It is peculiar how defeat can be more interesting than victory. While intelligent viewers hold no agency over a game’s outcome, we still like to think we can sketch out a better result. This is why there is a whole genre of literature built around counterfactuals. If A had happened, B would have been different.
Tampa Bay got pounded on the scoreboard last night by the Ottawa Senators: 6-3. In both the first and third periods, the Lightning allowed three goals, and all of them came with Andrei Vasilevskiy in net. When Tampa Bay plays liberated hockey, the puck seems to defy gravity. The ceaseless creativity from forwards and defensemen opens up seams; the neutral zone is easily bypassed and the offensive zone effortlessly gained.
But at what cost? A team like Ottawa can shred its opponents with quick puck movement and shooting. Tampa Bay’s impetuous passes in their own zone – Jake Dotchin’s up-the-middle gift to Mark Stone, a poor lateral exchange from Vladislav Namestikov to Nikita Kucherov, a lackadaisical Chris Kunitz fumble – provided the Senators with open looks below the circles, and the passing lanes and traffic to beat Vasilevskiy. Cory Conacher had a dreadful turnover that luckily did not end up in the back of Tampa Bay’s net.
Then there were the defensive coverage issues. The second and third goals by the Senators came off of poor boxing out by the Lightning and porous protection along the boards by Tampa Bay’s forwards. The Senators have a lot of skilled forwards and defensemen, but the Lightning were wobbly in their own zone from the outset.
Yet there is cognitive dissonance with the defeat, because the Lightning did outplay the Senators for long stretches of the game. The Lightning more than doubled the Senators’ Scoring Chances, and they breezed past them in the shot-attempt metrics.
Most importantly, as far as lasting implications, were the different varieties of offensive chances accumulated by the Lightning. The Lightning’s first goal came off the faceoff when a beautiful give-and-go exchange between Brayden Point and Ondej Palat led to a Victor Hedman weak-side slam-dunk. There was a stretch pass from Mikhail Sergachev to Alex Killorn, and then a dose of precise, tight-space passing and hawk-eyed vision by Kucherov that spawned yet another weak-side goal by defenseman Slater Koekkoek.
Even the third line generated several scoring chances, and it was no accident that both Yanni Gourde and Killorn found their names on the scoresheet. Complementing the forwards’ work on the rush and cycle were playmaking and smarter pinches by Lightning defensemen. On the forecheck, regroups, and in transition, the Lightning skaters demonstrated that they could control the puck, unlock passing lanes, and then retrieve the puck after the shot attempt. Find that rhythm and success follows in earnest.
Hockey is a game that demands an appreciation of nuance. It can reveal beauty, like the subtlety of what made Bruins center Patrice Bergeron a superstar over the last decade, or frustration, like a team that dominates the puck but loses to a hot goaltender and an unlucky play. Tampa Bay has the best record in the NHL because they generally manipulate their opponents, even while succumbing to spurts of poor play. There is no such thing as purity in hockey. Teams do not win Cups because they dominate 48 regulation-time periods in the playoffs.
In Ottawa, the Lightning made some mistakes, but the performance should be viewed with optimism. Their breakouts need to be more exacting, but they challenged the Senators with a bunch of different methods of attack from three lines and the defensemen were engaged in a productive way. If that speed and effort are brought to bear against Detroit, it should bring favorable results.