VM1138

That type of stuff never "sent a message" to the Wings when they were beating a crappy team and said team started scrims. I doubt Tampa is going to be less physical after that.

Abdelkader messed Blunden up. I still don't see why it was necessary. This isn't the Avs. Why the hell are things getting so heated, other than frustration? I haven't noticed anything super dirty from Tampa, just stick holding and stuff. Did I miss someone on Tampa pulling a Lemieux?

I don't think anyone is blaming Howard entirely. He hasn't been garbage, but he's not playing at a playoff level, either. He's not the main problem but we should all admit that we won't be winning with him as our goalie. It's been that way for years. We might not win with Mrazek, either, but I think we stand a better chance. Nothing can really be done about the suckage that is our team defense, so Blashill might as well change the one factor that might make some difference.

I actually thought the high level competition and constant battling in the West helped keep us competitive. It might be a coincidence but it seems like the team got lazier after the switch.

I hate jumping ship when a team is down 0-2. It's a perfectly surmountable challenge for some teams. But this one has no skill, no killer instinct and I'm pretty sure hasn't gone 4-1 at any point this season.

Yeah, Zetterbeeg, tap them all and tell them how well they played. Jeez.

Richards, Green, Larkin and Abdelkader are the only ones who give a s***. And Abby is just reckless.

As fun as it is to fight when you're being humiliated and this look like sore losers, let's show some class.

But, you know, they had good chances and they just have to be a little more aggressive and be patient. Pucks will bounce their way if they just keep following the game plan. At least, that's what Blashill and Z will say.

Aside from Mantha and Mrazek there are no changes to make. Blashill can juggle all he wants but we have too many players who aren't good enough. Every line has baggage on it that Tampa is exploiting.

I'll still watch game 3, but if they go down by two by the end of the second I'm not finishing. And if they're down 0-3 in the series I'll be done. This team isn't competitive enough to spend three hours watching.

They dump and chase even with six players. Jesus.

Tampa has last change. They're exploiting our weaknesses, which is apparently super easy.

Whelp, now we have to steal one in Tampa at some point. Containing the triplets in Detroit won't be enough.

Mrazek MAY have overplayed that goal, too, but e damn sure would have tried to get back into position. Howard usually just drifts. Plus, Mrazek sees the ice better and aggressive or not probably wouldn't have fallen for it. Mrazek has the athleticism that allows him to be unorthodox.

It makes me sad how predictably Howard gives up a back breaker.

I'm tired of these special teams series. Every year it's the same garbage. Everyone acts surprised but every year it's the same garbage. Endless power play chances for each team. No rhythm.

Quit hesitating be with the puck!

That power play was garbage. Such pretty passing. No shots?

Wonder what difference that makes? Even more so than on offense you can shuffle the pairs however you want but the corps is still 50% garbage.

He pretty much has to be. There's no one else available, I don't think. If we don't land him our team is going to be ugly.

Mrazek isn't exactly unproven. He dominated Tampa in the playoffs last year, then dominated most of the season this year. Since his rough patch (which was really only a handful of games according to a poster here who broke down that stretch) he hasn't had a chance to regain his footing. Blashill pulled him multiple times after letting in like two goals early. For a young kid you need to let him work out the kinks during those types of games. I mean, Howard also gave up chunks of bad goals during the end of the season and rarely (if ever?) got pulled. I wouldn't say Mrazek is unproven at all, just that his track record isn't as long as Howard's. The problem is, Howard's track record is not a winning one in the playoffs. Now we all know Howard will start Game 2 and it's not necessarily a bad thing, but I hope Blashill has him on as short a leash as he had Mrazek, because we won't win for long with Howard. Not to mention that simply style of play Mrazek would help us win more than Howard. His ability to move the puck is like having a third defenseman back there and could really help our speed game. Not to mention, as others have mentioned, his ability to track the puck and move laterally is far superior to Howard. TL;DR, Howard isn't terrible, but we won't win much with him, and Mrazek has a proven track record of excellence but hasn't been given much of a chance to rebound from a small sample of games where he struggled. Mrazek's style of play will help us more than Howard's, too. Take the chance on the kids, the vets aren't working. I don't know about the playoffs as a whole but he was definitely a no-show against the Wings. Where did this Smith love come from? Do we really need Smith taking four unnecessary minors during the game? Or smoothly handling the puck....straight to a Tampa stick?

Agreed. Green and Richards were exactly who we needed them to be. Richards has impressed lately, in general. Athanasiou looked good, and Abdelkader had good hustle, if he was a little bit of a numbskull there at the end. Larkin looked good, too. Those are the pluses for me. Also, for the frustrating finish and the fact that their flaws are still there, unsolved, it wasn't an embarassing loss. They competed at least.

They can hang with any team. They can get close to winning. They can almost hit the net. What they can't do, is finish.

I think I saw Filppula hit more than any Wing other than Abdelkader. Yikes.