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Lightning Strike for Three in Third |
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The Lightning didn’t play a perfect third period, but they came darn near close. Speed, passing, and defensive awareness allowed them to pepper the Canadiens’ net with shots, finishing the period with 14 shots on goal at 5v5. It was a 3-0 result, but it should have been 4-zip. The Tyler Johnson interference call off Victor Hedman’s shot was so questionable that the Hockey Night in Canada broadcasters called the Montreal coach’s challenge a “reach.” Regardless, here are my three takeaways from last night.
Brayden Point was terrific.
Almost like a running back who has to wait for his blocks to develop, Point, in the last 20-30 plus games, has been struggling to find enough space to burst through on the rush. But last night, he consistently found skating lanes to rocket through and, most importantly, he attacked when he had daylight, firing shots on net instead of passing the puck out of the scoring area.
At 5v5, Point led the Lightning with 7 (!) Scoring Chances and 6 High-Danger Scoring Chances. And it wasn’t just on the rush that Point thrived. Given his prodigious ability, he has too often struggled to find room in the low slot when playing off the puck—one of my gripes would be that he too easily can be neutralized when he is the net-front presence. But last night, he was consistently around the puck when it traveled toward the net. He was a persistent threat on deflections and rebounds.
It’s hard to say if Point will always be able to find those skating lanes in the playoffs. A faster, more skilled opponent will have defensemen who can keep a tighter gap, and opposing forwards who will try to stifle him with back pressure. But one weapon the Point line has is its speed in transition defense and how it can render a deadly counterattack. The Yanni Gourde goal was a prime example of the Lightning’s quick-strike ability when they turn a defensive posture into an offensive opportunity. Nikita Kucherov took away that passing lane through the middle, and Point was in position to head-man the puck to Gourde, who exploited the Canadiens’ line change.
There are going to be situations for Point to utilize his speed in space, and while he was required to be a facilitator on the Gourde goal, chances were created for Point off neutral-zone turnovers. The common thread from his offensive success was how aggressive he was with challenging opposing defensemen, and his willingness to shoot when he reached the home-plate area.
Cooper would be wise to stress that Point shooting on the rush and cycle is actually a selfless act, because when Point is humming, the line excels. They retrieve and pass better on the cycle. The Corsi plus-minus of the Kucherov-Point-Gourde line last night was an outrageous +13, besting the next highest Tampa Bay line by eight. While Kucherov loves to handle the puck, Point ferrying it on entries allows Kucherov to creep toward the circle and set up for a one-timer.
Is Erik Cernak the best right-handed defenseman on the Lightning?
After Hedman and Ryan McDonagh, Cernak received the third most ice time among defensemen last night. I actually cannot believe how good he is. He can be downright dominant on retrievals and defensive coverage in his own zone. Cernak can consistently win board battles and deny the opponent separation. And when he gets the puck, he has good vision in terms of finding the outlet.
But Cernak has developed beyond just the ability to erase a forward with his massive frame and tap the puck to his defensive partner, McDonagh. He also has the skating prowess to be a threat offensively. He has a powerful stride that enables him to jump into the rush as the trailer, or slide down into the bottom half of the offensive zone to smack a shot on net or open up a shot opportunity for a forward.
Right now, it is easy to construct an argument that he is better in his end than Anton Stralman. And with Cernak’s growing confidence offensively, he surely has more scoring potential. This Cernak adulation is actually overdue.
The disallowed goal demonstrated the Lightning’s versatility.
With the score 2-0 Lightning and just under eight and a half minutes left in the third, the Canadiens entered the offensive zone possessing the puck. But when Joel Armia tried to cut through the middle of the high slot, he was met by the pesky Ondrej Palat, who stripped him of the puck and then found help with linemate Tyler Johnson in back-pressure support.
Those two forwards reversed course and forced a two-on-two charge the other way, which led to an unremarkable, non-threatening shot attempt by Palat from the left boards. But the shot triggered the forecheck, and Johnson beat Victor Mete to the retrieval. Johnson moved the puck to Palat along the left board, but Palat didn’t handle the pass cleanly. Yet the fumble proved fortuitous as Palat slid up the boards and recognized he had a passing lane to Hedman, who was plop in the middle of the ice and opening up for a one-timer.
With a Canadiens forward closing in on Palat, the savvy Lightning winger wanted to ensure his pass reached Hedman safely. So Palat feigned burying the puck deep on his forehand, and instead backhand passed it into the middle, allowing Johnson time to spin off Mete and into the crease to produce the desired traffic in front of Carey Price. It was ruled that Johnson obstructed Price and, thus, goaltender interference. But there is plenty to love about this play.
The Lightning weren’t on the power play. They didn’t have a semi-breakaway off a bad line change and lazy turnover. They didn’t convert on a two-on-one rush. It was shoot and retrieve, utilize your defenseman, and take away the goaltender’s eyes. The third period was almost like one extended loop of the Lightning funneling pucks on net after forcing a Canadiens turnover. Even though the Johnson goal was disallowed, it doesn’t mean the process isn’t worth lauding.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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