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Lightning's Comeback Catalyzed by Newcomers |
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After trailing 3-0, the Lightning yanked out a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. The game was a reminder that the Lightning’s speed can match any team in the NHL. Toronto moves at a breakneck pace, but Tampa Bay counteracted that by stepping up to intercept some of Toronto’s lengthier passes and by applying suffocating pressure with their F1s. Perhaps most striking is how the Lightning’s roster changes – by trade and by AHL call-up – have transformed this franchise and enabled Cooper’s squad to sustain a high-tempo style.
The second Tampa Bay goal would not have transpired if Yanni Gourde had not overskated the puck and accidentally surrendered it to Toronto forward William Nylander. It had been a long shift for Nylander, and his lazy clear-the-zone flip was intended as an area pass for teammate Zach Hyman. Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev jumped up and shoveled the pass away from Hyman. Gourde, who had botched the forecheck in the first place, pushed Jake Gardiner back on the entry, and then glided a pass to defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who fired a shot past goaltender Frederik Andersen.
McDonagh had time and space to pick a corner because Nylander’s clearing of the zone precipitated a line change by the Maple Leafs’ forwards, hanging Toronto’s defensemen out to dry on the counterattack. But the Lightning were smart to press the Maple Leafs in this game with their defensemen consistently jumping passes in the neutral zone and forcing confrontation before a Maple Leaf forward could catch the puck and run with it. Sergachev’s step-up was hardly the only time the Lightning intercepted or disrupted a Maple Leaf pass and forced a counterattack the other way. The Maple Leafs excel at creating separation and use stretch passes to carve out time and space, but space is harder to create when there is a defenseman in your face before reception.
These teams have many similarities as far as M.O. The Maple Leafs scored one of their goals because Hyman, at the moment the F3 on a Toronto forecheck, anticipated the Tyler Johnson-to-Ondrej Palat pass through the middle on the breakout. After Hyman stole the pass, he spun toward goaltender Andrej Vasilevskiy and beat him near post. Rapid puck movement inevitably spawns opportunity for the enemy, and typically the best way to exploit that speed is with aggression. The Lightning and Maple Leafs are both keen to this logic, so it was entertaining watching them try to outmaneuver the other.
The third Lightning goal came off a lost faceoff by Steven Stamkos. Morgan Rielly collected the puck off the draw and sprinted behind the goal. J.T. Miller chased after him, and went above the net to try to beat him to his destination, which was the far corner. Once Rielly’s avenue was quickly closing, he attempted to back pass it to his defensive partner. The partner was absent. Nikita Kucherov, ravenously watching as F2, seized on the puck and curled off the goal line before a spin-turn toward the goal. The shot attempt missed, but it deflected off Rielly’s skate and into the net. This game had a lot of literary moments of tempting fate and this Rielly affair was one of them.
Finally, the game-winner was a fitting ending to the comeback. Face-offs, a thorn in the Lightning’s side all season, may be alleviated by the arrival with attitude of Anthony Cirelli. Cirelli won a half-dozen face-offs, but none bigger than this one.
One of the cool parts about won draws in the offensive zone is that the victor can enact a designed play. On the his face-off win, Cirelli pushed toward the off slot and Alex Killorn, who helped guide the puck to Victor Hedman, gravitated toward high ice, as he was the clear trigger man once Hedman fed Gourde along the half-wall. (Gourde went underneath the dot.)
What made this play unique was that Gourde’s first option was not open because Killorn was blanketed, so he found Cirelli’s stick as he battled along the off-slot with Nylander just below the left circle. As the puck traveled down low, Killorn spun off his coverage and Cirelli fed Killorn in the slot. Credit goes to Gourde for aborting the first option on the set play, to Cirelli for the play under pressure, and to Killorn for fighting through the off-the-puck traffic.
With Cirelli and Adam Erne replacing Cedric Paquette’s minutes, the Lightning possess scoring and skill throughout the lineup. The first goal by Hedman was attained by the yeoman work of Erne. Cooper underlined the stellar performances of the call-ups by rewarding the two with crucial ice time to close out the game, and by giving them ice time with the top players. (The depth is notable enough that, even with Ryan Callahan leaving the game, Ondrej Palat returned to the lineup.)
The Lightning’s desire to jump passes and deny space can be fully realized with mobile McDonagh in the lineup and Mikhail Sergachev completely capable of playing on the right side. Poor decisions will always occur, but the recovery ability of all three defensive pairs makes it a worthy sacrifice. The defense is still bleeding goals, but the defensemen are offensive facilitators, and there was a lot of positive to be taken away from this contest.
The Lightning have less than ten games left and now they hit the road for four of their next five. On Tuesday, Tampa Bay got the win it deserved. Time to rest Vasilevskiy and keep the skaters in form as the postseason looms.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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