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Tampa Bay Lightning depth knows no depths this season

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by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
December 5, 2017


TAMPA – Dig deep in to the box score from Tuesday’s game to find the story of the game.

Go a little deeper.

A little deeper.

Put some elbow grease in to it.

It still doesn’t match the depth on display from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

They can beat you with any line on any shift in any game.

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On a night in which the Lightning scored six goals in a victory against the New York Islanders, the big guns only played a small part in the offensive outburst.

Steven Stamkos had one secondary assist. Nikita Kucherov contributed with two assists. Victor Hedman came away empty handed in the box score despite a game-high 25 minutes, 7 seconds of ice time.

And the Lightning scored six. Six.

When the team is playing their game and everybody is in synch, good luck even trying to slow them down. When that happens, the only team that can slow them down is . . . themselves.

That was all on full display on Tuesday as Tampa Bay had about as dominant of a period as a team can have at the NHL level to open the game. It looked like an NHL team playing a Division II college team. If it had been soccer, the Lightning have held 90-percent possession after 20 minutes.

The shot clock said 11-2 in favor of Tampa Bay. But the shot attempts, well, they showed exactly how much control the Lightning had in the first period with a total of 28 attempted shots for Tampa Bay (11 on goal, 14 were blocked and 3 missed) while the Islanders had just three attempts. Three.

A goal from Brayden Point 34 seconds in to the game (remember Point had a turnover on the opening shift in the first meeting against the Islanders that led to a goal in the opening minute) gave Tampa Bay a quick lead and Andrej Sustr made it 2-0 with a point shot through traffic at 17:47 provided a two-goal cushion.

”We’re more comfortable when we play the right way,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We played that way in the first, played that way probably six minutes left in the second and played a pretty steady third. When you’re not playing the right way it can be troublesome.’’

It did get troublesome in the second period as the Islanders came out on a mission, looking to reverse the fortunes in the opening 20 minutes. And in the blink of an eye, New York caught Tampa Bay in the shot clock and pulled even on the scoreboard to make it a 2-2 game.

That’s when the Lightning’s depth took over, and in a hurry. Because just as quickly as the lead was lost, it was regained, built upon and added to.

Yanni Gourde scored twice in the span of 1:34, both from right in front. He pounced on a rebound from a pass from Mikhail Sergachev off the end boards, getting his stick on the puck as it caromed off back boards on the power play at 16:22. He added his second once again on the rebound after Slater Koekkoek was robbed on the backdoor from a crisp pass from Cory Conacher.

Vladislav Namestnikov capped off the quick strike offense with another rebound goal, pouncing on the puck after a shot from Kucherov four seconds in to a power play as Tampa Bay scored three times in the span of 2:24.

Chris Kunitz capped it off, stripping Johnny Boychuk along the wall to create a partial breakaway and snap off a shot past Thomas Greiss in the third period.

So, about that depth.

Of the 18 skaters in the lineup for Tampa Bay on Tuesday, 13 of them registered at least a point. Alex Killorn and Cedric Paquette were the only forwards not to pick up a point. Dan Girardi and Anton Stralman were the only defensemen not to put up a point in the game.

Of the 34 shots on goal, only Conacher failed to register at least one.

Ok, so that was just one game, that can happen through the stretch of a long season.

But how about looking at the season as a whole to this point.

Tampa Bay has four players in double digit in goals on the season – Kucherov (19), Stamkos (11), Namestnikov (11) and Point (10) – only Chicago, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and New York Rangers have four players with 10-or-more goals . The Lightning have eight different players to score at least six goals this season, which only the expansion Vegas Golden Knights can match.

Every skater to suit up this season for Tampa Bay has registered at least a point, including Conacher, who has dressed for three games and has two goals and three points. Of the 21 different skaters to appear in a game so far, only defenseman Braydon Coburn and Cedric Paquette have failed to record a goal.

Seven of the eight defenseman have scored at least a goal with all but Dan Girardi and Coburn scoring at least two.

The Lightning have scored at least six goals in a game four times this season and five or more 11 times in 27 games.

The offense can come from anywhere at anytime from anyone.

”You have to have depth,’’ Callahan said. “To have success in this league you have to have scoring throughout the lineup, that’s just how it is. Teams defend so well now, especially against your top guys. Some night they aren’t going to put the puck in the net and other guys have to show up and do it.’’

In a year in which scoring is up substantially throughout the league, the Lightning have plenty of firepower to match any team in the league.

”We’re pretty lucky (in that) we have guys that are willing to play certain roles and can put guys on the ice in almost any moment so we are going to have some matchup advantages against some teams with the depth,’’ Kunitz said. “But we still have to go out there and prove it every night.’’

When they do, good luck digging through all that depth.

Postgame notes: RW Nikita Kucherov became the third player in franchise history to reach 40-or-more points through the first 27 games of the season, joining Vinny Lecavalier (26 games in 2007-08) and Steven Stamkos (25 games in 2010-11). … Tampa Bay has a power play goal in seven consecutive games to tie a season best streak. The Lightning also have a power play goal in 12 of the past 13 games. … Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed two or fewer goals for the eighth time in his past 10 starts. He leads the league with 18 victories. … C Cedric Paquette returned after serving a one-game suspension. … RW J.T. Brown and D Jamie McBain were scratched. … D Jake Dotchin took part in Tuesday’s optional skate wearing a red no-contact jersey. … D Braydon Coburn missed his second consecutive game with an undisclosed lower body injury. … RW Ryan Callahan ended a five-game scoring drought. … Tampa Bay improved to 10-0-1 this season on two-or-more days rest.

My three stars:
1.Lightning C Yanni Gourde – Two goals, plus-2, three shots

2.Lightning LW Chris Kunitz – Goal, assist, plus-2

3. Lightning D Andrej Sustr – Goal, 5 shot attempts, two blocked shots in 21:42 of ice time

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