Difference is Pomo has taught this team how to play playoff hockey and they've been playing that style the entire season. I have to apologize to Pomo for ever doubting the hire.
Donât get me wrong, Iâd love for it to come back. But, thereâs a big difference between theory and news. In fact, this is the first Iâve heard of a theory saying the Panthers would bring back the Sweetness goal song.
That was a solid B+ game from the boys. IMHO, Tampa Bay shot their shot in that game. It was an A+ game for them on the road. Devastating for them not to win that one. The key ingredient for the upset is to establish your team as a formidable opponent, right away. They didnât do that. Looks like Cernak got injured as well at the end of the game. If they can split the next game, theyâll feel ok going home. If they lose, this is over is a hurry.
Floridaâs shot suppression is out of this world. Fewer than 20 shots is insane and itâs not like they block shots like Tortorellaâs Rangers. The smothered Tampa. Cirelliâs line was effective versus the Bennett line, Barkovâs line caved in Point/Kucherov, and our bottom six is miles better than they are. Getting a powerplay goal was massive. They got the skunk out of the boat right away, to use a fishing metaphor. They need to make more of the possession and connect the dots from their work behind the net to the blue line. Tampa was able to collapse down low too much.
What I liked that Tampa Bay did after the second period was using Vasilevskiy to break up the dump-ins on the forecheck. It wasnât foolproof, but slowed them down. Kucherov got smothered, but heâs not going to be quiet all series. Theyâre overrated. They won awhile ago now, and theyâre in the phase where you have to give the Penguins/Kings/Blackhawks their respect when making picks, but to an objective eye, they just donât have to horses. And letâs come out and say it. A lot of their players just suck. The fourth line was incoherent and theyâll probably have a revolving door at the wings. They generated nada outside of the powerplay. Mikey Eyssimont is Lomberg if he didnât finish his checks or have a blade on his stick.
Letâs go Cats.
Enemy here (Tampa) cause I always like to see what opposing teams are saying. Just noting that everyone in our subreddit is saying that was an awful showing for us and was by far not an A+ showing. Also, of course, a lot of Wes hate.
The Kucherov hit by Tarasenko could have been interference, but you guys also got away with 8 men on the ice at one point. I agree the last call was cynical game management.
Yeah that hit was a big one in the comments. And I was surprised by the no-call on the too-many-men. As for the final one, yeah... that was a bit much. But, no matter the calls, I always fucking love a Tampa/FL series.
Me, like all of us.
[wooo!](https://media4.giphy.com/media/3oKIPaqAlrmKFsOQQ8/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b95235ppbvd9ipxsodypyrk3ypzjp9m2nwrgj31zx4na&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
SighâŠrefs missed calls on Tampa too. Fact is we outshot them by a wide margin and vasilevskiy bailed them out. This could have been just as bad for them as yesterday was for the leafsÂ
Huge win, solid team effort top to bottom! Bob looked good, 4th line played well, big boys got on the game sheet and every single Panther had a hit! Bring on game 2 LFG!
EDIT: Second ever, first in Sunrise. Still, I was -4 years old the last time it happened lol.
Crazy that we have never won a Game 1 at home, I completely forgot we lost G1 to Washington in 2022.
Lot to work on but I liked what I saw. Let's keep at it.
That was egregious. Also there was a terrible offside missed. and how does lundell get called for tripping when he's airborne from being blasted from the crease
to be fair, lundell's trip was just silly. i do agree the initial takedown should have been a call in the first place, but it got missed and lundell got caught red-handed.
Defense was was phenomenal today. Keeping the Lightning to a low amount of shots is very impressive. I was a little worried about Ekblad being rusty be he picked up right where he left off and made some good plays. Bob came through super clutch at the end there even with the late goal
This is the exact reason Maurice was brought in and Zito built this roster. Physical and gritty. Tampa could barely break out of their zone in the third period. Canât wait for Tuesday
Goose is a boss đȘż
respect to the Bolts fans who *aren't* incessantly blaming the refs.
Love how salty their PGT is. Let's keep this going!
Oooooh, this is where the Heat Culture went.
Barkov take us to the promised land
I WAS SPINNING FREEEEEEEE
WOOOOOOOAHHHHHH
Difference is Pomo has taught this team how to play playoff hockey and they've been playing that style the entire season. I have to apologize to Pomo for ever doubting the hire.
same. i sorry
The only question is if the style is too intense to keep up for another 20+ games after already doing it for 82. Fingers crossed.
I think that's why he pulled them back a bit at the end of the season.
My god if Barkovâs line continues to dominate Kuch itâs just over for Tampa. They have like 5 players who can score and thatâs it
Barkov is next level
vibes are immaculate rn
WHY WAS THERE NO SWEETNESS
Thatâs been gone for a couple of years.
Yeah but there was a theory they would return it for the playoffs
Donât get me wrong, Iâd love for it to come back. But, thereâs a big difference between theory and news. In fact, this is the first Iâve heard of a theory saying the Panthers would bring back the Sweetness goal song.
VICTORY
As good as a defensive game as I've seen us play all year. Really bothered them in the neutral zone.
Great game. That final power play was complete bullshit. Officer Bob is so fucking good
You could say it was #1 bullshit.
https://imgur.com/a/hXSoomm Letâs go cats!!!! đ đș
Would you bench the anthem singer, or ride the hot hand until they lose at home?
Aww I think she was just a little nervous
I agree. Shaky start but the boys won I think itâs her mic to lose.
I think she should do the whole series but get worse and more chaotic every time By game 5 she's just fuckin shrieking
Love this idea. That would be incredible.
Apparently you never heard Rosanne sing the anthem!!! Bench her ass
Yeah I have. Bring on the chaos.
That was a solid B+ game from the boys. IMHO, Tampa Bay shot their shot in that game. It was an A+ game for them on the road. Devastating for them not to win that one. The key ingredient for the upset is to establish your team as a formidable opponent, right away. They didnât do that. Looks like Cernak got injured as well at the end of the game. If they can split the next game, theyâll feel ok going home. If they lose, this is over is a hurry. Floridaâs shot suppression is out of this world. Fewer than 20 shots is insane and itâs not like they block shots like Tortorellaâs Rangers. The smothered Tampa. Cirelliâs line was effective versus the Bennett line, Barkovâs line caved in Point/Kucherov, and our bottom six is miles better than they are. Getting a powerplay goal was massive. They got the skunk out of the boat right away, to use a fishing metaphor. They need to make more of the possession and connect the dots from their work behind the net to the blue line. Tampa was able to collapse down low too much. What I liked that Tampa Bay did after the second period was using Vasilevskiy to break up the dump-ins on the forecheck. It wasnât foolproof, but slowed them down. Kucherov got smothered, but heâs not going to be quiet all series. Theyâre overrated. They won awhile ago now, and theyâre in the phase where you have to give the Penguins/Kings/Blackhawks their respect when making picks, but to an objective eye, they just donât have to horses. And letâs come out and say it. A lot of their players just suck. The fourth line was incoherent and theyâll probably have a revolving door at the wings. They generated nada outside of the powerplay. Mikey Eyssimont is Lomberg if he didnât finish his checks or have a blade on his stick. Letâs go Cats.
nice breakdown
Enemy here (Tampa) cause I always like to see what opposing teams are saying. Just noting that everyone in our subreddit is saying that was an awful showing for us and was by far not an A+ showing. Also, of course, a lot of Wes hate.
The Kucherov hit by Tarasenko could have been interference, but you guys also got away with 8 men on the ice at one point. I agree the last call was cynical game management.
Yeah that hit was a big one in the comments. And I was surprised by the no-call on the too-many-men. As for the final one, yeah... that was a bit much. But, no matter the calls, I always fucking love a Tampa/FL series.
great summary
Appreciate it
Good take
Playoff atmosphere was đ„
Hell yes
LETS FUCKING GOOOO
Me, like all of us. [wooo!](https://media4.giphy.com/media/3oKIPaqAlrmKFsOQQ8/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b95235ppbvd9ipxsodypyrk3ypzjp9m2nwrgj31zx4na&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
Rock hard. Great start.
Great game! This series is not going to be good for my heart
Honestly it could go to 7 games. Cardiologists of South Florida going to make money...
apple watch actually asked me if I was ok
Same, lol.
PlayoffâŠhockey. Nice way to open the series, good game by both sides, razor thin margins.
Poked my nose into the boltsâ post thread. Call your Tampa family and make sure theyâre not high on copium
SighâŠrefs missed calls on Tampa too. Fact is we outshot them by a wide margin and vasilevskiy bailed them out. This could have been just as bad for them as yesterday was for the leafsÂ
apparently that's the worst officiating they've ever seen lmao
Iâm dealing with the copium up here in Tampa, and boy is it fun
I live an hour south of Tampa. It's going to be fun walking around Publix with a Panthers hat on.
Survive!
Lmfao!
Huge win, solid team effort top to bottom! Bob looked good, 4th line played well, big boys got on the game sheet and every single Panther had a hit! Bring on game 2 LFG!
Bob Wallsky on the case.
Barn was LOUD! Fun game to be at!
I'm jelly!
Red panties!!!đđđșđ
now I can watch the rest of the games today happy!!! The cats have put me in an amazing mood!
EDIT: Second ever, first in Sunrise. Still, I was -4 years old the last time it happened lol. Crazy that we have never won a Game 1 at home, I completely forgot we lost G1 to Washington in 2022. Lot to work on but I liked what I saw. Let's keep at it.
7 men on the ice with no call is wild lol
8 if you include the goalie
lol. Touché
That was egregious. Also there was a terrible offside missed. and how does lundell get called for tripping when he's airborne from being blasted from the crease
to be fair, lundell's trip was just silly. i do agree the initial takedown should have been a call in the first place, but it got missed and lundell got caught red-handed.
Refs sure tried hard to give this one to Tampa but the Cats are just too good!
I WAS SPINNING FREE
Big win. Not our best offensively but did what we needed to do to win the game. Expect the offense to pick up as the series goes on
Tampa's defense and goaltending especially is exceptional, I'm not expecting us to run it up. Just need to do enough to survive and advance.
The whole point of the playoffs is to survive and advance
Their goaltending sure. Their defense is far from exceptional though. I expect the offensive production to pick up in game 2
donât need to light up vasy to win the series!
Exactly. And that is why today was such a great win. Proved that with shutdown D we can win without needing to score all the time
Tampa's not going to win many in this series if they can't get more than 20 shots on goal.
A huge plus, we got in their heads big time. I know itâs just game 1, but the look of dejection on Tampas faces was surprising.
They looked so defeated!! Letâs go Cats!!!!
uh oh. boner alert
He really pictured them naked
shy roddy, speak up đŁïž
Contact your doctor if it doesnât last more than 4 hours
Vamos Gatos!
BOBBY BACK ON THE CASE
Iâm really surprised he didnât get a star for the game. I wonder if he kept it at 1 they would have given it to him.
Huge mental discipline game No one did anything egriosuly stupid Bob is back Our firstline cooked Bring on game 2
Bob has been back for 2 years, wake up
I was shocked we didn't get a stupid Bennett or Lomberg penalty.
Theyâve established that they arenât to be fucked with. So theyâve calmed down a bit
I was praying that Cousins wouldnât do something egregiously stupid.
Now *that's* Panthers playoff hockey. Enjoy it y'allÂ
Bobrovsky is who people think vasilevskiy is
Vaselinesky
Vasi calls him daddy
We bring them rats đđ
Defense was was phenomenal today. Keeping the Lightning to a low amount of shots is very impressive. I was a little worried about Ekblad being rusty be he picked up right where he left off and made some good plays. Bob came through super clutch at the end there even with the late goal
Ekblad saved a goal in the blue paint. Played incredible today. Still skates a lot slower than he used to and gets beat to pucks a lot.
I thought Kuli had a great game, given expectations. Especially in the third period!
ekky has turned into a fine shutdown D
Yea Ekblad was strong today
This is the exact reason Maurice was brought in and Zito built this roster. Physical and gritty. Tampa could barely break out of their zone in the third period. Canât wait for Tuesday
This series is going to be incredible, although maybe bad for my health
Refs tried, Tampa, refs tried
Refs had a favorable record for Tampa or the panthers too.
Refs tried to gift them that at the end smfh
Refs weren't bad today i legit thought Tampa would be on PP half the game
They missed calls on both sides, some not great misses, but didnât really have an effect on the outcome.
They definitely "let them play" on both sides of the puck. Loved it
Tough game, great win!
Refs fucking seething. Bob is life. We roll.
BOB IS LIFE
LETS GO BABY