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.
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