Monday Morning Faceoff: Chicken Little running scared, best lineup and heading to Sin City

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
December 11, 2017

Welcome again to the Monday Morning Faceoff a weekly debate here on LightningInsider.com.

This weekly feature brings together Erik Erlendsson, creator of LightningInsider.com, and Greg Linnelli, who hosts Lightning Power Play Live weekdays from 6-7 p.m. or one hour prior to puck drop on game days on TBLPowerplay.com (which simulcasts on 970-AM in Tampa for the final 30 minutes) as well as intermission host during radio broadcasts. We will also look to bring in special guests on a regular basis to debate topical items surrounding the Tampa Bay Lightning and around the NHL as we exchange our thoughts in a back-and-forth exchange that will appear every Monday morning.

This week Erik and Greg discuss the four-game homestand, whether the Lightning are best suited with six or seven defensemen in the lineup and what to look for on the upcoming road trip.

Erik: What a difference a week can make. It wasn’t that long ago that Chicken Little was running around pointing to the ceiling inside Amalie Arena acting as if the roof was collapsing around the team. A couple of Nikita Kucherov goals, a three-point night from Steven Stamkos and a four-game homestand sweep later and all seems right in the Lightning world. OK, so that’s a little over the top sarcasm going on, but that’s what happens when you are battling the sinus issue I’ve dealt with since Tuesday ?

In all seriousness, Tampa Bay looked a lot like Tampa Bay during the homestand, forechecking with a speed game. Still some issues in their own zone from time to time, but for the most part, the Lightning seem to have located their missing game.

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Greg: They really did and they had different players and lines play well throughout this homestand. How about the play of the fourth line? Callahan, Paquette, and Kunitz were tremendous. We’ve talked about depth scoring so much this year. It was on display this homestand. Also, this power play has been amazing. They have two units who can score and that puts so much pressure on the opposing teams PK. Oh, and the team got a win with Budaj in net. All is well.

Erik: Heck, even Paquette finally scored a goal, even if it didn’t count as it was overturned on challenge for goaltender interference, which is another can of worms that I’ll leave closed for the time being.

You once asked me on your show if I felt the Lightning were a better team with 7D and 11 forwards or the more standard 12 and 6 alignment. I think we are seeing right now – and injuries to Braydon Coburn and previously Jake Dotchin played in to this a little bit – they are better with the standard format. While I’m a firm believer that 11-7 lineup has its advantages, the way the team has played of late allows for more flow to the game, in my opinion. We’ll see what happens when Coburn comes back, but I still believe in the long run the 12-6 alignment is best suited for this team.

Greg: I think the 12-6 format makes everyone feel a little more comfortable. Tyler Johnson is looking better playing with regular line mates which is great to see. By the way, I love him on a line with Point and Palat. Put Kucherov back with Stamkos and now you have two dynamic lines. I love Gourde as a third line center. He seems to be more comfortable in that scenario. The only downside going with 6 defenseman is a guy like Koekkoek sits. I’m wondering if his play recently has opened up some eyes with regards to the coaching staff. Could we see a scenario where Koekkoek becomes a top six on this team?

Erik: At some point, it’s trending for Koekkoek to be a full-time part of the top six, but we’ll have to see what the coaching staff thinks when Coburn is ready to return because just as we saw when right-handed Dotchin returned on Saturday, it was the right-handed Andrej Sustr – who played well on the homestand – come out of the lineup. When Coburn’s ready, it will be a lefty that comes out (unless, of course they go with seven defensemen ? ).

It’s important for Tampa Bay to carry the momentum gained from this homestand on to this upcoming road trip. After a disastrous four-game trip last time out, the Lightning can’t afford to let that happen again on a trip that takes them out of the Eastern time zone for over a week. Seemingly more winnable games on this trip and certainly the last time they headed west things went well. But nothing can be taken for granted and the same sort of game they displayed on home ice needs to carry over on the road, particularly with 17 of the next 24 away from Amalie Arena.

Greg: The good news is they have the great equalizer in Andrei Vasilevskiy. He can steal some games on the road by himself and I’d look for him to do that on this trip.

Speaking of defenseman and guys sitting could we see Dotchin sit at some point during this trip? He didn’t look great against the Jets. I know it may take him a few games to get settled but I don’t think he’s immune to sitting, especially with Koekkoek and even Sustr playing better now.

Erik: Certainly nobody is immune to sitting, but I think Dotchin will get a couple of games to get his skates under him. Dotchin told me on the postgame radio show on Saturday that he had some rust in his game, which probably was made worse by facing a quicker team like Winnipeg.

One final thought, Tampa Bay will have two days off in Las Vegas before facing the Golden Knights for the first time on Dec. 19. Should we have some concern about the team getting the full Vegas road experience for the first ever trip to Sin City?.

Greg: What goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas. Although I think that should be a fun game for everyone involved. Two good hockey teams. Vegas has a legit roster that can compete with anyone and their goaltending has been impressive.

Not as impressive as listening to you on Lightning Power Play Live all week long for some Great Hockey Talk™ as the Lightning get set to embark on the first three games of a four-game trip this week starting Tuesday in St. Louis on NBCSN before heading to Arizona on Thursday and Colorado on Saturday.

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