Lightning playoff hopes take critical blow in Boston, but it’s not from a lack of heart

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
April 4, 2017

The season is not dead, although it’s likely over for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But here’s the thing, that’s what many – and I’ll point the finger at myself a little as well – thought when the Lightning came out of the All-Star break and dropped consecutive games to Boston and Ottawa. It felt like must-win games at that point, and they lost them both.

It dropped the Lightning to 15th in the 16-team Eastern Conference standings at the time.

The season looked lost then, even if the gap between Tampa Bay and the final playoff spot was eight points at the time. Steven Stamkos was out, Ryan Callahan suffered a setback in his recovery from hip surgery.

And yet . . . .

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Meaningful games in April. That’s what this team pulled itself up in to over the past two months.

From the cellar and nearly in to a playoff spot. It’s not something teams that sit that far out that late in the season are able to do in the NHL. In fact, teams more than four points out of a playoff spot by Thanksgiving rarely make the jump in to the postseason.

So as I watched the Lightning fail to score in what was essentially a do-or-die game, falling 4-0 in Boston – a game that allowed the Bruins to clinch a playoff spot – what I saw was a team that had fought so hard to get back in to the playoff conversation, finally run out of gas.

Just in the past week, the Lightning looked as if they would be getting Stamkos back in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 15, only to see him remain out. And for the second time in less than a week, Tampa Bay was forced to play with a shortened bench. On Thursday Nikita Kucherov missed the game against Detroit after becoming ill and on Tuesday Gabriel Dumont was granted a leave as his wife was set to deliver the couple’s second child.

So a top-heavy team already, forced to play their top guys extended minutes because of injuries, played twice in the span of six days with just 17 skaters dressed for the game. And that comes with the team playing four games in that six-day span. See Jon Cooper video below

And yet, I saw a few too many fans questioning this team’s heart and character for allegedly not showing up in an important game.

Were there a few too many passengers along for the ride? Sure – glances in the direction of Vladislav Namestnikov and Alex Killorn – that can happen, and one of my underlying reasons for how the season has gone has been due to the lack of accountability within the locker room due to loss of Stamkos and Callahan – the teams two biggest leaders – for most of the season. And their absence led to the loss of Brian Boyle through trade.

But to suggest this team has no heart can only be said out of bitter disappointment through raw emotion.

Yes, the Lightning will look back and lament lackluster losses to Arizona – both of them – and laying an egg to the Toronto Maple Leafs one game after pulling in to a tie for a playoff spot. And that five-minute power play to start the second period of a scoreless game on Tuesday against Boston certainly left a lot to be desired.

There were plenty of lapses at times, including on Boston’s second goal on Tuesday when Jonathan Drouin was caught watching the puck and didn’t pick up David Pastrnak knocking on the back door behind him allowing for an easy one-timer shot.

To me those are signs of fatigue from a compressed schedule in which injuries took a toll, and it was a domino effect. Tampa Bay played the past month down too many key players to be able to sustain the type of success needed to climb over so many teams, especially when it feels like they were running uphill on a treadmill seeing both Toronto and Boston go on extended runs of success.

But what they were able to do to this point – and they are not completely out of the picture yet – has been done all on heart and desire. They have the drive of a championship team, even if they have not won a championship.

That all comes from heart, to suggest this team has none is just misguided anger.

Postgame notes: Tampa Bay announced the signing of G Connor Ingram to a three-year entry level contract while assigning him to Syracuse on an PTO for the remainder of the season. The Lightning also signed prospects Brett Howden and Dennis Yan will join Syracuse on PTO contracts for the remainder of the season. … Boston C Patrice Bergeron went a perfect 17-for-17 in the faceoff circle on Tuesday. … Seven different Lightning players logged more than 20 minutes of ice time. … No Tampa Bay center finished above 50-percent in the faceoff circle. … C Cedric Paquette took part in the morning skate but has remained out of the lineup since March 9. … The Lightning play at Toronto on Thursday needing a victory in regulation to keep their season alive. … Boston RW Brad Marchand was handed a five-minute major and ejection for spearing Tampa Bay D Jake Dotchin in the crotch at the end of the first period, a play that is being reviewed by the NHL Department of Player Safety.

My three stars:
1.Bruins G Tuukka Rask – Stopped all 28 shots he faced for the shutout

2.Bruins C Patrice Bergeron – Went 17-for-17 on faceoffs, registered six shots on goal

3.Bruins RW David Pastrnak – Two goals, plus-three, five shots

Victor Hedman postgame reaction

Jon Cooper postgame reaction

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