Game 18: A Winning Streak Always Starts With One

Game: 18

Opponent: Calgary

Did I watch Live?: Yup

Three Stars: 3. Nikita Kucherov 2. Sean Monahan 1. Ben Bishop

Worst Play: With this win, I'm going to say we skip this part today

Thoughts:

Well, that was a bit of a relief, eh? Finally a win against a team other than Buffalo. Ben Bishop breaks his five-game losing streak and the Lightning find the back of the net three times (actually five) in a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames.

I'm not going to even worry about the fact that they only mustered three goals against the most porous defense in the league, or that they were held to one goal for most of the game even though they dominated large portions of the game. Steven Stamkos scored. Tyler Johnson scored. And Ben Bishop looked solid in net. What more could you want?

OK. So maybe I'll dwell a bit on the fact that through the first 7 minutes of the game they fired 18 shots in the general direction of former Lightning goalie Kari Ramo. Of those 18, 8 made it though to the Calgary goaltender, but none got past him. So it looked like more of the same. A lot of offensive pressure but nothing to show for it.

For the 18^th time in 18 games the Lightning ended the first period without a lead. That is a pretty amazing stat which I'm pretty sure is still true, but I'm not going to look it up. If it's wrong, someone tell me so in the comments.

The second period got off to a much more productive start. Two minutes in, Brian Boyle – that ol' sniper – put one past Ramo. I'm pretty sure he only scored because the puck slipped past his stick when he initially attempted to shoot it, and by the time he had gotten under control he had changed the angle enough to throw Ramo off. Who cares...it counted.

Which was nice, because Steven Stamkos had put a puck into the net that didn't count. In front of the crease he tried to kick the puck to his stick to tap a puck into the open net. Unfortunately he missed his stick and it went straight into the net. No goal.

Sam Bennett tied it up a few minutes later and then the negative thoughts started to enter. Would the Lightning be able to score another goal? Would Ben Bishop smash everything in the locker room if he lost 2-1 again? Do the Lightning even know they're allowed to score more than once in a game?

And then good old Steven Stamkos found himself alone in the right circle on the power play. It wasn't the hardest shot he ever put on net, but it found its way behind Ramo and into the net. Two goals in one game! A lead! What an awesome way to play hockey.

Five minutes later the Lightning scored a goal that reminded me of the way they played last year. Dennis Wideman had a chance to clear the puck out of his own zone, but had his pocket picked by Johnson. Kucherov picked up the loose puck and passed it to Johnson. Johnson waited for Kucherov to drift into the slot and passed him the puck, Kucherov (channeling his inner Teddy Purcell) passed it back to Johnson, who despite being shocked that the puck was back on his stick slid it into the gaping net for the insurance goal.

My two favorite moments of the goal are Matt Carle in front of the net doing his best to not get involved and the fan with the “Beat Calgary” shirt. Only because I know that shirt is over 10 years old and there is a 10% chance he bought the one I donated to a thrift shop a few years ago.

A good win over a bad team that hopefully springboards them into a winning streak. Oh yeah, they also had an empty net goal called back because of an offsides. So the argument could be made that they actually scored 5 goals.

Jo or Johnny:

In the first of two head-to-head match-ups, both of our contestants were held off of the score sheet. Gaudreau's line was the more aggressive and generated more scoring opportunities. Drouin only played nine-and-a-half minutes as he skated with JT Brown and Cedric Paquette for most of the night. Johnny Hockey (I did enjoy the moment Rick Peckham referred to him as just “Hockey”like it was his actual last name) still leads 17 points to 6, but I feel a point streak coming on for Mr. Drouin.

Alex Killorn always looks like he is trying to calculate the tax on a dinner bill in his head. Photo by Scott Audette/Getty

Game 17: At Least They Didn't Lose 1-0

Game: 17

Opponent: Buffalo

Did I watch Live?: Nope (but I listened)

Why Not?: Blackout (the TV kind, not the drinking kind)

Did I watch on replay?: Nope. Nor will I.

Three Stars: 3. Chad Johnson 2. Nikita Kucherov 1. Jack Eichel

Worst Play: Does it even matter any more?

Thoughts:

So, we're seventeen games in and things don't seem to be getting any better. The coaches and the players are saying the right thing – it's a process, the goals will come, we have a lot of talent, it's not a Stanley Cup hangover, etc., etc.

The fans are getting freaked out. Let's check the Tampa Bay Times comments section for a sample of the outrage......oh......no comments? Game recap on NHL.com – all Sabre's fans (thanks for the tired “Tamp-ons” comment Arthur Carl Scott. ESPN? More Buffalo fans. Ian Lamb drops a “Tampa Suck”. Not really a comment, more like the title of the next Tim Dorsey book (if the season has you bummed out, pick up some of his stuff. It'll make you laugh...maybe even out loud).

So, we're not freaked out, we just don't care! It's easy to cherry pick a few articles and make fun of the apathy, but I think on a whole fans are more bewildered than anything else. With a roster filled with players that have produced goals a plenty in the previous season, to be in this kind of scoring drought is mind blowing.

All we are left with are tired adages like, “get the puck to the net” or “play harder”. The effort is there, they just aren't finishing their chances. At this point they're almost working too hard. They're trying to be too fine in scoring goals. They are a pass happy team to begin with and I think in their efforts to score they're trying extra passes in the hopes it improves the scoring opportunities.

Their one goal against the Sabres was on a one-timer from Steven Stamkos set up by a cross-ice pass by MY BOY NIKITA KUCHEROV. It was successful mainly because Buffalo defenseman Josh Georges hit his own teammate with a clearing pass and the rest of the players were out of position. The puck dropped right to Kucherov and he was able to find Stamkos.

Other than that, their passes are finding skates and sticks, getting deflected and cleared out of the zone. Teams are hip to their preference to generate shots by zipping the puck across the ice and are clogging the middle of the ice to prevent it. They are for the most part not pressuring the man with the puck, counting on him not to take the shot.

Wide open net, shoot into the goaltender. Sure why not.  Photo by Scott Audette NHLI/Getty

It might behoove the Lightning to start driving to the net more and taking the shot (hopefully getting it on net – looking at you Vic Hedman). Not only would more rebounds/deflections be generated, it would force the defense to play closer to the man with the puck which, wouldn't you know it, open up more passing lanes. Think of it as a hockey version of the play-action pass. For a play-action to work in football you actually have to hand the football off every once in a while. The Lightning need to take a shot at the net in order to open the ice for those beautiful one-time, cross-ice goals.

The good news is that the two players that are racking up points aren't in contract years (I realize MBNK is a restricted free agent, but he's either getting a big raise or an offer sheet if he puts up 30 goals). Also, it's not as if they are hopelessly out of the playoff race. Even with the stumbles they are still in the thick of things (although the fact they've played two more games then a lot of those around them in the standings doesn't help). As cold as they are now, they can get equally as hot and rip off a nice winning streak – especially with the schedule being a little more more home-ice friendly.

Jo or Johnny:

Still a bit one-sided. Both players were held scoreless in their last outings (Jonathan Drouin is now 0-for-November in points). Maybe the bet should be – will Johnny Gaudreau have more points than the entire Lightning team in their match-up on Thursday?

Game 16 - Missing in Minnesota

Yes I realize two games are missing. I'll get to those this week.

Game: 16

Opponent: @ Minnesota

Did I watch Live?: Yes

Three Stars: 3. Nikita Kucherov 2. Ben Bishop 1. Devan Dubnyk (From now on we will just assume that the number spot will go to the opposing goaltender)

Worst Play: Steven Stamkos tripping over....ummm...his own skates and wiping out. For a super awesome wonderful hockey player there are moments where he resembles a baby gazelle. Let's hit the flashback machine!

Thoughts:

This stuff is getting pretty old. Lightning play well, get chances, don't score. The Lightning have a momentary let down, the other team scores. The Lightning start moping and watch Ben Bishop stop a bunch of shots. The Lightning regain momentum, hit a couple of posts, get robbed by the goaltender once or twice. The Lightning hear the final whistle, skate back to the bench with Sad Panda faces because they lost again. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Another road game and another loss. This time it was to the Minnesota Wild, 1-0. Ben Bishop was back between the pipes and once again, despite having a pretty good game, took the loss. He has now dropped five in a row. Total amount of goals scored by his team in those five loses – 3 (two by MY BOY NIKITA KUCHEROV).

In our fun with numbers section lets look at Ben Bishop. He is now 5-7-1 on the season. In his five wins the Lightning have scored 19 goals. In his 8 losses they've scored 11 (and 7 of those came in 2 games). That's not a lot of support. It's enough to make the tall man take up drinking. If it isn't then watching his so-called teammates score 8 goals in Andrei Vasilevskiy's two wins should have him reaching for the nearest bottle of Fireball (he looks like a guy who drinks Fireball, right?)

Maybe they're saving all of their goals for the post season. Or they're trying to see if a goaltender with a losing record can win a Vezina. Who knows? Whatever they're doing they have to figure it out soon. Their next two games are against Buffalo (thank you for the 3 wins!) and Calgary (the first JoVsJohnny match-up!). Then things get a bit challenging with the Rangers, Capitals and Kings all coming up.

There is some good news lost in their offensive struggles. They've definitely fixed their penalty kill. Since giving up 2 power play goals against Dallas on October 13^th, they've killed off 31 of 33 times shorthanded (and one of those was a 5-on-3 goal) to raised their overall kill percentage to 80.9%.

Overall they're only giving up 2.31 goals a game which puts them 8^th in the league. That's good. They're just behind Anaheim who is giving up 2.29 games a game. The two teams play each other on November 21^st – bet the under.

At some point they're going to figure out how to score again. They are literally too good not to eventually succeed. We just have to sit back and hope it's not too late in the season.

Jo or Johnny:

Let's welcome Jonathan Drouin back to the lineup! The youngster was finally healthy enough to suit up and play. Not wanting to disrupt the awesome chemistry that the top three lines have developed (why yes that is sarcasm) he skated with Brian Boyle and possible fledgling Jedi JT Brown. 

Aww, Star Wars Couple's Costume! Photo taken from Lexi Lafleur's (that's his girlfriend) Instagram

Sadly our favorite skater was held scoreless in his return to action and still sits at 6 points. On the other side of the continent Johnny Hockey threw down 3 points in his match-up with Sidney Crosby. He has taken advantage of Drouin's absence to take an 11 point lead in their competition. He sits at 17 points with 4 goals and 13 assists in 15 games played.

Game 11 - At Least They Scored

Game: 11

Opponent: Colorado

Did I watch Live?: Yes, I did!

Three Stars: 3. Ben Bishop 2. Nathan McKinnon 1. SemyonVarlamov

Worst Play: Tyler Johnson's goalie interference “penalty”. So let me get this straight. You get cross-checked into the goalie AND you still get an interference call? In my less-than-expert opinion, the ref saw Johnson crash into Varlamov, assumed he did it of his own accord and called a penalty. When he huddled up with his buddies they told him what happened so an off-setting cross-checking penalty was called. Still cost the Lightning a power play. That's where I miss having Bobby Taylor in the booth. He would have gone crazy.

Thoughts:

Well, the team has killed something along the lines of 20 straight penalties. So that's good news. They also scored a power play goal against Colorado in the 2-1 loss. That's good as well. Unfortunately, for the third straight game they were held off the score sheet while skating five-on-five. That's not good.

There was some hope going into Thursday's game that Colorado, and Semyon Varlamov in particular, would be the cure for the Lightning's offensive woes. After all, in four of his five previous games he had given up 3 or more goals, including 4 goals to the not-so-good Columbus Blue Jackets. Sadly, they ran into the Varlomov who almost won the Vezina in 2013-14.

Varlamov (and the goal post) kept the Lightning off the score board until Alex Killorn broke the scoreless drought late in the second period when he jammed home a rebound on the power play. Kllorn looked good all game long as he was re-united with Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan on the top line. Callahan, showing the traits that made him a captain in New York, was all over the ice, throwing checks in the corners, setting up in front of the net and generally causing a ruckus all game long.

The Colorado goalie won the game in Tampa. Make no mistake about that. The Lightning played on tilted ice all game long and generated one of their best games in terms of possessions and shots. With the exception of the McKinnon,Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla line, it was all Tampa.

Ben Bishop was solid. He bailed the Lightning out early by making a diving blocker save on Matt Duchesne thirty seconds into the game. From there on he made all the saves he needed to win the game. Both of the Avalanche goals were slightly freaky- Tanguay's just barely trickled over the line before the ref blew his whistle and McKinnon's was the result of the puck redirecting to his stick off of Bishop's skate. An inch or two in either direction and Bishop posts a 1-0 shutout win.

The Lightning are gripping the sticks a bit tight right now, but they are still playing well. If they stick to what they're doing the goals will come.

Jo or Johnny:

Jonathan Drouin was a late scratch with the ol' dreaded “lower body injury”. Of course, the lateness of him missing the game set off the “Cooper Hates Drouin” crowd on twitter. Odd, I didn't see any of them post apologies after the official word came out that he was hurt. Any way, he is stuck on 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists). Johnny Gaudreau picked up an assist against Ottawa. He is up to 1 goal and 10 assists. Good for him.

Game 10 - Goals are Overrated

Game: 10

Opponent: @ St. Louis

Did I watch Live?: Nope

Why Not?: Work and NHL Game Center's weird 48 hour blackout rule.

Did I watch on replay?: Eventually

Three Stars: 3. Me, for watching the game knowing the outcome 2. Alex Killorn 1. Jake Allen

Worst Play: Pierre McGuire laughing uncontrollaby at the name of Ben Bishop's family restaurant - “Bishop's Post”

Thoughts:

When I thought of this little project I knew there would be games like this. Games I missed live due to whatever reason (usually work) that I had had no interest in watching. A 1-0 loss to the Blackhawks is one thing. Following it up with a 2-0 loss to the Blues is dreadful. Not that the Blues are a bad team, but after watching them not score in one game, do I really want to spend another hour and a half watching them not score again.

Apparently I do, as I finally got around to watching. The first period wasn't too bad. If you're one of those fans that believe hard work and pushing the play of the game (rink generalship if you will) then you would be extra disappointed in the fact that after 20 minutes St. Louis had the lead.

The Lightning outshot the Blues 12-7 and had a healthy lead in attempted shots (something like 29 to 12) but thanks to a little lackadaisical play by Bishop they trailed. With about four minutes left in the period, the Blues won a faceoff in the Lightning zone they worked it back to the point (Alex Killorn had a chance to clear but he choose to play the body) where Colton Parayko (Pierre's favorite player of the game) fired a puck at the net. Bishop nonchalantly stood at his goal line thinking it was going high and wide. Unfortunately old man Scott Gomez got his stick in the way and redirected it past Bishop. All the goalie could do was appeal to the ref that Gomez's stick was above the crossbar. It wasn't.

That was all Jake Allen needed for the win. The Lightning ricocheted a couple of pucks off of the post, but couldn't generate enough to get anything past Allen. Troy Bower would seal the game with an empty netter with less than a minute to play. The buzzer sounded and Tampa Bay had been shut out for the second consecutive game.

Despite the two shutouts, they did manage to pick up 4 out of 8 points on their swing through the Central Division. And they did so why picking up some nagging injuries. The casual observer might think that not having bottom six forwards Brian Boyle and Cedric Paquette in the line up isn't a huge deal when Stamkos, The Triplets, Killorn and Drouin are still in the lineup, but the loss of Boyle and Paquette did upset the lines a bit. Going with the 11 forwards and 7 defensemen caused a lot of line mixing, I'm pretty sure Valteri Filppula played with every single forward on the team, and it was hard for some players (Jonathan Drouin) to adjust to the changes.

Hopefully a return (although brief) to home ice recharges the offense.

Jo or Johnny:

Like his teammates, Drouin was held scoreless against the Blues and is no without a point for the 5^th straight game. Not good for a top line forward. If the rest of the team was scoring, then his play might be more of a topic. Should he moved off of Stamkos' line? Not yet. He is still playing well, just not able to cash in on his opportunities. Moving to Calgary – hey Johnny Gaudreau didn't score! Despite being shut out by the Islanders he still leads this little contest 10 point to 6.

Game 9 - A Return To The Windy City

Yes, I know I'm a week behind.  The good news is that the only game I still have to watch is the St. Louis games.  When the Lightning play on a national channel it really screws with my time line as I have to wait 48 hours to watch the replay - the downfall of being a cord-cutter.

Game: 9

Opponent: at Chicago

Did I watch Live?: Nope

Don't You Live in Chicago?: Yup

Why Didn't You Just Go To The Game?: Games are crazy expensive up here. I'm going to use that money to go to another Lightning road game

Which One?: It's a surprise

Really?: Yup.

Did I watch on replay?:Yes I did. Eventually

Three Stars: 3. Jonathan Toews 2. Corey Crawford 1. Kristers Gudlevskis

Worst Play: Every time Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley tried to say Gudlevskis

Matt Carle is not impressed with Andrew Shaw's air guitar solo.

Thoughts:

They honestly didn't play too bad. Sure they lost 1-0 in overtime, but the Lightning managed to pick up a point against a good team on the road while playing the second game of a back-to-back. So yeah, I'll take it.

The first period was actually a pretty good period for the Lightning. They dictated the play, forced penalties by skating hard and then just couldn't convert (they would go 0-4 on the power play for the game, but you probably guessed that since they got shut out).

About five minutes into the second period, their long travel seemed to catch up to them. The Blackhawks started to drive possession and held the Lightning to only 4 shots. Gudlevskis, in his season debut, held down the fort. He made several key stops (10 in all that period) to keep the defending Stanley Cup champs off the scoreboard. The Latvian netminder looked much, much better than he did in training camp.

Sadly it wasn't enough (much like his performance for Latvia in the Olympics a few years ago) and Johnathan Toews,who is way to serious for all of that end-to-end nonsense we've seen in overtime so far, knocked in his own rebound less than a minute into the extra session.

The Lightning's struggles continue in the Windy City, luckily they don't have to make another stop there this season.

Jo or Johnny:

Drouin was held off the score sheet once again and is now riding a four-game scoreless streak. He didn't play bad, but his entire line was quite ineffective against the Blackhawks. He might benefit the most on the team once The Triplets get rolling. If they find their groove, teams might pull the top defensive pairings off of the Stamkos line and Drouin might see some more open ice. Meanwhile Gaudreau keeps rolling along, picking up two more points against the Red Wings.  

Recap Game 8: Getting Caught Up

Game: 8

Opponent: @ Winnipeg

Did I watch Live?: Nope

Why Not?: Date night with the Duchess

Where did you go? HB Bistro

Was it good? As always

What did you have? Sweet Potato Gnocchi. It was delightful

Did I watch on replay?: Eventually

Three Stars: 3. Nikolaj Ehlers 2. Ondrej Palat 1. Victor Hedman

Worst Play: Ben Bishop whiffing on the clear which led to the shorthanded goal by Blake Wheeler.

Thoughts:

The Lightning have a young fast team. The Jets have a young fast team. That led to this being quite the entertaining match up. As the road trip winds through the Central Division the Lightning seem to be finding their game. It was nice to see them swarm Winnipeg in the offensive zone, stalling their breakouts and generating turnovers.

When Tampa is active in the offensive and neutral zone it helps their offense so much. For the first time this year they seemed to be playing that kind of game. Even without the big man Brian Boyle, the 4^th line played another great game. Vlad Namestnikov, Cedric Paquette and Erik Condra were put together and they generated some offense with Paquette and Namestnikov picking up important goals (Vladdy's was extra special huge as he scored 20 seconds after Drew Stafford had tied the game).

I think it's time we stop referring to them at the “4^th line”. That has such negative connotations. For years we've come to believe that forth lines are thrown on the ice for 10 minutes a game solely to protect the puck and not give up goals. No matter what combination has played on that line – they've contributed on the scoreboard.

• Brian Boyle: 2 goals, 2 assists
• Erik Condra: 2 goals, 2assists
• Vlad Namestnikov: 3 goals, 1 assist
• JT Brown: EVEN JT BROWN IS SCORING!

Your Number 1 source for JT Brown Highlights (on the ice or on his head)

They've been picking up the slack while “The Triplets” find their game. It's getting harder and harder for other teams (not named the Blackhawks) to keep the Lightning off of the scoreboard. Once the Johnson line figures things out, and they seem to be headed in that direction, Tampa will be able to roll four lines that can score. Depth is nice.

Overall it was a nice back-and-forth game between two young teams. There were a few defensive lapses that lead to goals (Strafford's and Nikolaj Ehlers – who played on a line with Jonathan Drouin in juniors, that must have been fun to watch), but the win was vintage 2014-15 Lightning. Having a solid offense can always bail out mistakes on defense, at least in the regular season.

Jo or Johnny:

The scoreless streak hit 3 games and he finished with a -2 (Thanks Ben Bishop!). Winnipeg did a pretty good job of keeping this line off of the score sheet overall. Through 8 games he is still sitting at 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists). Taking on Detroit, Johnny Gaudeau had his second consecutive 2 assist night. On a regressing Flames team he is emerging as a bright spot. Through Friday's games he had 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists) and is starting to put some distance between the two.

Game 7 Recap - No Joy (but a point) in Nashville

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 3^rd 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).

Game 5 - Stamkos Scores Twice, But Stars Score More

Game: 5

Opponent: Dallas

Did I watch Live?: Nope

Why Not?: Work

Did I watch on replay?: Yup

Three Stars: 3. Brian Boyle 2. Jonathan Drouin 1. Jason Spezza

Worst Play:

Fifteen minutes into the second period and the Lightning were looking pretty good. They were in a stretch were they were dominating play and racking up shots. Victor Hedman had the puck along the boards and looked down for a few seconds before making his pass. It was just long enough for Jamie Benn to put his shoulder into Hedman's chest. Unfortunately that led to the big Swede's head snapping into the glass. He did not return.

Thoughts:

It's weird. When you see a team give up five goals you think they had a bad game. I won't say that Thursday night's 5-3 loss to the Stars was a great game, but the Lightning didn't play horribly. They got off to a great start with Steven Stamkos scoring two minutes into the game and Tyler Johnson ringing one off the post a few minutes later. Throughout most of the game they dictated play at even strength.

However, their special teams let them down again. They had two power plays and weren't able to get a shot off on either one of them. Heck on the second power play they didn't even get in position to attempt a shot. The good news on the penalty kill is that they actually spent two minutes shorthanded without giving up a goal. Unfortunately they were trying to kill a five-minute major and the Stars scored about halfway through it.

Ben Bishop didn't have his strongest game in net. For the first time all season he seemed to be fighting the puck and leaving rebounds around his net. On the other end Kari Lehtonen came through when his team needed him most – stopping all fifteen shots the Lightning threw at him in the second period. He let in a couple of soft ones in the third that allowed Tampa to get back into the game, but came up with a game-saving stop on Ryan Callahan right at the goal line.

If Hedman is out of any significant time it will be interesting to see what the organization does. Do they roll with Andrej Sustr and Nikita Nesterov in the line up or do they make their first call up from Syracuse?

Speaking of Nesterov – I have no problem with the refs giving him the boot in the game. Yes McKenzie was turning as Nesterov approached him, but even if he wasn't, it would have been a dangerous his along the boards. Brian Boyle picked up the third star with his strong play as an emergency defenseman for a period and a half. I'm sure you'll see some Boyle > Sustr comments on Twitter over the next few days.

The Lightning have dropped their last two games to potential playoff bound teams. Not quite a long enough stretch to panic, but they do need to make a good showing against Nashville next Tuesday. The good news is that the team has a pretty light schedule over the next week (Buffalo on Saturday, Nashville and then the Jets on Friday). Hopefully that will give their walking wounded a chance to heal up a bit and some practice time to fix whatever is broken on the penalty kill.

Jo or Johnny:

Johnathan Drouin had a heck of a game against Dallas. He set up both of Stamkos' goals and was a force in the offensive zone all night long. He is really gaining confidence on the ice. The two helpers put him at a team-leading 6 points (1 goal and 5 assists). Meanwhile in Alberta, Johnny Hockey has still only played 3 games so he still sits at 5 points (1 goal and 4 assists).

Game 4 - Can't Win Em All

Game: 4

Opponent: at Detroit

Did I watch Live?: Nope

Why Not?: NHL.com's weird blackout rules

Did I watch on replay?: Only the condensed version.

Three Stars: I'll take a pass on this one.

Worst Play: Again, I should pass, but I did see Matt Carle in the penalty box, so I'll go with that.

Thoughts:

So I haven't watched this entire game yet, but from what I've seen and read the 3-1 loss wasn't a horrible result. The Lightning were playing their third game in four nights and were on the second part of back-to-back road games.

They played pretty solid, but just couldn't get on the board early (highlighted by Steven Stamkos ringing a shot off the post in the second period). Sometimes the other team just plays better. Luckily for the Lightning it doesn't happen that often. If they grab four of six points on all of their three game road trips this year then it's going to be a good year.

That being said, I was kind of disappointed that they faced Detroit a little shorthanded. The Red Wings were the first team they played that had true playoff aspirations so you could say that they were the first “good” team that they faced this season. They would be a good measuring stick for the Lightning.

Do we know how good the Lightning are, yet? They've disposed of three teams that had not won a game until a couple of days ago. Their penalty kill is a disparaging 58.3% and they are winning less than 50% of their face-offs. They are 3-1 on the season, but there are some underlying trends that need to be fixed soon.

Jo or Johnny:

Johnny Hockey is still a game behind, but he's riding a three game point streak. He sits at 5 points with 1 goal and 4 helpers. Jo Drouin has a modest two game streak to bring his total up to 4 points (1 goal and 3 helpers). Against Detroit he picked up his assist on a nice one-time pass to Ryan Callahan who banged it home.