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Kucherov's Brilliance Clips Wings |
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Invariably, postseason opponents will be focused on trying to stifle Stamkos and Kucherov’s effect. They are arguably the most talented players on the team, and have the reputations for being precocious scoring wizards. Which is why the diversification of Stamkos and Kucherov’s method for accumulating opportunities is so imperative. With their new linemates, chances have been coming on the forecheck and power play, but less so on the rush. That changed last night in the Lightning’s 4-1 victory over the Red Wings.
Kucherov’s individual numbers from last night are impressive. He generated 11 shot attempts at 5v5 and six Scoring Chances. His first goal had a higher degree of difficulty and perspicacity than meets the eye. Victor Hedman left a delayed entry pass for Kucherov, who proceeded to guide the puck away from the combative penalty killer’s reach and toward the opposing blue line, before he slung a backhand pass to Vladislav Namestikov for the entry. Namestikov smoothly dragged the puck to the inside, shedding a Detroit defender, and Kucherov heard opportunity knocking. Kucherov tip-toed into the middle slot and used his quick release to beat goaltender Jimmy Howard glove side.
The rush is a high-wire balancing act, and it takes rapid decision-making on and off the puck to be successful. It also takes composure because, as the play progresses, there is less ice to exploit, and often the sequence seems to accelerate. Suddenly, players are racing into the moment to try to help or destroy you. Choose the wrong option – maybe a shot that misses far post, or taking too long to make a choice – and the momentum you and your teammates had can be weaponized as your enemy carries the puck with support and little resistance in the opposite direction. In fact, a poor choice by Detroit precipitated Tampa Bay’s fourth goal.
Detroit forward Anthony Mantha tried to make a play through the middle of the ice to Gustav Nyquist, and the offer was resoundingly denied by Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman. Brayden Point jumped on the loose puck, steered it toward Kucherov, and the NHL’s scoring leader was off in a dash. In an astonishing play of acceleration, Kucherov burst past Detroit’s transition defense, ferrying the puck from the Tampa Bay blue line to the bottom of the right circle in the offensive zone before throwing a back pass to a wide-open Alex Killorn in the slot. The goal put the Lightning up by three and Detroit quickly folded.
Kucherov’s motor was purring against Detroit. He created a breakaway for himself in the second period when he blocked a pass and flew the zone. Killorn quickly headmanned it to Kucherov, who identified the lacuna between the Detroit defensemen and sprinted through the gap in the middle. (Not to be forgotten, there was also stellar retrieval work by Point and Killorn along the half-wall following the breakaway. The puck was recovered and transported to defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who exploited the empty space on the weak side and nearly picked a corner on the shot attempt.)
Kucherov had a shift midway through the second where he had four shot attempts. In the first, he saw consecutive opportunities to curl into the area around the right circle and whip a shot near post. He also factored in both Stamkos goals, for the second of which he made a nifty seam pass to Stamkos on the power play that left Stamkos shooting into a virtually unoccupied net. The first assist to Stamkos was on a three-man, bunched entry, where defenseman Hedman jumped into the rush, and the puck was forded across the slot to Stamkos as he crashed the backdoor.
Stamkos unleashed two lasers on net, one off the rush after a steal by Yanni Gourde, and the second after nice retrieval and cycle work by Gourde and Tyler Johnson that allowed Stamkos to retreat to the upper reaches of the high slot and unload on a one-timer.
One concern worth keeping an eye on is Hedman in his own end. In the month of February, Tampa Bay has played eight games and Hedman has finished with a negative Corsi in six of them. Now, some of that is playing with abjectly awful defensive partners, like Andrej Sustr and Dan Girardi, but blame cannot be completely apportioned to them. Hedman has had his share of rough stretches with Stralman too.
But any negativity leveled at Hedman can seem myopic. He is a hockey species that defies taxonomy. There was a shift during the first period when he was retrieving the puck with a Detroit forward in pursuit. Hedman went behind the net and when he crossed the goal line he exploded past the Detroit forechecker to lead the breakout. That rarely happens; usually the forechecker catches up, or the defenseman quickly shuttles the puck toward a teammate in the hopes of escaping the closing pressure. Gaining speed coming out of the turn confirms that Hedman is another species. It was like watching a video of a cheetah and a gazelle, expecting to see the gazelle get caught and devoured, only instead the gazelle turns around and attacks and eats the cheetah. The prey cannibalized the predator.
It is moments like these, as well as Hedman’s pass to Stamkos and overall presence as the key back-end cog in the Lightning’s desire to bend teams with high-low puck movement, that make any criticism precarious. In the defenseman category, he is a transcendent talent.
Still, there have been a few too many opposing rushes, and times when the Lightning have been hemmed in their own zone, where Hedman has been a passive participant rather than a force for change. Maybe playing with such weak defensemen as defensive partners requires conserving energy because it is taxing. Possibly, he feels the infrastructure of the five-man defensive coverage is strong enough that his most assertive effort is best utilized in transition and on the cycle. There could be some hesitation to use his body as a cudgel during the regular season after missing time on a body-to-body confrontation. Possibly, Hedman becomes a smothering fog in the playoffs, engulfing opponents’ best forwards when he is relied on to thwart them. Notwithstanding, it was an encouraging victory for Tampa Bay in many ways, and the output from the stars is worth relishing.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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