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 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)

An Actual Game Three Preview

Jon Cooper says that the Lightning need to be a desperate team. Who am I to argue with him, after all, he's a layer. It might seem odd that he says that seeing how the Lightning are coming off a dominant 6-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens and lead their best-of-seven series two games to none.  With the Lightning returning to Tampa, and given their dominance over the season at Amalie Arena, you would think that desperation is the last thing the Lightning should be feeling.

Yet, this isn’t just playoff coach speak.  Coach Cooper is dead on with his assessment.  On Wednesday night, the Lightning need to be the team that plays as if their season is on the line. They need to be the team winning the battles along the boards and in front of the net. Because all it takes is one. One win and the Canadiens, with their all-world goalie, are right back in this series.

Don’t expect the Lightning to slip six goals past Carey Price in a game again. As a matter of fact, it might be hard for them to score six times the rest of the series.  He is good, he is elite-level good. And while he might have the same number of Stanley Cups as Ben Bishop (zero) he is the one player that can steal the series for the Canadiens. So they need to keep the pressure on him, keep shooting at all angles and attacking the net for rebounds.

Steven Stamkos, with his first goal since dinosaurs roamed the earth, is primed to go on a scoring binge.  Tyler Johnson, held goalless in Game 2, is hopefully over his slump and will keep #ThatLine going (tangent alert: I guess their nickname is officially The Triplets since that’s how the Tampa Bay Times, the paper of record, refers to them.  That’s a shame, I really like The TKO Line. But then again I’m a boxing fan so it holds a special spot in my heart.  Oh, the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight?  Did you really expect anything different?  Mayweather wasn’t going to engage and the Pac-Man is gun-shy.  There I said it.  For all the past excitement he provided us, he is now a shot fighter. Time for him to hang them up and focus full time on his legacy as a congressman in the Philippines.  Thanks for the memories Manny, now go do good).

It would be reassuring if the Lightning could keep the offense rolling (and the power play), but this is playoff hockey and the likelihood of that happening is about as good as me actually editing this article before I post it.  Now that their blueline is as healthy as it has been at any point in the season, they don’t need to score 4 goals a game to win. Two or three should do the job.

The Canadiens will be throwing everything they have at the Lightning in Game 3. Expect there to be a lot of traffic in front of, and inside of, Bishop’s crease.  Brandon Prust will probably “accidentally” run into him again. The Lightning need to keep their cool and then make them pay on the power play.

One of the reason’s the Red Wings kept up with their hooking, holding, obstructing style of play is that because when the refs did call a penalty, the Lightning couldn’t score a goal with the extra man so there was no incentive to not cheat. A 4-for-8 power play outburst should boost the Lightning’s special team confidence and if they score a goal early with the extra skater it might tamp down the Canadiens’ excesses.

Scoring early would also be a pretty nifty thing for Tampa Bay to do.  As maligned a fan base as they are, Tampa fans are really, really loud when they’re fired up. With the screaming, yelling, soccer-style chanting (traditional fans, please just let them have their fun. It’s nice that a section of the fan base wants to do something other than sit on the ass and check their Facebook during the game. Even if you don’t like soccer, it’s no need to bash people who want to bring energy to the game.  Now if they start lighting flares off in the arena, well then it’s time to back it down a bit) noise in the background it will be even harder for Montreal to gain momentum.

Plus, as I’ve pointed out, a lot of the Lightning offense comes from turnovers in the neutral zone.  So if the Canadiens are down early and pressing, they will be more likely to take chances and then screw up those chances. Tampa is great at taking advantage of screw-ups.

Another reason it would be swell for the Lightning to attack early? Thanks to a now-cancelled Nitro Circus event, Games 3 and 4 are scheduled to be played on back-to-back nights.  If the Lightning win Game 3, there is no time for the Canadiens to regroup and figure out a new strategy. They have to come right back on the next night and fight for their playoff lives.

On the flip side, if the Canadiens win Game 3, they have a bit of momentum and could steal Game 4 and before you know it - the series is tied at two games a piece and heading back to Montreal.  We really don’t want to see that happen.  So, Tampa Bay - keep your foot on their throats and don’t let them up.  Get this series over quickly and watch the Caps/Rangers beat each other up for the next week.

Round One Review - Round Two Preview. Back with more baseless predictions!

It’s May. The sun is out, the rent is paid and the Tampa Bay Lightning are still playing hockey.  What a beautiful thing it is. Having survived the seven-game slogfest with the Red Wings, the Lightning advance to face the Montreal Carey Prices Canadiens. Price has had an unbelievable season. The only thing he hasn’t done yet for the team is learn how to score goals.

I’m a sucker for the easy narrative and this series is all about revenge. Last year the Canadiens unceremoniously swept the Lightning out of the first round by shutting down their scoring and taking advantage of the Anders Lindback-sized hole in the Tampa net.  Now, after battling for first place in the Atlantic Division all season long the two teams match up for the right to go to the Eastern Conference finals.

Before we get to that, let’s reflect back on the series the Lightning just finished. And by that, I mean let’s look at how my predictions turned out.

Lightning win in six games - I was close! It took the full seven, but the Bolts prevailed.

Top Goal Scorer - Stamkos - Umm, yeah, about that.  Not so good.

Top Point Getter - Tyler Johnson - Winner, Winner!

Number of OT Games - 2 -I was off on this as there was only one.  Although it looked like Game 7 was going to OT

Most Penalty Minutes - Mark Barbario - Sadly he did not get a chance to compete. Stamkos with 14 is the surprise winner.

Dumbest Penalty - Nikita Kucherov - Let’s not talk about penalties in this series

Odd Man Rushes for Detroit -6 - I watched about 10% of this series and saw at least 3 odd man attacks for the Red Wings so I’m going to say I was off on this one.

Goals off Odd Man Rushes - 2 - I saw at least one.  I think I saw a highlight of another so I’ll say I nailed this one.

I also mentioned that five on five play was going to be more important than special team play. Penalties normally called in the regular season tend to go unnoticed during the playoffs. Well, that wasn’t exactly how it turned out. Lightning fans complained that not enough calls were being made as the Red Wings, hooked, held, obstructed, and interfered with the intrepid purveyors of hockey’s Beautiful Game. However, on the occasion that the refs remembered they had whistles and that they could use them, the Lightning’s power play was largely impotent.   They scored twice, as a team, in other words 2 fewer than Tom Wilson scored all by his lonesome for the Predators.

So, that wasn’t great. Luckily for the Lightning they were only third worst in power play percentage. The team that was behind them?  The Montreal Canadiens.  So I don’t expect much to happen in the special teams area in round two (ed note - bet the over on power play goals).

It was one of the odder series I watched. Every time the Lightning lost I felt like there was no way they would pull the series out. Yet when Tampa won I thought they broke the will of the Red Wings and would waltz away with the series. There were times that the Lightning totally dominated the ice and then times when they couldn’t get the puck out of the zone even if they were allowed to pick it up and throw it out.

How did they pull out the series win?  By out-Detroiting Detroit. They changed their game enough to adapt to the Red Wings clogging of the passing lanes and aggressive checking. They stopped trying to make pretty goals and just threw the puck at the net.  If you notice (and every Red Wing fan noticed) on Brayden Coburn’s series winning goal, Alex Killorn is treating Kyle Quincy as a human bean bag chair.  Alex was a little tired chasing after the puck so he had himself a little rest on top of Quincy which prevented the former Lightning property from getting in front of the net to block Coburn’s butterfly slapshot.

Illegal, sure. Fortunate? Also sure.  We take what we get from the refs. If they’re going to ignore Kronwall bouncing Kucherov’s head off his shoulder why should I be embarrassed that they let a little interference go on the most important goal of the series? The Lightning adapted and they won.

Oh, and having Kronwall and Zidlicky miss Game 7 helped.

The Hopeful Chase Three Stars of the Series:

3. Ben Bishop - his stats overall, pretty ordinary. But a 36-save Game 7 shutout earns you a star.

2. Alex Killorn - Two goals and two assists were nice, but his energy level and physical presence were a big factor in the Lightning pulling out Games 6 and 7

1. Tyler Johnson - No doubt that this kid is Good At Hockey. With Stamkos struggling to find the net, the littlest man on the ice played the biggest games of his career. Johnson scored six of the team’s seventeen goals.

So what do the Lightning have to do to avenge their loss from last season and advance past the Canadiens?  Pretty much more of the same.  The ice should open up a bit more, but they can’t get sucked into trying to score tiki-taka type goals.  Get the puck on Price, crash the net and put home the rebounds.  Of course, try not to even come within six inches of the goalie, because he may Rule 69.3 ya!

Stamkos has to score.  The beauty of the Lightning attack is that everyone can threaten to put the puck in the net.  When Stamkos (and his linemates) disappear, now the balance is lost. He hasn’t scored a playoff goal since Game 1 of last season’s match-up. While he’s tried to chip in physically he needs to be a threat.

I’m not sure how he breaks out of his slump other than shooting the puck more. Maybe Coach Cooper bumps him to a line with a playmaker like Valterri Filppula? Ryan Callahan and Killorn are great line mates for crashing the net and grabbing rebounds, but they aren’t exactly noted playmakers.

Speaking of playmakers.  Are we going to see a renewed use of the #FreeDrouin hash tag? The rookie only appeared in one game and with the offense sputtering there was talk that he should be seeing some ice time instead of Brandon Morrow.  I don’t necessarily disagree with that, although in his one appearance, Drouin wasn’t exactly a factor on the ice (one shot, one penalty and a -2).

It will be interesting to see how the series works out with a pretty much healthy Lightning line up going against a rested Canadiens team. Will Bishop be the difference?  I think so, and the Lightning win in another seven-game thriller.

Prediction Time:

Does Stamkos score a goal?  - Yes, he breaks the slump with an empty-netter at the end of Game 2

Does Jo Drouin play? - Yes. He suits up for 2 games

Does PK Subban do something that pisses off the national media? - No. Other than score a couple of highlight reel goals.

Does either team break double digits on the power play? Nope. They both still suck.

No. No They Couldn't Dig Themselves Out

On Wednesday night three series went to a game seven. Sadly, the Tampa Bay/Montreal series was not one of them. Since you're reading this on the internet I'm going to assume you know that the Lightning had the distinct honor of being the first team bounced from the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. While that isn't the ideal end to a season it could have been worse. You could be a San Jose Sharks fan.

As I mentioned over on Raw Charge, there is no need to break out the fancy stats for this one. Simply put, the Montreal Canadiens were the better team. They outplayed the Lightning for most of the series (there were occasional pockets where Tampa looked like the better team) and they deserved to win the honor of getting their asses kicked by the Bruins in the next round.

Since there is no need to rehash the series let's instead review the predictions I made a couple of weeks ago. Unlike other prognosticators that tend to never go back and review their “bold predictions” I own up to my often wildly inaccurate previews. Let's see how I did:

Winner – Lighting in 6

Well that didn't happen. So much for the Canadiens being the ideal match-up in the first round. The Lightning never really found the extra gear needed to be successful in the playoffs. The Canadiens seemed to win every battle for the puck, outskated the Lightning in all three zones and created their own lucky bounces.

Number of OT Games – 4

Only one game, the first game, went to overtime. Despite the fact that they were swept, it wasn't like the Canadiens blew them off the ice. Three of the four games were decided by one goal and had the Lightning been able to get one or two bounces to go their way (i.e. Alex Killorn's shot in overtime in Game One hits the post and goes in instead of bounding away harmlessly) this series plays out differently.

Longest OT - 3

Game One almost made it into the second overtime as Dale Weise banged home the winner at the 18:08 mark of overtime. Looking back, Montreal winning Game One was the turning point of the series. If the Lightning had managed to pull that game out, scoring 4 or 5 goals on less than 20 shots, the entire tone of the series changes. Weise bailed out Carey Price's sub-par performance in that game. To Price's credit he was almost invulnerable in the final three games. Plus the confidence factor for the young TampaCuse players would have been boosted. Instead, it felt like the Lightning were chasing their opponents for the next three games.

X Factor – PK Subban

Unfortunately for the Lightning, “Good” PK Subban showed up. He picked up five assists and was a force moving the puck through the neutral zone for the Canadiens. 

And his skating led to one of my favorite photos.

 

Leading Scorer Lightning – Stamkos

Hey, hey I got one right! Four points in four games for the Lightning captain was enough to lead the team in scoring. He was the best player on the ice for Tampa Bay, even after he took a knee to the skull in Game 3.

Leading Scorer Canadiens – Vanek

Thomas Vanek did have a decent series as he posted three points. However, the trio of Lars Eller, PK Subban and Brendan Gallagher all had five points. Almost all of Canadiens contributed offensively (only Francis Bouillon and Andrei Markov didn't register a point) and that depth was the biggest factor in their winning the series.

Number of Games Bishop Plays – 4

I really believed he was going to play in the series. At least I believed that until Game Three. Once he didn't come out in what was a must win for the Lightning I knew he was done for the playoffs. I guess a dislocated left elbow and a torn ligament in the right wrist is kind of hard to overcome.

Number of Games Gudlevskis Plays – 0 (please god let it be 0)

Unfortunately Kristers appeared in two games. He acquitted himself well, stopping 90% of the shots sent his way and keeping the Lightning close in Game Four. If they had pulled out a win in that game there is a good chance he might have started Game Five.

Number of Games BJ Crombeen Suits Up – 2

Nailed it!

(Three Points about Radko Gudas throwing hip checks)

As I mentioned in my post after Game Three I didn't get to see too much of the series thanks to my work schedule. Gudas played in three games and except for blowing a tire in Game One that led to a Montreal goal, played pretty well.

Role Player Who Will Have a Surprisingly Good Series – Tom Pyatt

Pyatt saw action in only one game. One of the few tactical mistakes that I think Coach Copper made was his reliance on Cedric Paquette. I know his rookies had come through for him all through the season, but to rely on a player that had only 2 games of experience with the team was asking too much. I'm not sure if the Lightning win the series if Pyatt is in, but I think he helps them shut down some of the secondary scoring that the Canadiens generated.

Will JT Brown Score a Goal – Yes

If it had gone six games I think he would have scored. With Pyatt not playing I'll name Brown as my role player who had a good series. He picked up two assists and was one of the more aggressive forecheckers the Lightning had during the match-up.

So yeah I got two right. As usual not even close to being .500. I don't even want to tell you how bad my bracket looks on NHL.com. Another successful bout of prognostication from the expert!

In a Deep, Deep Hole. Can They Come Back?

Not what you want to see when the Lightning are trying to come back

Let's start with honesty. I have been a horrible Lightning fan. During the first two games of the post season I have seen a whopping 15 seconds of in-game action. Chalk it up to work obligations (Wednesday night) and familial obligations (Friday night). Also due to work restrictions I can't grow a playoff beard. Luckily, due to some last minute scheduling changes the streak was broken and I was able to catch most of game 3.

Still most of my opinion on how the series has been going is based on other people's coverage. From what I've read and digested how do I feel the first round is going for the Lightning?

NOT GREAT BOB!

Off-topic – I cannot tell you how much I loved this scene from Mad Men. Pete Campbell is 30 different kinds of awesome. Most of last season I zoned out on Don Draper's descent into his own personal hell but perked up whenever Vincent Kartheiser's receding hairline and kick-ass sideburns showed up on screen. The show itself plodded a long a bit, but I have a feeling it will rebound nicely in it's last season (although I think things end badly for Mr. Draper).

Back to hockey.

I did watch most of the third game, which I'm thinking is actually the best game the Lightning have played over all. Still they ended up on the short end of a 3-2 score. They fought hard and Matt Carle's slapper from the point silenced the Montreal crowd for about three seconds. A few last second scrambles made things interesting at the end, but it wasn't enough to pull off the comeback.

A lot will be written (and has been tweeted) about the lack of coherent officiating in the game. Sure, the refs disallowed a goal for the Lightning because Alex Killorn was run into by Carey Price three and a half minutes before the goal was actually scored. Was it a bad call? Of course. Did it swing the momentum of the game? Yes. But who's fault is that?

One of the things you see from experienced teams is the ability to overcome bad calls. The bad calls become forgotten footnotes in the overall story of the game. So far the Lightning haven't been able to do that in the postseason. They're getting a hard lesson in how playoff hockey ramps up to a new level.

That being said, I'm not ready to count the Lightning out yet. After all, haven't we made that mistake a few times already? At the beginning of the season, after Stamkos' injury, the post-Olympic fade when there was a danger of the Maple Leafs catching them for a playoff spot. In all these cases the team has found a way to bounce back and put a streak together. Now, of course, they need a four game winning streak to keep their season alive.

How can they do it? By beating the living shit out of the Canadiens. Sorry to be a bit vulgar, but the honest truth is that they need to ramp the physical play up. They need to hit them, wait for them to get up, hit them again, wait for them to get the puck and hit them a third time. Eliminate the time and space that Montreal has with the puck and I think you'll see them cough the puck up a little bit more.

That goes against everything I believe in. I like the beautiful game. I like three passes to set up a tap in goal. I like speed and putting the defense on their heels. Unfortunately, that isn't going to work against Montreal. Should the Lightning be unable to pull off the comeback and the Canadiens match up against the Bruins next round, watch what Boston does to them. 

Ondrej Palat's pratfall was way better than Radko Gudas' in game one.

Part two of the comeback plan involves convincing Anders Lindback that he is a mini version of Ben Bishop. He has to be the difference. That isn't to say he's been playing horrible. He has been playing....good. With Carey Price playing like he's in the Olympics instead of the NHL playoffs, “good isn't” enough. Case in point, the third Montreal goal on Sunday night. The Lightning were in the game, dictating most of the play when they got out-hustled in their own zone. Tomas Plekanec wrists a shot at the net and it finds a way past Lindback.

If he is to be the difference he has to make that save. It wasn't an easy save, there were two players screening him, but it's a save that has to be made. Those are the saves that Price is making, and that, not bad officiating, is why the Lightning are down 3-0 in the series.

I'm pretty sure Ben Bishop isn't leading the team through the tunnel anytime soon. I think if he was going to play, game 3 would have been the one for him to be between the pipes. Coach Cooper didn't want to see his team down three games to none, and a 85% Bishop is better than Lindback.

Since I just spent the last three paragraphs heaping blame on Lindback you would think I'm pinning this all on him. That's not the case. The Lightning didn't get to the playoffs by playing tight defensive games and winning low scoring games. They have to get the offense rolling. Even during game three where they took the play to Montreal there were times when they shot themselves in the foot with bad outlet passes and cross-ice attempts that were easily picked off by Montreal defenders.

Your shoulder pads are not made of gummi bears, Anders.

If they clean up their play with the puck and put pressure on Montreal they still have a shot. Is it a great shot? No, but maybe this team is young enough and inexperienced enough to not know that they are supposed to roll over and die. If they take one in Montreal they can build on it. One win builds the confidence, two wins puts some doubt in the Canadiens' minds and the next thing you know it's a series again.

Post Season Preview! Lightning Are Back in the Playoffs!

C'mon Stanley would order way more than that from room service!

 

I thought that I had a great beginning for this post. “THE LIGHTNING HAVE NEVER LOST A PLAYOFF SERIES TO A CANADIAN TEAM!” Sadly, five seconds of research reminded me that Tampa was bounced in five games by the Ottawa Senators in 2006. So with that idea blown I put my laptop away, fired up Netflix and watched three episodes of “Dawson's Creek”.

However, I can say that, “Despite their long and illustrious history, the Montreal Canadiens have NEVER WON A PLAYOFF GAME AGAINST TAMPA!” Granted they've only met once and it was on the Lighting's 2004 March to Glory, but I'm never one to let small details get in the way of my point of view.

With the regular season winding down it was known rather early on that barring a collapse of Toronto Maple Leaf-ian proportions the Lightning would be facing the Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. I had no problem with that match up. As a matter of fact, among the Eastern Conference finalists they are most likely the ideal opponent for the Bolts.

Even though the Lightning took three of the four regular season games between the two clubs, only one of the games was decided by more than one goal (and that game featured an empty netter at the end) and three of the four meetings went to extra hockey. So look forward to some bonus hockey in this series!

The Lightning's strength (offense) matches up with Montreal's strength (keeping the puck out of the net) on both regular play and on special teams. While it's a stretch to say that the Lightning's power play is a “strength” it is better than their ability to kill penalties. Luckily for them, the Canadiens are almost as inept on the power play as the Lightning are on the penalty kill. Special teams should cancel each other out.

Tampa Bay's offense is deeper than Montreal's despite the deadline acquisition of Lightning-killer Thomas Vanek. The Lightning boost an offense with four 20 goal scorers and seven skaters with double digit goal totals. That's depth right there folks. Of course lingering in the background, kind of not being mentioned is the fact that two of those skaters – Valtteri Filppula and Ondrej Palat – are banged up. While both are scheduled to go in game one, if they were to miss any significant time it could be damaging to the team's playoff hopes.

While Ben Bishop won the team MVP race by 13 lengths, Filppula has been the glue that held the offense together while Stamkos was out of the lineup. His solid play kind of goes unnoticed from time to time until you look at the score sheet and see that he had two assists or a goal and an assist. His ability to move the puck in crowds also opens up the ice for Stamkos or Palat on the power play.

Palat went from “Oh yeah, he's a rookie, too” to “Legitimate Calder Hopeful” and two-time rookie of the month. He has an uncanny ability to be in the right place to score goals despite not being the biggest, fastest or best player on the ice. His injury has yet to be diagnosed beyond “upper body” but was most likely caused when he was trucked by Columbus' Jack Johnson last week.

Of course the six-foot-seven sized elephant in the room is Ben Bishop and his health. He has already been ruled out of the first game and is questionable for the rest of the series with his creaky left elbow. That means Anders Lindback will get the call when the puck is dropped at the Forum Wednesday night.

Or Gudas. He can play net. Look at that butterfly!

Even the most ardent Lightning supporter would have to give the edge in net to the Canadiens if Bishop is out for a long stretch. As the eternal optimist I've found a way for this to work to the Lightning's benefit. The weight of the Canadian (country not team) world is now on the shoulders of Carey Price. Remember, all of Canada must rally around the one franchise in the True North that has a chance to win the Cup. Price has come through for his country before.

For his professional team? Not so much. He's one of the best damn goaltenders in the league yet the furthest in the playoffs the storied franchise has found themselves with him in net is the Eastern Conference finals in 2010. And they got smoked 4-1 by the Flyers that match-up. Oh yeah, and Price only played in four games during the playoffs as he had lost his starting job to Jaroslav Halak.

Couple that with the Canadiens (team not country) 21^st ranked 2.55 goals per game offense and Price NEEDS to be great for them to advance. Meanwhile, anything better than outright garbage from Lindback should be enough for the Lightning to advance to the next round in the NHL's Sweet Sixteen tournament. Of course, it would set up a nice plot line should Lindback play out of his mind against Montreal and Bishop declare himself healthy. What would Coach Cooper do? Stay with the hot goalie or the one that got you to the playoffs?

That's getting a bit ahead of ourselves though.

Let's break it down to the three things the Lightning need to do to win the series:

1. Score goals. Simply put they need to use their strength, offense, to mask the deficiencies they have in the net. In his last 8 games Steven Stamkos has only found the back of the net twice. That's not good. I'm all for secondary scoring, but in the playoffs the best player on the ice has to be the best player on the ice. It doesn't matter if he's on the wing or at center, he has to find his scoring touch in order to make life easier for Tyler Johnson, Palat and Filppula.
2. Stay out of the penalty box. Yes, Montreal's power play isn't on par with the Penguins or Bruins, but that doesn't mean the Lightning can have a steady stream of players going to the sin bin. Even if the other team isn't scoring, every penalty is two minutes that your team isn't on offense (although Tyler Johnson and his 5 shorties might beg to differ). Plus extended shorthand time tends to lead to more shots given up. The Lightning are best off minimizing the shots fired in Lindback's direction, not increasing them. Which leads to the final point.
3. Block shots. Yes it leads to bruises and increases the risk of Ryan Callahan missing games, but they have to, have to, have to, have to cut down on the number of shots that get to Lindback. Or even Bishop should he come back in the series. They need to get in the way of shots, control the puck and set up their counter attack.

Try not to use your face to block shots, boys!

Prediction time! The only thing that I'm worse at doing than predictions is writing consistently. If even one of these comes true it will be a miracle.

Winner – Lightning in 6

Number of OT games – 4

Longest OT – 3

X Factor – PK Subban

Leading Scorer Lightning – Stamkos

Leading Scorer Canadiens – Vanek

Number of Games Bishop plays – 4

Number of Games Gudlevskis plays – 0 (please God let it be 0)

Lindback's GAA/SV% - 2.89/91.7

Number of games BJ Crombeen suits up - 2

Number of Radko Gudas hip-checks – 3

Number of Radko Gudas missed hip-checks – also 3

Number of times announcers say “old school hockey” when Gudas connects on a hip-check -13

Role Player who has surprisingly good series – Tom Pyatt

Will JT Brown score a goal – Yes

Good luck Lightning!