Despite outshooting the Vancouver Canucks 41-30 through three periods, the Tampa Bay Lightning would ultimately fall 5-1 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to take three of the four available points over the course of their back-to-back weekend. After this, the Bolts had a full two days off before they had to prepare to take on the Vancouver Canucks at the Amalie Arena.
These two days off couldn’t have possibly come at a better time. The Bolts have a number of players who are dealing with a variety of injuries as of late and the time off gave these players a little extra time to decompress and heal their wounds.
Before puck drop tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that both Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin and defenseman Jason Garrison would be making their way back into the Lightning lineup tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Unfortunately, despite getting two players back did nothing for the Lightning’s luck in the first period. It was just three minutes and 50 seconds into the first period when the Canucks would sink the puck in the back of the net with a goal from Canucks forward Jack Skille.
Just when Lightning fans thought things couldn’t possibly get more frustrating, well…they did. Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov turned the puck over to Canucks forward Erik Gudbranson. Gudbranson wasted no time in firing the puck towards the net.
The puck initially bounces off the end wall. Bishop reaches out to cover it with his glove, but an awkward bounce leads the puck to deflect off Bishop’s glove and right into the back of the net. Needless to say, this is the kind of goal that will be giving Ben Bishop nightmares for many nights to come.
When the buzzer sounded to end the first period of play, the Tampa Bay Lightning would trail the Vancouver Canucks 2-0. Of course, if you were looking at nothing but the numbers, you would be shocked by the outcome of the first period. By all rights, the Lightning outplayed the Canucks all around, but the Canucks were able to capitalize on their opportunities and bring the offense to the Bolts.
In the first period, the Lightning outshot the Canucks 12-9. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, the Lightning simply couldn’t seem to solve the puzzle that is Ryan Miller.
If the Lightning had any hopes of bringing home the two points in tonight’s encounter, which seemed like a very long shot after the first period, the Bolts would have to find a way to solve the Miller situation and get some pucks in the back of the net.
Unfortunately, with one minor exception, the second period of play was much like the first. The Lightning would start off the second period killing off the remainder of the penalty to Braydon Coburn from the final moments of the first period. The good news is, the Bolts penalty kill would hold strong and keep the Canucks out of the net.
The bad news is, it was only a matter of time before the Canucks would get things going once again and extend their lead to three. This time, it would be at the hands of Canucks forward Jayson Megna. Needless to say, this is a goal Ben Bishop would most certainly like to get back.
The initial shot would come from Canucks defenseman Alex Biega. Megna would raise his stick and deflect the puck down. The puck would bounce right past Jason Garrison towards Bishop and into the back of the net. You could tell by the look on Bishop’s face he was incredibly mad at himself for letting that one in.
Thankfully, just past the halfway point in the second period, things would start to look up for the Lightning. Valtteri Filppula would play the puck in the Lightning zone, making an amazing run at Ryan Miller. Unfortunately, Miller was able to use his head to block the initial shot from Flipper.
The bad news for the Canucks is Miller wasn’t adequately prepared for the rebound effort from Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin who would quickly find the back of the net and get the Lightning on the board. No matter what happened in tonight’s game there is one big positive…the Lightning were not shut out.
You could feel the entire mood change in the Amalie Arena after Drouin’s goal. The crowd was finally starting to get back in the game and the excitement was at a whole new level for the night. Unfortunately, this wind was quickly taken out of the sails of Lightning fans when the Canucks would go on the offensive once again.
Just one second before the end of the second period, the Canucks would strike once again. Jayson Megna would pick up his second goal of the night (third of the season) to give the Canucks a 4-1 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Needless to say, the positivity that once filled the Amalie Arena quickly changed direction.
The Lightning would once again outshoot the Canucks in the second period, this time 18-11 for a two-period total of 38-27. Regrettably, the Lightning still had made very little headway in solving their Miller problem.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have always been a strong third-period team; however, as the season progresses and the schedule continues to increase in difficulty, this is not a strategy a team can continue to rely on.
Sadly, the Lightning didn’t exactly live up to their reputation in the third period. While the Lightning continued to outshoot the Canucks throughout the first half of the third period, it would be the Canucks who would continue to bring the pressure to the Lightning.
When the Lightning took the ice for the third and final period, Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper would elect to pull goaltender Ben Bishop. In his place between the pipes was goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Despite having fresh skates between the pipes, the offensive pressure of the Canucks proved to be too much.
At 13:58 in the third period, Jack Skille would pick up his second goal of the night (and the season) to give the Canucks a 5-1 lead over the Lightning. While a four-goal comeback in less than seven minutes isn’t exactly what one would call impossible, it is certainly a tall order.
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When all was said and done, the Tampa Bay Lightning would make a hard fall in a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks. This is definitely not good news for a Lightning team who will take on the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in less than 48 hours.
The Lightning would register 11 shots on goal (as opposed to the 10 from the Canucks) for a two period total of 41-30 through three periods. Unfortunately, the Lightning had tons of issues getting the puck past Ryan Miller. Even after Miller made his way to the locker room at the end of the third, the Bolts still couldn’t beat Jakob Markstrom.
While most Tampa Bay Lightning fans love seeing the team register shots on goal, this is where the definitive quality over quantity theory comes into play. The Canucks registered 11 less shots than the Lightning, and yet they would end up with four more goals than their opponents.
The Tampa Bay Lightning seem to be unable to get a grasp on things as of late. While it may be different issues from game to game, they have had difficulties in every aspect of the game. As the new year approaches, the Lightning are going to get a handle on things or they’ll play themselves out of the playoffs long before the time comes.
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Next up, the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at the Amalie Arena. The Lightning certainly have a tough challenge in front of them, but the Bolts have been good at responding after a loss like tonight. Hopefully, the Lightning’s defense will be able to keep Penguins captain Sidney Crosby far away from the net.