Brayden Point on the mark in overtime, once again, for Tampa Bay Lightning

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
December 9, 2017

TAMPA – Brayden Point proved to be right on the mark in overtime, once again.

The sophomore center scored the overtime winning goal – his third this season – 36 seconds in to the extra session to lift Tampa Bay to a 4-3 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. His heroics helped the Lightning close out a perfect four-game homestand for the first time since Jan. 15-21, 2016.

And once again, Point was in the middle of a positive result, as he usually is for Tampa Bay.

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Point finished the game with a goal and an assist and was a plus-2 on a night he was put out on the ice head-to-head most of the game against Winnipeg’s top line of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.

Just another routine night at the rink for the former third-round draft pick.

”He’s been an instrumental player in where we are in the standings all year long,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “Naturally you have Stammer (Steven Stamkos) and Kuch (Nikita Kucherov) and Vladdy (Namestnikov) who have done a phenomenal job for us and seem to get points every night, which we can’t win without, but there are a lot of nights that Pointer is up against their top line or one of the top lines every night and he’s done a really good job on the penalty kill for us. You are just really glad when guys like that work that hard and get rewarded. He deserved that.

He earned it, as well, even if he thinks there was an element of luck involved on the winner.

As Point gained steam through the neutral zone, he took a pass from Anton Stralman and turned Bryan Little inside-out. That opened up a lane to the net as Point gained a step on Little before pulling the puck to his backhand as he came across the crease and flipped the puck past Connor Hellebuyck for the winner.

”It’s opportunity, it’s lucky breaks,” Point said. “Tonight, I got one. Little made a good play on me to poke check the puck but it hit my shin pad and kind of bounced for a break. It’s luck and it’s opportunity. I’m just happy to finish it.”

It’s more like preparation meeting opportunity combined with skill.

“Once he was able to get the puck, it was a little nerve wracking how he was able to beat the guy like that, but he’s skilled enough where he does and he’s obviously putting it in,” Tyler Johnson said. “When he got that break away I think everyone was already over the boards before it even crossed the line.”

Point’s goal was his 12th of the season, tied with Stamkos and Namestnikov for second on the team behind Kucherov. His 14 assists rank fifth on the Lightning, behind the top line trio and Victor Hedman. he put that play-making ability on display on Saturday, as well.

Late in a first-period power play chance, Point faked a shot before sliding a pass across the ice to find Yanni Gourde open on the back door for a tap in that tied the game 1-1.

Point has plenty of that in his game, and so much more.

The second-year pivot has perhaps the highest hockey IQ on the Lightning. He never seems to get caught out of position, rarely makes the wrong read or wrong decision. It’s a big part of why he gets the tough matchups on any given night. Sidney Crosbly. John Tavares. Mark Scheifele. Nicklas Backstrom. Point’s gone head-to-head against all of them already this season. More often than not, his line comes out on top.

Which is also not a surprise. Perhaps the only surprise to Point’s game is the fact that he’s had such a big impact in a short period of time.

In the Steve Yzerman regime, rarely does a player bypass the American Hockey League and jump straight to the NHL. (not counting junior eligible players such as Jonathan Drouin or Mikhail Sergachev who could only play in the NHL or junior). It’s so rare, in fact, that Point is the only player to make that sort of an impact. Even Kucherov started the season with Syracuse in 2013-14, appearing in 17 games before his first call up.

That’s what makes Point so special. He defies the odds.

A third-round pick in 2014, Point was a two-time member of Team Canada’s World Junior team, winning a gold medal in 2014 and serving as captain in 2015. Even with that pedigree, making the team out of camp last year seemed a reach.

Yet, there he was on the opening night roster, in the opening night lineup. By the end of the year, he was thriving as a top-line center – some of it forced due to injury, some forced by his play – between Ondrej Palat and Kucherov as he helped Tampa Bay make a late-season push to the playoffs. He ended the year with 18 goals and 40 points in 68 games.

After the Lightning fell a point short of the postseason, Point was selected to play for Canada at the World Championships, a team coached by Cooper. He started the two-plus week tournament as a fourth-line penalty killer but turned in to a top six role by the end as Canada reached the Gold Medal game.

It’s no surprise to Cooper to see Point not only survive, but thrive in his second season with the team while carrying the right attitude.

“You have to work at your game and Pointer works at his game,” Cooper said. “I think he just doesn’t take anything for granted. Brayden Point is one of those guys who goes out there and feels if he doesn’t play well he’s going to get sent down, that’s kind of that attitude that he has. I got to coach him not only last year, but I had him at the world championships and players have to accept different roles and where to play and he just says tell me where to play and I’ll give you my best. I think just that attitude is very much how our team has been this year is that role acceptance for the betterment of the team and Point is just one of those guys that does that and it’s paid off.”

Right on Point.

Postgame notes: RW Nikita Kucherov reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth consecutive season. … Tampa Bay has a power play goal in nine consecutive games. … C Yanni Gourde has points in four consecutive games, including three goals. … Kucherov moved past Vinny Prospal in to sixth place on the franchise all-time goal scoring list with 128 goals. His 60 goals since the start of last season are the most in the league. … D Jake Dotchin was activated off injured reserve and appeared in his first game since Nov. 18. He finished with 18:05 of ice time and picked up an assist on Kucherov’s game-tying goal in the third period. … C Tyler Johnson has two goals and seven points during a four-game scoring streak.

My three stars:
1.Lightning C Brayden Point – Overtime winner, assist, plus-2

2.Jets LW Nikolaj Ehlers – Goal, speed was an issue for Tampa Bay to contain

3. Lightning D Mikhail Sergachev – Goal, seven shot attempts, tied season high with 19:23 of ice time

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