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On the heels of a mind-melting loss to the 30th place Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning took their act to Dallas for a date with the high-octane Stars. And while the club avoided a repeat of the lackluster effort of Tuesday’s loss, it would be a two-minute breakdown that proved to be the Lightning’s downfall en route to their second straight loss (and fourth in the last five), a 4-3 final.
The Bolts scored first, off the skate of Nikita Kucherov, on a sequence that really began with a great pinch-in from Andrej Sustr. The 6-foot-8 defenseman provided solid secondary support to Steven Stamkos along the boards, and threw the puck towards the net, where it was tipped off Alex Killorn’s blade, redirected off Kucherov’s skate, and by Kari Lehtonen for a 1-0 edge.
Good for Kucherov’s 26th goal of the season, and just his second in the last 12 games, the edge lasted just 1:54 for the Lightning before Jason Spezza took advantage of a Tampa Bay miscue.
With Brian Boyle dropped back in defensive support (but up too high at the same time), Spezza pushed the puck up with a 2-on-1 and Jason Garrison the lone defender on the backpedal for the Lightning. Spezza sold a shot, before he subtly slipped the puck up, over Ben Bishop and into the back of the Tampa net for his 29th goal of the season.
The goal was Spezza’s second in as many games against the Bolts this season, and put the ex-Sens career totals at an absolutely absurd 22 goals and 53 points in just 40 career against the Lightning.
But Tampa Bay responded 3:15 into the second period, this time with a rare power-play goal, scored off a rebound by Stamkos, good for the captain’s 32nd goal of the year, assisted by Kucherov and Anton Stralman. It was a goal right in No. 91’s wheelhouse, too, with a perfectly placed put right where he likes it, and ultimately roofed by a sprawled Lehtonen that had just no chance at all.
The power-play mark put an end to an 0-for-19 drought that had haunted the Bolts of late, too.
Again, though, the Stars responded before you could even get comfortable.
This time on a turnover forced by Cody Eakin that left Jamie Benn alone on Bishop, where he went top corner on Bishop’s blocker side, for his 35th goal of the season, just 2:27 later.
The Lightning regained the lead late in the second, off Stamkos’ second of the night and 33rd of the season, scored off a beautiful pass from Killorn (and a secondary assist to Victor Hedman) at 17:19.
In a game that was so, so even for three periods of play, it would be the Stars that broke through for the win behind a lethal 2:08 stretch that came with goals from Stephen Johns (his first of the season and his first at the NHL level for that matter) that beat a screened Bishop under his right pad at 9:42 of the third period, along with Benn’s second of the night, scored at 11:50.
It was the 128-second breakdown that doomed the Lightning in a game that saw them hang with one of the West’s best for entirely too long given the matchup advantage that often favored the home club.
The loss dropped the Lightning to a frustrating 1-3-1 in their last five games played.
Random thoughts and notes
- If you didn’t watch this game, I think it’d be almost too easy to look at the final score and say that this was yet another letdown from the Bolts. But, I’m not sure that that’d be really fair. In fact, it wouldn’t.
With the Stars really focused on a Benn matchup against Sustr, and with the Stars really getting the better of that head-to-head for much of the night, the Bolts were relatively mistake free. And there’s emphasis on relative there, of course. When you go against a player like Benn, you’re going to make mistakes, which is exactly what Sustr did on Benn’s first goal of the night (I’m still not sure where his pass that was tipped by Eakin and sent to Benn was intended to go). But overall, this was a solid effort.
But, on the road, and with the matchup working against you, this things will happen. And the Stars, loaded with offensive firepower and one of the league’s better home clubs, just made ‘em pay.
- Said it once, and I’ll say it again: I think it’s actually criminal if Bishop isn’t one of your Vezina finalists.
- I couldn’t have been the only one going ‘You idiots!’ to ‘Oh, OK!’ When it came to Stamkos’ second goal, right? You saw Kucherov come in all alone, hold onto the puck for too long, and then try a low-percentage bank-in off Lehtonen. The puck went back to No. 91 -- who didn’t shoot on a sans stick Lehtonen as he straight-up rolled around his own post like a tipped over turtle -- but instead back to Braydon Coburn for a weak wrister, and then you thought it was the end of that chance. That sequence would have honestly embodied everything that’s gone wrong for the Bolts of late, too. (There is such a thing as too much time, honestly.) Instead, the Bolts possess the puck on multiple loose plays, broke a winded Dallas five down in their own end, and found the perfect pass before Stamkos struck. Beautiful.
- After a two-game absence, Lightning forward Cedric Paquette returned back to the lineup with a bang. On a third line with J.T. Brown and Vladdy Namestnikov, Paquette finished the night with four wins on six faceoffs along with five hits in 11:31 of time on ice. Given the on-again, off-again year Paquette has had in terms of his health, utilizing him in a fourth-line role if/when Valtteri Filppula returns to the lineup might honestly be the Bolts’ best bet when it comes to maximizing Paquette's productivity.
- Count me in on this Stamkos-Kucherov top-line combo. I think you have enough chemistry between Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson to put a guy like Ryan Callahan with them without losing much from that line, but I absolutely love the idea of putting another skill-guy with Stamkos. You need that.
Up next
The Lightning will wrap up this four-game road trip with a Saturday night visit to Gila River Arena for a date with the Arizona Coyotes. The Lightning beat the Coyotes by a 2-1 final back on Feb. 23.
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.