to-world-juniors/2209978

Thank god for weird-ass bounces.

Here is some good info on drouin and world juniors :

http://www.tampabay.com/s...-to-world-juniors/2209978
- RileyB77

Thx good read

Thank god for weird-ass bounces.
- BINGO!

Enjoying the McEichel sweepstakes I take it?

Enjoying the McEichel sweepstakes I take it?
- Feds91Stammer

It's all we can hope for at this point.

It's all we can hope for at this point.
- BINGO!

What happened to Nesty? Saw he was scratched last night.

What happened to Nesty? Saw he was scratched last night.
- Feds91Stammer

He's been hurt. Not really sure what, specifically. He's been solid during his time so far.

Holds on to the puck well.

He's been hurt. Not really sure what, specifically. He's been solid during his time so far.

Holds on to the puck well.
- BINGO!

Very strong along the wall. I just looked and I guess it's an upper body thing.

I really feel for Cory Conacher. Wavied again! It gotta be heartbreaking for him to keep moving around like that. Wish we had room for him here.

I really feel for Cory Conacher. Wavied again! It gotta be heartbreaking for him to keep moving around like that. Wish we had room for him here.
- Artyukhin76

I don't. It's pretty clear that he isn't good enough to be an NHL player.

I don't. It's pretty clear that he isn't good enough to be an NHL player.
- Michael_Stuart

I guess I just empathize with him that's all. I was always a decent athlete, but never good enough to make the top teams and I just wish guys like him could.