A person could be forgiven for not registering this because it lasted the length of a daydream. But in a thirty-six second span during the third period last night, the Los Angeles Kings offered the clearest articulation of how an opponent can cause fits for the Tampa Bay Lightning. On both the Johnny Brodzinski and Austin Wagner goals, which gave the Kings a fleeting 3-2 lead, the Lightning were forced to retrieve the puck in their own end, and under intense pressure from forecheckers, surrendered costly turnovers. The Lightning won 4-3 in a shootout last night, and here is one thing I liked and one thing I disliked in the effort.
Mesmerizing chemistry between J.T. Miller and Steven Stamkos Miller and Stamkos were buzzing all night at even strength and on the power play, and they connected on the game-tying goal in the third period. But while they greedily exploited the Kings’ kowtowing to them at the blue line and ceding the carry-in entry, it was on the forecheck that they generated a few of their best chances.
On the goal, it was Ondrej Palat who produced the turnover and a few seconds later the Kings were fishing it out of their net.
But in the first period, with less than three minutes elapsed, Palat, as the F1, again manufactured a turnover, and Stamkos and Miller retrieved the puck to help establish the offensive chance. What was so exciting about that play in the first period was not only the interchange by Palat and Dan Girardi scrambling the defense, but the way Miller beat his man off the puck for a deflection that scampered just wide, followed by Miller retrieving his missed shot attempt and feeding Stamkos on the backdoor. Stamkos’s shot would hit the crossbar, and in successive shots the Lightning nearly scored.
In a way, the success of Miller and Stamkos mirrored the Lightning’s effort. Their speed and passing in the neutral zone and offensive zone were fruitful, to the point where the Lightning were dominant at times. Stamkos and Miller have heavy shots, are adroit puck-handlers, and see the ice well. Each player demonstrated his skill to manipulate the defender while possessing the puck and while playing off the puck. Palat’s role in this was to keep the puck in the Lightning’s possession.
But the Palat-Stamkos-Miller line finished at even-steven in Corsi Plus-Minus at 5v5 and had one more Scoring Chance than they surrendered. And that was basically true for all the lines across the board. The offensive show was dazzling and productive, but the concessions were nearly equal. Poor defensive zone breakouts by the Lightning The Kings are not a fast team. But they were shrewd in their near and cross-corner dump-ins, and when they forced a Lightning defenseman (or Andre Vasilevskiy) to retrieve, they did a nice job of pursuing and pressuring the puck and sealing passing lanes. The goal by Wagner didn’t come on a dump-in, but rather from a strategic area pass that saw Anton Stralman neutralized by Kyle Clifford. Trevor Lewis was there as the F2 to grab the puck and slip it to Sean Walker in the slot. Braydon Coburn, sluggish after the Walker shot attempt, didn’t even attempt to disrupt Wagner on the weak side.
The Lightning get into trouble when their speed ceases after initial gusto submitted through the middle in transition defense. Last night they leaned heavily on Vasilevskiy, and while he was able to come through, the Lightning skaters’ sloppy passes through the middle and up the boards, coupled with slow-reaction time in coverage, could kill them in the playoffs.