Rally Bolts Strike Again

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
October 15, 2016

TAMPA, Fl. – Slow starts and fast finishes.

That early season trend continued for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a second consecutive come-from-behind victory to start the season, this time knocking off the New Jersey Devils 3-2.

Valtteri Filppula completed the comeback, getting his stick blade on a Jason Garrison shot to deflect the puck under Devils’ goaltender Corey Schneider at the 5:43 mark of the third period as the Lightning scored three unanswered goals to rally for the victory.

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Steven Stamkos scored his first of the season while Alex Killorn notched his second to help pull Tampa Bay even in the second period. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves in his season debut.

It marked the second consecutive game to start the season that Tampa Bay had to rally from down two goals, having erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 against Detroit on opening night before pulling out a 6-4 victory.

“We don’t want to make a habit of (falling behind), but it’s a good quality to have when you do get into that situation,’’ Stamkos said. “So, we have to start games a little better. I know we’re confident in our ability to create offense, but [we] can’t count on having our goaltender make some big saves to keep it within reach. So we’ll obviously look to improve in trying to start the game on time.’’

Tampa Bay fell behind the Devils on the opening shift of the game as New Jersey came out with a strong forecheck, forcing the Lightning in to some sloppy play with the puck. That led to John Moore firing a puck from the far right point on a failed clearing attempt that was deflected by Kyle Palmieri 52 seconds in to the game. Before the first media timeout, New Jersey grabbed a 2-0 lead when P.A. Parenteau grabbed a puck in the neutral zone, performed a turnaround back pass to Travis Zajac who fired a one-timer that deflected off the stick of Anton Stralman and slipped under the pads of Vasilevskiy at 4:26 of the first period.

“It’s not going to work in the long run,’’ Filppula said of continuing to fall behind in games. “In the first period they were a lot better, they skated better, we didn’t have much.’’

But just as they showed in the season opener, Tampa Bay started to manage the puck better which created the transition game as the Lightning started to generate speed through the neutral zone. That resulted in better puck possession and more scoring chances.

The Lightning would cash in twice in the second period, scoring a pair of goals two minutes, 14 seconds apart.

The first game when Jonathan Drouin picked a puck off the stick of a New Jersey player in the Lightning zone, circled back to relieve pressure before weaving his way up the middle of the ice, falling to his knees while retaining the puck and dishing off a pass to Ondrej Palat. Palat would patiently wait for a seam to open up before threading a pass across the slot to a streaking Stamkos for a back-door tap in at 7:53.

“It’s fun to play with those guys,’’ Stamkos said of Drouin and Palat. “It makes the game that much easier as you saw on that goal. Those were pretty impressive plays to set me up there, and I just did the easy part.’’

Killorn would tie the game at 10:07 when he found a puck loose in the slot after Nikita Kucherov’s shot attempt was blocked and fired a puck that beat Schneider to the five-hole.

“They play fast with skill and confidence,’’ Schneider said of the Lightning attack. “You have to try to slow them down in transition, you have to make smart puck decisions and for the first period we did that and got a two-goal lead. We got away from it to start the second.’’

New Jersey appeared to overcome all of that when Andy Greene scored a power play goal with 4:27 left in the second period. But Tampa Bay challenged the call for offside on the zone entry and the goal was overturned when video showed Mike Cammalleri was in the zone a fraction of a second ahead of the puck and the goal was negated.

“I felt it was off by quite a bit and so usually we make a call on the bench so we can check it. But everybody’s checking everything all the time,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “It helps out now having- we never had a TV on the bench before, so this year the NHL’s put the TVs on the bench so that really helps. That was a big moment for us that that worked out.’’

The overturned goal kept the game tied heading in to the third period and allowed the Lightning to take the lead when rookie Brayden Point hustled behind the net after a faceoff win, came around the net and fed Garrison, who sent a shot toward the net that Filppula was able to get a piece of despite being cross checked by Zajac.

“I was just trying to get a piece of it,’’ Filppula said. “I think the guy cross-checking me in the back helped me and that’s why it hit my stick. I’ll have to thank him.’’

The Lightning, meanwhile, can thank their ability to remain calm and disciplined not to let the game get too far away, allowing for a comeback that, according to Elias Sports Bureau, marked the first time Tampa Bay overcame multiple-goal deficits and win in consecutive games since March 2 and March 3, 2012.

“It’s a lot of fun coaching these guys and I’ve had a front row seat the past couple of years to watch these guys grow,’’ Cooper said. “To see them talk about falling behind, and it’s clearly not a habit we want to have, but we have a group that knows they are never out of it and we have the weapons to make plays. And as every period has gone on in the game, we’ve just gotten stronger and stronger and stronger.’’

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