OPINION:
I wasn't sure what to expect from playing Tampa Bay tonight. I've been keeping my eye on them this year because I have a certain Stamkos fellow on my Yahoo Fantasy Team and I knew they're pretty legit. They're especially good in the 3rd period, which I thought the Ducks might have some trouble with. They found a way though. Selanne was on a mission tonight, he had bountiful scoring opportunities tonight. I counted 6 goals he should have had, only 1 went in though. And then there is Kyle Palmieri who was called up yesterday. What's he going to do in his very first NHL game? He's going to score a huge game-tying goal with just minutes left to spare, that's what he's going to do! It was a huge goal that forced an overtime, where the Selanne on a mission zipped, or rather FLEW, up the ice and fed a beautiful pass to Getzlaf who potted that sucker into the back of the net. A thing of pure beauty.
POST GAME QUOTES:
"It was a big game for us," Getzlaf said. "It felt like we played pretty well tonight for the most part. We were able to come back at the end. The kid (Palmieri) scored a big goal in his first game and that is exciting."
"It was unbelievable," said a grinning Palmieri, the former Notre Damer, who had an AHL-leading seven goals with Syracuse before his recall. "I was so excited. The whole play seemed like it was slow developing. I saw the puck come across from Bobby. It squirted around to my stick. He banked it off me. I didn’t have to do much. It was unbelievable. To explain, I really don’t have any words right now. It hasn’t really sunk in. Right now, I’m just excited."
"It was a dream come true," Palmieri said. "Even just being there and out on the ice, it was an honor. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid playing hockey back in New Jersey."
"We played against a hockey club that could really skate and is playing with a lot of confidence right now," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "We’ve had our fair share of turmoil and lack of consistency. Tonight was one of our more inspired games. Overall, our effort was way up there. We should feel good about ourselves."
Source for Quotes: ducks.nhl.com
ANAHEIM, CA - NOVEMBER 03: Kyle Palmieri #51 of the Anaheim Ducks receives high fives from the bench after scoring his first NHL goal in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Honda Center on November 3, 2010 in Anaheim, California. The Ducks defeated the Lightning 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
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Tim's Scouting Report-Tampa Bay Lightning
Current Record: 7-2-1 (11 points) 1st in Southeast Division, In three-way tie for 1st in Eastern Conference
Forwards: Martin St. Louis is still the heart and soul of the team. Despite the team's struggles record-wise over the last three seasons, St. Louis' effort did not wane. The former scoring champ has basically been Mr. everything for the team. Captain Vincent Lecavalier is coming off one of his worst years numbers-wise last year, but it hasn't come without effort. He's been getting his shots away, but they just weren't going in. Steven Stamkos has become the go-to guy for scoring goals, and his specialty on the power play is similar to that of one Teemu Selanne (one-time shot from the face off circle). Simon Gagne was brought in to provide more scoring depth, but he has been out with a neck strain for two weeks and did not make the west coast trip with the team.
Defenseman: The depth has been tested at times. Mattias Ohlund just barely came back from a knee injury, and Victor Hedman has been in and out himself with a similar problem. Pavel Kubina kneed a Coyotes forward on Saturday, which prompted a duel between himself and Coyotes C Shane Doan. I'm not sure if Kubina has heard anything from the league regarding his hit, which was low, but it's something to keep an eye on. Matt Smaby is out himself with what they're calling a sprained right ankle, but he's been walking around in a boot, even though X-rays showed a small fracture.
Goaltending: If there is a possible weakness on the team, it's in between the pipes. Mike Smith (6' 3" 205) is supposedly a part of the new trend of goaltending, but he can at times have mental lapses for some strange reason or another. The team really wants him to take the job and run with it, but he has not shown anything that says he can do that. Last week, he coughed up 3 to Pittsburgh (2 of which were short-handed at last check) and was replaced by offseason acquisition Dan Ellis, who may end up supplanting him as the team's number 1 in net.
Coaching: First year coach Guy Boucher installed a 1-3-1 defensive scheme that has left opponents perplexed at times. He's not necessarily coming up with a new game plan, it's just that teams don't use it that much. For the power play, he's also given the players one rule: "When you get the puck, shoot." It's like Wayne Gretzky once said, "100 percent of the shots you don't take don't go in." In the past, players were always looking to shoot only when open, which, if you watched the games, you would always hear fans yell "SHOOT!" Now, they oblige, and I'd say they are getting the results you're looking for, even though the power play is suffering from a bit of a power outage recently.
Current rankings (you can update this if you want to, they are as of 11/2/2010)
Goals scored per game: 3.5 (1st in NHL)
Shots per game: 34.3 (3rd in NHL)
Goals allowed per game: 3.0 (20th in NHL)
Shots allowed per game: 27.5 (5th in NHL)
Power Play percentage: 23.9 (4th in NHL, but is 3 for its last 21 and 1 for its last 17 in 5 on 4 situations)
Penalty Kill percentage: 90.3 (3rd in NHL)
Thank you for the report Tim!
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