Tampa Bay Lightning Get Burned By Calgary Flames
The Tampa Bay Lightning were burned by the Calgary Flames in a 3-1 loss at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
When the Tampa Bay Lightning landed in Calgary yesterday, they knew they had a lot of work in front of them. The Lightning would have to push all of the drama going on in Tampa Bay to the back of their minds and concentrate on what ultimately matters the most right now, winning games and bringing home points.
Tonight’s game is important for more than one reason. In addition to being a pivotal game that could really set the Tampa Bay Lightning on the path they need to be on in order to set themselves up for another run in the postseason, tonight’s matchup at the Scotiabank Saddledome would also be a special game for Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson. Johnson played his 200th NHL game tonight against the Calgary Flames.
Unfortunately, this game definitely did not get off to the kind of start the Tampa Bay Lightning would have hoped for. Just under four minutes into the first period, the Calgary Flames would catch Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop unawares, and Flames center Matt Stajan would open up the scoring for the Flames.
In the early moments of the period, it looked as if the Tampa Bay Lightning had a little trouble kicking off their offense. Through the halfway point in the first period, the Lightning would be outshot by the Flames 11-5. If the Tampa Bay Lightning has any hope of consistently stringing wins together, they are going to have to turn those numbers around and really start putting the pressure on their opponents.
Lightning left wing center Jonathan Marchessault had a really good shot at the net later in the first period. Unfortunately, Flames netminder Karri Ramo would get a piece of it with his glove and deflect the puck away from the net. Unfortunately, Flames captain Mark Giordano had a rather good run on Bishop at the other end of the ice. The good news is, Giordano heard that ever-painful clink of the goal post.
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When the buzzer would sound to end the first period of play, the Tampa Bay Lightning would trail the Calgary Flames 1-0. While this may not seem like the absolute worst position for a team to be in, the next numbers we are about to give you are rather frightening. The Calgary Flames outshot the Tampa Bay Lightning 13-8 in the first period. If the Lightning want to take charge of this game and extinguish the Flames, they would have to come out in the second period ready to kick on the afterburners.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames would make their way back out on the ice for the second period of play. It would seem as if the Lightning has a little boost in energy to start the second. Tampa Bay Lightning center Cedric Paquette takes a really good run at the Flames net, but Ramo would be able to shut him down and make the save for the Flames.
The Lightning definitely made up some ground in the shots on goal department. Unfortunately, none of those shots on goal turned into a really legitimate scoring chance for the Tampa Bay Lightning. As we enter the final five minutes in the period, the Calgary Flames would find another way to put the puck in the back of the net.
The puck was being played to the side of the net. While the Lightning’s attention was on the person with the puck, they completely missed the fact that Flames right wing David Jones was essentially uncovered in front of the net where he was able to redirect a shot from Giordano into the back of the net to give the Flames a 2-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The only upside coming out of the second period is the Tampa Bay Lightning seemed to play more aggressively and attempted to create more traffic in front of the net. Unfortunately, for as much as their offense soared, their defense seemingly fell apart. We are still having trouble believing Jones was left unattended in front of the net, which resulted in the Flames’ second goal of the night.
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Through 40 Minutes of play, the Tampa Bay Lightning outshot the Calgary Flames 22-20, but failed to create the kind of offense they needed if they wanted to come home with the two points tonight in Calgary.
Unfortunately, as the Tampa Bay Lightning took the ice for the 3rd period it would be announced that Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan would not be returning to the lineup tonight due to a Lower Body Injury. This would not be the only injury, or at least injury scare, the Tampa Bay Lightning would have to deal with tonight.
After sacrificing his body to block a shot, J.T. Brown left the ice in a considerable amount of pain. Fortunately for the Lightning, unlike Callahan, Brown would be able to return to the ice after being evaluated on the bench by the Lightning’s Head Athletic Trainer Tom Mulligan.
Early in the third period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would take the one and only penalty of the game. This would come at the hands of center Cedric Paquette, who would be sent off for two minutes for Tripping. The good news is, the Tampa Bay Lightning would be able to successfully kill the penalty. The bad news is, the Lightning were still having plenty of issues finding any real scoring chances tonight.
As the final two minutes began to tick off the clock, the Tampa Bay Lightning would finally be able to pierce the veil of Calgary Flames netminder Karri Ramo. Who would it be that would finally get the Tampa Bay Lightning on the board? It would be none other than Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.
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While this strategy almost never works, this was the one in one hundred chance when pulling the goaltender actually works to the advantage of the trailing team.
Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Lightning would not be quite so lucky the next time they would elect to pull Ben Bishop. With under one minute left in the game, Calgary Flames center Lance Bouma would sink the puck through the goal posts and into the back of the empty net to put the final nail in the coffin of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s hopes of bringing home a victory in Calgary.
Strangely enough, the Tampa Bay Lightning would outshoot the Calgary Flames 31-24 through 60 minutes of play, but still couldn’t seem to create the kind of scoring changes they needed to win. This is one of those moments where our theory of quality over quantity comes into play.
The Calgary Flames would ultimately defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1, sparking a win streak for the Flames. If the Tampa Bay Lightning had come out on top in tonight’s encounter, they would have pushed their way into the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
While absolutely nothing is set in stone at this moment, the halfway point in the season is quickly approaching. This is the point in the season when every single point matters and teams simply cannot afford to make the simple mistakes that go by the wayside early in the season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has spent most of the season with offensive challenges, but tonight the Lightning dealt with an overwhelming amount of defensive challenges. The curious thing about this whole situation is Matt Carle, who has caught much of the blame for the Lightning’s defensive struggles as of late, was not even on the ice tonight as he served as a healthy scratch.
If the Tampa Bay Lightning have any hope of finding themselves playing past the first week in April this year, there are a lot of changes that need to be made. The Lightning are absolutely jam-packed with talented players who have gone above and beyond to prove they have what it takes to get the job done, but for some reason they simply cannot find any sort of consistency this season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has two days off before they have to be ready to hit the ice once again. The Lightning will head to Rexall Place to go head-to-head with the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. This will kick off their back-to-back weekend, which will come to a close on Saturday night at the Rogers Arena where they will take on the Vancouver Canucks.
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