The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t play a bad game last night at Pepsi Center in Colorado, but untimely defensive breakdowns combined with shaky goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy resulted in a disappointing 5-4 loss.
Despite holding a possession advantage throughout the game, the Lightning just weren’t able to tighten their play up enough to secure a victory. Obvious and fixable defensive errors gave the Avalanche the opportunities they needed to grab a victory. It was a tough way to end a Western road swing that had otherwise been fairly solid.
While they did eventually lose the game, it was the Lightning who got on the board first. Ondrej Palat, with help from Tyler Johnson, had little trouble potting his 15th of the season to make it 1-0 Lightning at 10:53 of the first. If you thought the team would be able to build some momentum off that Palat goal, however, you were very wrong. The Avalanche went on quite the run.
It started with Nathan MacKinnon’s first of three (!) goals on the night at 16:21 of the first period. Assisted by Gabriel Landeskog, MacKinnon used his speed to bust into the Lightning zone and proceeded to backhand the puck past Vasilevskiy with a shot you might see at a pee-wee game. It’s one the young Russian absolutely had to have.
MacKinnon struck again only 3:10 into the second period to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead, and Matt Duchene followed up 29 seconds later with his 16th of the season to make it a 3-1 deficit for the road team. Deflating doesn’t begin to describe the Lightning’s start to the second period.
The Lightning were briefly able to cut the deficit to one, thanks to Tyler Johnson’s 23rd of the season. Assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn, Johnson scored a goal that almost made a game of things. Unfortunately for him and his teammates, MacKinnon completed the hat trick before the second period buzzer rang to restore his team’s two-goal lead.
Down by two heading into the third period against a team that has had its fair share of struggles this year isn’t the *worst* position to be in. The Lightning still had a chance. But, that hope was quickly extinguished when Alex Tanguay scored his 16th of the season at 7:20 of the third to make it a 5-2 game. That goal was the real backbreaker.
Brett Connolly and Nikita Kucherov scored goals in the latter half of that third period to make it a 5-4 game, but it wasn’t enough for the Lightning. Costly defensive miscues were the difference between two points and no points on this occasion. The Bolts have to be better. There are no excuses for a team that many see as a contender heading into the spring. Sunday’s game only served to highlight the point of yesterday’s piece; the Lightning need defensive help, even if it means renting.
If the Lightning thought the Avalanche were a pain to deal with, they won’t like their next opponent much more. The Chicago Blackhawks are coming to town for what should be a spirited affair. The game will take place on Friday night at Amalie Arena, meaning that Tampa has all week to practice up and get it together. They’re going to need to be at their best if they want to get past the Blackhawks.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.