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GDT: Canes @ Lightning 1/9 7:30

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
The Canes look to rebound from Saturday's debacle against the Lightning.

It will be a tall task. Tampa has the most points in the league at 63 in 42 games. They're 16-3-1 at home. Nikita Kucherov leads the league in goals and points. Steven Stamkos is tied for 4th in points and tied for 5th in assists. Anton Stralman is tied for 1st in +/1, Victor Hedman is tied for 3rd, Brayden Point is tied for 6th. Andre Vasilevskiy is 3rd in goals against, 3rd in save % and 1st in shutouts. They're 3rd overall and 5th at home on the PP but they're PK is below average, 18th overall and 25th at home. If the Canes PP didn't suck so much, that would be a good opportunity.

The Canes practiced yesterday before flying to Tampa. Stempniak was activated from IR, everyone partcipated in practice. Aho will be a game time decision. We'll see what the lineup looks like after the 11:30 skate.

Fox Sports Carolinas for TV. Tampa is one of the few teams still starting at 7:30, so if you tune in at 7:00, you'll get the pre-game show.
 
Tampa is so good that even if the Canes clean up all of the crap from Saturday night this is a tough game to win. Get 2 points from this game and its a statement. Get 1 point from this game its a good thing. Lose this game but not look horrible doing so wouldn't be the end of the world. Get blasted again and its a confidence shaker.

Hopefully the Canes go the same route they did the last time they were humiliated in a game and regroup and get back to winning, but I'll be happy to just get back to playing good solid hockey and not wilting under the relentless pressure Tampa will be bringing tonight. Shake the stink off from the last one and play a solid game tonight please and I won't sweat it if we lose this game.
 
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We tend to play pretty well against Tampa, even when the results aren't there. Don't know why that is, but ...

That said, the Ning are seriously good and not screwing around. They look like they want to sweep the board this year and they might just be able to pull it off. We're a speed bump in the road for a team like that. Best we can hope for is a hot night from the keeper and some opportunistic scoring. You can't be squandering a good 10-20 minute stretch against this Tampa team, because they WILL make you pay.
 
Lines at the skate per Michael Smith.

Aho/Staal/Teravainen
McGinn/Rask/Williams
Skinner/Ryan/Lindholm
Nordstrom/Kruger/Jooris

Slavin/TVR
Dahlbeck/Faulk
Hanifin/Pesce

Looks like PDG and Fleury are the odd men out. The D pairings are...interesting.
 
And Stempniak will make his season debut on Thursday or Friday.


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I assume that barring injury Stempniak is going to start out on line 4 to keep his minutes down, leaving a 3 way rotation between him, Jooris and PDG. I'm wondering if PDG will be sent back to Charlotte (needs to clear waivers) sometime before the end of the week, before the 5 days off, so he doesn't spend 2 weeks not playing in any games. The would save the Canes some green as well since PDG is on a 2 way.

Stempniak I think could do ok in a 4th line, injury or crappy play top 9 replacement role if he is really fully healthy and willing to accept that he's lost his top 9 gig for now. If anything he could add a bit more offensive danger to that 4th line, without that line losing any 'grit' or defensive responsibility. I haven't been all the keen on PDG or Jooris' play recently, too many minor penalties and not much else. If Stempniak is back in the mix then its time for PDG to return to Charlotte (assuming he clears waivers, which shouldn't be an issue) with Jooris possibly being a more frequent press box fixture.
 
cmaleski2 said:
Tampa is so good that even if the Canes clean up all of the crap from Saturday night this is a tough game to win. Get 2 points from this game and its a statement. Get 1 point from this game its a good thing. Lose this game but not look horrible doing so wouldn't be the end of the world. Get blasted again and its a confidence shaker.

Hopefully the Canes go the same route they did the last time they were humiliated in a game and regroup and get back to winning, but I'll be happy to just get back to playing good solid hockey and not wilting under the relentless pressure Tampa will be bringing tonight. Shake the stink off from the last one and play a solid game tonight please and I won't sweat it if we lose this game.
Click to expand...

Tampa is the real deal and likely the Eastern Conference Champ once the dust settles come June. Having said that...how does a stinky team like Ottawa beat the Bolts that bad the other night? Both the Canes and Bolts coming off atrocious games, something has to give but I see Tampa winning this game tonight no matter how good the Canes try and rebound from the Boston debacle.
 
Agreed on the 1 point is a good result for us 2 a blessing 0 but not look like Pylons ok. worse well is bad. :) @Cmaleski2

I just want us to play hard and not get blown out.
 
Aho pots a beauty. Canes playing with pace. And they better cause Tampa is bringing it. Ward with a couple of ten bell saves.
 
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