Sometimes the schedule catches up with teams, for the Lightning, that happened Thursday

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
March 16, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – It happens.

Sometimes the schedule just catches up with a team and, well, it happens.

Of course nobody wants to bite on the question when it’s asked, but the recent schedule the Lightning have endured had an impact on performance. The end result is a 5-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a game with huge playoff implications.

Fortunately for Tampa Bay, the result left then in the same exact position the team was in before the puck dropped – one point out of a playoff position.

But heading in to their fourth game in six nights, and not arriving back home from Ottawa after Tuesday’s game until 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, the Lightning were going to have a difficult time being at their best.

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Couple all of that with Toronto coming off a 7-2 drubbing against the Florida Panthers and you get the end result on Thursday.

But, it happens.

It’s nobody’s fault (except of course the NHL schedule makers that pushed together the condensed schedule this year). Let’s face it, when you stroll through the front door of your home at right around sunrise and climb in to bed around 6 a.m. – or if you have kids stay up until late morning – your sleep patterns are disrupted. Maybe you sleep for a few hours when you get home, get up around lunch time and then try to make a regular day out of it.

It doesn’t make it a regular day and sometimes you wind up more tired the next day.

There are plenty that are probably reading that and think it’s pure bull. These are professional athletes, pampered in many aspects, they are expected to perform and be ready no matter the circumstances.

In some ways, there’s some truth in that statement.

But is every employee at their top level every day on the job?

That’s not to say the Lightning failed to come ready to perform in what was an important game that potentially could decide Tampa Bay’s slim playoff fate.

”We were ready for this game coming in, we knew how important this game was and the schedule had nothing to do with that,’’ left wing Jonathan Drouin said. “It’s up to us to show up for games like that and make sure we are ready for those games.’’

But what the schedule did have something to do with, even if nobody wants to say it publicly, was taking just enough off the edge Tampa Bay needed to be at their absolute best. Just enough of that focus was off, just enough of the sharp awareness was dulled.

Three of Toronto’s goals came off rebounds where the Lightning were a tad slow to react, or they were out of position by a smidge to allow the Leafs to be in the right position to take advantage of those miscues.

”They came out determined,’’ left wing Alex Killorn said. “Those battles in front of the net, it didn’t seem like we came out to compete in those instances and it ends up hurting us in the end.’’

”You want to go out there and win every game, sometimes it doesn’t work for you,’’ defenseman Anton Stralman said.

Still, there was no biting on the lack of rests affecting their mental sharpness.

” You can use that as an excuse, but we had a full day to recover and we did get in late but we are not going to use that as an excuse,’’ Killorn said. “I think for parts of the game I don’t think we were outmatched at all.’’

Killorn is right, they were not out matched, they were simply out-willed in certain aspects of the game, aspects that, were the Lightning a more rested group, might have evened out a bit more and given Tampa Bay a better chance at performing at a higher level.

”Well the thing that was missing was the defending,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “That was what we weren’t doing. Actually we were fine in the game. It was just the little ten by ten area in front of our net was the only area on the ice we didn’t play. Clearly that’s the most important part. That’s what’s unfortunate. We’ve been so good defending of late, hence why we’ve had success. We didn’t tonight.’’

So now, with the next two games at home and a two-day break between games between the Saturday and Tuesday. It should offer the opportunity to get the proper rest and prepare the right way for the final four weeks of the season.

Because, of all the teams around them in the standings, the only one that won was Toronto. Boston, Philadelphia, Florida and the New York Islanders all lost.

So despite the loss and dropping back down to 10th place in the conference, the Lightning sit in the exact same position in the chase for a playoff spot – one point out of the wild card spot and five points behind the Bruins for the No. 3 spot in the Atlantic Division.

In the end, a missed chanced to gain in the standings, but nothing was really lost.

”We’re still close with them in the standings,’’ Killorn said. “Now they jump us, but there’s a lot of hockey left to play. We’ve been on a nice little run here. I think we have to put things in perspective, but also know that these games are huge. We’ll put it behind us. We’ll take what we need from the game, watch the video, learn some things. All we can do is be better against Washington.’’

And be more focused, with more rest.

Postgame notes: C Steven Stamkos skated on his on before the morning skate on Thrusday and stayed on the ice with the rest of the team, though he did not participate in full drills. … Injured centers Tyler Johnson, Vladislav Namestnkov and Cedric Paquette did not skate and remain out with no timetable for a return. … Tampa Bay was 0-for-5 on the power play, which included a 5-on-3 for 1:11 at the end of the second period. … Amalie Arena was announced as a sellout for the 100th consecutive game, including playoffs. … The five-goal margin of defeat tied the season-worst for the Lightning this season done two times previous – Columbus and New York Rangers. … The Lightning were shut out at home by Toronto for the first time since Curtis Joseph on Feb. 2, 1999. … Former Tampa Bay C Brian Boyle made his first appearance against the Lightning since being traded to Toronto on Feb. 27. The team welcomed him back with a video tribute thanking him for his two-plus years in Tampa. … C Brad Richards was in town for the first time since he announced his retirement this summer and was in attendance at Thursday’s game.

My three stars:
1.Maple Leafs G Fredrik Andersen – Stopped 33 shots for the shutout

2.Maple Leafs D Morgan Rielly – Goal, assist, plus-3

3.Maple Leafs D Roman Polak – Goal, plus-3, team-high 23:39 of ice time

Postgame reaction from Anton Stralman, Jonathan Drouin and Alex Killornt

Jon Cooper postgame reaction

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