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Lightning Obliterate Avalanche, Win Streak at Six

December 9, 2018, 1:20 PM ET [2 Comments]
Sam Hitchcock
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Context is important. If I say I’m a fast skater, and I also say Connor McDavid is a fast skater, one might infer we are equals. We aren’t—McDavid would beat me in a sprint by a 100 yards. I thought the Avalanche were a fast squad, replete with skill that could prove a challenging opponent for the Lightning. I was wrong. Tampa Bay destroyed Colorado last night, winning 7-1 and toying with the Avalanche to the point where I could see cheeks flush with embarrassment through my television screen.

Naturalstattrick.com records High-Danger Scoring Chances and the results underscore the Lightning’s dominance. Through two periods, the Lightning accrued 14 High-Danger Scoring Chances while the Avalanche mustered 3. The Penguins and Maple Leafs were the only teams last night to collect 14 HDCF, and it took both of those teams 60 minutes to reach that total. The first two periods were a master class in hockey execution. Pun intended.

It was an extraordinary showcase by the Lightning as the forwards and defensemen were able to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, to their overwhelmed opponent. Tampa Bay’s defensemen kept tight gaps to choke off the Avalanche’s transition game. If the puck was moved past the confrontational Lightning defenseman, a Tampa Bay forward shot underneath to stanch the offensive foray.

Offensively, the Lightning defensemen were jumping into the play, charging the net in the hope of scoring a deflection goal, or fanning out so they could be utilized as a playmaker for a cutting forward. Even though Victor Hedman almost scored in an example of the former and nearly assisted when doing the latter, this mentality extended beyond the Norris Trophy winner. Plain and simple, the Lightning are much, much faster than the Avalanche. They won races to the puck to retrieve after shot attempts, and they forced Colorado to chase them high and low as the forwards and defensemen worked a blissful interchange.

Offensive zone time creates fissures in a defense. Players become tired, and this issue can be exacerbated in the period of the long change. With the score 3-1 at the start of the second period, the Lightning hemmed in the Avalanche for 45 seconds. There was a lot of forward cycling on the right side, and the primary scoring chance came when the puck was moved to Hedman on the left point. Hedman slid down into the slot and fed Dan Girardi, who was stationed in the low slot for the tip. But Girardi’s shot attempt was 25 seconds into the territorial advantage, and it would present an opportunity for the Avalanche to exit the zone. Colorado’s Matt Calvert rescued the loose puck after the shot, and instead of chucking it out, he turned back toward his goal in hoping to achieve a tape-to-tape breakout. Big mistake. Ondrej Palat forced a turnover, and the Lightning kept the puck in the Avalanche’s end for 20 more seconds.

Once the puck left the Avalanche’s defensive zone, Colorado was desperate for a line change and the Lightning seized on the counterattack opportunity against a splintered defense. Yanni Gourde moved the puck to Hedman, then sprinted toward the middle instead of going for the line change. Gourde proved to be a release valve for the falling Steven Stamkos, who had carried the puck in on the entry. Gourde’s assist was magnificent. He received the puck on his right skate, never broke stride, and skated on his backhand toward an angle where he could slip the puck through Ian Cole to Alex Killorn on the backdoor.



The amount of skill on that play is bonkers. Goalie Semyon Varlamov had no chance to stop the puck.

The other four goals at even strength exhibited the same DNA as that Killorn goal. Stamkos got behind the defense for a breakaway. Palat got behind the defense for a goal. Nice passing between Nikita Kucherov and Girardi led to Girardi hammering a shot that Brayden Point tipped, and then Tyler Johnson won inside position on the doorstep for a goal. In another instance, Anthony Cirelli won the race for inside position for a goal.

The Lightning were faster moving the puck, and they were quick to claim possession of it after their teammates shot. The Avalanche lost because they were ill-equipped to handle the Lightning’s speed with, and without, the puck. When the Bolts are humming, I am increasingly skeptical there is a team that is equipped to handle them.
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