Their first problem is more important, IMO, because it doesn’t matter how good your goalie is if you have poor defense, he’s going to see shots that will catch him off guard. Breaking down most of the goals scored against Tampa, it’s clear to see that their defensive play just gets lazy in their coverage. They need grit. They need to get in the opposition’s face. Instead of everyone looking around for the puck, they should be focusing in on the dive bombers coming in from the circles and the slot attacking the crease. They slip up a goal this way pretty much every game.

As for their goaltending, man…what do you say there. Simple, unobstructed shots just breezing past and looking down right embarrassing. If Tampa thought Garon was their answer, they’re gravely mistaken. There is a reason why career backup goaltenders are career backups. Not because they suck, or because they aren’t as good as a starter. It’s because they can only play well in short spurts or when they’re fresh. Garon has played some KILLER games for Tampa, but that’s only when he is rested or within his 3 or 4 game bubble. His streak of 8 or whatever starts in a row doesn’t count because of the long Christmas break. Garon’s play was bad last night…just bad. Then Roloson come in and plays mediocre. But, by that point, the breakdown was complete and Tampa had packed things up to lose the game.

I will say that Stamkos has absolutely blown me away. I can’t believe that he’s walking away from everyone else for the Rocket because he’s the most consistent goal scorer in the NHL for the last three years. Damn.

If they can find a way to get the team to, I don’t know, stick their man and get the puck out of their own zone, maybe they would look a lot better. Their power play is comically bad too. Keep in mind Tampa finished with 80 points in ’09-’10 so they managed 23 more points in the regular season after a massive rebuild. They are on pace for 82 this season and they have a lot of home games left, so we shall see. I could see them realistically ending the year around 90-95 points and battling for that 8th seed.