NHL Playoffs: Tampa Bay Lightning Need Consistency In Game 2
The Tampa Bay Lightning need to find some sort of consistency if they want to bring home the win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 2 of the 2016 NHL Playoffs.
The Tampa Bay Lightning certainly made their fans in the Bolts Nation proud when they picked up a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game One of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. While the Tampa Bay Lightning may have come home with the victory, there are still some things they need to work on if they want to continue to be victorious throughout the series. The most important of those things is consistency.
The Lightning put on a pretty good show in the first period on Wednesday night as the Bolts kicked off their First Round series with the Red Wings. While the Red Wings clearly outshot the Bolts in the first period, the Tampa Bay Lightning was able to strike first blood and bring home a goal on the second shot of the night.
Unfortunately, when these two teams took the ice for the second period of play, Bolts fans sat back in horror as everything their team had built in the first period seemed to be crumbling right before their eyes. It all started just 2:11 into the second period when Red Wings defenseman Mike Green was able to capitalize on the faceoff win and send the puck flying right past Lightning netminder Ben Bishop.
The look of disappointment on Ben Bishop’s face when the puck deflected into the net says just about everything you need to know about the play. A simple, split-second mistake can lead to the downfall of even the most skilled teams in the National Hockey League.
Just a few moments later, Red Wings left wing Justin Abdelkader would unleash a bomb from the blue line that would sail past Bishop and into the back of the net. This goal would give the Detroit Red Wings their first lead of the evening.
It started to look like the Tampa Bay Lightning were in trouble as the minutes continued to tick off the clock without an answer from the Lightning to the two Red Wings goals that quenched their flame in a matter of minutes. Thankfully for the Tampa Bay Lightning, they weren’t quite ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Just before the halfway point in the second period, the Nikita Kucherov would dig deep for the rebound and tie things up for the Tampa Bay Lightning. This gave the Lightning the momentum they needed to make their way into the third period of play. Unfortunately, the momentum the Lightning had built would be seriously challenged in the opening minutes of the third period.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans thought the Lightning had finally found a way to get back on top as Victor Hedman buried the puck deep for what should have been the Tampa Bay Lightning’s third goal of the evening; however, thanks to Jonathan Drouin’s skate being slightly offside, the goal was overturned. The good news is, the Lightning rebounded quite nicely from this one.
Within two minutes, the Tampa Bay Lightning would strike once again. This time, it would be Alex Killorn who would use his positioning to his advantage and tip the puck into the net to regain the lead for the Lightning.
While Wednesday night’s game turned out to be a winner for the Tampa Bay Lightning, if the Bolts allow themselves to fall into what has been known as the second-period collapse, the Red Wings are eventually going to become wise to this issue and use it to their advantage. At a time like this, where the competition level is higher than ever, you don’t want to be a team chasing your tail coming into the third period.
Next: Tampa Bay Lightning Battle Back to Take Game 1
The Tampa Bay Lightning has everything they need within their arsenal to get the job done. All getting the job done requires is for them to focus on the task at hand and not allow their mind to wander into the mistakes of the past and play a consistent 60 minutes of hockey. If the Tampa Bay Lightning can do this, there is no doubt in our minds the Lightning will find themselves moving on to the next round.