Tampa Bay Lightning shift at center right on Point

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
October 10, 2017

TAMPA – When the Tampa Bay Lightning juggled lines around for the final preseason game, they ended up being right on Point.

Throughout training camp and the preseason, the second-year forward was tried at left wing with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. He was given a look at right wing with Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat.

Then, finally, as training camp wound down, Point was placed at center, a role he’ll almost certainly stay for the foreseeable future.

”That’s where he is best,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said.

Considering the way Point has jumped out of the gate to start the season, it was the best decision for all interested parties.

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In the opening three games of the season, Point has multi-point efforts in all three. He has three goals, leads the team with seven points, is a plus-4 and has won a shade over 50-percent of his faceoffs while averaging just under 20 minutes per game.

It’s a sensational start to his sophomore season.

”I think I feel comfortable on the ice, a lot more comfortable this year than I was last year,’’ Point said. “The end of last year I started to settle in and started to make plays. I’m feeling comfortable this year.’’

That’s quite a statement coming from a player who looked so comfortable as a rookie last season when he finished with 18 goals and 40 points despite missing 14 games with a fractured finger he suffered in December. A year in which he was a surprise to make the team out of camp, started the season on the wing and ended as the No. 1 center when injuries ravaged the forward ranks, nearly helping push the Lightning in to the final playoff spot down the stretch.

He then went on to be a major force for Canada at the World Championships, earning his way up from a lower line role to a top line role while playing with Mitch Marner (Toronto) and Travis Konecey (Philadelphia), picking up a silver medal for his efforts.

”It’s been a quick transition for him,’’ Cooper said. “If you think of where he was from a year ago to today, just an unknown who made the team. Especially with all the injuries we had last year, by the end of the year he was our No. 1 center. You saw him continue that in the World Championships, when he was maybe not looked upon much to be in the role he was in but by the end of the world championship he was playing a major role on that team.

“He’s a worker. He’s got that blend of the hockey sense and the drive and he works and works, and usually those guys succeed.’’

Point is starting to thrive.

Not only is he producing offense, he and his line are tasked with some difficult defensive assignments as well. In the opening two games, they were sent out against the Aleksander Barkov line for Florida and then in Monday’s victory against Washington, when he scored the overtime winner, Point went head-to-head with Nicklas Backstrom. Point’s line produced in all three games.

That’s the type of trust the coaching staff has in Point, who played for Cooper at the World Championships. With each challenge Cooper and his staff has issued to Point, he’s come through every time.

”At the end of last year he was playing with Kuch and Paly, he was playing with top-line players. But was it the chemistry he had with those guys, so could he do it with other players in the league. Right away he had chemistry with Mitch Marner and Konecey. These are rising players in the NHL and right away he had it. Then you put him on the penalty kill and he was one of our top penalty killers. The more situations you put him in he excels at it. We’ll give me another situation. When he fit in with the top players in the league, we knew we were going to be OK.’’

It was something Alex Killorn, who was also a part of Canada’s World Championship team, saw in his Lightning teammate and sees a young player continuing to grow in to an important player for Tampa Bay.

”He thinks the game really well,’’ Killorn said. “He’s just one of those guys who really understands situations. He takes chances when the opportunity is there to take them, but he knows never to go over that limit. He’ll get pucks deep. He always makes the smart play but he can also make the skill play when he has the room.’’

Earlier in camp, Cooper referred to Point as a “puck hound’’ but a more appropriate term might be puck magnet because the puck seems to follow him around. He always seems to be in the right position, he has an instinct that can’t be taught. And when you put all that together, you have a player that scores a game-winning goal on a puck, heading wide of the net, hits him in the knee and finds the top corner as it did on Monday.

”He has great awareness,’’ Killorn said. “The puck follows him around the ice.’’

The kid from Calgary, who grew a Vancouver Canucks fan and had posters of Markus Naslund in his bedroom, now finds himself going head-to-head on a nightly basis against top competition every night.

Next up – Sidney Crosby when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit Amalie Arena on Thursday, something that might have been a bit intimidating last year.

”When you play against Crosby it’s pretty cool, right? It’s neat, right? It’s awesome,’’ Point said. “It’s hard not to be star-struck playing against the guys, but I feel more confident this year because I have seen them and have played against them already.’’

It’s the type of ability to adapt and learn quickly that has elevated Point to his role on this team, all but replacing Tyler Johnson as the second line center. Point’s future seems bright.

”This year he’s been one of our best if not our best player so far,’’ Killorn said. “It’s been really fun to watch him play, and I think he’s going to keep getting better.’’

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