And you all got mad at me for being negative…
For the first time in franchise history, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been swept in the playoffs. Despite the fact that their season was on the line, the Bolts weren’t able to manufacture a victory in game four of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.
Being swept in the first round of the playoffs is never a good feeling, especially after having oodles of success during the regular season. Even so, it would be incredibly difficult to argue that Tampa doesn’t deserve the fate they’ve been dealt. While one team in the series played playoff hockey from the moment the puck dropped in game one, the other team looked unprepared for everything but April tee times.
Perhaps the best news for the Lightning early on in Tuesday’s game was that they made it past the 11 second mark of the first period without giving up a goal. That may not sound like much, but it proved to be a challenge in the third game.
The trouble, however, was that Tampa allowed a goal at the 2:24 mark of the opening frame. It was yet another example of how blown coverage often leads to a quality chance against. As Mark Barberio left his man all alone in the slot to reach for a big hit in the corner, Daniel Briere pounced on a great pass from Dale Weise and potted the puck past Anders Lindback. Of the three goals Lindback allowed in the game before being pulled, that first one was by far the least egregious.
After so much talk about playing with desperation and coming out with their best game of the series, the Bolts found themselves down by a goal early on once again. The Montreal lead was extended to 2-0 towards the end of the first period when Lars Eller took advantage of another instance of blown Lightning coverage and fired a shot past Lindback.
Ondrej Palat was able to pull the Lightning back to within one at the 4:32 mark of the second when he jammed his second of the postseason past a sprawling Carey Price. Given just how good Price was in the series, the fact that it took a goal-mouth scramble to beat him in an elimination game is no surprise. The officials went upstairs to review the play and eventually deemed it a good goal.
With that Palat marker, the Lightning had hope. That was until Montreal scored about one minute later to regain their two goal advantage. Brendan Gallagher fired a wide-side shot past Lindback for his third of the playoffs. Another horrendously weak goal was enough to end his night, and essentially the Lightning’s season. While the skaters certainly deserve a bevy of blame for the sweep, Lindback’s game four play was inexcusable. With better goaltending from Lindback, we're talking about a game four win rather than a game four loss.
Kristers Gudlevskis, who replaced Lindback after the Gallagher goal, was phenomenal in relief. His solid play was nearly enough to spawn a Lightning comeback, as evidenced by the final score. The fact that head coach Jon Cooper was compelled to replace his starting goaltender with a guy who has only started one NHL game should tell you everything you need to know about what happened in this game and in this series.
Following a handful of dandy saves from the Latvian goaltender, the Lightning got their legs moving. For perhaps the first time in the series, the Lightning looked like the better team late in the second and through the third. That hard work paid off.
Victor Hedman scored the Lightning’s second goal of the game to make it 3-2 just more than three minutes into the final period, and so the game was back on. From behind the net, Hedman banked the puck off Price and into the cage; it was a goal that Price will undoubtedly like back when he has a chance to review the tape after celebrating.
With momentum on their side, the Bolts tied the game only three minutes later when Tyler Johnson beat Price for his first career playoff goal. All of a sudden, it was hard not to believe that the team would pull off the game four victory. Everything was going their way. Take note of how Tampa Bay was able to close the possession gap as the game rolled along late in the second and into the third. Once the Bolts started playing better hockey, things evened out very quickly.
As the third period moved into its later stages, the referees really allowed the two teams to play. That was until, with about two minutes left, Cedric Paquette got called for a trip in the offensive zone. I’m not one of the people who believes that it was a bad call; the replay clearly shows that it was a trip. The beef I have with the call is that the officials didn’t whistle a thing through the third, and then decided to call a measly, inconsequential trip with only moments remaining in a tie game. Far more vicious actions went without punishment.
In the words of the big boss here at HockeyBuzz:
As Paquette made his way to the penalty box, you just knew what was coming next. Max Pacioretty’s deflected puck squeaked through Gudlevskis to give the Canadiens their 4-3 lead with only 43 seconds left on the clock. It was heartbreaking. Nobody is going to deny that the Lightning deserved to lose this series, but that’s a tough way to go out.
With the series now over, we're starting to get some clarity on the injuries that guys were dealing with. Ben Bishop was diagnosed with a dislocated elbow in addition to the lingering wrist issue that had been bothering him since January. He was hoping to be ready for game five or six, according to TSN's Darren Dreger. Dreger also noted that Steven Stamkos's leg was a mental hindrance, in that he "didn't have full confidence to take the puck wide or drive the net." With a full summer to rehabilitate and refresh, these two will be much better prepared for a run next year.
Losing sucks, but once people have a chance to really reflect on this season they will come to appreciate it. This Tampa Bay Lightning team surprised a lot of people in 2013-14. Further, the future is incredibly bright. The guys in that room have a lot to be proud of. You just know that they’ll be back next year ready to exact their revenge.
Congratulations to the Montreal Canadiens! As always, thanks for reading.
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