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Can Lightning strike a third time? Might depend on the new third line

October 14, 2021, 1:10 PM ET [2 Comments]
Kevin Allen
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One thought about the Tampa Bay Lightning this season is that an opponent should consider the laws of nature before making the mistake of underestimating them.

Any outdoors man will tell you a bear is always ferocious, even if it has lost some teeth.

“(The Lightning) are an interesting team,” Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Sometimes when they get down they get more dangerous.”

The Lightning won their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship in 2020-21, and then had their depth carved out by salary cap issues. They lost their entire third line (Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde and Barclay Goodrow), plus forward Tyler Johnson and defenseman Luke Schenn to free agency and the expansion draft.

“You look across and in Kucherov and (Brayden) Point and just in those two you have two of the top 10 forwards in the league,” Blashill said.

The talent just keeps coming at you. “In (Ryan) McDonagh and (Victor) Hedman you have two of the top defensemen in the league in my mind,” Blashill said. “I think McDonagh is in the top two or three as a defender in the league. Without a whole lot of argument, you have the best goalie in the league (in Andrei Vasilevskiy) and you have one of the best shooters in the league in (Steven Stamkos). You have lots of talent.”

As Blashill prepared his team to face the Lightning in Detroit’s season opener tonight, he wasn’t thinking the Lightning were any less powerful than they were three months ago when they celebrated another Cup championship.

He saw the Lightning’s opening game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a game they’d like to have back more than a referendum on what kind of team they will be this season.

“Are they as deep as they were? That’s for the young guys in the lineup and the new guys to prove,” Blashill said.

That’s a point that is often lost in the discussion of teams that lose key players. We often analyze those situations in terms of lost production. But seldom do we factor in that someone will get an opportunity to replace those players. Sometimes those players contribute more than we think they will.

Certainly, Tampa Bay has enough top end talent to entertain the idea of a third consecutive championship. The difference-makers give them a chance, but the variable is probably how effective the bottom six forwards are.

Can the line of Mathieu Joseph, Ross Colton and Corey Perry provide both scoring and grit? How much will they get out of fourth liner Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ?

The Lightning would have preferred not to lose the players they did, but sometimes changing a few faces can renew a team, provide a spark.

The other factor for the Lightning will be injuries. Stamkos has to stay healthy, and he has had trouble in that area throughout his career.

On the plus side, the Lightning are a prideful group. “(If) you get up a couple and they start pushing like crazy, and they become more dangerous,” Blashill said.

Blashill is a friend of Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper. He knows Cooper's coaching is also a factor. The Lightning have a winning culture that keeps the team on the track toward success.

Said Blashill: “They are a challenge every time you face them.”
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