One night later, a track meet the Lightning don’t quite match

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
December 29, 2016

TAMPA, Fla. – Imagine one night setting up a maze and telling somebody to find the right path through to find the end.

Now, invite that team back the next night, change the course around and ask them to sprint from the start to find the same path.

That was the Lightning’s challenge, squaring off against a swift Toronto Maple Leafs squad less than 24 hours after solving the systematic style of the Montreal Canadiens.

Predictably, the second course was more difficult to carve through, hitting wall after wall along the way.

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Tampa Bay again had to rally from down two goals, only this time the Lightning were not able to claw their way to the desired end result, falling 3-2 in overtime. Nazem Kadri scored off a rebound for a power play goal 3:37 in to the overtime. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who finished with 32 saves and covered up plenty of Tampa Bay mistakes, lay face down on the ice as the red light wnet off behind him.

Brian Boyle and Ondrej Palat scored second period goals to help erase a two-goal deficit.

But Tampa Bay had issues most of the night dealing with the pressure the Leafs were able to apply.

Loaded with a quick group of forwards, Toronto kept players high in the defensive zone, putting pressure on the point positions to try to force turnovers. This not only worked in that aspect – the Lightning were credited with 13 giveaways – but it disrupted any sort of creativity attempted while in the offensive zone.

“It was turnover heaven,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “There were portions of the third period we kind of forgot what got us back into the game. That gave them a little bit of life.”

It fed directly in to the struggles in the third period where Vasilevskiy, playing on consecutive nights for the second time in a week, kept the tie intact, eventually forcing the game to overtime.

“I thought we let off a little bit on managing the puck,” defenseman Anton Stralman said of the third period. “We turned too many pucks over. They’re a fast team, a lot of skill up front and the back end. They made some plays, got some chances. Vasy hung in there and played well.”

The winning goal was set up when Valtteri Filppula, back in the lineup after a one-game suspension, was called for goaltender interference as he made a cut to the net and fell in to Toronto goaltender Antoine Bibeau.

“I have zero idea what Fil could have done there,” Cooper said. “The only reason he goes in to the goalie is he is hooked and pushed. It’s tough to (accept) when they only take one guy (for a penalty) there. If you are calling them, you are taking them both. But we had a chance to kill it off, we didn’t and they scored, so credit to them.”

It was on Tampa Bay’s power play in which the Lightning really seemed to struggle to handle the Leafs high zone pressure. Toronto continually kept penalty killers up high as the Lightning generally work with one person at the point while working off the half-wall instead of the standard two men at the point. That pressure forced Tampa Bay to make quick decisions with the puck which did not allow the power play to set up, going 0-for-5 in the game with seven shots.

“They play fast,” Palat said. “It gave us some trouble in the first and second period on the power play, they were pressuring us hard, they were gapping pretty well.”

Yet, facing a much less structured but faster team than the night before against Montreal, the Lightning were able to see the desired exit, picking up at least a point for the fourth time in the past five games (3-1-1), but just could get to the finish line fast enough.

Postgame notes: Earlier in the day the team announced that Brayden Point would be out 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury, believed to be a fracture to his hand or finger. Point was placed on injured reserve. … RW Erik Condra, called up from Syracuse earlier in the day, was a scratch. … Tampa Bay fell to 1-2-3 in the second half of back-to-back games. … The Lightning allowed the opening goal for the fourth consecutive game and 24th time in 37 games this season. … RW Yanni Gourde made his season debut, playing 9:49 of ice time.

My three stars:
1.Lightning G Andrei Vasilevskiy – His 32 saves allowed Tampa Bay to steal a point in the game.

2.Maple Leafs G Antoine Bibeau – Finished with 25 saves, including all 11 in the third period

3.Maple Leafs C Auston Matthews – Goal, assist, dangerous all night

Jon Cooper meets the media following the game

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