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Capitals Hold Lightning Scoreless, Force Game 7 |
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The Lightning’s forwards are failing the team. After last night’s 3-0 shutout loss, that much seems axiomatic. The Capitals have succeeded in transforming the Lightning’s offense into a puddle of goo, malleable to their fancy. It all starts with lack of puck support by Tampa Bay’s forwards.
The Capitals’ defensemen are sufficiently mobile to match the speed of the Lightning’s dynamic puck-handlers, and the lack of puck support on the rush forces the Lightning forwards to dump the puck in. That’s fine, but where the puck is placed is paramount. The Lightning’s inability to store the puck in a spot where they can fetch it has been causing problems.
If the puck is carelessly hurled deep, it can easily be expelled, and goaltender Braden Holtby can assist with that. In contrast, a well-placed chip can lead to the cycle, but the F2 and F3 had better be there. If they are not, there are consequences. (The primary reason the Lightning’s fourth line has been consistently impactful in this series is because they place the puck well on their dump-ins, giving the F1 and F2 a chance to parachute in and collect it.)
Remember that great save Andrei Vasilevskiy made with his glove on Evgeny Kuznetsov when the game was 0-0 and the first period was concluding? Brayden Point tipped the puck into the zone, and his pressure on Capitals defenseman John Carlson forced a backhand pass up the boards. The F2 needed to be there to seal the wall. Instead, Chris Kunitz was late, and the Capitals would carry the puck out of the zone with numbers and speed.
The Lightning offense was at its most effective when its defensemen played ultra aggressively. That means leading entries, being first in on the forecheck, and interchanging with the forwards. The forwards need help. They can’t get any separation, and their passes and shots are being blocked. Also, logically, it is harder to defend five players than three. Of course, this strategy leaves Tampa Bay susceptible to a counterattack, but the other option is a weak and barbless forecheck that is easily neutralized.
But the disappearance of marquee players is one of the main reasons the Lightning are now facing elimination. Nikita Kucherov did rip a shot off the crossbar, and he had a scoring chance after the Victor-Hedman-led rush, but he has mostly been thwarted by the Capitals at even strength in this series. Kucherov has failed to generate off the rush and has been consistently denied when challenging the Capitals defensemen one-on-one. As a forechecker, he has been less-than-formidable.
If Kucherov’s creativity with the puck in transition is tabled, he can be dangerous on the cycle, but he needs support from his linemates. Ondrej Palat and Steven Stamkos were not good last night. In the second period, Palat not only failed to dump the puck in to give the F1 and F2 a chance, but his turnover precipitated the Andre Burakovsky breakaway.
Stamkos was bad last night. Maybe he has a lingering injury, but he is playing important minutes with the Lightning’s influential players. He needs to be held accountable for the Lightning’s struggles. Last night, Stamkos had zero shot attempts at 5v5. He was ineffective carrying the puck and slow in forechecking—and on his look to shoot early in the first period, he passed it to Kucherov and nothing came of the opportunity. Waiving the right to shoot from the top of the circle is inexcusable.
Against Washington, Stamkos ranks below Alex Killorn in shot attempts at 5v5 and has recorded the same amount of even-strength shots as Ryan Callahan. Stamkos is at 47.37 percent on faceoff win percentage, and there is only one player who has taken more draws and that is Cedric Paquette. Paquette’s percentage of winning draws is 57.89 percent.
Before coach Jon Cooper switched up the lines, the Kucherov line was too slow to retrieve and therefore couldn’t manufacture a cycle. They were unable to generate from the rush and were responsible for several atrocious turnovers.
When Kucherov was moved away from Stamkos, No. 91 had his best moment. Stamkos flung a shot-pass toward net and Killorn made a valiant attempt to deflect it. There is a lesson here: Keep it simple. Those cross-ice passes may work in the regular season, but your team is better served with you slinging the puck on net. And after Killorn’s deflection, in a moment indicative of the Lightning’s shortcomings from their forwards, Palat, crashing at the backdoor, was dismantled by T.J. Oshie and unable to connect on the loose puck in an attempt to jam it past Holtby.
The best player for the Lightning at even strength is Brayden Point. Point’s talent for protecting the puck makes him relatively impregnable by the Capitals’ defense. He can move at high speed in a tight space. The one-timer he served up for Palat in the third period, where he spun off the Nicklas Backstrom pressure, was brilliant. Below the circles, Point can steward the puck through traffic and prevail despite duress from a pesky opponent. Ultimately, what we are finding out in this series is that this quality makes Point stand apart from his teammates.
Like the Capitals in general, Point is much quicker in his decision-making. The Lightning have had 22 less Scoring Chances than the Capitals in this series at 5v5, but the number would likely be closer if the Lightning would stop dithering with the puck.
When Cooper switched Kucherov onto Point’s line, the Lightning finally had an odd-man rush. With 17 minutes and a dozen seconds remaining in the third period, it was still a one-shot game. Point, feeling pressure underneath, head-manned the puck to Kucherov, who had an opening up the middle. The Capitals defensemen converged and squeezed the puck out of his grasp, but a quicker decision and Kucherov could have shuttled the puck to Palat on his left or to Braydon Coburn, who was breaking down the right wing. The puck movement of the Capitals is so decisive and rapid that, in comparison, the Lightning looked like Cheech & Chong.
On that same sequence, a few seconds later, the torpid Kucherov had a chance to keep territorial advantage for the Lightning if he anticipated the puck swinging toward the weak side. But he was a step late, and the Capitals were able to exit the zone. Execution has been a step slow, and that starts with the most high-profile players.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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