Game: 42
Opponent: Vancouver
Score: 3-2
OT Win
Thoughts:
Two wins in two
nights is a nice way to gain some ground in the playoff win. If the
win in Edmonton was the result of lucky bounces, then the overtime
win in Vancouver was a result of hard work and perseverance.
The game got off
to a quick start for the Lightning as they outshot the Canucks 5-0 to
open the action. With one of those shots Alex Killorn managed to beat
Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom. The Harvard man received a nice
pass from Nikita Kucherov, deked once to pull Markstrom out of
position and flicked the puck into the open net.
After the
lackluster first two periods against Edmonton Coach Cooper shuffled
his lines up. Ondrej Palat was bumped up to the Steven Stamkos with
Vlad Namestnikov while Killorn found himself on the “Triplets”
line with Kucherov and Tyler Johnson. The shakeup seems to have
worked.
With all of the
injured forwards back healthy again Coach Cooper has a little bit of
stability to work with and some of the role players can get back to
doing what they excel at. For instance, Brian Boyle hasn't scored in
10 games and has seen his time on ice dwindle from 16-19 minutes a
game down to 9-12 minutes a game. That's not a bad thing.
The Lightning no
longer have to rely on Boyle, JT Brown and Erik Condra to generate
offense. Instead those players can work on controlling the puck and
grinding down the other team so that the offense can get to work.
That's the system that led to success last year and one that can
carry the team in the second half of the season.
After a quick
start the game settled into a slow back-and-forth battle that, quite
frankly, wasn't very entertaining. Tampa Bay was once again not able
to carry a lead into the second period as Vancouver scored late in
the period to tie it up. For most of the second and the first half
of the third the play was mired in the neutral zone and featured more
broken up passes than shots.
In net Andrei
Vasilevskiy, giving All-Star Ben Bishop a night off, was steady if
not spectacular. While he gave up a few rebounds, for the most part
he was steady and in control for the majority of the game. He looked
like a viable future starter stopping 21 of 23 shots in picking up
his fifth win of the season. As if General Manager Steve Yzerman
didn't have enough on his table, it will be interesting to see what
he does when Ben Bishop's contract is up after next season.
The Lightning got
their footing back after a couple of power plays. Valteri Filppula
fired a puck toward a cutting Ryan Callahan in front of the net. The
pass never made it there, but it did happen to hit a skate and sneak
through Markstrom's five hole. Another “lucky” break for an
offense that was starved for them during the first 40 games of the
season.
As for Callahan,
man, you got to feel for him at this point. He is scratching and
clawing for a point, but just can't seem to buy a break. He knows he
has to contribute more. Five goals and nine assists just isn't good
enough for him. He is a bit snake-bitten right now. In the
Vancouver game he had three or four great chances that were either
stopped or just missed the net. At least he managed to pick up an
assist on Filppula's goal – his first point of the new year.
He has been a good
soldier to this point and not complained about his ice time or his
role on the third line. He has just gone out and done what Ryan
Callahan is built to do – hit people and cause chaos. Should he
start finding his scoring touch, then really look out for this
offense to get going.
 |
| Let's celebrate a Callahan point! Photo by Jeff Vinnik (NHLI/Getty) |
Vancouver did
manage to tie it up as Bo Hovart managed to sneak a wrist shot past
Vasilevskiy. Horvat, whose name has come up in trade rumors with
Tampa, was probably the best player on the ice for both teams. He
scored the the second goal and set up the first by drawing two
defenders to him before sneaking a quick pass to Sven Baertschi who
tapped it into an empty net.
It's kind of
disconcerting to watch a Canucks game and not have the Sedin twins be
the most important players for them. The 20-year-old Hovart and the
19-year-old Jake Virtanen were the best Vancouver players on the ice.
They may be struggling right now, but they do have some good pieces
moving forward.
The game went into
overtime (where Vancouver is a dreadful 1-7). Both teams had several
good chances, Vasilevskiy in particular had to make several saves to
keep both teams playing. With less than two minutes to go, the
Lightning managed to dig the puck off of their own boards and Vlad
Namestnikov found Kucherov behind the Vancouver defense on a long
stretch pass. One move by the Russian and the puck was in the net
and the Lightning had another overtime win.
Like the announcer
pointed out, what a horrible time to leave the ice for Henrik Sedin.
Yes he was at the end of the long shift, but he's got to cover
Kucherov long enough for Alex Edler to get in position. Instead he
was like, “I'm done guys. Peace out.”
It was a nice,
tough win for the Lightning. Again this felt like one of those games
that they would lose 2-1 earlier in the year. They're starting to
find their game and if they can keep this momentum going, it won't be
long until they find a secure spot in the playoff race.
Did Matt Carle Get a Point?
Alas, our
protagonist was once again a healthy scratch. Young defensemanNikita
Nesterov took his spot in the lineup. It's time for the team to
start playing Nesterov on a regular basis. He's not going to learn
anything in Syracuse or by sitting on the bench. If the Lightning
want him to become the Russian Dan Boyle they need him on the ice.
He shows signs of
being the puck-moving, offensive minded defenseman that the Lightning
need. He needs the on-ice experience at the NHL level to get better.
He needs to learn when to pinch and when to stay back. When to skate
the puck out of the zone and when to dump it along the boards. The
only way he does that is by playing.
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