The Tampa Bay Lightning lost Game 1 to the Florida Panthers, 6-2. This was not the case of a close game blown open by empty-net goals at the end. Florida dropped a legitimate six goals on Tampa Bay, in the Lightning’s house. There are many ways a team would like to start a playoff series, this way probably ranks pretty far down on the list. However, it is just one game and one loss. The series is far from over, and the Lightning have done a pretty good job of bouncing back from disasters all season long.
After a night of sleep, here are some questions we have about the Tampa Bay Lightning, and where they go from here.
The penalty kill – what the hell was that?
Let’s start this answer by asking a question. How many times did the Lightning give up three power play goals in a season this year? The answer is – zero. The most that they gave up this season in a game was two, and it happened twice, in back-to-back games as a matter of fact. They gave up two against Ottawa on October 19 and then followed up with two more allowed against New Jersey on October 22 (to their credit they did have a short-handed goal in that game).
The penalty kill is a strength of this team. Even after last night’s debacle it’s still a strength. It was the sixth-ranked special teams unit in the regular season, finishing with an 81.6% success rate while scoring 11 short-handed goals (the third most in the league). So that’s why it was so surprising to see Florida drop three on them last night.
Not only did they score three power play goals on three power play opportunities, they did it without breaking a sweat. The first power play goal came 14 seconds after the Lightning’s unsuccessful challenge. The second one came 32 seconds after Emil Lilleberg’s interference call. The final one took awhile as Nate Schmidt floated one past Andrei Vasilevskiy 1:55 after Erik Cernak’s interference penalty. Hey, they almost killed that one.
The Panthers only had four shot attempts and were credited with three shots on goal with the extra skater. That is an extremely efficient special teams’ performance, the like of which we aren’t likely to see any time soon.
Without the services of one of their best penalty killers due to Anthony Cirelli being out with an injury, things just seemed a little off. The normally stout duo of Luke Glendening and Zemgus Girgensons were on the ice for two of the goals while Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel were paired up for the first goal against. Ryan McDonagh was on the ice for all three.
It was possibly a little unfamiliarity that led to the first goal. With McDonagh pressuring the puck up at the blue line Brandon Hagel passes coverage of Aleksander Barkov off to Guentzel, but doesn’t realize that Matthew Tkachuk is all alone in front of the net as Erik Cernak had vacated the front of the net to cover Sam Bennett along the near boards. Just a complete coverage breakdown.
The second goal allowed was…well…just a complete mental shutdown. After stopping Barkov’s stuff attempt, Vasilevskiy’s controller was disconnected. He just stood up as if the puck had gone out of play, or at the very least, out of danger. Instead, it was on Tkachuk’s stick and he took advantage to fling it home. The third goal was a bit more routine, but Vasy probably wants it back. He just kind of whiffed on Schmidt’s shot, although Barkov flashed in front of the goalie at the exact right time to provide a distraction.
Cirelli’s status for Game 2 will have a big influence on the penalty kill, but if he can’t make it, they still have to find a way to stop the Panthers’ power play. Also, maybe stop with the interference penalties.
Can the Lightning find the next gear?
One team looked like they were participating in a playoff game and one looked like they were skating in a regular season contest. We’ll let you decide which one was which. Florida finished their hits, won the puck battles, and cashed in on their chances. That’s why they won. For long stretches the Lightning played fine, in fact you could say they played really well. Their forecheck worked at times, and they held the Panthers, a prolific shooting team, to just 35 shot attempts.
After the game, Coach Cooper talked about having a lot of players making their playoff debuts. Not only was it the rookies, Conor Geekie and Gage Goncalves, but J.J. Moser and Zemgus Girgensons were both getting their first taste of the heightened pace of postseason play. Florida was the faster team all night long. The third Panthers’ goal was a prime example as Florida’s forecheck created not one, but two turnovers. Eetu Luostarinen was a one-man wrecking crew as he landed hits on Geekie and Emil Lilleberg that turned the puck over.
The Lightning have to play faster in Game 2. It’s that simple. What is good enough for the regular season isn’t good enough for the postseason. Sometimes, the Lightning’s desire to reman even keel is a determent. They shouldn’t get too high after wins or too despondent after losses, but they do have to find that spark.
One of the players that seemed to have a little extra juice in his game was Nick Paul. He stepped up to take Cirelli’s spot and that line dominated play when they were on the ice, posting a 12-0 shot attempt advantage and an 8-0 scoring chance edge. They did everything but actually score. Paul ended the night with 3 shots on goal off of 12 attempts and threw six hits on the night. The Lightning forwards need to feed off of that type of effort in Game 2 or else they’re heading south in a big hole.
Was this the best the Panthers will play all series?
An optimistic Lightning fan can look at that game and think that the Florida Panthers came as close to playing perfect as a hockey team can. They scored early on the road. Their power play was flawless, and their goaltender stopped the shots he needed to (a quick sidebar. Is there any goaltender in recent memory that makes people think, “wow he looks shaky tonight” only to then stop 36-of-38 shots than Sergei Bobrovsky?). Their talisman, Matthew Tkachuk, returned to action with three points.
Maybe the win came a little too easy and they will be a bit too confident in Game 2. The Lightning aren’t going to lay down over the next three games. They will keep pushing. Even last night there wasn’t any quit in their game. The effort was there, but not the execution. Florida is the defending champion and they looked like it last night. However, they were also a team that struggled down the stretch, and the fact that Matthew Tkachuk wasn’t the only reason. There are flaws in this team, and the Lightning can take advantage. It’s a long way to four wins in a series, we’ll have to see if Florida can stay at the level they showed in Game 1.
