With four full days of rest behind them, the Tampa Bay Lightning took to the ice on Saturday night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum and ultimately dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to the Montreal Canadiens. The team squandered the opportunity to win its sixth straight game, but did pick up a single point in the process.
It’s unfortunate that the Bolts were unable to come away with two points against the Canadiens, but it’s hard to argue that they deserved more than one. Lackadaisical play through the first forty minutes costs teams games on many nights; the Lightning somehow made it out alive on Saturday. Ben Bishop was incredibly solid once again, and did more than enough to give the guys in front of him a chance at victory. They didn’t deliver.
While the loss might hurt from an emotional perspective, the result isn’t all bad. The one point obtained by extending the game past the 60 minute mark was enough to help the Lightning make up some ground on the Atlantic Division leading Boston Bruins. The Bolts still sit third in the Eastern Conference and second in the Atlantic, but their record of 23-11-4 puts them only four points behind the Bruins with a game in hand. Not bad for a team that is missing its best player, eh?
With Sami Salo and Eric Brewer on the shelf, the team was forced to dress a rather inexperienced defense core. Inexperienced players are often victimized by full-time NHLers, and Saturday’s possession numbers show exactly that. A number of Tampa’s defenders were demolished at even strength. Dmitry Korobov and JP Cote, in particular, had weak nights Corsi-wise in limited minutes.
I would be remiss if I didn’t at least touch on the performance of Marty St. Louis. The 38-year-old scored the Lightning’s only goal of the game and drove possession all night long. Since Steven Stamkos went down with injury, the Captain has stepped up in a big way. He scored a huge goal at a key time on Saturday, just as he’s done so many times in a Lightning jersey. His 17 goals through 38 games put him on pace to score 37 goals this season. Paging Steve Yzerman. Paging Team Canada.
The Lightning’s other big star on the night was certainly Ben Bishop. The big goaltender only allowed one goal, and looked every bit like a goaltender challenging for a spot on the United States Olympic team. His save percentage is now up to .935, while his goals-against average is down to 1.89. Godly, I tell you.
Tomas Plekanec was the Canadiens goal scorer, and Carey Price was nearly perfect through regulation and overtime before stopping all three Lightning attempts in the shootout.
Tampa Bay doesn’t have time to sit and stew over this loss, as the New York Rangers are in town and set for a matchup tomorrow night. The contest will be the second of three meetings between the Bolts and Blue Shirts; the Lightning won the first one by a score of 5-0.
As always, thanks for reading.