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When everything went wrong for the Tampa Bay Lightning to start their season, it seemed that head coach Jon Cooper put his emphasis on respecting the process.
Now, with just three points separating the Bolts from the Atlantic-leading Florida Panthers, it’s the process that’s put the Lightning back in the driver’s seat as one of the East’s most dangerous teams.
In Tuesday’s 6-4 win over the (admittedly weakened by injury) Edmonton Oilers, it was contributions from six different goal-scorers, and an ability to overcome three different game-tying goals from Oiler scorers that proved to be the legitimate difference-maker in the club’s sixth straight win.
Defenseman Nikita Nesterov opened up the game’s scoring with his third goal of the year, scored off a great pass from Alex Killorn to find a bolting Nesterov in space.
Zack Kassian brought the score even less than two minutes later, but the Bolts responded behind a Nikita Kucherov marker late in the first period. And even when the Oiler once again answered, this off a what-could-have-been-back-breaking Mark Letestu shorthanded goal scored with 34 seconds left in the opening frame, Cooper’s group went back to work with an impressive second period.
In a two-goal middle frame, sparked by tallies from Ondrej Palat and Vlad Namestnikov, the Lightning outshot the Oil 11-to-5 while also killing off two penalties against.
See, this is what you did not have in October through December. You would see glimpses of it, sure, but overall, it doesn’t feel as if Tampa Bay had the will (or maybe the luck) to work their way out of trouble.
And even when the Oilers scored two goals to open up the third, the Bolts did not roll over and die.
On the penalty kill with the game tied, a footrace for a loose puck between Brian Boyle and Edmonton goalie Anders Nilsson ultimately came down to the reach of the 6-foot-7 Boyle, as Boyle held and tucked his ninth goal of the year into a vacated Oiler crease.
Killorn got on the board with an empty-netter, and that was all they needed.
Random thoughts and notes
- The progression of Vladislav Namestnikov has to be the No. 1 story of the Lightning this year. On a line with Ondrej Palat and Steven Stamkos, the 23-year-old put forth yet another successful night with a goal and an assist in just 13:57 of time on ice. (I’d argue that the puck never touched No. 90’s stick on his pop-fly goal, but it’s not a hill I can die on in this game, so credit’s credit in my book.) A center by trade, Namestnikov has been a perfect complement on Stamkos’ right side, and plays a creative game that goes well with skaters like Palat and Stamkos, especially when he slows things down in the o-zone.
Namestnikov’s strong presence around the attacking zone, especially in and between the circles has been a revelation, as the Russian forward has scored four goals and 10 points in his last six games.
- On a similar note, I thought it would take a miracle to find a better fit to Tyler Johnson’s left than Palat, but Alex Killorn is doing his absolute best to change everybody’s mind. Killorn is not the player that Palat is, but he’s similar to No. 18 in the sense that he’ll give you his all in the 200-foot game.
It’s a ‘no shifts off’ mentality for Killorn that’s finding ways (read as: space and time) to Johnson and Kucherov to work their magic as the Bolts’ best one-two combo in the attacking zone.
- You have to wonder what’s next for Ryan Callahan. Sacrificing a live chicken, maybe? It was another game that came with an absolutely golden chance for No. 24 to find the back of the net that .. just .. somehow didn’t. At the midway point of the first period, Callahan put an absolutely beautiful shot right over Nilsson’s shoulder and came just inches from his sixth goal of the year (it hit the inside of the post and came out). So there’s Callahan, still stuck on five goals and with just one in his last 32 games played. In fact, Callahan’s last goal came all the way back on Dec. 28 against Montreal.
It’s not for lack of trying, either, as Callahan finished the night with a game-high six shots on net.
- Couple of rough nights for some ex-Bolts. Benoit Pouliot finished the game with a minus-1 and just one shot on net in over 18 minutes of time on ice, while Teddy Purcell did legitimately nothing in over 19 minutes of time on ice (including four minutes plus on the Edmonton power play). Up next
The Bolts are back at it on Thursday night when they play host to the Chicago Blackhawks in a 2015 Stanley Cup Final rematch. It’s a battle of a team that’s won six in a row in Tampa Bay versus the team that’s won 12 in a row. This should be an absolutely great game of hockey.
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.