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Jon Cooper's Lightning Battle Back and Defeat Devils in Shootout |
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The goaltending was ugly and the officiating was embarrassingly tilted, but the result of Friday’s contest against the New Jersey Devils was friendly to the Tampa Bay Lightning and new head coach Jon Cooper. Twice the Lightning battled back from two goal deficits to force the game into the cocktail hour, otherwise known as the shootout, before ultimately capping off the 5-4 victory. With the victory, the Lightning now sit only four points out of eighth place in the conference and certainly have a little bit of life.
Unlike the balance of the game, the first period was very dull with neither team willing to give up any glorious chances. Other than a fight between Radko Gudas and Tom Kostopoulos midway through the frame, there wasn’t a whole lot to be excited about. The Lightning were tentative, the Devils were tentative, and it all added up to a scoreless twenty minutes.
Things unraveled for the Lightning just about six minutes into the second period as Andrei Loktionov floated his seventh of the season past Mathieu Garon to give the Devils a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, the NHL’s “unique officiating” reared its ugly head as Tom Kostopoulos was awarded a penalty shot after Victor Hedman supposedly hooked him on a breakaway. On the replay, it was abundantly clear that Hedman did no such thing; Kostopoulos simply lost control of the puck. With the Lightning’s luck this season, it came as no surprise when Kostopoulos converted on the penalty shot to tally his first of the year. In less than a minute, the Lightning had given up two goals and looked to be dead in the water.
For many teams, a two goal deficit is reason enough to pack things in and simply roll over. That’s not the case with the 2013 Tampa Bay Lightning. As they have so many times this season, the Bolts battled right back. It started with Steven Stamkos batting in his own rebound to pull the Lightning to within one. Stammer’s 24th of the season gave the sold out Tampa Bay Times Forum something to cheer about, and cheer the crowd did.
Shortly thereafter, Nate Thompson would tie the game with his seventh of the season. Richard Panik flipped the puck up through the neutral zone and Thompson showed the hustle that has made him a fan favorite to convert on the chance. He chased the puck, beat out two Devils defenders, and made no mistake putting the puck past Martin Brodeur. As a third line checking center, Thompson is arguably the perfect player for the Lightning. He hits, he skates well, he creates offense, and he always exerts every ounce of effort possible.
Before the second period was over, Andy Greene fired home a long range shot that beat Garon on the glove side to give the Devils a 3-2 lead. Simply put – that’s a shot an NHL goaltender has to save. The fact that Garon was unable to pick it up, get in position, and ultimately make the save indicates that he’s just not apt to be this team’s savior. Deflating is just about the only word that can be used to describe his play on Friday night.
Early in the third period, Mathieu Garon handed the Devils another tally when Ryan Carter scored a shorthanded goal that never should have gone in. Carter jumped on a Lightning turnover, skated across the Bolts’ blue line and let go of a little wrist shot that beat Garon cleanly. To be blunt – that’s a goal you don’t like to see in pee-wee hockey, let alone the NHL.
Once again down by two, things weren’t looking too good for the Lightning. That was until Steven Stamkos brought the team back to within one with his second of the game and 25th of the season. After Garon had given up three “iffy” goals, it was Brodeur’s turn to give up a weak one. Stamkos beat Brodeur from the goal line and simply made the Devils’ tender look unprepared.
After the balance of the period played out without much from the Lightning, the hope for a full scale comeback slowly drifted away. That was until only fifteen seconds remained when Steven Stamkos found Alex Killorn who wired home his fifth of the season to tie the game at four. The comeback was complete, and the Bolts were headed to overtime.
Even with a full two minute man advantage in the extra frame, the Lightning were unable to seize victory. Circus time turned into the cocktail hour and in rapid succession Teddy Purcell and Victor Hedman had scored to secure the Lightning win in the shootout.
Despite a plethora of obstacles including shoddy goaltending, embarrassing officiating, and a few defensive breakdowns, the Lightning overcame and battled hard to grab their two points. Jon Cooper has spoken at length about his desire to make the playoffs this season, and Friday night was a great start. The Lightning just need to keep winning. While goaltending is certainly a concern that needs to be addressed, the Lightning have now won two straight. The Cooper era is officially underway.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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