Sometimes, the best medicine in the world is simply to play the Detroit Red Wings on a Saturday afternoon. That was the case for the Tampa Bay Lightning today, as they earned a 2-1 victory over their divisional foes. Here are today’s thumbs:

Thumbs Up: The Start
After a run of games that saw them play anything and everything but classic Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, the Bolts got back to their usual business right out of the gate in this one. While the Red Wings aren’t exactly the fiercest of opponents, it was nevertheless phenomenal to see the Lightning start this game like they’d been shot out of a cannon. It was a 2-0 game before many fans had even sat down and turned the television on, and probably could have (read: should have) been even more lopsided than that. Tampa just kept coming in waves; Detroit had no answers.

The fancy stats back up what the eye test was telling me. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Lightning controlled 73% of the five-on-five shot attempts and expected goals in the first period. That’s basically as good as it gets in the NHL today.

Thumbs Down: Taking the Foot off the Gas
The unfortunate thing for Tampa Bay was that they really seemed to settle into too much of a comfort zone through the second and third period. Perhaps they felt a little bit overconfident after utterly dominating in the first period. Perhaps the Red Wings just decided to wake up. Regardless of what caused it, the result was two closing periods that were played on much more even footing. Solid play by Andrei Vasilevskiy to close out the game was paramount in Tampa earning this win.

Thumbs Up: Ross Colton Continues to Produce
It was another excellent night from Tampa’s fourth line trio of Ross Colton, Pat Maroon, and Mathieu Joseph. Per Natural Stat Trick, they generated 64% of the five-on-five expected goals when on the ice together. As has become custom recently, they also generated an *actual* goal to help the Lightning’s cause. After a shift that contained numerous won puck battles and great cycle work, Ross Colton bolted into the slot and chipped a loose puck into the twine to open the scoring for Tampa Bay.

Quite frankly, it’s almost impossible to understate the impact that Ross Colton has had on the bottom of this lineup since being recalled. He continues to demonstrate that he’s ready to be the next “guy” in a long line of Lightning prospects who come out of nowhere and make an impact at the NHL level. It’s been such a great story, both for him personally and for the team more generally.

Thumbs Up: Victor Hedman’s Assist on Brayden Point’s Goal
You won’t find too many defencemen in the NHL who process what’s happening on the ice fast enough to even identify that pass as a possibility, let alone actually execute on it.

Thumbs Down: The Stamkos Line
We’re probably at the point now where I’ve seen enough from this Stamkos/Cirelli combination. It just doesn’t seem to be working. Steven Stamkos is an excellent hockey player. Anthony Cirelli is an excellent hockey player. Together, though, they seem to mix like oil and water this season. The results today were rather underwhelming. Any time Stamkos is in a position where he’s hitting more than he’s shooting, it’s not the right use of his skill set.

--

The Lightning will see Detroit again for an early game tomorrow.

As always, thanks for reading.

Join the Discussion: » 4 Comments » Post New Comment

» Steven Stamkos and the Olympics

» Steven Stamkos is Showing Hart

» Victor Hedman is Back

» Lightning, Predators Release Stadium Series Jerseys

» With Nothing Left to Prove, Lightning are Proving Something