Sam Hitchcock: Tyler Johnson and Lightning Feast in Neutral Zone Against 'Canes

Not the prettiest game, to be honest, but a W is a W.

Also, TJ...wew... he just seems to come on at the right time every season, doesn't he?

I was in attendance last night and the officiating in this game was poor at best. The power play chances were 4-0 slanted towards CAR and there were at least a few missed calls that would have balanced that total. I also found it interesting how often we were tossed from the face off circle when it seemed as if both players jumped the drop (resulting in a very lopsided face off percentage in favor of CAR). That being said the team did a good job battling through the adversity and getting Vasy a win when he didn't stand on his head for us and kinda had an off night.

I was in attendance last night and the officiating in this game was poor at best. The power play chances were 4-0 slanted towards CAR and there were at least a few missed calls that would have balanced that total. I also found it interesting how often we were tossed from the face off circle when it seemed as if both players jumped the drop (resulting in a very lopsided face off percentage in favor of CAR). That being said the team did a good job battling through the adversity and getting Vasy a win when he didn't stand on his head for us and kinda had an off night.
- headyhedman77

A characteristic of a great team is being able to overcome adversity and win. Back to back games without a powerplay is unbelievable. Way to pull out the win, Bolts!

Nitpicking: Our defensive exits are getting sloppy. Really need to clean that up. Vasi can't bail them out every night.

A characteristic of a great team is being able to overcome adversity and win. Back to back games without a powerplay is unbelievable. Way to pull out the win, Bolts!

Nitpicking: Our defensive exits are getting sloppy. Really need to clean that up. Vasi can't bail them out every night.
- LightningMcKing

Exactly, just pointing out something that was very apparent to me as i watched last night.

Cant agree with you more on the sloppy exits. Too many times it seemed we were content to throw the puck up the boards to try to exit the zone with absolutely no plan in place. im sure that will be the primary focus of practice in the coming days.

Exactly, just pointing out something that was very apparent to me as i watched last night.

Cant agree with you more on the sloppy exits. Too many times it seemed we were content to throw the puck up the boards to try to exit the zone with absolutely no plan in place. im sure that will be the primary focus of practice in the coming days.
- headyhedman77

I agree, the defense did not do a great job but I also think part of it last night was the line changes. Kucherov/Stammer/Vlad were used to playing together and could cover for each other if one got out of place. Last night Kunitz didn't have the same chemistry which did not help the D out at all. The D does need to be a bit more cautious with the puck, Sergachev sometimes seems very relaxed with the puck directly in front of the net. I like the confidence but I don't like the confidence.

The officiating in that game was a joke - as is usual, unfortunately. I have yet to see two decently-officiated games in a row this season.

Whoever is responsible for training and overseeing the officials should be fired and an emergency re-training session for all officials should be mandatory. NHL officiating is an embarassment to all professional sports.

Either call all of the penalties or don't call any of them. How are the players supposed to know what is OK to do when the officials can't decide for themselves?

Another observation about a nitpick:
The bolts two biggest areas of concern are penalty kill and being 2nd worst in faceoffs. A common "solution" I see posted is people wanting to trade for a centerman who can win faceoffs and play on the penalty kill. While it will certainly help our PK to win more faceoffs, to me I see the PK problem being our defensemen. It seems like a high number of powerplay goals against come from in close and from not clearing out screens. I believe we have the fwds needed to have a successful PK.
Another PK solution may be to stop putting Killorn on the PK... but that's another conversation.
Food for thought before we start thinking a FO expert will solve both of our weaknesses.

Another observation about a nitpick:
The bolts two biggest areas of concern are penalty kill and being 2nd worst in faceoffs. A common "solution" I see posted is people wanting to trade for a centerman who can win faceoffs and play on the penalty kill. While it will certainly help our PK to win more faceoffs, to me I see the PK problem being our defensemen. It seems like a high number of powerplay goals against come from in close and from not clearing out screens. I believe we have the fwds needed to have a successful PK.
Another PK solution may be to stop putting Killorn on the PK... but that's another conversation.
Food for thought before we start thinking a FO expert will solve both of our weaknesses.
- LightningMcKing

I agree with faceoffs, need to be able to win big draws late in games and currently they are not doing that.

I am not sure I 100% agree with the PK. First 25 games of the year they were running at 82.4%, next 18 they have gone 76.3% to be sitting right under 80%. I think we have the talent to kill penalties I think we need to get back to putting focus on it. It's a long, hard season so it seems as though they are playing a little more open right now but I think it will be corrected after the break.

I agree with faceoffs, need to be able to win big draws late in games and currently they are not doing that.

I am not sure I 100% agree with the PK. First 25 games of the year they were running at 82.4%, next 18 they have gone 76.3% to be sitting right under 80%. I think we have the talent to kill penalties I think we need to get back to putting focus on it. It's a long, hard season so it seems as though they are playing a little more open right now but I think it will be corrected after the break.
- Kucherovski

I should have finished my thought in my previous post because we both have the same thought process.

What I was going for in my comment is a new shiny FO specialists will not solve our PK problems. Getting back to basics will solve our PK. I believe overall the problem is we have become complacent in our own end. While this issue may not be as apparent at 5vs5, I believe the problem becomes magnified when we are down a man. We need to get back to doing the little things in our own end and especially in front of our own net.

special teams are also effected by not enough practice. the lightning haven't had anything but morning skates since mid december lol. hard to get back to focusing on something when this is the case

More poop officiating in the Calgary game. I turned it off. I can't watch any more.

I just counted six penalties in a span of two minutes by the Flames and refs only called one.

What a joke. How is this acceptable to fans, coaches, and players? Year after year - poopty inconsistent officiating. It's disgusting.

More poop officiating in the Calgary game. I turned it off. I can't watch any more.

I just counted six penalties in a span of two minutes by the Flames and refs only called one.

What a joke. How is this acceptable to fans, coaches, and players? Year after year - poopty inconsistent officiating. It's disgusting.
- GalacticStone

Is your last name Simpson?

Calgary deserved the win, despite the crap officiating.