Tampa Bay Lightning: Tyler Johnson Sparks Offense In OT Shocker

72. 3. 23. Final. 2

After coming back from what seemed like certain doom, the Tampa Bay Lightning took the game to OT and tied the series at 2 with a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

The Tampa Bay Lightning looked like they were about to be headed back to the Amalie Arena with their tail between their legs and down 3-1 in the series, then a spark ignited and the Tampa Bay Lightning burst into flames and fought back, taking the game to overtime and tying the series at two apiece.

The Lightning didn’t start this one out on the best of feet, but a never say die attitude carried them through a crucial third period which resulted to the Lightning coming out on top in Overtime. How did we get to this point? Let’s take a look at Game 4 and see.

The action kicked off with a bang tonight, but not necessarily the kind of bang that we are looking for. Under two minutes into the game we saw a bit of a dust up between Ryan Callahan and Brendan Smith that resulted in both of them heading to the box for 2 minutes for Roughing.

Apparently, this is not where this love story was meant to end. Just over 4 minutes later, Smith would be headed back to the box once again after being called for High Sticking who else but Ryan Callahan. This gave the Lightning the first crack at the Power Play. Unfortunately, the Lightning was not able to capitalize on the man advantage.

Before you start to feel bad for Ryan Callahan, we would like to point out that Cally was quite the beast in the first period. In Game 3, the entire Lightning lineup had a grand total of 26 hits. Callahan alone registered 5 in just the first period of Game 4.

Despite each side having a crack at the man advantage and a 2 minute 4-on-4 situation, neither side would be able to capitalize and strike first blood in the first period.

In the first 20 minutes of play, we feel safe in saying that this is one of the closest and well-matched encounters we have seen in the post season thus far. Throughout the first, the Lightning and Red Wings remained tied in Penalty Minutes with 4 apiece, Shots on Goal with 8, and Faceoffs Won with 7.

If that is not insane, we don’t know what is.

The Tampa Bay Lightning would get the first crack at the Power Play in the second period as Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg would be send off for 2 minutes for Interference. Unfortunately, yet again, the Lightning was unable to capitalize.

Can you imagine what this series would look like if the Lightning capitalized on even half of their Power Play chances? Not including tonight’s opportunities, the Lightning has had 17 attempts on the Power Play and have only been able to capitalize on 2 of them. If they were at 50%, the Lightning would have scored almost 8 goals.

Needless to say, this series would look a lot different than the 2-1 deficit they had heading into Game 4.

Under 6 minutes into the second period, the Detroit Red Wings draw first blood. A bad turnover by the Lightning results in Red Wings right wing Gustav Nyquist hitting the back of the net and giving the Wings the early advantage.

A few moments later, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat would make a pretty good run at the net but are surprisingly unable to make their Triplet Magic work for them and end up chasing the puck back to the defensive zone.

As the period plugged on it would be Ben Bishop who would keep the Lightning in the game. Being completely honest, the lack of offensive production in the last two games has been stifling; especially the lack of production from Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, the same player who has kept them in the game thus far that would put the Lightning down 2-0 in the second. Red Wings center Joakim Andersson would take a shot on net, but it is Ben Bishop who would ultimately knock the puck in the back of the net.

We would be lying to you if we didn’t mention how shocked we are at Bishop’s play as of late. While he has certainly not had what one would refer to as a “bad” series, but he has most definitely not been the Ben Bishop that we have become accustomed to.

When the buzzer would sound on the second period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would trail the Detroit Red Wings 2-0. The Lightning lead the Wings in Shots on Goal through 2 with 22-18 and in Faceoffs Won with 22-12, yet they still remain unable to find the back of the net.

The only bright side here is that the Tampa Bay Lightning would start the third period on the Power Play as Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg would return to the box for the remainder of his 2 minute penalty for Hooking Alex Killorn.

The Bolts would come up empty once again on the Power Play. In fact, if you ask our personal opinion, the Lightning spent way too much time in their defensive zone. We’re not sure what is happening here, but for a team that had one of the most dangerous offenses in the regular season, we have been dead in the water in the post season.

In the opening minutes of the third, the Bolts Nation was sent into one of the biggest rages they have felt all season long as Ben Bishop is called for Tripping Tomas Tatar. Here’s the thing about this penalty…Bishop was still inside of his crease.

When this exact same thing happened to Mrazek in the last game at the hands of Cedric Paquette, Paquette was called for the penalty. The biggest difference in these two instances is that Mrazek engaged Paquette, Bishop was standing completely still.

While we will be the first people to tell you that the officials are not the reason that the Lightning came into this period, or the series for that matter, on a deficit, the officiating in this series has been nothing short of atrocious.

When Bishop attempted to plead his case, the referee scolded him like a little child and ignored everything everyone had to say. We don’t know about you, but this looks like a little bit of a power trip to us. Thankfully we are not the ones responsible for the officiating; otherwise we’d be mighty embarrassed.

At just over the 12 minute mark in the third period, Tyler Johnson took a monster hit that resulted in a bit of a brawl. This would result in another 4-on-4 encounter as Victor Hedman and Luke Glendening both head to the Box for 2 minutes for Roughing.

Apparently, the hit to Johnson was the spark that the Tampa Bay Lightning has needed so very desperately in this encounter. Just after Hedman and Glendening were released from the box, Tyler Johnson would sink the puck past Mrazek to finally put the Tampa Bay Lightning on the board.

Just over a minute later, Ondrej Palat would be able to put his stick on the puck and deflect it past Mrazek to tie this game up for the Lightning. If you ask most of the people on Twitter, the Lightning had lost both the game and the series before the start of the third period. Thankfully, the Lightning had not given up.

The Lightning would make a few good runs at Mrazek with the remaining time in the third period, but when the buzzer would sound this baby would be headed to overtime. Suddenly, the noise level at the Channelside Bay Plaza triple and silence fell over the Joe Louis Arena.

The overtime period would start and both sides would come out like a shot, but it would be the man who lit the spark that would seal the deal for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Just 2:25 into the 20 minute overtime period, it would be Tyler Johnson who would send the puck sailing past Mrazek, touching nothing but net, to seal the deal.

Now, the series is headed back to the Amalie Arena on Saturday night for Game 5. This will be the Tampa Bay Lightning’s opportunity to take control of this series and show the entire world what they are made of and why we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

If the Tampa Bay Lightning want to continue the success they found tonight, they are going to have to play much more like Game 2 and much less like Game 3. We all know they have what it takes to get the job done. As the old adage says, there’s nothing to it but to do it.

Now that the momentum is in their corner, it is up to our Boys in Blue to get the job done. Back here on the battle front, the only question remaining is are you ready be blow the roof off of the Amalie Arena on Saturday night and Be The Thunder in one of the most important games the Lightning will play all season?

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