|
#CalderWatch: Johnson's Hat Trick Powers Lightning Past Avalanche |
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks to Tyler Johnson’s first career hat trick and a second consecutive three assist performance from Victor Hedman, the Tampa Bay Lightning managed to secure a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. The win moves Tampa’s record to 31-16-5, which is good enough to tie them for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Boston Bruins.
It’s been said time and time again that hockey players in Florida don’t necessarily get the press they deserve. Lightning rookie Tyler Johnson is a great example of that phenomenon. In Steven Stamkos’s absence, Johnson has stepped up and been one of the Lightning’s most valuable players. On Saturday, he made a statement to the rest of the league. Facing off against Calder favorite Nathan MacKinnon, Johnson scored three times and vaulted himself right to the top of the rookie scoring race. If the rest of the league wasn’t paying attention before, perhaps they’ll start paying attention now. Johnson won the head-to-head battle against MacKinnon, and more importantly his team won the game.
Another player who had a big night, as mentioned, is Victor Hedman. For the second straight game, the Swedish defender compiled three assists. On the backend, he is truly the straw that stirs Tampa’s drink. The fact that the Swedish Olympic team doesn’t even have Hedman listed as a reserve guy is beyond unbelievable. Sure, I’m a biased Lightning fan, but it’s hard to argue against the notion that Hedman is playing his way into Norris contention.
Just as they did on Thursday against the Senators, the Lightning got off to a good start against the Avalanche. While they weren’t able to score in the first frame, they did generate a number of quality chances and fired 11 shots at goalie Sami Aittokallio.
That hard work paid off in spades in the second period, as the Bolts scored the game’s first three goals to take a commanding lead. Tyler Johnson, Mark Barberio, and Valtteri Filppula all notched tallies to give Tampa the breathing room they desperately needed.
For whatever reason, as the good people over at Bolt Prospects suggested, the Lightning entered the second intermission two minutes before the Avalanche did. After going up 3-0, and with only 1:56 left on the clock, the Lightning allowed two goals against to give the Avalanche a huge dose of life. Defensive breakdowns and simply lackadaisical coverage combined to hurt the Lightning on the scoreboard.
The Lightning spent a lot of time building up momentum, and just like that it was gone. The big question every Lightning fan was asking was how the team would respond coming out of that second intermission. Well, as the final result shows, they responded well. I don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty details, but I thought Avalanche coach Patrick Roy made a questionable decision to replace Aittokallio with Semyon Varlamov to start the third period. His team had all the momentum. His team looked poised and ready to take the game over. Why, then, did he choose to switch goaltenders? What message did that send to his players? I’m no expert, but it just seemed like an iffy call.
Further to that, if there’s one thing Lightning fans have learned about this team, it’s that Jon Cooper has taught his Lightning to handle adversity with ease. Rather than sit back and let the Avalanche tie the game, the Lightning played a decent third period and minimized Colorado’s opportunities. Tyler Johnson scored two late insurance markers to complete his first career hat trick, and give the Lightning the 5-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. After scoring his third of the game, the young forward had a nice moment with his coach as captured by Connor Andrews.
The last note I’ll make before signing off is that Captain Marty St. Louis notched an assist on Johnson’s second goal to keep his point streak alive. For those of you who aren’t keeping track, just know that St. Louis hasn’t been held pointless in a game since being snubbed by Steve Yzerman and the Team Canada management team. Coach Cooper said that the snub would likely ‘motivate the snot’ out of Marty, and it looks like he was right. O Captain! My Captain!
Victories are always nice, but this one just seems extra special. The Avalanche team that the Lightning just beat is a very, very good hockey club. The fact that the Bolts were able to walk out of the Forum with win is just a further reminder that this team can beat the best.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»