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Forums :: Blog World :: Sam Hitchcock: Lightning Lurch Past Hurricanes for Second Straight Win
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Sam Hitchcock
Joined: 10.13.2017

Oct 17 @ 10:19 AM ET
Sam Hitchcock: Lightning Lurch Past Hurricanes for Second Straight Win
gocanes0506
Carolina Hurricanes
Location: United States, NC
Joined: 02.12.2007

Oct 17 @ 11:28 AM ET
When y’all wanted to, y’all turned up the pressure and dominated play. The difference in skill levels among the teams was apparent. Tired legs from us didn’t help either.

Tampa will get it going and jump to battling Toronto for 1st.

It was an entertaining game to watch. Both goalies did well. Unfortunately the Canes PP is bad (although it looked better last night) and de Haan couldn’t clear the puck on his stick during the kill.

Ill be hoping the lightning beat Toronto all this season.
Sityak
Tampa Bay Lightning
Joined: 10.10.2017

Oct 17 @ 2:46 PM ET
I agree, Sergachev is off to an awful start. Turnovers, bad passes, you name it. I guess he was coddled to a certain extent last season, then again, he played well in the playoffs. We'll see, I think his upside is still a mile high.
GalacticStone
Tampa Bay Lightning
Location: U Jealous of my Meteor
Joined: 01.29.2013

Oct 17 @ 4:26 PM ET
The Canes are an elite goalie short of being scary. They did a solid job of bottling up the Lightning attack last night. They drove possession and carried the play for most of the game. Domingue did his best impression of Vasilevskiy and that made the difference. If Domingue had not given us a quality start last night, this could have been a loss for the Bolts.

Agree about Stamkos and Kuch. I think Kucherov is not 100% yet. Sadly, I think this is the new 100% for Stamkos. He's still a threat, but he is now more of a power-play specialist.

Sergachev was painful to watch. I hope it's just the learning curve, because he does show glimpses of that high ceiling he is touted for.

Girardi is doubly-painful to watch. To give credit where it's due, he is not a total dumpster fire like I feared he would be. He does some things right and has great vision. But, his foot speed is extremely problematic in today's speed-dominated game. Having him chained to Hedman is doing Hedman a disservice.

I would try these pairings :

Hedman - Stralman

McDonagh - Koekkoek

Coburn - Sergachev

Girardi - 7th D man.

If Koekkoek poops the bed, then put Sergachev next to McDonagh and either drop Koekkoek to the 3rd pairing, or promote Girardi to the 3rd pairing and use him sparingly.




LightningMcKing
Tampa Bay Lightning
Joined: 02.02.2017

Oct 18 @ 11:03 AM ET
The Canes are an elite goalie short of being scary. They did a solid job of bottling up the Lightning attack last night. They drove possession and carried the play for most of the game. Domingue did his best impression of Vasilevskiy and that made the difference. If Domingue had not given us a quality start last night, this could have been a loss for the Bolts.

Agree about Stamkos and Kuch. I think Kucherov is not 100% yet. Sadly, I think this is the new 100% for Stamkos. He's still a threat, but he is now more of a power-play specialist.

Sergachev was painful to watch. I hope it's just the learning curve, because he does show glimpses of that high ceiling he is touted for.

Girardi is doubly-painful to watch. To give credit where it's due, he is not a total dumpster fire like I feared he would be. He does some things right and has great vision. But, his foot speed is extremely problematic in today's speed-dominated game. Having him chained to Hedman is doing Hedman a disservice.

I would try these pairings :

Hedman - Stralman

McDonagh - Koekkoek

Coburn - Sergachev

Girardi - 7th D man.

If Koekkoek poops the bed, then put Sergachev next to McDonagh and either drop Koekkoek to the 3rd pairing, or promote Girardi to the 3rd pairing and use him sparingly.

- GalacticStone


I have been very impressed with Girardi through the first 4 games. He's hitting, blocking shots and has zero giveaways so far. I think he's been our best right side defensemen so far this season (better than Stralman and Serg). It's early in the season so I'm not saying he's refound his game as an elite shutdown dman, but he has been a very solid defensive defensemen. He also hasn't been beat because he not getting caught up ice. He lets Hedman do all that. He's playing a safe, reliable game.
GalacticStone
Tampa Bay Lightning
Location: U Jealous of my Meteor
Joined: 01.29.2013

Oct 18 @ 5:03 PM ET
While Girardi has looked good at times and has exceeded my expectations, I think it speaks to our lack of depth of the right side to have him on the first pairing. We can get away with that, because he has Hedman as his wing man to take out his trash, and our speedy forwards are good at backchecking. Watching Girardi activate and pinch in the offensive zone nearly always results in him being caught up ice as the play transitions the other way - I've watched it again and again, including in our last game. Of course, we won, so there's that.

I don't recall which goal it was, but on one of the Carolina goals, Girardi was right there in the slot, flat-footed and within reach, and he just stood there like a pylon. Granted, it was only a couple of seconds, but the red light lit up right afterwards.

I'm not questioning his grit, his shot blocking, his vision, or even his passing or shooting (the latter two he is actually much better at than I thought he would be). I just think he has concrete in his skates.

Sergachev has not really inspired confidence lately. Coburn in the past has seemed more comfortable playing on his off-side, as opposed to Sergachev recently. Maybe we should try switching them? Put Sergachev in his natural left side and let Coburn play off hand.