2 periods do not a game make.
Two periods of solid play, 29 shots and one goal does not a game make.
Two periods of swagger does not justify a team to get complacent, and yet the Lightning didn’t believe this to be true.
Four unanswered goals in the third period by the Senators seal another collapse of the Lightning… And even the Lightning’s sole offense is reason to worry — it was a goal scored on a Five-On-Three Power Play.
For two periods, you were led to believe the Lightning could heighten their game — because they did. They played sound defense, they threatened on offense and they looked like a team worthy of being in the playoffs…
One power play goal by the Senators early in the third undid that, and you’d think that the Bolts were made up of rookies — not Stanley Cup winners. One goal leads to another, which leads to a defensive lapse on the power play and a short handed goal to make that hole three… Add the customary empty-net (during a six-on-four power play, no less!) and the Lightning went from looking like contenders to pretenders in less than 18 minutes.
4-1 the final from Scotiabank Place. Vincent Lecavalier has the lone goal for the Lightning while Havlat, Spezza, Fischer and Alfredsson score for the Senators.
Game 2 is Sunday at 6.
