Game 78: The Game I Went To, and Something Happened

Game: 78

Opponent: New Jersey Devils

Score: 3-1 Win

Thoughts:

So, sometimes you get really, really excited about something like, I don't know, going to a hockey game in your favorite team's arena. Then you notice something. Hey, the team is missing someone. Then it's officially plastered across the screen – Tampa Bay Scratches: Steven Stamkos. You try and remember if you saw him in the pregame skate and can't remember because you were to busy staring at the Tesla Coils and entering text numbers to hopefully win a free jersey or a 7-Day cruise.

You rapidly try to refresh your twitter feed to find out why he's out and your phone isn't working (and it's almost out of juice because you spent all day taking stupid photos of food). The conspiracy part of your mind starts to wonder if Coach Cooper is a big enough dick to scratch Stamkos in what could be his final home start in a Lightning uniform.

Then the game starts and you get lost in the casual conversation with a friend you've been going to games with since college. You forget that Stamkos isn't on the ice, well except for that one power play where they set up Vlad Namestnikov for a one-timer in Stamkos' office and he totally whiffed on it. And the next 5 power plays that they didn't score on, where even with the Captain they might not have scored, but would have looked a little more effective.

Victor Hedman scores a pretty goal and the Triplets start weaving their magic a bit so you forget again. No one is really too concerned, in fact no one around you is talking about it. Heck you're just happy that Punisher guy is still going to games. Then you flip through the free yearbook and see Steven's profile and you remember again.

But on the ice Ben Bishop is doing Ben Bishop things by stopping almost all of the pucks that get fired at him. Brian Boyle gathers a rebound and slides a nifty backhand under Cory Schneider's pads to give the team the lead. Hey it was on the power play! Awesome.

YOUR BOY NIKITA KUCHEROV then gets a chance with an empty net and because he is an enigmatic Russian he roofs it under the bar, perhaps the prettiest empty net goal the Lighting have ever scored. The Lightning win. Everyone high-fives and the team is one-point from clinching a playoff team. You grab a Lightning Playoff Yard sign even though it won't fit in your luggage and you don't have a yard to begin with.

You get back to the hotel and pop up your email and the first thing you see is:

Now your said again. Luckily your wife and your friends have come back from the Duran Duran concert and now you have someone to commiserate with. They make you feel better until they remind you of the other email you received earlier in the week:

You're starting to develop an intense dislike of Fan 590 emails at this point. A Lightning team that was built to go deep in the playoffs was now missing its #2 defenseman and its leading goal scorer for the next couple of months. Holding on to home ice in the first round was looking tenuous at best and winning at least one round seems like it would be a success.

At no point are you angry. Depressed sure. Morose, maybe. Fatalistic, mostly. After all everyone else in the top six has been hurt at some point, so why not the captain. Plus, why not add some extra Drouin drama to the end of the season. General Manager Yzerman alluded to the possibility that the young forward might be in the mix to be called up, but then Drouin came up gimpy as well and missed his next game in Syracuse. As many bad decisions the former first round pick has made he has also suffered some untimely injuries as well. Just not his year I guess.

Did I have a good time? Of course. Did I miss the chance to get Filip Kuba's autograph. I did. Did I win a jersey off of a players back? No. Did I win the 50/50? No, but at least it's a $20 tax write off.

A win is a win. The Lightning are two points closer to making it to the playoffs for a third consecutive year. Matt Carle gets to play some more. As does Jonathan Marchessault (maybe).

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

Nope, but I did start an official Matt Carle fan club with the lady that sat next to us. So he has that going for him. I'm not sure if we're going to print T-shirts or not. Might have to see how many people are interested. Look folks, Steve Yzerman is having enough trouble trying to move the rapidly aging defenseman. Let's make it look like he's actually worth something by whipping up some interest about him. You never know, it might work.

Game 73: The One That Got Them To First

Game: 73

Opponent: Detroit

Score: 6-2 W

Thoughts:

Well, that is one way to answer the bell. In what could be described as their first real test of the season, the Lightning used a combination of skill, luck and some Detroit bungling to hammer the Red Wings by a score of 6-2. The win propelled Tampa Bay back into the top spot in the Atlantic division.

As discussed the last time we met here, the Lightning were kicking off a six-game homestand with the three most important games on the schedule. Detroit came in fighting for their playoff lives, but as one of the hotter teams in Eastern Conference. In their previous game they had come back from two goals down to beat the Florida Panthers.

Early on it looked like they were going to try and best that comeback by getting down by three goals to the Lightning. Each goal had it's own little flavor to it. The first goal was the result of the Detroit defense getting a little lackadaisical and allowing Brian Boyle to hit Ondrej Palat on a long stretch pass. That led to Palat and Erik Condra attacking 2-on-1. Palat fed Condra a nice pass and the Michigan native roofed it just under the bar for his first goal since December 5^th.

Condra was in the game, along with Jonathan Marchessault due to injuries to Valteri Filppula and Ryan Callahan. He only played about 10 minutes, but played them like he didn't want to go back to the bench. Marchessault didn't register a point, but was his usual pesky self.

Goal number two was the result of J.T. Brown (who had a good game) working hard to generate a shot on net. Jimmy Howard couldn't find the puck which was sitting right between his legs. Vlad Namestnikov happened to be in the right spot and slammed it between the goalie's wickets for his career best 13^th goal.

Goal three was just bad luck for the Red Wings. Steven Stamkos steamed down the right hand side and looked to pass it back to Alex Killorn who was open in front of the net. Unfortunately for Killorn it never made it through the defense. Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson did a great job of blocking the pass with his skate. He didn't do a great job of controlling where the puck went. It hit his skate and ricocheted past Howard and into the back of the net. Stamkos got credit for his 34^th goal – hey, they can't all be blistering slapshots.

The game seemed in hand for the Lightning. A three goal lead, Detroit looked a step off and weren't putting any pressure on Ben Bishop. Most of the shots they attempted were blocked. Of course, because the Lightning can't do anything easy, they let Detroit back into the game. Justin Abdelkader scored on the power play and then Darren Helm got the Wings within one seven minutes later.

Darren Helm doesn't need his skates on the ground to score. Photo by Scott Audette NHLI/Getty

Shades of the Winnipeg game were rearing its ugly head. Were they going keel over or could they hold off the desperate Wings? Two minutes after Helm's goal the Lightning got a bit of a break. While already on the power play Abdelkader kind of skated into MY BOY NIKITA KUCHEROV with his stick out. He made contact with MBNK's back and pushed him into the boards. The ref's hand went up and the Lightning suddenly had a 5-on-3 power play.

One does not get away with gently pushing Kucherov to the ice. Shortly into the two-man advantage Tyler Johnson fired a pass across the crease to MBNK who was all alone at the side of the net and he slammed the puck into the gaping wide net. It was the 28^th goal for the restricted free agent and probably jacked his next contract up a couple of hundred thousand dollars. The goal broke the Red Wings back and the Lightning would tack two more goals on in the third to complete the rout.

Hey, just hanging by the post. Mind if I slide this puck into the net. Scott Audette NHLI/Getty

The Lightning were tested and they passed. They outplayed the Red Wings for the vast majority of the game and didn't let the momentum get the best of them during the second period. Their passes were crisp and the blocked a ton of shots (14 by the official count). For once, Bishop didn't have to stand on his head to win a game. In fact I can't really remember him having to make any difficult saves.

The win not only put them in first place but also knocked the Red Wings out of the playoffs for the moment. Their next game is against the Islanders in, what is a nice quirk with the playoff seedings, could be a preview of a first round match-up.

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

Sadly our hero did not log a point despite the offensive explosion. Coach Cooper went with an 11 forward / 7 defensemen lineup with Carle suiting up as the 7^th defennseman. He was only on the ice for 11:41 but did manage to finish as a solid +2. After his 3 points in 4 game explosion back in February Carle has now gone 10 points without a point.

I'm sure its been hard for him to adjust to his new role after a career as a point-generating top pairing blueliner. However, he has done it professionally and quietly. So credit to him for being a team player.

Game 67: The One With All of the Shots and No Goals

Game: 67

Opponent: Boston

Score: 1-0 OT Loss

Thoughts:

Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. And sometimes Jonas Gustavsson makes 42 saves. Boston, along with Philadelphia and Florida, is one of the teams that it seems to hurt a little more when you lose to them. It's nowhere near an actual rivalry, but losing to them just sticks in your craw a little more. Especially when they get outplayed.

The Lightning bounced back from the horrible outing against Philadelphia (who attempted 90+ shots against them) to take on the Bruins who were lurking one point behind them in the standings. Tampa Bay, with solid goaltending by Ben Bishop, was the better team on the ice, especially during the second period when they fired 22 shots at Gusavsson. Unfortunately he was equal to the task and turned aside everything thrown at him.

Boston did what Boston does, breaking up passes and blocking shots (17) and generally frustrating the Lightning in the offensive zone while countering their attacks to generate their own offense. Bishop was just as solid in net, limiting rebounds and not giving Boston second chances.

A good sign that the Lightning were playing at their best was the lack of penalties. In fact they only had one, an offsetting roughing call on Brian Boyle when he dumped Jimmy Hayes into the Boston bench. They were able to pick up four power plays of their own.

The first power play was probably the most interesting. Zdeno Chara was standing in front of his net and casually brought his stick up to his waist level. Unfortunately for him he is 7' tall and waist level is equal to Jonathan Marchessault's face and the big giant took a high-sticking penalty. A few moments into the power play, Victor Hedman guesses wrong and Brad Marchand is off to the races on a short handed breakaway. Bishop is equal to the task and makes the save.

About a minute later MY BOY NIKITA KUCHEROV is skating through the neutral zone and gets decked by John-Michael Liles' forearm/elbow. I don't think it was intentional. I don't think it was malicious. I do however think it was a shot to the head and it should have been a penalty. Mr. Liles did get a phone call from the league but was not subject to supplemental discipline. I'm sure his clean career helped with that.

Not a penalty.  

What I really did not like was Boston announcer Jack Edwards' reaction to the play. Look, we all know Edwards' game. He is the super-homer play-by-play man. But to ignore the fact that a Boston player led a hit with his forearm/elbow and targeted his opponents head is egregious. Then to lay blame on Kucherov of “ducking” into it is not cool at all – especially after watching the replay.

His argument that the play was “horizontal” is ludicrous as well. So I can level you as long as I do it on the same plane as your head? Look. I get it. He's a Boston announcer. However, this is the stuff the league supposedly wants to get rid of. Admit that Liles made a bad play. There is no reason for his arm to be where it is. That doesn't mean you aren't supporting the team.

The good news is that Kucherov wasn't hurt badly and returned to the game. Sadly it wasn't enough to win the game. I will say one thing about the Lightning. If they get to overtime tied 0-0 they don't waste anyone's time losing the game. In October the Lightning and Blackhawks were scoreless in until overtime and then Jonathan Toews scored 17 seconds into the extra session. Brad Marchand bested that scoring 10 seconds into OT on Tuesday night.

Ah well. The Lightning get a few nights off now. Which is needed with the blue line a little banged up. Hopefully the time off will get their offense a chance to reset and find its scoring touch. Once they're back on the ice they do have favorable match-ups with Philadelphia, Columbus and Toronto on the schedule.

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

No. No one got a point. Despite 15 minutes of ice time Mr. Carle remains 37^th all-time in points for the Lightning - tied with Danton Cole and Ben Clymer. How about Coach Cooper rolling the dice and pairing Carle with rookie Slater Koekkoek? That's enough to take a few years off of my life.

Game 66: The One With The Ghost Bear

Game: 66

Opponent: Philadelphia

Score: 4-2 Loss

Thoughts:

When a team wins nine games in a row it's really hard to get upset over one loss. However, man did they get their asses kicked on Monday night. The final score is truly not indicative at how outplayed they were for 60 minutes. It was amazing that they had a shot to tie it at the end before Wayne Simmonds buried the empty netter with 30 seconds to go.

Andrei Vasilevskiy also saw his personal winning streak end, but there should be an asterisk by the loss. He was phenomenal in the game, especially in the second period when the Lightning were outshot 22-6. I did chuckle when the Lightning challenged Shane Gostisbehere's (a.ka. the Ghost Bear) goal at the 16:51 mark. The ref should have just announced the goal was good because when you're getting outshot 30-6 you don't get to challenge calls.

Why yes, he did get a penalty on this.  Photo credit to Bruce Bennet Getty Images

Despite the lopsided ice they were playing on, there were some good spots to point out. Well two. Vasilevskiy and Tyler Johnson. TJ picked up another two points to continue his late-season resurgence. That makes three of the last four games where he's scored more than one point. Having him at full strength keeps that second line strong and opens up the ice for Steven Stamkos and his line.

When the Lightning weren't getting outskated they still couldn't get the bounces.  Rebounds jumped over sticks, Flyer goalie Steve Mason would get just enough of a puck to deflect it wide.  Not to say that the Lightning weren't unlucky, they deserved to lose this game, it's just when you're on a winning streak sometimes you get outplayed and still manage to win.  This was not one of those games.

Other than that it was a bad game so there is no need to dwell on it. With Boston coming to town next the Lightning definitely need to put the game out of their mind and move on. Sometimes having back-to-back games isn't a bad thing. Despite winning 9 in a row, they only have a one-point lead over Boston and Florida. They do have a game in hand over the Bruins, but the race is still too close to take the foot off of the gas.

They did manage to gain some separation from the bottom of the pack (7 points over Detroit for 8^th and 11 over Philly for 9^th). At this point I'm not sure it matters for the Lightning. They do have a better record at home, but their road record isn't shabby at 18-13-2. I'd rather they have home ice for the playoffs, but I'm not sure it's going to matter where they play if they get to the conference finals.

Having conversations about playoff seeding is fun if just for the fact it delays talking about off-season issues. Especially since Mr. Vinik could use a few home playoff games to generate some more income. He's going to have a heck of a big check to write coming up.

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

Nope. But he was a +2! He was on the ice for both of the Lightning goals! That's not bad. He picked up another 20 minute ice time game and saw almost 3 minutes of shorthanded time. He's played pretty well as an injury fill-in over the last two weeks. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Andrej Sustr comes back. Does Carle go back to the bench or will it be one of the young kids.

Two Recaps for the Price of One

Game: 52 and 53

Opponent: Ottawa and Montreal

Score: 1-5 Loss and 2-4 Loss

Thoughts:

Well. That was a fun trip through Canada, now wasn't it. When they crossed the border into the Great White North the Lightning were in second place in the Atlantic Division and ready to show the world that their recent winning streak wasn't restricted to the Sunshine State. Three days and two losses later, when asked if they had anything to declare at the border they responded with, “Yeah, we got our asses kicked.”

Nine goals (granted with the exchange rate it's only really like giving up 4 and ½ goals) allowed against two teams behind them in the standings is not good hockey. At least against Montreal they looked like they understood the game of hockey as opposed to their night in Ottawa. I'm not sure what game they were playing in Canada's capital city, but it sure wasn't hockey.

With their two losses the Lightning saw both Detroit and Boston leapfrog them in the standings. Now, instead of being comfortably in the playoffs (with home ice) they are in a wild card spot. Another loss and a New Jersey win and the Lightning are back out of the playoffs and the negative vibes can flow freely again.

Speaking of bad juju, it's funny how when the Lightning are losing the Steven Stamkos saga becomes more intense, but when they win it kind of fades to the background. While it's on my mind, let me lift the Stammergeddon ban for a second.

As the trade deadline nears who in their right mind would trade for Stamkos? And why would they part with anything of significance? If you were a GM would you pay the king's ransom for a player that you may have for the better part of two months (maybe two more if you make the playoffs?) If he's traded to a non-Toronto team, there is no way he signs an extension before July 1^st.

So why trade a couple of high draft picks and top tier prospect? There is no way Mr. Yzerman is taking less than that for his captain and face of the franchise. Would Toronto trade for him? Would he waive his no-trade for Toronto? Maybe. If I'm not mistaken, that would allow the Maple Leafs to offer him the extra year as a free agent. Maybe that would be worth it. But if you're Mr. Yzerman the names William Nylander and Jake Gardiner better be the first words out of your mouth.

I don't believe he gets traded. At this point he re-signs with the Lightning or signs with Toronto in the off-season. Either way, I don't think there is an answer until July 1^st. Now back to the team.

The team from the coach on down seemed to shake off the Ottawa loss as just one of those days. Every team has them. For whatever reason nothing seems to work and every mistake ends up in the back of the net. Case in point – Nikita Kucherov turns the puck over in the neutral zone, picks the wrong person to check in the defensive zone and the Senators turn it into a goal. Or Jason Garrison tries to clear the puck up the middle (something the Lightning do a lot of) and it's knocked down and poked past Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Sadly it was one of the last things Mr. Garrison did in the game as he left the game after the first period. I'm no medical expert (nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express) but I do remember him throwing a check in the first period and falling backward awkwardly backwards, with his ankle bending underneath his body. So I'm going with high-ankle sprain or tweaked knee. Whatever is broken on him will keep him out 3-5 weeks, which means the Lightning are short a defenseman.

Will they go the trade route? After all, according to the rumor scuttlebutt, all of the deals for Johnny Drouin included a blueliner coming back the other way (Cody Ceci or Kevin Shattenkirk). Unfortunately, St. Louis took a hit of their own with Alex Pietrangelo hurting his knee so those talks might have cooled off a bit. Ottawa did bring in Dion Phaneuf so they could technically afford to trade Ceci.

For now it looks like they will keep things in house as they've called up Slater Koekkoek. Yes I'm excited to have someone called Slater on the team so I can make unlimited “Saved By the Bell” jokes. Also, I really, really hope he wears the number 87 so that the Lightning can ice an 86-91 line:

86 – Nikita Kucherov

87 – Slater Koekkoek

88 – Vasilevskiy

89 – Nikita Nesterov

90 – Vlad Namestnikov

91 – Steven Stamkos

A blogger can dream, right?

While Garrison's injury is not good for the team it is good for the next part of this recap....

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

I was afraid I was going to have to discontinue this feature after Matt Carle was scratched for the last few games (and Nesterov looking better with increased action). Carle did not play against Ottawa, but he did see 14:46 of action against Montreal. He did not score a point (boo), but it wasn't from lack of trying as he fired 4 shots at the net. Increase that trade value, baby!

Game 42: The One Where Callahan Missed All of The Chances

Game: 42

Opponent: Vancouver

Score: 3-2 OT Win

Thoughts:

Two wins in two nights is a nice way to gain some ground in the playoff win. If the win in Edmonton was the result of lucky bounces, then the overtime win in Vancouver was a result of hard work and perseverance.

The game got off to a quick start for the Lightning as they outshot the Canucks 5-0 to open the action. With one of those shots Alex Killorn managed to beat Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom. The Harvard man received a nice pass from Nikita Kucherov, deked once to pull Markstrom out of position and flicked the puck into the open net.

After the lackluster first two periods against Edmonton Coach Cooper shuffled his lines up. Ondrej Palat was bumped up to the Steven Stamkos with Vlad Namestnikov while Killorn found himself on the “Triplets” line with Kucherov and Tyler Johnson. The shakeup seems to have worked.

With all of the injured forwards back healthy again Coach Cooper has a little bit of stability to work with and some of the role players can get back to doing what they excel at. For instance, Brian Boyle hasn't scored in 10 games and has seen his time on ice dwindle from 16-19 minutes a game down to 9-12 minutes a game. That's not a bad thing.

The Lightning no longer have to rely on Boyle, JT Brown and Erik Condra to generate offense. Instead those players can work on controlling the puck and grinding down the other team so that the offense can get to work. That's the system that led to success last year and one that can carry the team in the second half of the season.

After a quick start the game settled into a slow back-and-forth battle that, quite frankly, wasn't very entertaining. Tampa Bay was once again not able to carry a lead into the second period as Vancouver scored late in the period to tie it up. For most of the second and the first half of the third the play was mired in the neutral zone and featured more broken up passes than shots.

In net Andrei Vasilevskiy, giving All-Star Ben Bishop a night off, was steady if not spectacular. While he gave up a few rebounds, for the most part he was steady and in control for the majority of the game. He looked like a viable future starter stopping 21 of 23 shots in picking up his fifth win of the season. As if General Manager Steve Yzerman didn't have enough on his table, it will be interesting to see what he does when Ben Bishop's contract is up after next season.

The Lightning got their footing back after a couple of power plays. Valteri Filppula fired a puck toward a cutting Ryan Callahan in front of the net. The pass never made it there, but it did happen to hit a skate and sneak through Markstrom's five hole. Another “lucky” break for an offense that was starved for them during the first 40 games of the season.

As for Callahan, man, you got to feel for him at this point. He is scratching and clawing for a point, but just can't seem to buy a break. He knows he has to contribute more. Five goals and nine assists just isn't good enough for him. He is a bit snake-bitten right now. In the Vancouver game he had three or four great chances that were either stopped or just missed the net. At least he managed to pick up an assist on Filppula's goal – his first point of the new year.

He has been a good soldier to this point and not complained about his ice time or his role on the third line. He has just gone out and done what Ryan Callahan is built to do – hit people and cause chaos. Should he start finding his scoring touch, then really look out for this offense to get going.

Let's celebrate a Callahan point! Photo by Jeff Vinnik (NHLI/Getty)

Vancouver did manage to tie it up as Bo Hovart managed to sneak a wrist shot past Vasilevskiy. Horvat, whose name has come up in trade rumors with Tampa, was probably the best player on the ice for both teams. He scored the the second goal and set up the first by drawing two defenders to him before sneaking a quick pass to Sven Baertschi who tapped it into an empty net.

It's kind of disconcerting to watch a Canucks game and not have the Sedin twins be the most important players for them. The 20-year-old Hovart and the 19-year-old Jake Virtanen were the best Vancouver players on the ice. They may be struggling right now, but they do have some good pieces moving forward.

The game went into overtime (where Vancouver is a dreadful 1-7). Both teams had several good chances, Vasilevskiy in particular had to make several saves to keep both teams playing. With less than two minutes to go, the Lightning managed to dig the puck off of their own boards and Vlad Namestnikov found Kucherov behind the Vancouver defense on a long stretch pass. One move by the Russian and the puck was in the net and the Lightning had another overtime win.

Watch it here.

Like the announcer pointed out, what a horrible time to leave the ice for Henrik Sedin. Yes he was at the end of the long shift, but he's got to cover Kucherov long enough for Alex Edler to get in position. Instead he was like, “I'm done guys. Peace out.”

It was a nice, tough win for the Lightning. Again this felt like one of those games that they would lose 2-1 earlier in the year. They're starting to find their game and if they can keep this momentum going, it won't be long until they find a secure spot in the playoff race.

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

Alas, our protagonist was once again a healthy scratch. Young defensemanNikita Nesterov took his spot in the lineup. It's time for the team to start playing Nesterov on a regular basis. He's not going to learn anything in Syracuse or by sitting on the bench. If the Lightning want him to become the Russian Dan Boyle they need him on the ice.

He shows signs of being the puck-moving, offensive minded defenseman that the Lightning need. He needs the on-ice experience at the NHL level to get better. He needs to learn when to pinch and when to stay back. When to skate the puck out of the zone and when to dump it along the boards. The only way he does that is by playing.

Game 41: The One Where the Bounces Went the Right Way

Game: 41
Opponent: Edmonton
Score: 3-2 Win
Thoughts:

I watched most of this game.  Made it all the way through two periods before I went to bed.  Let’s face it, the first two periods weren’t the best in the history of the Lightning and things weren’t looking too bright for the third.  Plus I had to be up at 5.30am for work. I expected to wake up to a 2-1 or 3-1 loss as we’ve seen throughout the season. Of course, the Lightning would prove me wrong.

They exploded for three third period goals and won in Edmonton for the first time since 2007 (I always love that stat when teams play so sporadically in certain arenas). So color me surprised when I woke up and checked my twitter feed.  Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos all managed to find ways to put the puck in the back of the net and the Lightning ended the first half of the season on a winning note.

Other than the comeback, the main narrative from the game was that the Lightning finally buckled down and started putting pucks on the net.  Because of this they got a few lucky breaks…well three lucky breaks.  All three of the Lightning goals were deflected in by Edmonton players.

The only problem I have with quotes like this from Coach Cooper:

“ So, we kept over passing the puck. We just were not attacking the net. In the third we stacked the net.”

You would thing that was the case, but if you look at both the Hedman and the Stamkos goals - they weren’t exactly shooting the puck on the net.  In fact, both of them were passes that happened to go the Lightning’s way when they hit skates and sticks in front of the net.

I was watching the Edmonton feed for the first two periods and they were harping on the Lightning’s tendency to try and “pass the puck into the net”.  They focused on a chance that Stamkos had in the first period where he had the puck just inside the left circle with a clear shot on goal.  There was no defenseman covering him or trying to block the shot. It was the type of situation where him shooting the puck is the best option for the Lightning scoring a goal.  Instead he tries to pass the puck to Vlad Namestnikov  (who was covered) in front of the net.  The puck kicks off a skate and the Lightning miss out on a good opportunity.

It’s funny when you get the bounces to go the right way it’s a result of hard work, but when they don’t it’s just bad luck.  The Lightning won in Edmonton because they were lucky.  They got outplayed by the Oilers for two periods yet walked away with a win because the puck went left instead of right.  Some of their flaws were still glaringly on display.

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

Nope.  Once again he was a healthy scratch. I fear, baring an injury, we may never see Mr. Carle in a Lightning uniform again.

Game 40: The One That I Didn't Watch

Game: 40

Opponent: Calgary

Score: 1-3 (L)

Thoughts:

Let's get this out of the way right now. I did not watch this game. I do not plan on watching this game. Yet, in some ways I feel like I've seen this game too many times this year. Close game, All-Star Ben Bishop plays well, a forward (Ryan Callahan) gets hurt, and the Lightning can't generate enough offense to win the game.

I was at work when the game was being played (yea second shift!) and from a couple of brief encounters on Twitter it didn't sound like things were going well, especially in the first period. It seems they righted the ship a bit as the game went on and with the extra skater managed to get within one when Steven Stamkos played Anton Stralman's bankshot off the boards perfectly.

Unfortunately, that was a close as they would get as 40 seconds later, Lance Bouma was able to find the empty net to put the game out of reach. I will say one thing, the Lightning have run into some rotten luck when it comes to empty net goals. Just off the top of my head I can remember three empty net goals the Lightning have given up from the wrong side of the red line.

Granted, the easiest way to prevent that from happening is to have the lead late in the game, but it is frustrating to see the opposing team make a risky play and have it pay off for them. File that into yet another thing that is frustrating about this season.

As painful as it is to lose a close game, it sucks even more when they lose a game when they have a chance to gain ground on the teams they are chasing. On Tuesday the Lightning lost. Montreal and Boston also lost. Those are two games that Tampa Bay is chasing in the standings. A win would have tied them with Boston and Ottawa at 44 points and lessened the gap to three points between them and Montreal.

When a team is chasing a playoff spots they have to win as many games as possible and, more importantly, take advantage when the teams ahead of them lose. The good news is that the Lightning are still within stalking distance and have yet to make a run. If they snap off a 7-3 or 8-2 run over the next couple of weeks they will be right back in the thick of things.

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

Matt Carle was a healthy scratch as Nikita Nesterov made his return to the lineup. With all of the trade talk surrounding the Lightning right now I'm sure Carle's name has been mentioned a time or two on Mr. Yzerman's cell phone. The asking price is reportedly extremely high for disgruntled forward Johnathan Drouin and I wonder if one of the asking pieces is that the team that gets Drouin has to take Carle with him.

Thinking about trade scenarios and seeing what Philadelphia did with retaining salary in the Lecavalier and Schenn deal got me thinking about how to move Carle. I'm sure there is no team that wants him at $5+ million cap hit. So if the Lightning move him, they would probably have to retain salary. Well, what if the Lightning could just move a portion of his salary?

Let's say they are working out a deal with Arizona for Jo Drouin. Can they say, hey we'll give you Drouin for a first round pick, a mid-to-high level prospect and you have to take $4 million differed salary off of Carle's contract over the next couple of years, but we keep him on the Lightning. Wouldn't Carle's 10-14 minutes a game look a lot better at a $3 million cap hit than a $5 million hit? Arizona has cap room to take the hit and they still end up with a pretty good player in Drouin to go along with Max Domi and Anthony Duclair. I'm going to guess that kind of deal is not allowed under the CBA, but why not at least investigate it?

Game 39: The One With the Return of Palat

Game: 39

Opponent: Minnesota

Score: 3-2 (SO) Win

Thoughts:

Two points is two points. That's all that matters in the end, right? The Lightning picked up two points against Minnesota and kept themselves in the playoff race. It doesn't matter that Tampa Bay dominated for the better part of two periods, building up a 25-15 lead in shots only to then get outshot 15-3 in the third period, right?

Oh and Ondrej Palat was back. The Triplets were back! Those are also good things. So why dwell on 20 minutes of bad hockey? The game got off to such a great start. The Lightning looked sharp on an early power play, they moved the puck with confidence, players moved without the puck to get open and most importantly – they got chances and took them. Sure they didn't score, but they had the Wild on their heels.

Then, halfway through the period, Valteri Filppula gets the puck on the wing, streaks across the blue line, uses his filthy little mitts to toe-drag around a sprawled defenseman and does what? Does he pass it to Alex Killorn? NO! He shoots! And he SCORES! It really was a beautiful display of skill.

Things are looking so good. Four minutes later, possibly out of sheer boredom (he had only made one save at this point) Andrei Vasilevskiy wanders out of his net to play a puck. Unfortunately his soft little pass went right to Charlie Coyle who backhanded it into the wide open net.

So despite outshooting and outplaying the Wild, the Lightning went into the intermission tied at 1 and I went to make tacos. It takes more than 17 minutes to cook and put together tacos so I missed MY BOY NIKITA KUCHEROV giving the Lightning a lead just a minute into the second period. Palat picked up an assist on Kucherov's 14^th goal and team-leading 30^th point.

From there on the rest of the second period was fairly even as both teams traded scoring chances. The third period as unfortunately all Minnesota as the Lightning got stuck in their own zone and never got out. The bunker mentality didn't pay off despite several key saves by Vasilevskiy, who more than made up for his earlier gaffe.

Overtime featured a few chances for the Lightning, but they were way more conservative with the puck than they had been in past extra sessions. Several times they skated the puck out of the offensive zone when they found themselves in trouble. In the skills competition Vasy came out on top stopping all three Minnesota shooters while Ryan Callahan used a nifty deke to fool Devan Dubnyk for the Lightning's lone tally.

Palat looked like he hadn't missed a beat due to his time off. He had 17 minutes of ice time, mostly with Kucherov and Tyler Johnson and looked like he rejuvenated his two teammates. Johnson played at a much higher pace than he did in his return last game and Kucherov looked to shoot the puck more than pass. Palat also showed that he wasn't shying away from contact when he absolutely leveled Coyle along the boards in overtime.

Look at the reaction from the guy on the right. Photo by Scott Audette (NHLI/Getty)

With Palat back and apparently healthy, Coach Cooper is back to having his two scoring lines (although why he broke up the Stamkos/Kucherov/Namestnikov line is beyond me). The Lightning head out west with a little momentum and if they stay healthy are poised to make a run up the standings. After all, if they can stay within 5 points of a top three spot in the division with Johnathan Marchessault, Mike Blunden and Mike Angelidis getting playing time, imagine what they can do with a healthy line up.

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

Nope. This was a good game by Matt Carle standards. By that I mean I didn't realize he was playing until about halfway through the game. All-in-all he was on the ice for 15:27 seconds (including 1:11 of short-handed play). He was on the ice for Minnesota's game-tying score and looked to be a little late picking up Jared Spurgeon who pounced on the rebound in front of Vasilevskiy.

Game 38 - The One Where I Write About Jo Drouin

Game: 38

Opponent: New York Rangers

Score: 2-5 Regulation Loss

Thoughts:

So yeah, I didn't watch this game. Thanks to the weird NHL Gamecenter blackout rules I wasn't eligible to watch the game live. It was “blacked out” in my area. Which, if I had cable I would understand. But I don't. And the folks that control these things know that. How do I know? Because when I log into NBC Sports they say that I don't have cable so I'm not eligible to watch the game online through their website. Good times.

Instead I watched a bit of the Penguins/Toronto game. Wow, I thought Lightning fans had it bad. Pittsburgh fans must be super sad this season. After that I went to the bar, had a grilled cheese sandwich and a couple of beers, went home and listened to the third period of the Lightning game.

Apparently they didn't play that well. Even the ever-excited Dave Mishkin sounded depressed when the final horn sounded. He made a point to mention that except for a brief time in the third period they lacked urgency. Jonathan Drouin played in the game. In his 10:51 of playing time he managed be on the ice for 2 of the Rangers goals, he mustered one shot and had one takeaway. Not one of his better stat lines.

On Saturday the Lightning made a roster move. Johnathan Drouin was reassigned to Syracuse of the AHL in order to make room for Ondrej Palat who is set to come back against the Minnesota Wild. The move sent a shock wave through the Lightning community. Well maybe a shock ripple. Let's see what the response was. Here are some replied to Erik Erlendsson's Tweet:

@Ax-NHL: Bust

Yes, let's label him a bust with less than 100 games played in the NHL.

@Probbins47: Is Cooper turning into the NHL's Chip Kelly?

What? I don't even get the point this person is trying to make. First of all, Coach Cooper doesn't have final say in player moves. If Steve Yzerman want's Drouin on the roster, he would be on the roster. Also, Coach Cooper actually wins trophies.

@BraizNasty: wow TB is falling apart

@BuckB727: this organization is a mess

@_Dixieland_: what is wrong with TB

Guys. Do you remember the dark days? Do you remember when The Cowboys were in charge? Do you remember when they couldn't make payroll? That's an organization that is falling apart. This is an organization that hit a speed bump and is trying to get their top prospect some playing time.

@giamberadino: this seems to be a recurring pattern with their superstars

Yes. All of the Lightning superstars have been sent back to the minors. Remember when Stamkos and Hedman racked up all of those points with Norfolk?

Everybody needs to relax. As some other, slightly more rational, fans have pointed out, Drouin is caught up in a numbers game. With Palat coming back, the Lightning have a ton of forwards on the roster. Drouin is able to be sent down to Syracuse and not have to pass through waivers. Nobody else that might be sent down has that luxury.

Also, as much of a fan of Drouin as I am, I admit that he has struggled this year. Sadly his stat line against the Rangers isn't that much different than what he's been doing since the beginning of the year. He's had his chances on the top line and while he show's flashes of belonging, for the most part he hasn't earned his spot on the roster.

Going down to Syracuse will allow him to play 20 minutes a game. It will allow him to develop the aspects that he might be struggling with. I'm sure that Mr. Yzerman and Coach Cooper have told him what they're looking for in his play in the AHL. The general manager has already said that Drouin will be back up this year.

The Lightning are not giving up on Drouin. They are trying to make him better. That's all this is about. He might be pissed about getting demoted. Heck I'm glad he's pissed. If he wasn't I would wonder about his desire to play. Now he needs to turn that anger into points. He needs to rack up the points, win face-offs, backcheck and protect the puck like a madman. Show them the player they think he is. Make it impossible for them to keep him down there for long.

I think a lot of this, and the a lot of the #FreeDrouin “controversy” could have been avoided. Drouin wasn't ready for the NHL last year. Or at least he wasn't ready for the Lightning NHL team. He shouldn't be playing 10 minutes on the fourth line. He is a top six forward and he should be playing 17-20 minutes a game.

If the Lightning could have put him in the AHL last year, he could have spent that year developing some of the skills that he struggles with in the NHL. However, the Lightning didn't have that option. It was either the NHL or juniors – a league in which Drouin had nothing left to prove.

It is one of those situations that makes fans wonder if the current agreement between the NHL and the Canadian Hockey League needs some refreshing. For the most part it makes sense. A lot of the 18 and 19 year olds drafted are not ready for professional hockey. However, from time to time there is a player that is stuck in between.

Perhaps each organization should be allowed an exemption. I don't want to see all of the talent flow out of Juniors. It would be detrimental to the league and to the development of a vast majority of the players that come through the program. However, some flexibility would help teams with players caught in the middle – players like Jonathan Drouin.

Did Matt Carle Get a Point?

Nope. Another game and another goose egg. He saw 13 minutes of ice time and, like Drouin, was a -2.

Game 37: The One With All of the Challanges

Game: 37

Opponent: Montreal

Score: 3-4 (SO)

Thoughts:

Well that was a bit of a flashback. Let's see:

The Lightning outplayed Montreal for most of the game, but lost.

There was a questionable goaltender interference situation.

Dale Weise was predominantly involved.

Are we sure this wasn't a replay of a game from the 2014 playoffs?

The Lightning played pretty well on Monday night, but blew a 3^rd period lead to the reeling Montreal Canadiens in a shoot-out loss to Atlantic Division leaders (well they were after the game). It was a fun game to watch as the Lightning fired 39 shots at the Habs and their back-up goalie Mike Condon.

Condon, looking like a weird hybrid of Dominick Hasek and Patrick Roy, turned aside 36 of the shots to pick up his first win since December 1^st. For the team overall it was their first win since December 12^th, a span of six games without a win. While the Lightning are fighting for a playoff spot, the Canadiens are trying to right a sinking ship to stay atop the Atlantic Division.

The game itself was interesting as both teams fought back from deficits, there were two disputed goals and there was 3-on-3 overtime which is almost always fun. Early on it did feel like this was going to be one of those games that the Lightning played well, but ended up losing 2-1, like they have roughly 45 times already this year.

Tomas Plekanec and his magic turtleneck got the scoring started as he tapped the puck past Ben Bishop off of a nice feed from PK Subban. Speaking of Subban, can we all agree that it's time to stop not-liking him? He is a joy to watch on the ice, does nice things off the ice and actually has a personality. Sure he showboats a little bit, but doesn't the NHL need more players like that? God love Sidney Crosby, but he's boring as shit.

Down 1-0 in the second period the Lightning picked up a goal on the power play. I'd like to say that MY BOY NIKITA KUCHEROV scored a power play goal, but it was more along the lines of he tried to pass the puck to Steven Stamkos and Condon kicked it into his own net. Doesn't matter – he scored, tied game.

Five minutes later Alex Galchenyuk falls down, gets up, finds the puck on his stick and slings it past Bishop. The Lightning are down 2-1 halfway through the game and that creepy feeling started settling in as Condon kept making saves, leaving juicy rebounds, making more saves and watching pucks hop over Lightning player sticks.

Then the third period rolled around and things got a little wacky. Instead of bombing his shot from the blueline as he normally does, Jason Garrison skated in with the puck, shot it, followed up his rebound and scored on a wrap around, finding some open space under Condon's pads. It was pretty.

Ryan Callahan found himself open after Valteri Filppula's pass missed Cedric Paquette in front of the net. Callahan buried it into the empty net and scored his first goal since Luke Skywalker was rumored to be Kylo Ren. Montreal was so surprised that Callahan scored a goal that they had to challenge it. Paquette got his stick tangled up with Condon a bit, but the refs got together to say that it wasn't interference. Whatever. I'll take it. Lightning up 3-2.

See his stick touched his stick and then it was in the goal.

Turns about fair play. Less than two minutes later Dale “F'n” Weise is along in front of the net and fires it at Bishop. KICK SAVE AND A BEAUTY! Or was it? Review time. The refs conclude that the puck crossed the line before Bishop flashed the left pad out.

Wait, wait, wait says Coach Cooper. While the puck was in, Weise ran into Bishop on his way out from behind the net. Let me challenge it! I'm a lawyer! Review number two. Refs look at the NHL approved iPad and say..... good goal!

Sorry about the arrow in the way, but you can see the contact there.  You can also see Weise get inside position on Stralman.

Now look, I'm sure there are Lightning fans out there that were very upset this was called a goal. Weise obviously bumps Bishop on his way through the crease, but..... Bishop kind of brings this on himself (as he is wont to do). Whenever the play is behind the net he likes to swing his stick on the ice to break up any passes, it's good, but it also leaves him in the position of getting it stuck on a players skate.

Weise comes through tangles with the stick, bumps Bishop and gets set for the puck. Bishop, rocks back, but also looks to his right (no puck there) before snapping his head back around to find the play. In that split second the puck is on and off of Weise's stick and into the goal. I say it's a good goal.

Not much happened in the overtime, Anton Stralman got a good chance that was denied. In the shootout, Valterri Filppula scored, but no one else on the Lightning did. Brian Flynn (who) and Max Pacioretty score for the Canadiens and they get the win and the extra point.

The Lightning have to settle for one point and the fact that they gained a bit of ground in the extremely crowded Atlantic division. With the season almost halfway over they need every point they can pick up.

Did Matt Carle Score a Point:

No. Mr. Carle was a healthy scratch as Coach Cooper went with six defensemen. With all of the forwards coming back, he might keep that strategy going for the foreseeable future, which leaves Carle as the odd man out.

Toe in the crease! Wait, what? That's ok now?  Damn. Guess it was a good goal. (photo by Scott Audette NHLI/Getty)

Game 35: The One With All The Power Plays

Game: 35

Opponent: Vancouver

Did I watch Live?: Yes

Three Stars: 3. The penalty time keeper 2. Jonathan Marchessault 1. Jacob Markstrom

Thoughts:

It's ten minutes after the game ended and I'm still trying to figure out how the Tampa Bay Lightning managed to lose this one. Did they outshoot the Cancucks? Yup 27-19. Did they win more faceoffs? Yup 35-17. More possession time? Yup.

What's that you say? They went 1-10 on the power play? The Lightning missed on 9 power play chances? They had a man-advantage for over 18 minutes and only scored ONE power play goal? Well, that's just not good. Not good at all.

There isn't much more to say about the game. They were playing a struggling team at the end of a long road trip and didn't take advantage. One of the weird things is that most of the penalties were legit. There wasn't too much tickey-tack calling by referees Fredrick L'Ecuyer or Dean Morton. Vancouver was taking tired-team penalties. The Lightning kept their feet moving and earned the hookings, holdings and trippings.

The problems started once they had the advantage. Tampa Bay made it way too easy to defend. For the first half of the game, at no point was Vancouver worried about the Lightning driving the net. The Canucks quickly figured out a remedy for the Lightning strategy of gaining the blue line and then dropping the pass back to a point man.

Instead of pressing a tired team, the Lightning had a very passive start to the game and found themselves down 1-0 heading into the second period. Despite having 3 power plays, they only managed 4 total shots in the period. That is inexcusable and indicative as to how they've played all season. Too much time spent setting up plays and not enough focus on driving to the net.

They played a little better in the second as they did start to put some pressure on the Canucks. They drew three straight penalties and finally got a couple of shots on net. Jonathan Marchessault continued his bid to stay on the team as he fired the puck past Jacob Markstrom with two seconds left in the period. It was Marchessault's fifth goal of the season and third on the power play (he only trails Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in power play tallies despite playing in only 18 games).

The third period marked the long, sustained march to the penalty box for the Canucks as they found themselves short-handed four times in the final 20 minutes. The Lightning got their chances, including Stamkos ringing one off of the post, but they couldn't get the puck behind Markstrom. Then in the blink of the eye where the teams were at even strength Daniel Sedin fired a wrist shot that looked like it deflected off of Anton Stralman and past Ben Bishop. That was all she wrote.

Yup. That's a 1 for 10 power play look. Photo by Scott Audette/ NHLI Getty

This game more than any of the other 34 games this season showed how much the Lightning miss their skill players. If Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Drouin and Ondrej Palat were healthy, they don't go 1-10 on the power play. It's that simple. With Boston, Montreal, Detroit and Ottawa all losing, it would have been a great chance for the Lightning to make up some ground in the standings. Instead they tread water and head into the Christmas break six points behind Montreal in the Atlantic.

Time is starting to run out for the Lightning to make a move in the standings.

Did Matt Carle Record a Point:

No. He played 9:31 almost all of it even strength. He blocked one shot and had 3 giveaways. Despite the Lightning having 656 minutes of power play time, Mr. Carle did not see a second of it (he has 21 career power play goals).

He has now gone 31 games this season without recording a point. Overall he has one point in his last 40 regular season games (having picked up an assist in the final game of the 2014-15 regular season).

West Coast Recap

Games 26,27,28

The West Coast trip is over.  I managed to watch one-and-a-half games. It figures the one week where they are playing games I can actually watch I have to get up at 5:30 am.  Somehow I totally missed the San Jose game and to this point the only highlight I’ve seen is Ben Bishop getting clipped in the face with a stick.  At this point, I literally don’t know if they won or lost.  I think they won, but I’m not sure (ed note - They won).  If they did win, then they took 4 out of 6 points on the trip, which is pretty good.

As we inch to the 30 games played point, we’re pretty much sure what kind of team the 2015-16 Tampa Bay Lightning is going to be. And that team is……injured.  No.  Inconsistent.  Yeah, that was the word I was looking for.  Let’s face it, the way they are playing they are, at best., a fringe playoff team.  Instead of fighting for a seat at the head of the table they are battling to get invited to the dinner in the first place.

They’re at a point where they just can’t seem to get out of their own way long enough to keep any momentum going.  For instance, they win their first two games out west (I’m pretty sure) and then lay an absolute egg in Los Angeles.  Win a couple in a  row at home and then get trounced by Washington on the road.  You get the picture.

I can throw out a bunch of valid reasons why they’re struggling:

- Injuries to top offensive producers
- Stanley Cup Final hangover
- Lingering contract situation for a certain team captain
- The continued employment of a gentleman by the name of Matt Carle
- Everybody hates Jon Cooper
- They cling to an offensive strategy that other teams have figured out how to stop
- Brenden Morrow was the lynchpin to the offense

In the end the why doesn’t really matter.  It just matters that they are.  And I do use the term struggle in a relative sense of the word. They are not the worst team in the league. They are not the worst team in franchise history. I would venture to say they’re not even the worst team in their own state.

Are they worse than last year’s team?  I would say no considering it is pretty much the same exact team that skated all the way to the finals last year.  At least they will be when Ondrej Palat returns to the team. What they aren’t getting are all of breaks they did last year.

As fans/critics of hockey we can try to quantify everything that happens on the ice.  Even luck. PDO is a good stat.  Take your team’s shooting percentage and your goalies save percentage and add them up. If you’re way over 100 you’re probably living with a horseshoe up your ass.  If you’re below 100 then someone has voodoo cursed your team.

The last time I checked the Lightning were above 100 (currently at 101.7).  They were pretty much in line with where they rolled for most of last year (101).  Of course, the two components are a little different.  Last year they were shooting at a higher percent while this year Ben Bishop has been stopping a higher percentage of pucks fired in his direction.

What the number doesn’t measure are the tiny moments of the game, the inch here or there, the split second of timing that leads to a goal or a missed opportunity.  Now perception is not necessarily reality, but how many two-on-ones have been broken up this year?  How many times has a pass been a couple of inches ahead or behind of a stick?   For the love of God, how many shots have nicked off the knob of the opposing goalie’s stick?

Last season all of the passes seemed to connect and all of the decisions the players made seemed to work out.  The only thing that seems to have carried over is the fact that the power play still sucks. Of all of things that could carry over why would it have to be that?

They are playing better defense, so I’ll give them that. It seems like they haven’t broken themselves out of the playoff hockey mode that they spent most of the spring in.  Be smart with the puck, protect your zone and limit offensive chances for the other team.  That’s a pretty good model of success in the playoffs, but for an 81-game grind it’s a hard way to play.  The one thing about playoff hockey is that for it to be ultimately successful you actually have to make the playoffs.  Maybe the Bolts would be better off if they opened things up a bit, get back to the run-and-gun style that benefited them the last two seasons.  I’m not sure I can take another 1-0 game.

Game 25: Sometimes You Play Well and Lose

Game: 25

Opponent: New York Islanders

Did I watch Live?: Nope

Why Not?: Traveling back from Baltimore.

On Saturday?: Yup, wanted to avoid that holiday travel.

Did I watch on replay?: Yes

Three Stars: 3. Steven Stamkos 2. Frans Nielsen 1. Thomas Greiss

Worst Play: Kind of a bad luck Worst Play,but Brayden Coburn sweeping the puck onto Cal Clutterbuck's stick for the Islanders second goal gets the call. All of the hard work that the Lightning did in the second period was wiped out when he couldn't control the puck in front of his own net.

Thoughts:

Coming off an atrocious game in D.C., it was interesting to see how the Lightning would respond in their next game. Luckily for them it was the next day so they didn't have a long time to dwell on the loss. The first period would be a big indicator on what the team's mindset was.

How did they do? Well....ok. Thanks to Alex Killorn's hand-eye coordination they had a 1-0 lead. They definitely looked better than they had against Washington. Playing the Islanders isn't easy these days as they like to hit and clog up the passing lanes. Tampa had some issues moving the puck, and it seemed that the Islanders roughhouse tactic got under their skin a bit as Ryan Callahan picked up the first fighting major of the year for the team.

The year of the penalty shot continued as Steven Stamkos drew a penalty on a partial breakaway. An old-fashioned poke check kept the score at 2-1. Minutes later Thomas Greiss stopped Valteri Filppula on a breakaway and it started to feel like those missed chances would come back to haunt the Lightning.

There were a lot of good things to take away from the loss. The Stamkos/Killorn/Filppula line was the best line on the ice. Overall they did a good job of pressuring the Islanders at all points on the ice. Instead of giving them free passes out of their own zone, the Lightning forwards did a great job of making them work hard and generated several turnovers.

It felt like the Lightning really missed some of their injured players in this game. Joel Vermin, Johnathan Marchessault and Luke Witkowski have played admirable over the last two weeks, but they are not Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat or Johnathan Drouin. Not only are the new guys in the line up, they are playing big minutes. Marchessault played almost 17 minutes and Vermin played almost 12. Throw in 12 minutes each for JT Brown and Erik Condra and that's just too many minutes for third and fourth line guys.

Losing is never “good”, but some losses are better than others. The 3-2 loss to the Islanders were one of those not-so-bad losses. Of course, if they don't build on it against Anaheim in their next game, then it's all for naught.

Game 24: Post Thanksgiving Hangover

Game: 24

Opponent: @Washington

Did You Watch it Live?: Live? I was there, baby! Section 410 rocking the blue and white!

By Yourself?: Unfortunately not. The Duchess was there and my parents.

Did they have fun?: I think they enjoyed the Christmas Market outside the arena more than the game.

Ouch:

Three Stars: 3. Andrei Vasilevskiy 2. Jason Chimera 1. John Carlson

Worst Play: So many to choose from. I'm going to go with JT Brown nine-ironing the puck over the net after he stole it from Braden Holtby.

Thoughts:

So I waited 24 hours to write this (and god knows how many days to actually post it). Simply put, I try not to write angry. It clouds judgment and the chances of writing something that I would regret would increase greatly. That being said, the game itself was hot garbage. They've played some uninterested periods of hockey this season, but the first period of the game against the Capitals was so very, very bad that I wondered out loud if they knew the start time of the game was 5:00pm.

It didn't help that they kept taking penalties against one of the better power play teams in the league. The Caps burned them twice in the first period with the man advantage while keeping the puck in the zone for most of the period. Washington's power play didn't seem complicated – play with the puck until they can isolate Alex Ovechkin by the side of the net – but it worked well against the Lightning.

Ovechkin sniped one past Vasilevskiy 7 minutes into the game to start the scoring. At that point, Vasilevskiy was the only reason the Lightning were still in the game. Tampa was apparently trying to tire the Capitals out by letting them shoot the puck, shoot the puck and shoot the puck some more. Eighteen shots made it to the net and tons of others sailed wide or were blocked. It wasn't much better in the second period when Washington added another 13 shots on net.

It wasn't until the third period that the Lightning showed some signs of life. Down 4-0 Brian Boyle found the back of the net and two minutes later Victor Hedman notched his second goal of the season by blasting the puck past Holtby to bring the Lightning within two goals. That would be it for the offensive output and the final ended up 4-2, a much more respectable score than they deserved.

Playing in Washington has always been trying for the Lightning (unless it's the playoffs) so it's probably a good thing that they only have to come up here once a year now. However, the way they played in the first 40 minutes they couldn't have beaten an AHL team. Whether the injuries are now catching up with them (losing Tyler Johnson after 48 seconds left them shorthanded) or if the Capitals are that much better of a team it was just disappointing to watch them play that bad. It's becoming harder and harder to look at them as a playoff team.

Random Hockey Thought:

I wasn't impressed with the atmosphere at the Verizon Center. Yes, everyone wears red and cheers when the scoreboard tells them to, but for most of the game it was pretty flat. Despite the Caps dominating the game there was no energy coming from the crowd until they scored the back-to-back goals at the end of the second period.

The folks sitting around us were more concerned with mundane aspects of their life then what was going on on the ice. The closest to game action I heard was the girl behind us analyzing Tom Wilson's mustache.

There was a fairly impressive amount of Lightning jerseys in the crowd and we didn't get much flack from the crowd. There was one random “Stamkos Sucks” guy at the end of the game on the way out, but he was outnumbered by the “Go Lightning” folks that we ran into.

Even the “It's all your fault” chant directed at Vasilevskiy after the Washington goals were announced was half-hearted and muddled. Get it together Caps fans.

Game 23: Hey, Hey The Win Streak Hits Three!

Game: 23

Opponent: Los Angeles Kings

Did I watch Live?: Nope

Why Not?: Can't remember, but probably work. No wait. Travel. That's right. I was in Baltimore and didn't have a strong enough signal to watch live.

Did I watch on replay?: Eventually.

Three Stars: 3. JT Brown 2. Johnathan Quick 1. Ben Bishop

Worst Play:

Not really a worst play of the game, but something that's been annoying me all season. The Lightning made their hay last year by never letting a cross-ice passing opportunity...well...pass them by. It's a great idea in theory. Draw attention to yourself and fire the puck to the other side of the ice to an open player who can drive it on net.

The problem is, they were so successful with it, other teams have noticed. Detroit in the playoffs was probably the first team to work hard to shut down the passing lanes and force the Lightning to find other ways to create offense. Tampa was able to do that. This year it's been a bit of a different story. Let's go to the first period of the game against L.A. to demonstrate.

To set up the screen shot below. The Lightning have forced a turnover in their own zone. Erik Condra is going to get the puck in the middle of the ice and take it into the offensive zone. As he crosses the blue line, this is what it looks like:

The Kings are back and in position. Condra is surrounded. At this point his best bet is probably to ring it around the boards as Jason Garrison is covered at the blue line and at least three players would have a shot at the puck if he tries to get it to Brian Boyle (number 11 at the right of the screen). Needless to say, Condra tries to saucer a pass to Boyle. The Kings pick it off and start an odd man break the other way. Nothing resulted in the play, but it prevented the Lightning from setting up in the zone. If Condra had taken it down low, Boyle is in the best position to retrieve the puck and allow the rest of his teammates to set up in the zone.

Thoughts:

Welcome back Tyler Johnson! The diminutive forward returned from missing three games to score the Lightning's lone goal in regulation as Tampa Bay beat the Kings 2-1 in a shootout win to drive their winning streak up to 3 games.

It was good to see the center back on the ice, even if he wasn't much of a factor outside of his goal. His return allowed Coach Cooper a little more flexibility with his lines and added a legitimate second scoring line to the attack. Cooper started the game with Johnson flanked by Nikita Kucherov and Vlad Namestnikov while Alex Killorn joined Ryan Callahan on Stamkos' line.

The Lightning were getting some chances but in the second Coach Cooper shook things up a bit by flip-flopping Namestnikov and Killorn. I like Namestnikov on Stamkos' line as it relieves some of the playmaking responsibilities from the captain. As great of a player as he is, he does better if he has someone setting him up. For his part, Killorn is as amendable as they come. He can pretty much fit in with any line, providing offense and a little bit of defensive responsibility.

Unfortunately, the line ups didn't really get too many quality chances and the Lightning were unable to follow up their offensive awakeining that they experienced against the Ducks. The power play problem reared its ugly head again. They were able to coax three extra man opportunities out of the Kings, but were unable to convert any of them. With the exception of a puck jumping over Killorn's stick when he had a wide open net, they weren't even able to really generate much pressure.

Hopefully they get that turned around against the Caps. The special teams are going to be important against Washington if the Lightning want to keep these winning ways going.

Random Hockey Thought:

We're a quarter of the way through the season and I think that's enough time to critique Brian Engblom as the Lightning's new analyst. My first thoughts are that he is...ok. It feels like he's trying to stay impartial and he covers the games like he is doing a national telecast. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but from time to time you'd like to hear a little homerism coming from the guys calling the game. There is a balance between being objective and obnoxious (I'm looking at you Jack Edwards...oh and you Paul Steigerwald).

Also he tends to hold onto to certain thoughts or aspects and repeat them ad nauseum through several games to the point where we could have a drinking game going. Early in the season it was the new rule where the defensive player had to get his stick down first for faceoffs. Lately it's been the phrase, “The Lightning have to play like they want to win 1-0.” Why? Why not play like they want to win 6-1. Unleash the offense. Let the boys play!

In the end, I think he's been a good replacement for Bobby Taylor and I actually do enjoy the fact that he brings a little bit more analysis to the game.