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Tampa Bay Lightning: Re-Emergence Of The Power Play

By Tasha St. Pierre

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The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Power Play made its triumphant return in Game 2 against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

If there is one thing that coaches, players, fans, and analysts alike can agree on this season it is that the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Power Play unit has been the bane of their existence all post season long; maybe even some of the regular season.

Well, the Tampa Bay Lightning apparently decided that it was time for a change, and out of nowhere, the Power Play squad decided to come alive in Game 2 against the Montreal Canadiens and show not only the Canadiens, but the rest of the world what we can do when we put our minds to it.

Now, we would be lying to you if we told you that we saw this one coming. The Tampa Bay Lightning has fallen on their faces so incredibly hard during the post season when it comes to the man advantage that we found ourselves almost cringing when a penalty would be called.

In fact, for a while there is almost seemed as if we had a better chance of scoring a short-handed goal than we did scoring with the man advantage. Entering into Game 2, the Lightning was a mere 2 for 34 on the Power Play. Yes ladies and gentlemen…just 2 Power Play Goals on a possible 34 opportunities.

The Lightning were able to triple this number in the course of 60 minutes in Game 2, scoring not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 Power Play Goals over the course of the game. During the 60 minutes of play, the Lightning had 8 opportunities with the man advantage.

This is in large part to players like Nikita Kucherov, who was credited with 2 of the three Power Play Goals in Game 2. Then you have players like Tyler Johnson, Steven Stamkos, and Alex Killorn who each had 2 assists on the Power Play. Last, but not least, you have Valtteri Filppula and Victor Hedman who each had a goal and an assist on the Power Play.

You see…this is what happens when the Tampa Bay Lightning capitalize on at least half of their opportunities! The momentum starts to roll, the opposing team’s fans begin to silence themselves and make their exits from the building, the NBC Sports commentators are forced to say something nice about the Lightning, which we all know they see as a tragedy, and most importantly of all…they come home with the win.

There is an old saying that really holds true in a situation like this one; “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” In other words, the Power Play squad that Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper put together in Game 2 was able to effectively get the job done on more than one occasion and spark over half of the Lightning’s offense in Game 2.

If we want to continue the progress that we have made in this arena one thing and one thing only needs to happen. When the Lightning kicks off Game 3 on Wednesday night we need to see the same pairings on the PP. Ok…we lied. There are two things. Said pairing needs to put the same amount of pressure on the Canadiens and do what needs to be done in order to send the puck flying past Habs netminder Carey Price.

Now that they find themselves just two games away from the possibility of moving on to the next round of the playoffs, they need to focus on the road ahead, remember what has been working for them, stop doing what hasn’t, and put their best skates forward for a consistent 60 minutes of hockey.

Do this two more nights in a row, and the series is ours. The Tampa Bay Lightning has proven that they have what it takes to get the job done, but you can rest assured that the Canadiens are not going to go down without a fight. As we said, it is going to take focus, determination, dedication, and most of all the fans to get the job done.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen of the Bolts Nation. Now that the series is headed back to Hockey Paradise, the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to need their Thunder now more than ever. If we want them to give 100% on the ice, then we will have to give them 110% percent in the stands.

Are you ready to Be The Thunder on Wednesday and Thursday night? We know we are!

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: The Night The Team Grew Up

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