The Tampa Bay Lightning dropped a 4-3 decision to the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. Shoddy goaltending from Anders Lindback, bad puck management, and a plethora of other factors ultimately combined to give the Bolts their fifth regulation loss at the Tampa Bay Times Forum this season.
Rather than go through a regular post-game recap, I want to take a little bit of time to just get some thoughts flowing. There’s a lot going on in Lightning land right now, so let’s get to it.
On the Washington loss…
* That’s a tough way to lose a hockey game. Four goals on 20 shots against is an ugly enough statistic, but it really doesn’t tell the full story. While two of the Washington tallies were deflections, Lindback has to be better. It seems that we’ve been saying that all season long. He wasn’t good last night. He wasn’t even fine last night. I’ve got a whole section coming up on the big Swedish goaltender, and it’s not pretty. Eric Fehr’s first goal of the night and Marcus Johansson’s power-play goal shouldn’t get by any National Hockey League goaltender. Imagine you’re a Lightning player for a moment. Having your goalie allow goals like that has got to be deflating.
* Lindback’s lapses turned an early 1-0 lead, courtesy of Tyler Johnson, into a 3-1 deficit by the end of the first period. Don’t ask me how they did it, but the Bolts somehow mustered up the resolve to battle back. BJ Crombeen scored his first of the season at the 6:45 mark of the second period before Ondrej Palat tipped home his ninth of the year midway through the third to tie things up. Credit the Bolts for battling through that adversity, but it wasn’t enough.
* How about that late goal from the Capitals? Just as it looked like the game was heading to overtime…BOOM! It was over. Eric Fehr ended it with a nice tip-in, and the Lightning were sent packing with nothing in the bank. Let’s forget that the play was blatantly offside for a second…
Didn't notice this earlier, but how did officials miss this on winning goal? MT @DanD15: #offsides #TBLightning pic.twitter.com/Kc365js2ON
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) January 10, 2014* While the late goal certainly hurt from an emotional perspective, I’m not sure that the Bolts deserved anything better on Thursday. We can talk all day about the Corsi and Fenwick battles favoring the Lightning, but bad puck management and horrendous goaltending don’t net teams wins all that often. It’s probably right that Washington managed to grab the two points in regulations. Turnovers, lackadaisical defensive play, missed assignments. Those things can’t happen in the NHL. The Lightning may have held the Capitals off the shot clock, but the breakdowns cost them on the scoreboard.
* Speaking of Ondrej Palat. How good is this guy? Have I mentioned that he was a 7th rounder in 2011? I think so. I’ll do it again. The guy was a 7th rounder in 2011. It’s pretty darn incredible when you really think about. He wins puck battles, he wins foot races, and head coach Jon Cooper can trust him in any situation. Oh, and there’s this…
Lightning LW Ondrej Palat 4 G, 6 A during 8-game point streak
— Scott Cullen (@tsnscottcullen) January 10, 2014* Not a banner night for one Marty St. Louis, but he still managed to grab an assist on Palat’s third period goal. Given all the emotional turmoil he’s been through over the past week, let’s all vow to give him a pass here. 41 points in 44 games, most of which have been played without Steven Stamkos by his side. Not half bad for a guy deemed too slow for Team Canada, eh?
* Penalty killing was an issue on Thursday, as the Lightning allowed the Caps to notch two man advantage goals. It was an issue the last time these two teams met, too. To quote Forrest Gump: that’s all I’m going to say about that. It needs to be better.
* The Lightning will now have Friday off before taking on the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. After struggling mightily to start 2013-14, the Flyers have righted the ship and now sit right in the thick of the playoff race. Saturday’s game won’t be an easy one.
On Lindback…
* I’m going to call Anders Lindback the elephant in the room right now. Let’s talk about him. With Ben Bishop on injured reserve until at least Tuesday’s game, it looks like we’ll be seeing a healthy dose of the Swedish goaltender. It’s becoming harder and harder to have confidence in Lindback when he’s out on the ice. It’s not just the odd bad goal here and there. It’s a bad goal at least once per outing. That’s not good enough.
* Stammerman pointed this out on the last message board. Since Bishop went down early in Edmonton, Lindback has seen action in three (essentially) full games. He’s allowed 10 goals on 59 shots for a “lovely… .830 SV%. This was his opportunity to take the ball and run with it. As the numbers show, he’s failed miserably. Jon Cooper must be chomping at the bit to get Bishop back in between the pipes. The Lindback experiment is turning into a failed one. It’s hard to imagine that he’ll be able to land a contract in the NHL next season unless his play turns around in a big way.
* Season totals for Lindback? A 4-9-1 record, 3.18 GAA, and .877 SV%. Ghastly.
On Rafalski…
*Hockey Buzz blogger Josh Rimer penned a blog tonight speculating that Brian Rafalski might be on his way to Tampa Bay. Here’s an excerpt from the post:
Sources tell me that Steve Yzerman, general manager, of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who's been friends with Rafalski since their days in Detroit is the one who has convinced Brian to sign with the Everblades. The Everblades are an affiliate of the Lightning. It's no secret that Yzerman has been looking for a top four defenseman since this summer, and by signing Rafalski, he would not have to give up any assets.
In regards to Brian Rafalski signing with Florida of the ECHL, and Tampa Bay possibly having interest, they do not have interest
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) January 10, 2014On Connolly… * After a rough start to his year with the Syracuse Crunch, Brett Connolly has been on fire recently. Just today he was named an AHL all-star. With 23 points in 24 games this season, including 16 points in his last eight games, the big forward is looking more and more like an elite prospect.
* I bring this up for one reason. With a few bodies (I’m looking at you Purcell, Panik) struggling on the Tampa roster, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Steve Yzerman call Connolly up to play with the Lightning again. If anything, he deserves the shot. He went down to the farm and has done everything the organization could have hoped for.
* While so many speculate that he should be out on the trading block, I’d be hesitant to deal this guy. Based on the character he’s shown over the last few seasons while dealing with adversity, Connolly is exactly the kind of player I’d want to build around moving forward.
On Stamkos…
Lightning C Steven Stamkos took X-Ray tonight. Team spokesman said he is progressing. #TBLightning #NHL
— Nick Williams (@NickWilliamsTBO) January 10, 2014--
As always, thanks for reading.