Exclamation, Point help keep hope alive for Tampa Bay Lightning

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
April 6, 2017

Live to fight another day.

That was the rally cry for the Lightning heading in to Thursday’s showdown at the Air Canada Centre against the Maple Leafs.

A loss of any kind and Tampa Bay would be eliminated from postseason contention. Win and keep hope alive.

Hope remains alive.

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Brayden Point scored twice, Victor Hedman had three assists and Michael Bournival, called up on an emergency basis the day before, notched his second of the season. Nikita Kucherov scored his 39th of the season while Ondrej Palat had two assists to lead Tampa Bay to a 4-1 victory on Thursday

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 26 saves to pick up the victory and help send Tampa Bay to Friday’s game at Montreal 7:30 p.m., NBCSN, 970-AM, tblpowerplay.com still with a chance to squeak in to the postseason.

Tampa Bay currently sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, tied with the New York Islanders, while both teams remain three points back of Toronto for the second wild card spot. The Lightning currently would lose the tiebreaker – regulation/overtime wins – to both teams, but could still catch both Toronto and New York in this area. Tampa Bay would own the second tiebreaker – head-to-head – against both teams.

But all that is predicated on Tampa Bay winning its two remaining games – at Montreal and the season finale at home against Buffalo on Sunday – and relying on the Toronto to drop both of their final two games and the Islanders losing at least one in any fashion.

There are other scenarios in which Tampa Bay could still get in, but that is the easiest path to assess. In the event of a three-way tie, and if all three teams are tied in ROW, then the Lightning win the tiebreaker in that scenario, having gained five points against Toronto (2-1-1) and sweeping the Islanders.

Toronto closes the regular season with home games against Pittsburgh and Columbus, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday. Both the Penguins and Blue Jackets are locked in to their playoff seeds and have nothing to play for.

The Islanders close their schedule with games at New Jersey on Saturday and home to Ottawa on Sunday.

For the Lightning, just having the chance to still be in the conversation at this point after dropping Tuesday’s game at Boston is a testament to the desire and will Tampa Bay has in the locker room.

”You can’t look too far ahead. I hope the guys don’t even know who we’re playing on Sunday,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We’re playing Montreal. We’ve got to find a way to beat a really good Montreal team. We just saw them recently, and they, even though we took that game to overtime, they’ve got a good team and if we’re not ready to play the way we played tonight, you can’t exhale because we won this game. There’s a lot of road still to go. As I told the guys, ‘Enjoy this. Enjoy the plane ride. As soon as we land in Montreal, let’s turn the page and get ready for them.’’

Tampa Bay was definitely ready for Toronto on Thursday, stifling the loaded lineup with an impressive crop of rookies, led by 2016 overall No. 1 pick Auston Matthews.

Led by Vasilevskiy in goal and Hedman on the blue line, the Lightning pressed the issue, looking to go out and set the tone, coming out aggressive on the forecheck and putting pressure on the Leafs in their own end. The Tampa Bay penalty kill kept the Leafs No. 1 ranked unit at bay, including consecutive kills in the first period that could have tilted the tide for Toronto.

”You’ve got to give a lot of credit, first of all, to our penalty kill because we take those back-to-back penalties there, so that’s four-straight minutes to a really good power play and they really didn’t give them too much,’’ Cooper said. “I thought that was a big boost for us to kind of, it was a springboard for us for the rest of the game.’’

It was actually Tampa Bay’s power play that would strike first as Point was left alone in the slot at the Leafs sent two defenders toward Kucherov, allowing Point to settle in to a soft spot, collect a pass from Palat and pick the top far corner at 7:34 of the second period.

Toronto would tie the game at 9:42 as Nazem Kadri redirected a Matt Hunwick pass past Vasilevskiy for his 32nd of the season.

But Kucherov would put Tampa Bay in front for good as he took a Hedman pass and weaved his way in to the offensive zone before rifling a wrist shot past Fredrik Andersen at 11:50.

”That line was outstanding tonight,’’ Cooper said of the Palat-Point-Kucherov trio. Toronto “kept countering with the Kadri line and every time they pushed, our guys pushed back harder. Big thing was not only was that kill, that four minutes of killing that off but we scored and they answered and they had about two minutes of a good push where we were kind of holding on and then Kuch does what he does. I thought that kind of popped their balloon a little bit.’’

It also put a lot of air in to Tampa Bay’s game as the Lightning carried that 2-1 lead in to the third period and suffocated the Maple Leafs the rest of the way. Bournival scored 2:00 in the final period for the insurance goal and Point put the exclamation mark on the outcome with his second of the game at 14:11.

We had to win it, we knew that,” Point told NHL.com. “I thought we worked hard, I thought we spent a lot of time in their end pressuring them. We did a good job defending as well. We had to win it and I think we played like it.

Tampa Bay held the Leafs to just five shots on goal in the third in another game in which the Lightning were led by their stars while leaning heavily on handful of call ups that have chipped in as well.

”They believe in what we’re doing,’’ Cooper said. “I’m sure people probably look at our lineup card tonight and try to figure out who some of these guys were, but you know what, they’re hockey players. They’ve got a goal and it’s one game at a time.

But it’s just these unsung things that people aren’t going to sit there and say, ‘Well, we won this big draw.’ Well, Dumont won a big draw when we needed it. McKegg won a big draw when we needed it. Bournival scores a huge goal for us to make it a two-goal game. You just can’t rely on the Points and Palats and Kucherovs to do everything for you. We’re not anywhere without those guys, but you need secondary help and these guys, they’re there for us. And it’s just been a lot of fun to coach this team.

Postgame notes:. C Tyler Johnson missed the game as he continues to battle thorugh a lower body injury suffered on March 9. Johnson returned to the lineup on Sunday but appeared to reaggravate the injury on Tuesday in Boston. … C Steven Stamkos said on Thursday it’s unlikely he’ll return to the lineup before the end of the regular season. … D Victor Hedman assumed the league lead with assists by a defenseman (55) moving one ahead of Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson, who missed Thursday’s game at Boston. … Hedman, who has 70 points, is also within four of catching San Jose’s Brent Burns for most points by a defenseman. … RW Gabriel Dumont returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game at Boston to be with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s second child. … RW Cory Conacher who was called up along with Bournival on Wednesday, was in the lineup, playing just over nine minutes. … RW J.T. Brown and Jason Garrison missed the game due to injury.

My three stars:
1.Lightning D Victor Hedman – Three assists, plus-2, 28-plus minutes of ice time

2.Lightning C Brayden Point – Two goals, plus-1, four shots on goal

3.Lightning G Andrei Vasilevskiy – Finished with 27 saves, held the game in check in first period

Brayden Point postgame reaction

Jon Cooper postgame reaction

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