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Blues Sweep Season Series Against Bolts

March 24, 2019, 12:25 PM ET [6 Comments]
Sam Hitchcock
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Considering the Lightning have lost in regulation only 14 times in six months, any defeat in 60 minutes makes news. There were a few seconds last night when it looked like Tampa Bay had tied the game at four, clawing back from another seemingly insurmountable deficit. But the power-play tally by Steven Stamkos was reversed on an offside, resulting in the Bolts being swept by the Blues in this season’s series.

It was an odd game. There have been only six times this season that the Lightning have recorded more than 60 shot attempts at 5v5. Four of those six times came in 2018. One time came against the Red Wings on March 14th when the Lightning had a Corsi for of 66. The other game this year was last night, when Tampa Bay registered 62 shot attempts. But dampening that excitement were spells of careless play. The Lightning surrendered three goals in 75 seconds in the first period. Here are a few thoughts on the ugly and the good.

The ugly
The Lightning defensemen are mobile and play with confidence between the blue lines. In the third period, Blues color commentator Darren Pang marveled at Tampa Bay’s ability to step up in the neutral zone and choke off any lanes available for the Blues’ forwards. But the Lightning defensemen’s aggression and confrontational attitude can also leave them unready.

On the first goal for the Blues, the Lightning had generated two consecutive scoring chances—one off a great rebound swipe by Tyler Johnson in the crease that forced an outstanding save by goaltender Jordan Binnington, and the second by a Nikita Kucherov cross-and-drop that allowed Brayden Point to walk into the middle slot and whip a shot on net. When the Blues collected the puck for the transition, the Lightning had three bodies back as the Blues transported the puck through the neutral zone. But when Johnson locked onto Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko was able to snatch possession of the puck and split the gap between Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak, both of whom were caught flat-footed. The hook by McDonagh in the hope of curbing Tarasenko’s charge led to a power-play goal by Robert Thomas.

On the Alex Steen goal shortly thereafter, the Lightning had three turnovers in their breakout and transition, allowing the Blues multiple opportunities to forecheck and attack when Bolts defenseman Jan Rutta was on the ice. On the sequence that led to the goal, everything seemingly went according to plan. Andre Vasilevskiy fielded the dump-in, connected on the pass to McDonagh, and McDonagh successfully completed his pass to Palat along the wall. But Palat, who initially faced pressure from Zach Sanford, capitulated the puck into the middle only moments after shielding the puck from Sanford’s rapacious mitts.

The Lightning had four bodies to the Blues’ three in the slot, but Steen managed to win the puck from Rutta below the dots after Sanford’s shot attempt, and deposit it behind Vasilevskiy.



The most peculiar element of this play was the lack of urgency from Palat. One would think that the guy who just coughed up the puck into the slot would be eager to mitigate his mistake, but he stood idle while Sanford grabbed the loose puck in the middle slot and smacked it on net. The Lightning aren’t expected to have an unimpeachable transition attack and breakout, but one way to sand the edges is to box out and tie up sticks when there is a sloppy transfer of the puck from defenseman to forward. Rutta and Palat both failed in this facet.

Finally, the Lightning were victimized several times on the weak side. Tarasenko’s goal was a byproduct of a bad pinch by Mikhail Sergachev when forward back- pressure was not there. (Johnson’s bizarre attempt to intercept the Schenn pass in the neutral zone instead of providing transition defense through the middle contributed as well.) In the third period, Braydon Coburn would pinch on a rush chance by the Lightning, and Johnson covered over the top. But when the puck was reversed the other way, Jaden Schwartz would get behind Johnson for a wide-open look on Vasilevskiy.

In the second period, even though the Lightning racked up big shot-attempt totals, they still exhibited baggy defense. With 8:15 left in the second frame, the Blues carried the puck into the offensive zone for a three on five, and despite the Lightning’s numbers advantage, Schenn skated uncovered to the net and received a pass from Tarasenko for an A-plus scoring chance because no one marked Schenn on the back side.

On the Steen goal and Schenn chance, the Lightning had the numbers but were slow to react. On the Tarasenko goal and Schwartz opportunity, the lassitude of the Lightning’s forwards to provide support for their defensemen’s aggressiveness left them vulnerable.

The good
The Kucherov line was so incredibly dangerous in this game it was a joy to watch. They generated 15 Scoring Chances at 5v5 (!)—and everything about their offensive game was encouraging. But the primary marker of success for this line is pass-versus-shot ratio. When the Kucherov line is overly selective about their shot quality, it is the biggest gift they can give the opposition. Overpassing is their biggest flaw, but when they are less discriminate about when and where they shoot, they are virtually unstoppable. More shot attempts and retrievals devitalize the opponent’s defense, and suddenly passing lanes open up that weren’t there before. Shooting chances on the inside develop after shots from the outside, and the forwards get low-slot shooting attempts after a blast from the middle or high slot.

Point, whose unwillingness to shoot can sometimes be infuriating, was shooting from the high slot, off-slot, middle slot, and low slot. He had a mind-numbing 11 shot attempts and eight Scoring Chances at 5v5. And Point’s enthusiasm for ripping the puck on net was exhibited across his line, as Kucherov and Johnson were crushing pucks on net in lieu of passing to their defenseman and staying on the perimeter.

Point’s goal provided a nice example of the positive offensive consequences of the Lightning’s defensemen playing hyper-aggressively. McDonagh intercepted a lazy pass through the middle of the neutral zone and his entry allowed Point to seize on the lane to the backdoor.



Players on other lines also had moments worth highlighting. The Anthony Cirelli inside move that resulted in a glove save from Binnington was stunning. The individual effort from J.T. Miller, from retrieving his own dump-and-chase to the won puck battle and feed to Steven Stamkos, was a great effort by him. For all the doting over Point and his line, it must be mentioned that all four lines finished in the black for Corsi Plus-Minus and Stamkos’s line finished with an impressive +9. After a weak effort in the first period, the Lightning responded strongly in the final two. If the Blues hadn’t risen to that challenge, the Lightning easily could have come out winners.

Ultimately, the loss means nothing. The Lightning were sloppy in their breakouts and transition defense, especially in the first period, but they staged an impressive comeback and their best players (and role players) are skating well and making plays. They just need to stay healthy and give Vasilevskiy rest down the stretch.
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