5 Takeaways: Lightning driven to the brink after Avalanche take Game Four in overtime

1. Overtime winner should not have counted

Post-game it was learned that the overtime winner should not have counted as the Avalanche had six players on the ice for game winning goal. And even worse it was Kadri who jumped on the ice early to get the jump on the Lightning defenders.

As bad of an officiating blunder that this is for the NHL, it should be remembered just how bad the Lightning were in the twelve minutes leading up to Kadri’s goal. Tampa Bay had an uninspiring 28% Corsi For% and 15.09% Expected Goals%. Even though those numbers look terrible, they still do not do justice for just how outmatched the team looked in overtime as the were seemingly always on defense.

While the talk in the next day or so, and possibly longer, will focus on the missed call, it’s hard for me to believe it would have changed the end result as special teams performance, Cirelli’s injury, and a general downtrend in performance since the first period was all working against the Lightning. However, it’s hard not to feel for the Cooper and the team here as all competitors want is a fair playing field to decide games at the end of the day, and they did not get that last night.