A person runs faster when he is being chased. Restlessness, in the right dosage, is a positive since being too comfortable breeds complacency and laziness. There is a surplus of competency on Tampa Bay, which creates accountability from its players. Last night, the Lightning clawed back in a 5-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, ending their division opponent’s 10-game win streak. And the Lightning victory was driven by their depth, guys who are being pushed to excel because competition for playing time on this team is so fierce.
The night-to-night internal competition is one reason the Lightning possess the best record in the Eastern Conference. There is a surfeit of talent: Tampa Bay boasts 13 impact forwards and seven defensemen (arguably eight counting Slater Koekkoek) who could start on a regular basis. Fighting for ice time, or even to be dressed, means the Lightning should be getting their best effort from their depth players. No one is safe.
Ondrej Palat, normally a top-six forward, returned from injury last night and started the game on the fourth line. This means the two wingers playing with center Cedric Paquette had a combined cap hit of $11.1M AAV. That sends a message from coach Jon Cooper that cap hit does not translate to ice time. But Palat wasn’t the only one who felt pressure. J.T. Miller was moved out of the top six and teamed with Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn on the third line.
Most importantly, the motivation works. Miller had an outstanding give-and-go with Killorn that facilitated Killorn’s goal into the open net. (Miller also had an outstanding read as the F2, resulting in a takeaway and almost a goal.) And Palat had a crafty play in the neutral zone that allowed Mikhail Sergachev to lead the entry on what would be Paquette’s game-winning goal. By the end of the contest, Palat was seeing time with Steven Stamkos and Yanni Gourde, and Mathieu Joseph was playing fourth line minutes with Paquette and Ryan Callahan. Nothing personal—just business.
At the start of the game, television color analyst Brian Engblom cited the Sabres’ defense as a key to the game. “Don’t underestimate the defense of the Buffalo Sabres. Last year at this time they had one goal. Now, they have 14. They can score and they are up on the play.… While Engblom, one of the sharpest hockey minds in the game, was undoubtedly right that the mobility and skill of the Sabres’ back end posed a threat to the Lightning entering the contest, it was Tampa Bay who would harness their defensive group to expose their enemy.
On the first goal of the game, Dan Girardi shot a puck wide, and the carom of the puck signaled to Victor Hedman that if he pinched he could retrieve it before the Sabres forward. Hedman beat Zemgus Girgensons to the off-kilter shot attempt, and jetted behind the net where he would try a wrap-around on Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton. When the puck was stopped by Hutton, Hedman judiciously jostled Girgensons, allowing Killorn to grab the dislodged puck. Killorn forced Johan Larsson to chase him like a laser point as he carried the puck to and fro below the goal line before finding Dan Girardi on the doorstep. Girardi then jammed the second shot attempt past the stick-less Hutton.
The Lightning’s defensemen were extremely active last night and, particularly in the first period, they were creeping up to the inside of the faceoff circles so that five players were in the bottom half of the offensive zone. This aggression-bordering-on-hubris generated scoring chances, and Sergachev nearly potted one as a result. Sergachev could have had a multi-goal game as he had a few strikes on net where he smacked the puck with good velocity into corners but Hutton made sterling saves. And his puck-handling on the Paquette goal is worth highlighting.
On the game-winner, Sergachev initially lost possession of the puck in the neutral zone, but after Palat made a nice touch-pass while facing the boards, Sergachev carried the puck in on the entry on a two-on-four. Instead of shooting the puck from distance, or creating an area pass for the charging Callahan, he demonstrated patience by holding onto the puck while gliding laterally to buy time. This cross-and-drop was because he was waiting for Paquette to jump into the pocket behind him, after which Sergachev ran interference on Zach Bogosian to open up the shooting lane for Paquette.
Sergachev is 20! That is a brilliant play for a veteran, no less someone who has been legally allowed to vote for only two years. It reveals how much upside Sergachev has to offer, and how the fourth line works with the Lightning defensemen to be a potent attack. Sergachev and Girardi factored in the offense, but the defense was striking with all of the defensive pairs. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov had a tamer game, but their line set up Erik Cernak for several shot attempts in the slot due to their speed on the transition, and the separation it creates for the second wave.
With Adam Erne under the weather, Cooper had the forward issue resolved for him last night. But once Erne is healthy I don’t know who Cooper will make a healthy scratch. The same is true when Anton Stralman returns in early December, although if Ryan McDonagh is still injured when Stralman returns, Cooper won’t have to address that immediately. Regardless, it is a great problem to have from an organizational standpoint because it keeps everyone accountable and focused. In the case of last night, it allowed the Lightning to fend off the up-and-coming Sabres despite lackluster goaltending.