You know that feeling when you step back into your home after a lengthy absence? It’s kind of refreshing. Much as I did when I re-joined HockeyBuzz to help out with Ottawa Senators coverage, I have that feeling now as I step back into my old role covering the Tampa Bay Lightning as well. It’s absolutely great to be here.
There’s no real need for me to give you a synopsis of what to expect from me or my writing here; long-time readers know the deal, and those who aren’t long-time readers have likely happened upon a Senators blog or two over the course of the last year. My goal is simple: To create the preeminent online hub for Tampa Bay Lightning discussion.
So, without any further personal notes, let’s get to some thoughts on the game today:
The Lightning are set to take on the New York Islanders in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final tonight, having taken full advantage of New York’s tired legs in an 8-2 Game 1 victory. It’s unlikely that the Bolts will be in a position to replicate that success tonight, as Barry Trotz is almost certainly going to adjust some things prior to tonight’s puck drop; there are few coaches in the game better at doing that than Trotz.
Perhaps the good news for Tampa is that all the players and coaches seemed to acknowledge that the Game 1 embarrassment was an aberration. This isn’t going to be the norm in this series. The Islanders have shown an ability to keep teams to the outside, limit chances against, and basically suffocate opponents on a nightly basis.
Where the series does perhaps have an opportunity to shift in Tampa’s direction is with the help of the first line. Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov have been phenomenal for Jon Cooper’s Lightning. Point and Kucherov sit second and third overall in league playoff scoring, with a very good shot of passing the now-idle Nathan MacKinnon for first in the near future. Palat, for his part, has seemingly discovered the fountain of youth. After a rough opening to the 2019-20 campaign, he has really found his game in this return-to-play action. The work that he’s done, both with and without the puck, has earned him a team-leading 67% expected goal share at five-on-five in the post season, per Natural Stat Trick. It’s a beyond-elite pace.
On the other end of the spectrum, though, there are opportunities for New York’s Barzal line to take advantage of the Bolts lineup. Tyler Johnson, in particular, has had a rough go of things regardless of where he’s slotted in the lineup. Beyond the fact that his underlying numbers are rather dismal relative to his teammates, he just *looks* like one of the team’s weaker links whenever he’s on the ice. There were three or four very memorable occasions in Game 1 where he either lost a battle, gave away the puck, or simply looked disinterested. There was no better example of that than his effort on New York’s second goal in Game 1:
Nick Leddy 6-2 #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/lYACSVjZdm
— Here's Your Replay â¬‡ï¸ (@TheReplayGuy) September 8, 2020
One final note: To my knowledge, the Islanders haven’t yet announced their starting goaltender for tonight’s game. Whether it’s Thomas Greiss or Semyon Varlamov, the Islanders will need more in the crease. The Lightning were able to chase Greiss early, and Varlamov didn’t fare much better.
I look forward to getting re-acquainted with the readership base here on the Lightning forum, and encourage you to get involved in the comments section as the Lightning continue this playoff run.
As always, thanks for reading.