Tampa Bay Lightning Needs To Come Out Strong In Round 2
The Tampa Bay Lightning need to come out strong and set the tone early as they take on the New York Islanders in Game 1 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have overcome far more than their fair share of obstacles on the way to the postseason. Between injury reports, contract disputes, and childish drama, fans here in the Bolts Nation have seen enough chaos to make their head spin. Despite the adversity, the Tampa Bay Lightning have continued to come up big where it matters most, one the scoreboard.
The Lightning were able to finish off their Atlantic Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings, in the matter of five games; however, those games weren’t without their fair share of struggle. The Red Wings played a very physical game, which from time to time would get under the Lightning’s skin. While the New York Islanders may play a different style of hockey, this doesn’t mean the Lightning won’t need to bring their “A” game every night.
Unfortunately, there is a bit of bad news in the tale of these two teams this season. Well, at least if you’re a Tampa Bay Lightning fan. In the three encounters these two teams have had this season, the New York Islanders were able to take two of those encounters. If you choose to look at things on the bright side, the one encounter the Tampa Bay Lightning were able to claim was a 7-4 victory. So…there’s that.
Despite what things may look like in black and white, you can pretty much throw all of that out the window once the postseason starts. This is the time of the season when every team who has managed to forge their path towards Lord Stanley’s Cup leaves everything out on the ice with one singular goal in mind; hoisting the Stanley Cup high above their heads and essentially capturing greatness.
This young Tampa Bay Lightning team got a small taste of what it means to compete at the highest level in the National Hockey League. The Lightning were just one game away from achieving their dream. Having all of that yanked out from under them once making it so far has done nothing but fuel their fire and lead them on the path they find themselves on now. Unfortunately, the Islanders are going to have quite a bit to say about the Lightning moving on to the next round.
Right now, just like in the regular season, the New York Islanders have two players who are leading the way for the team. Islanders captain John Tavares leads the Isles in goals and overall points. In the six games the Isles have played thus far in the postseason, the captain has scored five goals and four assists for a total of nine points. Right behind Tavares is right wing Kyle Okposo, who has scored one goal and five assists for a grand total of six points.
On the other side of the ice, it is the newly formed “Triplets” line that has been burning up the ice for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Much like in the regular season, it’s Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov who’s leading the way for the Bolts. So far during the postseason, the 22-year-old Russian winger has scored five goals and three assists for a total of eight points.
Right on Nikita Kucherov’s tail is his two linemates Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn. Tyler Johnson leads the team in assists with five so far in the postseason. When you add in his two goals, Tyler Johnson comes up with a grand total of seven points. As for Alex Killorn, Killer has scored three goals and two assists for five points.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has a lot of offensive firepower in their arsenal. It will be up to them to put things into motion by coming out of the tunnel hard and fast, setting the tone for the entirety of the game. In addition to this, the Lightning is going to have to find a way to play a complete 60 minutes of hockey. As they continue to advance, the stakes get higher as well as the difficulty. The time for mistakes has come and gone.
Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: 3 Things We Learned From Round 1
It will definitely be interesting to see how these two Eastern Conference rivals matchup against one another. Will the Tampa Bay Lightning have the same level of success against the Islanders as they did the Red Wings? At this point, it’s still anyone’s game. If Ben Bishop continues to be the rock he’s been over the course of the season and the team can find a level of consistency, they find themselves in a good position when it’s all said and done.