The Tampa Bay Lightning had nearly a full week off to prepare for their date with the Chicago Blackhawks, and it would seem that they made the most of that practice time. Led by strong goaltending from Ben Bishop and some timely offence, the Bolts blanked the Blackhawks by a score of 4-0. It was a great way to cap what was a hellish month of February.
While the final shot clock looks fairly close (29-28 in favor of Tampa), the possession game really wasn’t. At even strength, the Lightning controlled this hockey game. Tampa was able to put their foot down and dominate a team that many view as the Stanley Cup favorite heading into the playoffs. The following possession chart helps to show that:
5v5 shot attempts chart for #TBvsCHI courtesy of @HockeyStatsCa. That's as good as it gets against a cup contender. pic.twitter.com/BzrVeQriEs
— Michael Stuart (@hockeybuzzstu) February 28, 2015That possession advantage didn’t manifest itself in the form of goals early on in the contest, but the Bolts just kept pushing forward. They finally broke through 8:27 into the second period when Brian Boyle scored his 13th (!) of the season. Boyle got credit for the goal, but it was Jonathan Drouin who had the crowd at Amalie Arena in awe with a phenomenal pass that reminded you of why he was drafted third overall in 2013:
No-look passes are always in style.
https://t.co/2t8n1q5lCc
— NHL (@NHL) February 28, 2015That one-goal lead turned into a 2-0 advantage before the second period came to an end. At 17:53, Steven Stamkos scored his 33rd of the season and first of two on the night. Assists on the goal were credited to Jason Garrison and Nikita Nesterov.
Rather than sit back on their two-goal lead in the third period, the Bolts kept pressing. The fact that there are no score effects illustrated in that attached possession chart speaks to the Lightning’s ability to compete with the best in all situations. They were rewarded for that good work with two power play goals in the final frame.
Ryan Callahan got things started and extended his team’s lead to 3-0 with his 19th of the season at 7:37. Assisted by Valtteri Filppula and Tyler Johnson, Callahan was able to simply tip the puck by Scott Darling for the score. That one was the real backbreaker for Chicago.
It probably shocked people to see the Lightning’s pedestrian man-advantage unit produce a goal. I can only imagine some of the reactions from people when they saw the unit score a second one. This time it was Stamkos. With just less than three minutes left in the game, he absolutely rifled the puck past Darling for his second of the evening. Words can’t do the shot justice. You could practice for 10,000 hours and never shoot the puck like Stamkos did on that goal.
Following the Stamkos marker, the fat lady started warming up her vocal chords. She started singing, and the Bolts waltzed off the ice at Amalie with what was arguably their most impressive win of the season. It’s true that Chicago was without Patrick Kane and playing on the second half of a back-to-back set, but the Blackhawks were still a capable foe on this occasion. The Lightning deserve full credit for their victory.
With February in the rearview mirror, Tampa can now turn its attention to a much lighter month of March. Things get started on Sunday evening with a tilt against the Florida Panthers.
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.