Game 70: Toronto at Tampa Bay

by Cassie McClellan on Mar 17, 2009 10:52 PM EDT

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost in a shoot out to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3.

Where, oh where, to begin...? Let's start with being up 3-0 towards the end of the second. And then losing in the shoot out.

I don't know what was said during the second period intermission - or what not was said, frankly - but whatever it was (or wasn't), it was entirely the wrong thing. The team that came out of the dressing room at the beginning of the third was not the same team that went into the dressing room at the end of the second. In the second period, they were confident. For most of the third, they were shaky and couldn't get the puck out of their own zone.

The only things that saved during that awful third period were special teams and Kari Ramo. Again, their power play was good, and their penalty killing even better. The Lightning didn't allow a Toronto power play goal in five tries. Converting two of their six power plays wasn't too shabby, either.

And Ramo was fantastic. Sure, the score isn't really indicative of that, but it rarely has been this season for the Lightning. I mean, they suited up their 20th defenseman this season. What does that tell you? (If you don't know, then maybe you ought to ask someone.)

It tells me that they weren't that great at limiting shots. Also a season-long problem. Almost 40 - again. I thought they'd gotten past all that. Although, to be fair, there was overtime involved.

One of the highlights for this game - for me, anyways - was a perfectly executed hip check by Anton Stralman on Vincent Lecavalier. Lecavalier didn't like it much, and I'm sure I wouldn't, either, had I been in his skates. But it was a legal and very nicely done hip check, and that was a thing of beauty. I've often wondered why that's disappeared from the game.

So this one went into a shoot out, as previously mentioned. And it was a long one, too, going six rounds. It was more of a goaltending clinic then anything else. Martin St. Louis' shot hitting the post, instead of going into a wide open net after spinning around to his backhand, was a bit of a heartbreaker, though.

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I’ve often wondered why that’s disappeared from the game.

It’s disappeared because of reactions like Lecavalier’s. Clean hip checks too often are reacted to in the same vein as dirty hits.

It doesn’t help that most people can’t throw a proper hip check which ends up giving it a bad rap.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Mar 18, 2009 9:51 AM EDT reply actions

I think your latter point's more relevant

Too many people throw bad hipchecks. Or screw it up enough to draw a call.

I mean, it’s like some of the clean shots that you see with players skating with their head down. I think it was Heatly last week who got his bell rung and it turned into a major altercation (Flames at Sens). But that’s that.

by John Fontana on Mar 18, 2009 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Fights after clean hits have become a bit of a problem. The appropriate reaction is to go drill the opponent not start a fight.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Mar 18, 2009 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

And even THAT gets messed

Drilling the opponent, I mean… Because it’s not just an-eye-for-an-eye when you have a retaliation hit, it tends to get dirty.

In a perfect world, you’d have a clean hit to measure up against a clean hit and instead you have wrecklessness and disrespect breeding more disrespect and flat out revile.

This is why there are rules, of course, but the NHL refs are so unaccountable (and I say this in a generalization – I never try to complain about Refs for bad calls against the Lightning alone as-so-much bad calls or non-calls, period) that they can’t be trusted to make sure that things don’t get out of hand on ice.

by John Fontana on Mar 18, 2009 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

It's a lack of respect

The problem with going after a guy throwing a clean hit is that everyone is suspect. No one trusts the other guy anymore because they know that there’s a serious lack of respect on the ice. So if a hit didn’t feel right, guys automatically assume there was some intent to injure.

by Cassie McClellan on Mar 18, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions

As much as we’d like to complain about how it is right now, this is what the new NHL has turned into. Thought I may not agree with it, and believe me I do enjoy a huge clean hit, even on my own team, we’ve come to expect a scrum after the hit. The guy making the hit knows this, and last nights game played out perfectly. Clean hit, retaliation slash, then Lecavalier ends up in the box. Isn’t that ultimately to the Leaf’s advantage?

What doesn’t work is when half the team decides to get involved in a scrum afterwards.

The Hockey Bay

by Dani Toth on Mar 18, 2009 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions