In hockey, nothing completely disappears. Every characteristic, good or bad, leaves a trace. For the Lightning, during the halcyon days of this season, deficiencies on defense were overcome by outstanding goaltending and prolific scoring. The Tampa Bay defensemen complemented the offense scoring-wise, and the problems in coverage and on breakouts were temporarily abated.
The defense has always been a lingering concern, but with reduced scoring and less spectacular goaltending, a weakness becomes exacerbated. The Tampa Bay Lightning fell behind 3-0 to the Minnesota Wild last night and ended up losing 5-2. The Minnesota Wild were waxed by the Lightning just before Christmas, but life without Victor Hedman hampers the Lightning in all three zones.
The Wild procured 24 Scoring Chances to the Lightning’s 17. Tampa Bay’s defensive coverage was baggy and languid, and the Wild skaters were able to find shot attempts in the slot all night. The Wild’s speed caused problems for the Tampa Bay skaters, as battles were lost along the half-wall and corners and also as the puck was driven toward the paint.
The first sign of trouble was on a one-on-one opportunity procured by Minnesota. Wild forward Jason Zucker motored past Lightning defenseman Jake Dotchin and, with that separation, almost slipped a shot past goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning skaters were always a step behind, unable to stay in front of the opposing puck-carrier or letting the enemy skaters get behind them. And it was in that vein that the first penalty was drawn, when Andrej Sustr grossly obstructed Zach Parise to force a penalty call. The ensuing power play led to a goal within the first few seconds with a lost faceoff and Vasilevsky getting beaten by a quick release.
More saggy defense and passivity by the Lightning led to the second goal as well. Minnesota was able to obtain possession after an out-of-control entry and find defenseman Ryan Suter as a second-level shooting option. The Lightning had the men in the zone to obstruct his shooting lane, but no one closed on him and he ripped a shot that was deflected by forward Parise. This was a theme: an inability to protect the inside while also being victimized on the outside.
The eventual game winner was deflating for many of the same reasons. From their own zone, the Wild passed the puck around and through thrashing Lightning skaters with seeming ease, keeping speed in the process. Eventually, the Wild won the race to the puck off a failed passing attempt. The puck was moved from the corner, to behind the net, and finally to the slot, where the strong-side Wild defenseman Nate Prosser found miles of daylight to crush a puck past Vasilevskiy. It was a colossal failure by Dotchin and defensive partner Braydon Coburn to allow Prosser to find so much room in the low slot. Similar to the second goal, the Lightning had bodies to cover each man, but the foot speed to close on Prosser was not there.
What plagues the Lightning is that stay-at-home defensemen are archaic. The best defense is to possess the puck, i.e., play offense. When Tampa Bay applies constant pressure on the opposing goal, less energy needs to be expended in the Lightning’s own zone because less time is spent there. Without Hedman, the Lightning struggle to thwart opponents’ rush chances, and their offensive zone forays are easier to dispatch. No surprise, Hedman was an essential cog in the machine.
Philosophical tinkering was present in last night’s loss. The Lightning forwards sunk lower in their own zone to help on breakouts. Tampa Bay’s defensemen were less aggressive with pinching. The Lightning have demonstrated potency on their neutral-zone regroups and own-zone resets in recent games, and there were some good entries generated off those plays.
Lightning wins will be achieved by the forwards engineering sufficient offense and strong goaltending. The objective of the defensemen is to not sabotage the game. But in cases like last night, the three Lightning forwards on many shifts were getting swallowed by the Wild defense in the offensive zone, and the light touch by the defensemen was not enough. The Lightning defensemen struggled to win races on retrievals, and did not disrupt the forecheck in the Lightning’s own zone. Tampa Bay is allowing far too many goals, and scoring too few. It should be interesting to see coach Cooper’s adjustments.