Tampa Bay Lightning Fall Flat And Hand Game 2 To Pittsburgh
The Tampa Bay Lightning seemed to fall flat on the ice and eventually hand Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins have never had a truly heated rivalry between them; however, things definitely started to heat up in Game 1 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Final on Friday night at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. It came as no surprise both teams hit the ice with a certain fire and determination to lead their respective teams to victory.
The Lightning faithful received some incredible news just before puck drop tonight. The Tampa Bay Lightning announced just before game time that Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman, who has missed seven weeks of play with a broken fibula, would be rejoining his team on the ice tonight as the Tampa Bay Lightning prepared to take on the Penguins in Game 2.
Unfortunately for the Lightning, all it took was one mishandling of the puck for the Penguins to strike first blood and shift momentum in their direction. The first goal of the night would come from Penguins center Matt Cullen, just 4:32 into the first period. The bad news is, this was not the end of the Penguins’ early onslaught.
Just 29 seconds before the halfway point in the first period, the Penguins would extend their early lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning to two goals with a goal from Phil Kessel. The good news was, there was still plenty of hockey left to play between these two teams. The bad news…the odds are not in the Lightning’s favor when they don’t score first.
During the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning were 11-22-5 when the opponent scored first. On the flip side, the Lightning were 35-9-0 when they scored first. It’s hard to argue facts when they are in black and white, but we certainly hope tonight is one of those nights when they prove us and the stats wrong.
As the period progressed, it seemed as if the Tampa Bay Lightning were determined to prove us incredibly wrong. At 16:37 in the first period, Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman would score his first goal of the postseason off an amazing set up from Jonathan Marchessault and Victor Hedman. Thankfully, this wasn’t the end of the line for the Lightning.
Just under three minutes later, Jonathan Drouin would score his third goal of the postseason to tie things up for the Tampa Bay Lightning right before the second intermission. The assists on the Drouin goal would go to J.T. Brown and Matt Carle. Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen. Matt Carle has scored his fourth assist of the postseason.
As the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh headed into the first intermission, the Penguins outshot the Lightning 14-8 in the first. The Tampa Bay Lightning have capitalized on their opportunities thus far, but if the Tampa Bay Lightning wanted to get back on top of the Penguins in the second period, they were going to have to get more shots on goal. It’s been apparently clear Matt Murray is not in his best form when peppered by shots.
The second period of play would be one of the most uneventful periods the Tampa Bay Lightning have experienced all postseason long. There was a lot of back and forth between the two teams, but neither side would be able to hit the back of the net and only one penalty would be handed out during the frame. The penalty would be against Penguins goaltender Matt Murray for tripping Ondrej Palat. The penalty was served by Phil Kessel.
Once again, the Tampa Bay Lightning would be outshot by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The good news is, this time, it wouldn’t be by such a large margin. The Penguins would outshoot the Lightning by 8-7 in the second period for a two-period total of 22-15 Penguins.
Surprisingly enough, the first half of the third period was much like the entirety of the second. Things started to pick up a little in the final minutes of the period, but once again neither the Lightning nor Penguins could find the back of the net. When the horn sounded to end the third period of play, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins were tied at two goals apiece.
Just like every other period this game, the Penguins outshot the Lightning, this time by the total of 16-6. This is simply not a performance that is indicative of a team that wants to head home with a 2-0 series lead. If the Tampa Bay Lightning wanted to head home with the series lead, they would have to set the tone from the second the puck drops and never let up; not even for a second.
Unfortunately, it would take all of 40 seconds into overtime before Penguins captain Sidney Crosby would score his first career postseason goal to win the game for the Penguins. Now, the series will head back to Tampa Bay split right down the center.
As much as it pains us to say this, the Tampa Bay Lightning truly didn’t deserve to win this game. There were far too many miscues in the defensive zone, the passing was just not on point, and the Tampa Bay Lightning couldn’t manage to get 30 shots on goal while the Penguins fired 41 shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy. While Vasilevskiy is a tremendous goalie, the Lightning simply can’t lean on him the way they lean on Ben Bishop.
The good news here is there is still plenty of hockey left to play in this series. Both teams have just one win apiece, which means either side needs three more to win. Back in the 2010-11 series between these two teams, it took seven games to determine a victor. It wouldn’t surprise us if this series falls into the same groove.
Next: The Lightning Must Continue To Neutralize Sidney Crosby
The Tampa Bay Lightning heads home to the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8:00 p.m. As usual, you can catch the broadcast on NBC Sports Network or listen to Dave Mishkin make the call on 970WFLA.