The Tampa Bay Lightning take their two games to none lead over the Detroit Red Wings tonight.
I know it's a very small sample size, however, the Bolts are showing that they can play exceptionally strong possession hockey without their captain Steven Stamkos. May this be the foreshadowing of life without Stamkos, who is one skate stride out the Tampa door already. Stamkos will become UFA on July and all indicators point towards a breakup.
Stamkos underwent successful vascular surgery last week to remove a blood clot in his shoulder/arm. He is taking prescription blood thinners right now to prevent the spreading of the insidious clots. NHL rules strictly prohibit players who are on a blood thinner therapy program from playing in games. Heaven forbid a player on blood thinners playing in an NHL game and getting cut in a fight or with a skate blade. The results would be catastrophic.
So, after two games in this heated, nasty and at times dangerously contentious series, the Bolts have had their way with the frustrated Red Wings.
Tampa is finding ways to score goals and to win games without the services of their 50 goal man Stamkos.
Bolts sure have found the formula to winning games without their leader.
Tampa is doing all of their damage against the Red Wings while playing stiff, controlling 5 on 5 hockey. The Bolts lead the NHL playoffs with 8 goals for after 2 games, only one of which is a PPG. In the 2014-15 postseason, which saw the Bolts advance to the Stanley Cup Final and lose to the Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa scored 17 PPGs. Stamkos scored only 2 of his 7 postseason goals on the PP last spring.
On the penalty kill, the Bolts have allowed only 1 PPG against in their first two games played. With Stamkos on board in 2014-15, the Bolts allowed 15 PPGA which ranked them 8th in the NHL playoff standings.
The Bolts finished the 2014-15 Stanley Cup playoffs with 65 goals for in 26 games played. That's a 2.5 goals for average. Right now after two games the Bolts have scored 8 goals for. That's a 4 goals for average.
Suffice to say, Jon Cooper's forwards, D, and goalie Ben Bishop have successfully accepted the challenge of dominating possession and special team postseason games without the contributions of arguable one of the best 5 on 5, PP, and PK players of this NHL era in Stamkos.
In the 2014-15 playoffs, Stamkos scored 7 goals and added 11 assists for 18 points in 26 games played. Of his 18 total points, 10 came while even strength. Stamkos scored 5 goals and added 5 assists while his team was at even strength. Stamkos was +2, scored 1 GWG, 2 PPG, and landed 65 shots on goal. All the while, Stamkos was ranked 7th on the Bolts with 18:33 TOI per game, the 4th highest amount among their forward group.
Tyler Johnson supplied a ton of offense and supported Stamkos in their 2014-15 run to the Cup when he scored 13 goals and added 10 assists. He scored 4 GWG, 1 SHG, landed 60 shots on goal, skated 18:30 TOI (8th on Bolts) and won 49.7% of his draws (3rd on team).
In these first two playoff games without Stamkos, Tyler Johnson leads the Bolts with 2 goals, 2 assists, is +6, has 1 GWG, has 3 shots and is skating 16:58 TOI, which is 10th on the Bolts in TOI. Johnson is 18 for 33 (54.6% on draws, 3rd on Bolts), and has 2 take aways.
Johnson is thriving and leading his Bolts right now while playing 90 less seconds per game than he did in the 2014-15 playoffs.
How can that be?
Jon Cooper has discovered a secret weapon. His name is Jonathon Drouin.
Drouin proved that you can always go home, even after you have been banished to hockey Siberia in Syracuse. Three weeks ago, it appeared that Drouin's career in Tampa was over after Bolts GM Steve Yzerman exiled his former third overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft in the minors after the player's agent made public Drouin's demand to be traded that dated back to November 2015. Rather than give in to the demands of the agent and player, Bolts GM Steve Yzerman opted to jettison the kid to AHL Syracuse for a slab of humble pie and to work on his game. In February, when Drouin chose to leave his Syracuse Crunch coaches and teammates and remain home while waiting for a trade that never came on the February 29 NHL trade deadline, Yzerman suspended Drouin.
The Drouin Drama is proof positive that a player can go from the out house to the penthouse in a matter of days and hours. Credit to Yzerman for not knee jerk reacting and trading Drouin for picks at the February 29 NHL trade deadline. Yzerman stayed the course and remained calm and cool.
It's a good thing for Yzerman and Jon Cooper than that GM kept his cool.
When the Stamkos injury and his surgery was made public, Yzerman alluded to Drouin as a suitable replacement in the lineup. Fans and media scoffed and wondered aloud how the hockey hall of famer could open the door and allow Drouin back in after he and his agent had created such an embarrassing public spectacle. Yzerman never let it get personal, at least publically. I'm sure that he and his scouts and front office colleagues wanted to bury Drouin in Syracuse for the rest of his entry level contract term with Tampa. Good thing cooler heads prevailed because Drouin is now making believers out of his most vocal opponents and critics.
It's as if Drouin is this new player that has never played for the Bolts before. He is running opponents, playing on the edge and face washing Red Wings after the whistle. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Drouin's rat like tendencies remind me a lot of Boston's Brad Marchand. Drouin is getting in the heads of young Red Wings players like Dylan Larkin, Justin Abdelkader and Tomas Tatar to name a few. There have been extended moments inside shifts where the Red Wings stopped playing the puck and chased Drouin around so that they could knock his block off. He is making the Red Wings look like fools for losing their cool so easily.
In 2014-15, Drouin played only 6 games for the Bolts during their playoff run. He had zero points and was invisible. He was -6, took only 6 shots, skated 10:02 TOI, which was 19th on the Bolts.
In the first two games of the Detroit series, Drouin has erupted and has one assist, 6 shots, is 4 for 4 on his draws, has 5 takeaways and is skating 18:28 TOI, which is now # 6 on the Bolts and third highest among their forwards. If there was an analytic stat for being a pin in the ass to one's opponent, Drouin would be leading the NHL in that statistical category right now. The 21 year old has been a difference maker, both on the score sheet and in the scrums.
If Drouin, Johnson, Killorn, Palat, Filppula and Kucherov continue to play this brand of inspired hockey together, Yzerman may just have found his solution to losing Stamkos to the Buffalo Sabres or another NHL team on July 1.
Perhaps Yzerman has already told Drouin that Stamkos won't be back next season and that these playoffs are his audition for his job.
My guess is that Drouin's rambunctious attitude is a tactic to show Yzerman, Cooper, his Bolts teammates and the fans that he is committed to the cause of being a Lightning star who is capable of replacing Stamkos.
Drouin will earn $894,196 next season. Stamkos, we're her to re-sign and it's not likely that he will, will earn north of $8.5 million AAV next season and for the seven seasons after next. Subtracting Stamkos will allow Stevie Y the cap space to go buy UFA winger Kyle Okposo and UFA D QB Keith Yandle.