Game: 7
Opponent: at
Nashville
Did I watch Live?: Nope
Why Not?:
work
Did I watch on replay?:
Yup
Three Stars: 3.
Erik Condra 2. Erik Condra 1. Jimmy Neal
Worst Play:
Ben Bishop whiffing on covering the puck on the first Nashville goal
Thoughts:
Sometimes you just
end up on the losing end of an entertaining game. Such was the case
Tuesday night when the Lightning traveled to Nashville (no wins for
the Bolts since 2008!). Despite the 5-4 shoot-out loss they did walk
away with some positives along with their Bettman point.
For the first time
all year there were long stretches where they looked like the
Lightning of last year. Crisp passing, speed in the neutral zone and
shots from the point getting through to goal. They did get a few
lucky breaks with the pucks bouncing the right way in the second
period, but luck is often a byproduct of hard work and the Lightning
were working hard all night.
Unfortunately for
them, Nashville was with them step for step. Their first line of
Mike Fisher, Filip Forsberg and James Neal was sharp. I'm pretty sure
Neal ended up with 45 shots on net by the end of the game.
Erik Condra found
himself back in the lineup and it looks like he didn't want to spend
any more time in the press box. He rang a shot off the post in the
first period and then briefly gave the Lightning the lead in the 3rd
with a quick snapshot off a beautiful feed from Brian Boyle. It will
be interesting to see how Coach Cooper juggles his extra forward to
keep Condra, Cedric Paquette and J.T. Brown fresh.
The overtime
period wasn't quite as chaotic as opening night. There was a lot
more circling with the puck and focus on puck possession. Still
several opportunities presented themselves, including an Anton
Stralman breakaway.
For all the talent
they have, the shootout remains a bit of an Achilles Heel for the
team. Ryan Callahan, Jonathan Drouin and MY BOY NIKITA KUCHEROV all
were denied in the skills session. With all of the breakaways the
Boyle has had on the season, I'm a bit surprised he wasn't in the
line up.
Jo or Johnny:
Jonathan Drouin
found himself back on the top line with Stamkos and Callahan and it
looked like the benching paid off. He was extremely strong on the
puck in the offensive zone and responsible in the defensive zone. In
the overtime he used his hands to pick the pocket of a Nashville
player leading to a good chance for the Lightning. He was held
pointless (although he set a nice screen on Callahan's goal) and
remains at 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists).
The Flames got
shellacked by Washington on Tuesday, but Johnny Hockey did assist on
both of Calgary's goals. With a game in hand, he takes the lead with
7 points (1 goal, six assists).
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