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The Tampa Bay Lightning fell at home on Friday night -- and dropped their third straight contest overall, mind you -- against a surging team in the Philadelphia Flyers. But confidence, in a weird way, was restored when they took care of business against a woeful Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-0, at Nationwide Arena on Sunday. And still, 69 games into the year, figuring out exactly what the Lightning -- heading into the most important stretch of the season -- are, remains a complete mystery.
When you look at the Bolts’ most recent four-game clip, they failed to put 20 shots on in both games against Philadelphia, but put heavy numbers on against two mediocre defenses in Boston and Columbus. So, what do you learn there besides a whole lot of nothing? Their power plays remains a trainwreck (they’ve scored on just two of their last 25 power-play opportunities), and their shots against totals (33 shots or more allowed in seven of their last 13 games) haven’t been much better.
Still, it has to feel as if the Bolts have a clear path to an Atlantic Division crown, doesn’t it?
Evident in Monday’s regulation meltdown in Brooklyn, where the Florida Panthers led by two with less than seven minutes to go in the third period and lost 3-2, are finding ways to shoot themselves in the foot when it matters most. Eight of the Boston Bruins’ final 12 games of the regular season come against teams currently in the playoff picture, including a brutal three-game tour of California this week.
And the Lightning, in Toronto on Tuesday, still have another date with the Maple Leafs after that, including a game against the Arizona Coyotes, and another two with the Montreal Canadiens. This seems, well, really easy for a Jon Cooper club that’s had no trouble beating up on bad teams.
But if the Lightning are going to be more than the team that takes care of the games they should against the teams they should, this stretch might be a good time for Cooper to mess with some stuff.
Among said stuff…
- OK, so when it first happened, I was all about reuniting Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan on that top line with Steven Stamkos. Truly about it. But after what’s felt like two weeks of Killorn and Callahan doing almost nothing with No. 91 feeding them the puck, I think I’m ready for something else. And that something else involves putting Vladdy Namestnikov back on that top line. Namestnikov, like almost any player on the Tampa roster, was at his best when given top-line minutes with Stamkos.
But a weird thing about Namestnikov on Stamkos’ line? It often came with No. 91 shifting to the wing, something we all know he does not like to do. So, here’s my solution: For Namestnikov to provide that to-the-left-of presence for Stamkos, put him on the left side and keep Stamkos in the middle, and leave Callahan on the right to be that line’s jamming, net-front presence.
All I know is that fresh off his 12th goal (and second in the last four games) and 30th point of the season in Sunday’s win, I want Namestnikov to Stamkos’ left on that line. No, I need it.
- Please, please put Victor Hedman on the first power-play unit full time. I know that Hedman’s workload is already pretty substantial, but I’m not even going to explain why this one should work. (Plus, aren’t you at the point in the season where you’re willing to try just about anything?)
- 10 of the last 11 Lightning goals scored have come between the dots. That’s a place you don’t miss from often, so perhaps this goes back to Stuff No. 1, but find combinations that work, such as plugging two skill guys with a grinder that can occupy and/or create space for the shot, not the other way.
- Resist the urge to write another think-piece as to why Stamkos will not go to Toronto. (That’s for me.)
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.