SWPro

April 27th, 2015 at 6:29 PM ^

The playoff series was one of the worst goaltending performances I've ever seen from a team.

 

Allen couldn't stop a beach ball. Not that he was getting a lot of support. I was pretty shocked Elliot didn't get a shot to start at least one game.

Yostbound and Down

April 27th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^

Meh, he's frustrated because aside from the Johnson line they haven't found a way to exploit our defense. Detroit's not playing any chippier than they are, and it's the playoffs, both sides get away with stuff you would see get whistled back in December.

It is pretty remarkable in particular how off his game Stamkos is. The guy is one of the most talented goal scorers in the league and is pulling a Crosby right now.

drjaws

April 27th, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^

He is just making it public, hoping that tonight in Hockeytown he'll get a few extra calls from the refs (as if they need them, TB has more powerplays than Detroit this series).

Though, with the astounding number of cheap shots by TB, he may have just shot his team in the foot if the refs ARE paying more attention.

SMart WolveFan

April 27th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^

U vajed? I remember back in the 90's when it was backwards and the Wings were complaining about the clutching. They told us back than that was called playoff hockey. 

Obviously the team that is a "high octane offense" will complain and they need to, TB will probably get at least 5 power plays tonight, and Luke Shotblocker will stop each and everyone of them on his own.

The NHL is even implementing a special "Glendening PP"; it's a 5 on 1. Of cousre, to be fair, they're giving Luke 2 points everytime he scores shorthanded.

flashOverride

April 27th, 2015 at 4:47 PM ^

Wings actually used the left wing lock quite effectively in '97. Devils were the neutral zone trap. Subtle differences. Whereas the LWL was simply a defense-first posture, the NZT was meant to deliberately make it seem as if both teams were trying to play hockey in a swamp. 

Achilles

April 27th, 2015 at 3:43 PM ^

I'll bet he would not be saying anything like that if the Lightning were winning the series 3-2 instead of losing 2-3.

This has been a competitive series, but let's face it - the Red Wings should be getting their R and R right now, but they completely choked in game four. Have the Red Wings been complaining? Nope. That is a sign of veteran leadership. They blew that game four and then what happened? They went back to Tampa and completely destroyed the Lightning 4-0. They did not make excuses; rather, they just sucked it up, accepted that blown game, and then took care of business in game five.

coldnjl

April 27th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^

If you say that we should have won that blown lead game, then you gotta admit we didn't deserve game 1. As Babcock said, they stole one and we stole one and regardless, the series is 2-2 as it deserved to be. Lets finish it out tonight and move on

flashOverride

April 27th, 2015 at 6:29 PM ^

Call me a homer, but I don't see them as quite the same. A goalie who's in the zone sometimes just snatches away a game. It happens. That's not how TB won Game 4. Mrazek dominated an entire game, while the Lightning simply took advantage of an injury and a sudden collapse in the closing minutes and OT.

BlueinLansing

April 27th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^

clear to me the loss in game 4 sparked them to play an excellent game 5.  They might not have had that kind of response going back to Tampa knowing they were 2 up with a game at the Joe in hand.  Conversely, Tampa might have played a lot more desperate in Game 5 knowing they had to win.

Michigan4Life

April 27th, 2015 at 3:49 PM ^

largely because of Marzek, penalty killing plus timely goals from players not expected to be a key scorer like Luke Glendening. They're winning this series in an Un-Wing like fashion and it's refreshing.  It's clear that Tampa Bay is the better team, but give credit to the Wings for making it a much tougher series than anticipated. 

It helps that the Wings got much better when Abdelkader was back. It helped stablized the forward rotation.

BlueinLansing

April 27th, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^

in the Stanley Cup at Pittsburgh, fall behind and whine.  Hated that guy.

 

Its the playoffs, Babcock has done the subtle complaining before, nothing but gamesmanship.  If a Red Wing reads it and suddenly is a little more hesitant to interfere and TB gets a goal than Cooper did his job.

 

Its hockey, Its the Cup.

JamieH

April 27th, 2015 at 4:00 PM ^

The LIghtning are a dirty team.  I've lost track of the number of times they have intentionally tried to injure someone on the Wings now. 

 

That all stems from the attitudes of the head coach.  You don't have a dirty team without a douchebag head coach.  Ergo, Cooper is a douchebag.  So f' him. 

Roanman

April 27th, 2015 at 4:04 PM ^

The refs start practicing swallowing their whistles sometime around the second week of March and play-off hockey subsequently breaks out.

Cooper knows this and his boss for damn sure knows it. He's just working the refs some in advance of the game.

CoachBP6

April 27th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^

No one is cheating. The lightning are just a very young team with average goaltending. On paper the lightning have a much brighter future, but at present they lack Detroits experience, toughness, and a heavily experienced coach. Detroit better win game 6 though, bc Tampa have the potential to explode at any time.

The Wolf

April 27th, 2015 at 5:37 PM ^

I've had this same feeling the past two games now. I was afraid that Game 4 was that "explosion"/lights-on moment for Tampa, but that didn't appear to be the case in Game 5. The thing that makes me most nervous about Tampa is just that - their ability to quick strike and completely turn the balance of a game. Tonight is going to be fun!



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

CoverZero

April 28th, 2015 at 12:30 AM ^

Its shocking that this guy has gone from being a High School Hockey player...to lawyer...to High School Hockey Coach to the NHL.