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Lightning's Shot Barrage Falls Short Against Devils

February 18, 2018, 6:12 PM ET [1 Comments]
Sam Hitchcock
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The primary reason the Lightning lost to the New Jersey Devils last night was goaltender Eddie Lack altered the outcome. Nikita Kucherov had 16 shot attempts in last night’s defeat. Brayden Point had seven Scoring Chances at 5v5. The Lightning nearly doubled the Devils in shot attempts and finished with 51 shots on goal. The scariest nightmares have a measure of plausibility. After watching Tampa Bay lose at home against a possible first-round opponent in New Jersey, one could see the contours of a worst-case scenario developing for the playoffs.

But in spite of Lack’s commendable performance, the Lightning did concede four goals. And there is more information to be gleaned from focusing on Tampa Bay’s flaws than from complimenting the forechecking and lauding the number of shots that were generated from inside the dots. The conceits coming in defeat should be familiar by now.

On the first goal, the theme was defensive coverage woes. The Devils’ entry was facilitated by a Kucherov behind-the-back pass that was intercepted by Nico Hischier. The Kucherov turnover led to a Devils’ neutral-zone regroup. The first shot attempt by Kyle Palmieri was denied and steered toward the boards by Victor Hedman, but it was in the corner where problems arose. Hischier retrieved the puck, but the Devils rookie was surrounded by three Lightning skaters, as bookending Hedman were defensive partner Anton Stralman and forward Alex Killorn. The Lightning’s desire is to overload the corners, and in the execution of that strategy, creating a three-on-one advantage is ideal. Yet Stralman and Hedman struggled to control the puck and move it toward a Lightning forward, as Devils forwards Palmieri and Taylor Hall would come in and provide forechecking pressure. The puck eventually tottered toward the half-wall after Hedman blindly guided it there, and Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy would pinch up and sling a shot on net that found its way past goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Yet as fluky as the goal seemed, more blame can be doled out. The puck slipped past Killorn’s body and Stralman’s, who either need to be able to block that shot or stay out of the sightline of Vasilevskiy.

The second goal was a sin of lack of accountability. Point filches the puck from Hischier, creates a two-on-one, and the pass to Kucherov is blocked. Stralman collects the loose puck after the defused rush attempt, and moves toward the goal line for a shot. Not the most creative play by Stralman, but the Lightning want their defensemen active. As Stralman attacks, Kucherov drifted toward higher ice to cover the spot vacated by Stralman. Point is also circling the net, and as Stralman moves low Point moves high. Stralman’s weak shot allows the Devils an opportunity to exit the zone. This is where everything unraveled. Point does a fly by and Kucherov tries to step up and impede Hall. It doesn’t work. Both forwards are left in a cloud of dust as Hall and Hischier sprint down the ice on a two-one-one, and Hischier buries a shot blocker side. Point and Kucherov are expected to provide some cover for Stralman when he activates down low, and instead, both relinquish responsibility. It may have been a miscommunication, as Point seems to think he is the F3 and Kucherov is covering over the top, but the effort to stymie the counterattack was equally weak so that both are culpable.

The third goal demonstrated willful negligence. The Devils were controlling the puck on the Lightning’s power play, and both Kucherov and Killorn go for a line change. And this was during the long change! With Tyler Johnson and Steven Stamkos skating toward Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen, it is a cinch for Vatanen to complete a stretch pass to Devils forward Pavel Zacha, who sees nothing but space to force a two-on-one on the lone Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev. An ocean liner could have passed through the space between Sergachev and the Lightning forwards, and the complete surrender of responsibility is how a team can manufacture over 50 shots and still lose.

The fourth goal can be labeled as sentient but incapable. The Lightning were physically in position to make the right choices, but they failed to because of a lack of talent and decision-making ineptitude. Defensive partners Andrej Sustr and Braydon Coburn’s foot speed rendered them vulnerable against persona non grata Miles Wood, as Wood retrieved the puck and got the cycle initiated. But once Travis Zajac failed to covert on the sloppy transition defense, and the puck was buried in the corner, Tampa Bay had bodies but just continued to lose puck battles despite sometimes having more bodies around the puck. Wood was standing right in the middle of the slot, and he was able to find sufficient room because Coburn decided to forgo boxing him out and instead pursued a double-team of the puck carrier (Stefan Noesen). As Coburn lumbered toward the goal line, he failed to block the pass from Noesen to Wood. Lightning forwards Ryan Callahan and Chris Kunitz were low in the zone but not directly on top of Wood because they were attempting to keep a degree of fidelity to protecting a threat from the point. Why Coburn would decide that leaving a forward unchecked in the middle slot would be less dangerous than a player who was fighting for the puck below the goal line and behind the net is anyone’s guess.

In the playoffs, contenders are vanquished by underdogs due to variables that are both predictable and unforeseen. What Saturday’s game demonstrated is the Lightning’s margin for error disappears if their defense and clear thinking fails them.
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