Round 1: Lightning (A2) vs. Red Wings (A3)

[CarltonTheBear]

G1 Thurs., April 16 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G2 Sat., April 18 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 3 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Tues., April 21 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, 7 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G4 Thurs., April 23 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G5* Sat., April 25 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, TBD TBD
G6* Mon., April 27 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, TBD TBD
G7* Wed., April 29 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, TBD TBD

 

[LittleHockeyFan]

this one's kinda tough. On the one hand, I wanna see Steve Yzerman's team do well.....on the other hand, Son is (still) a Red Wings fan:

 

[CarltonTheBear]

So Detroit will be starting Petr Mrazek over Howard in game 1. Mrazek has definitely been the better goalie as of late, but that's still an interesting move to make.

 

[Derk]

I'll go with Tampa in this one.

 

[pmrules]

Tbay in 6

 

[Coco-puffs]

This one is a tough one.... I really like Tampa, but since they finished ahead of Nashville in the standings a loss would improve our pick from Nashville (assuming they lose to Chicago).

Ditto for St. Louis.  I like that team, but wouldn't be completely upset if they lost to the Wild. 

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Wings up 3-1.  Shots are 31-12 for Tampa.

EDIT: 3-2 now.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Wings up 3-1.  Shots are 31-12 for Tampa.

Try and keep up man. 5th round pick Nikita Nesterov makes it 3-2. Tampa's scouting sure is something. Good for them on taking risks on a few Russians.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Hey I edited.

 

[Kin]

I know they're not currently matched up but I wonder if Sustr and Hedman would be the tallest defense pairing ever.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Wings win 3-2. They were outshot 14-46.

 

[ZBBM]

15 more wins until Babcock accomplishes everything he can possibly accomplish in DET and decides to come here as GM/Coach.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Wings about to win game 3, going up 2-1 in the series. Stamkos has been pretty invisible for the Lightning. They had the net empty with just over a minute to go in this one and he wasn't even on the ice for it.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Wings about to win game 3, going up 2-1 in the series. Stamkos has been pretty invisible for the Lightning. They had the net empty with just over a minute to go in this one and he wasn't even on the ice for it.

Gotta ask the question: Can you win with Stamkos?

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Wings about to win game 3, going up 2-1 in the series. Stamkos has been pretty invisible for the Lightning. They had the net empty with just over a minute to go in this one and he wasn't even on the ice for it.

Gotta ask the question: Can you win with Stamkos?

In all seriousness, is he hurt?

Also can someone tell me why they're just playing game 3 when some teams have played 4?

 

[L K]

Wings about to win game 3, going up 2-1 in the series. Stamkos has been pretty invisible for the Lightning. They had the net empty with just over a minute to go in this one and he wasn't even on the ice for it.

Gotta ask the question: Can you win with Stamkos?

He's just not in good enough shape to play into the playoffs.

 

[Andy007]

Wings about to win game 3, going up 2-1 in the series. Stamkos has been pretty invisible for the Lightning. They had the net empty with just over a minute to go in this one and he wasn't even on the ice for it.

Gotta ask the question: Can you win with Stamkos?

He's just not in good enough shape to play into the playoffs.

Apparently during the off day he was observed laughing with a friend. He doesn't care about playoff hockey.

 

[ZBBM]

Wings about to win game 3, going up 2-1 in the series. Stamkos has been pretty invisible for the Lightning. They had the net empty with just over a minute to go in this one and he wasn't even on the ice for it.

Gotta ask the question: Can you win with Stamkos?

He's just not in good enough shape to play into the playoffs.

Apparently during the off day he was observed laughing with a friend. He doesn't care about playoff hockey.

Sounds to me like a perfect opportunity to give a couple of elite scoring titans the change in scenery they both so desperately need.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Lightning beat Red Wings last night 3-2 OT.  Tampa Bay OT goal scored by Tyler Johnson.  Detroit took the lead until the Lightning came back to tie it and force OT.

Detroit leads series 3 games to 2.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Tampa's facing elimination tonight, I don't think very many people had Detroit winning this one. The Lightning actually seemed like the team most people had coming out of the East (seemed like it was either them or the Rangers generally).

No Lightning player aside from Tyler Johnson has more than 1 goal. Johnson actually has as many goals as the rest of the teams forwards do combined. Stamkos has 0 goals and 2 assists in the series so far.