Good teams learn to do what Tampa Bay Lightning accomplished against the Blackhawks

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
November 22, 2017

TAMPA – In many conversations I’ve had with Bobby “The Chief’’ Taylor through the years – and there have been plenty of them – regarding his days with the Philadelphia Flyers during their heyday, he has discussed some of the team rules they approached every season.

One of the biggest during the years the Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cups was – don’t lose two games in a row.

It’s a good habit good teams develop – avoid stretches of losing. The Tampa Bay Lightning, well, I look at them as a good team and were coming off a loss in their last game. So, did they face the Chicago Blackhawks in a foul mood on Wednesday?

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When an opponent knew the Flyers were up next on the schedule, players used to check the box scores of the previous game Philadelphia played to see if they won or lost. A loss meant a very pissed off Flyers team was going to be on the ice because those Broad Street Bully teams hated to lose consecutive games.

After watching the Tampa Bay drop their previous game, this thought ran through my head for three days before Tampa Bay was back on the ice against the Chicago on Wednesday.

Well, the Lightning may not have played angry – it’s a little harder to do n today’s game compared to the 1970s – but the found a way to win a game and avoid losing for the second consecutive game.

Brayden Point’s second overtime power play goal of the season ensured Tampa Bay skated away with the extra point. And the Lightning avoided a second consecutive loss to remain the only team in the league to avoid consecutive regulation losses this season.

It’s an attitude this team wants to develop – staying away from losing streaks.

”You start to get in a funk, start losing a few games in a row,’’ Point said. “But we’ve done a good job of regrouping after losses and coming to work the next game.’’

To be honest, it’s hard to say they fully have developed that attitude because, well, they haven’t had a lot of practice at it this year. Tampa Bay has only lost three games in regulation all season, only two since the second game of the year.

They’ve only lost a total of five games, including overtime/shootout.

But the instinct is there, the understanding of what it takes is there.

”We talked about not having a solid effort against the Islanders (on Saturday), and even though we got down early in this game, it just shows the character of this room,’’ captain Steven Stamkos said. “I think we grew a little as a group in this game alone.’’

During the 2014-15 season, Tampa Bay did not lose more than two games in regulation at any point during the year. In today’s age of parity, that’s a difficult accomplishment. Many of the players on this team this season were a part of that team three years ago. It’s instilled in the leadership group of the team.

”It’s not so much straight losing back-to-back, it’s more the effort and how we’re playing, not having two games (in a row) we’re not happy with,’’ right wing Ryan Callahan said. “We wanted to respond after the Islanders game, we were not happy with the way we played so when you do that you usually respond and have a better chance of winning. But losing back-to-back games was not something we brought up, it’s more about the process and how we’re playing.’’

Saturday’s game saw Tampa Bay give up too many odd-man rushes against. Passes were missing the mark. Players were not on the same page and things looked out of synch.

With three days between games and two days of practice, the team had plenty of time to get things back in working order.

While things were not the well-oiled machine the team showcased on the recent trip to California, they were back on that track, even if the first period still looked a little out of synch, misfiring on three consecutive power plays, including 44 seconds of a 5-on-3 chance, and fell behind 2-0.

”It wasn’t working for us in the first, and Chicago had something to say about that,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “When we didn’t score on those power plays, I think our game went downhill and Chicago took complete advantage of us.’’

Unlike Saturday, however, Tampa Bay didn’t slip further down the rabbit hole. Instead, they climb right back up, maintained focused and recovered.

Victor Hedman started the charge, blocking a shot while on the penalty kill and racing up ice to create a rush situation. As he reached between the circles in the Chicago end, he dropped a pass back to Callahan – with some verbal help from the bench – who fed Ondrej Palat on his right for a one-timer that cut the deficit in half on Tampa Bay’s fourth shorthanded goal of the season, which matches the total from all of last season, at 4:27 of the second period.

Chris Kunitz tied the game 31 seconds in to the third period and it was game on from there with both goaltenders keeping the game tied. Vasilevskiy made the save of the game, getting his left skate over to rob Richard Panik of an open chance at the side of the net, only to outdo himself by denying Patrick Kane of a hat trick on a breakaway chance in overtime.

So it wasn’t perfection, but it was the type of game Tampa Bay knew it needed to play to get back on the right side of the ledger and avoid a second consecutive loss. Now they know they have it in them, even if they don’t get the chance to practice it very often.

It’s something good teams learn how to do.

Postgame notes:. Tampa Bay lost RW Gabriel Dumont on waivers Wednesday to the Ottawa Senators, which left 22 players on the active roster. … C Cedric Paquette returned after missing the past 13 games with an upper body injury. He centered a line with Callahan and Kunitz. … C Vladislav Namestnikov recorded his 100th career point while celebrating his 25th birthday. … D Jake Dotchin missed the game with an undisclosed lower body injury. … C Steven Stamkos finished with seven shots on goal, tied for the most by a Lightning player this season. … Tampa Bay improved to 10-0-2 against Chicago in the past 12 meetings between the teams.

My three stars:
1.Lightning RW Ryan Callahan – Two assists, plus-2, three shots, five hits, two blocked shots

2.Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane – Two goals, five shots, two takeaways

3. Lightning G Andrei Vasilevskiy/Blackhawks G Corey Crawford – Both were strong, Vasilevskiy with 29 saves and Crawford with 35 saves

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