Tampa Bay Lightning Get Blown Away In Toronto
The Tampa Bay Lightning lacked urgency in fourth meeting this season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning entered the last couple of games on the tail end of one heck of a rollercoaster ride. Unfortunately, much like the greatest thrill rides in the world, the party had to come to an end at some point. After two out of three games the Tampa Bay Lightning would love to forget, the Bolts seemed to find some of the mojo they lost at the end of the ride.
Coming into tonight’s Eastern Conference showdown, the Tampa Bay Lightning had a unique opportunity in front of them. The Tampa Bay Lightning would face off with the absolute last place team in the NHL in what should have been an easy game for the Bolts and gain some ground on the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division. Unfortunately, the game proved to not be as easy as it seemed.
The Tampa Bay Lightning certainly didn’t come out of the tunnel with the fiery passion one would have expected at this point in the season from a team like the Lightning who are looking to make a push for the postseason; however, they did manage to keep a decent pace and balance out the Toronto Maple Leafs offense.
The first period was one of the calmest and underwhelming periods Tampa Bay Lightning fans have experienced in quite some time. Surprisingly enough, there was just one penalty in the first period, and it belonged to Maple Leafs right wing P.A. Parenteau. Parenteau would serve a bench minor for Too Many Men on the Ice.
Neither team would be able to find the back of the net in the first period of play; however, when the buzzer would sound and the teams made their way back to their respective locker rooms, the Toronto Maple Leafs would outshoot the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-5.
The second period started out much like the first period. Unfortunately for the Tampa Bay Lightning, there was one decisive difference between the two periods of play. In the second period, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to get the best of Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and put the puck in the back of the net.
Another glaring difference between the first two periods of play is the amount of penalties these two teams occurred. The first to find themselves with a one-way ticket to the sin bin was Maple Leafs defenseman Frank Corrado who would head off for Interference against Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson.
The Tampa Bay Lightning would give the Toronto Maple Leafs two opportunities with the man advantage. The first would come at 15:55 in the period when Jonathan Marchessault would be called for two minutes for Slashing. Then, in the final seconds of the third period, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos would be called for two minutes for Tripping against Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri.
The Stamkos penalty ensured the Maple Leafs would begin the third period on the Power Play as Stamkos would have just over a minute left on the clock in the sin bin. As you can imagine, this is most certainly not an ideal situation for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but at this point in the game, it is what it is.
Being completely honest, it isn’t until almost the halfway point in the third period where things finally started to get interesting. The Tampa Bay Lightning knew if they had any chance of continuing their road trip on a high note, they would have to make their move – and fast.
At 6:33 in the third, Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle would fire off a wrist shot that would finally pierce the defenses of Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier and get the Lightning on the board. Unfortunately, the Toronto Maple Leafs had no intention of letting off the gas tonight. Just a few minutes later, the Toronto Maple Leafs would answer with another goal, this time at the hands of right wing Ben Smith.
The time would continue to tick off the clock and the period would finally approach its end. With just over two minutes left in the period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would elect to pull Andrei Vasilevskiy in order to get an extra attacker on the ice. Steven Stamkos would have a good opportunity at the net, but he simply couldn’t get the puck past Bernier.
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As most of you here in the Bolts Nation know, there are only one of two ways a game can go when you have a goaltender sitting on the bench. Either the team is going to rally and quickly get the goal they were in desperate need of, or the move backfires in their face and the opposition ends up with an insurance goal. Unfortunately, it is the latter that happened to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Toronto Maple Leafs came up with not one, but two goals on the empty net. The first of those goals would come at the hands of center Zach Hyman. The second would be at the hands of right wing PA Parenteau. Needless to say, this was the nail in the proverbial coffin of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Toronto Maple Leafs, the last place team in the NHL, defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1.
The Tampa Bay Lightning brought forth a flurry of offense in the third period, outshooting the Maple Leafs 16-9 in the third period. Unfortunately, this was a classic tale of too little, too late. This brings us to one of the most disheartening parts of tonight’s game is the Lightning simply didn’t seem to care about tonight’s encounter. There was what some would call a complete lack of urgency.
The Lightning doesn’t have the time to sit back and dwell on the mistakes they’ve made tonight. The Tampa Bay Lightning has just one day off before they are expected to charge into the American Airlines Center in Texas to take on the Dallas Stars.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning will not be able to play the kind of game they did tonight and hope to come out on top against the Dallas Stars. The Stars are currently first place in the Central Division and the Western Conference. The Tampa Bay Lightning are going to have to refocus their energies and set the tone of the game very early on if they want to be successful.