Tampa Bay Lightning fall in final seconds of controversial ending

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
December 19, 2017

So maybe there is something to the theory of the alleged mythical Vegas flu.

Because the Lightning came down with a serious case of the bug that seems to affect just about every team that visits Sin City during the expansion year for the NHL’s newest franchise.

In fact, Tampa Bay had two players actually miss the game due to the flu.

But it was the Lightning penalty kill that actually looked sick, allowing four power play goals in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, with the winning goal coming in the dying seconds of regulation that ended Tampa Bay’s seven-game winning streak.

The Lightning kept rolling the dice in taking penalties and it eventually turned up snake eyes.

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Tampa Bay allowed four or more power play goals in a game for the ninth time in franchise history. The four power play goals allowed is also the most the Lightning have given up in a game since Jan. 15, 2011, in a 6-4 loss at Carolina.

”It’s a definite concern,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said of his team’s penalty kill. “In the end, we didn’t give them a 5-on-5 goal. If you’re going to give a team four power-play goals, it’s tough to win those ones. … it was just missed assignments, not in shot lanes. Our penalty kill until the last couple of games has been pretty darn good, but the special teams war in the end it comes back to bite you if you don’t win it and it did tonight.’’

Tampa Bay played without two of their key penalty killers on Tuesday as Ryan Callahan is out indefinitely with an upper body injury while Tyler Johnson was unable to play due to the effects of the actual flu. Defenseman Jake Dotchin, who also kills penalties, also missed the game due to the flu. And there may have been a few more players who were playing through symptoms, as well.

”There’s probably guys that shouldn’t have played tonight,’’ Cooper said. “It hit them a little bit earlier. There’s definitely a virus going around. It was tough, especially coming at the end of a road trip. But if there’s one thing I can say about our team, they didn’t quit. We had our chances. I thought we pushed. We ended up tying it. It was just unfortunate how it ended.’’

We’ll get to the ending shortly, but first a look at how the game transpired.

The final game of a 10-day road trip is never an easy task for any team. Trying to muster up the right kind of energy when you know the next plane ride is back home can sometimes be a challenge. Sometimes it’s referred to as a scheduled loss.

Add in that Tampa Bay had already spend three nights in Las Vegas before the puck dropped for the game and you start to see what the Lightning were up against heading in to a game while facing the top home team in the league as the Golden Knights had just two regulation losses at home entering Tuesday.

The build up to the game had a bit of a buzz about it, as well, with the upstart expansion team treating the matchup against the top team in the league as if it was a playoff game. And for normal expansion teams, it might have actually been the closest to a playoff game they would experience all season.

But these Knights are not a normal expansion team as Tampa Bay experienced first hand on Tuesday.

Vegas likes to play a fast game and certainly showed that, particularly in the second and third period when Tampa Bay had issues managing the pressure the Golden Knights came at them with on the forecheck and through the neutral zone.

But that’s not where the biggest issue stems from coming out of the game. It’s the work on the penalty kill. After a successful kill in the first period in which Tampa Bay did a good job of clogging the shooting lanes and keeping the Knights to the outside, things started to break down for Tampa Bay the rest of the game as Vegas scored on their final four power play chances in the game.

The Lightning actually started out as the dominant special teams performer, cashing in on their two power play chances in the first period, a Steven Stamkos one-timer from the left circle at 7:43 and a Vladislav Namestnikov quick spin move around the front of the net with 47 seconds left in the first period to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.

But Vegas pushed back in the second, using their speed and tenacity to put pressure on the Lightning, beating them to loose pucks and keeping Tampa Bay pushed in from the red line back. The Knights tied things up on a power play goal from James Neal and former Lightning winger Jonathan Marchessault to make it a 2-2 game heading to the third period.

Vegas struck again with the man advantage 4:42 in to the third as Erik Haula deflected a shot from in front to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead.

The Lightning pushed back, started to tilt the ice after falling behind and caught a break when Victor Hedman tied the game on a long-range floating wrist shot that beat Marc-Andre Fleury with 3:52 left.

Then things got interesting as Tampa Bay got a power play chance when Deryk Engelland had his stick break after blocking a Nikita Kucherov shot with the blade falling off. Engelland then threw his stick at Ondrej Palat, who was in possession of the puck, knocking the puck off Palat’s stick.

By rule, it should have resulted in a penalty shot awarded to Palat. Instead, the Lightning went on the power play with 3:08 left and a chance to win the game. But the top power play unit in the league, which had already scored twice, hardly looked dangerous, even with Brayden Point stepping in on the unit in place of Alex Killorn as the guy in the high slot. Sensing the importance of the opportunity, Cooper even called timeout during the power play to keep the top players on the ice.

After coming away empty, the game looked like it was heading toward overtime, which at 3-on-3 play could have been the most exciting show on The Strip. But instead, Braydon Coburn was called for a touchy, even ticky-tack, holding the stick call with 23 seconds left.

Now, I’m all for a penalty in the first period is a penalty in the third period. If it’s a penalty, it’s a penalty. But this is what will drive coaches and fans batty about the officiating – with the amount of calls that were not made throughout the game, including numerous interference calls let go, a cross check to the ribs delivered by Brayden McNabb after Namestnikov scored and even a hooking call on Coburn in front of the net that took away a possible scoring chance, a play away from the puck in the corner at a crucial moment of the game is called.

Tampa Bay nearly had it killed off, keeping the puck along the boards in the corner for a span of more than five seconds. But Vegas was able to fish the puck out to get it back to Marchessault who quickly fed Shea Theodore across the ice for an open look for a one-timer just as Yanni Gourde came sliding over. But the shot got through and Theodore scored the game-winner with his fourth point of the night with 2.9 seconds remaining on the clock to give Vegas the victory.

”That’s a shitty way to lose a hockey game,’’ Stamkos said. “We fight back to tie the game. I don’t think anyone would have complained if he doesn’t call that penalty on them at the end. That’s an iffy call. And then I think he feels the need to make up for a mistake, and at that point in the game, the puck’s in the corner, a battle going on, I know it’s tough, I just think it was the wrong call at that time of the game and it ruined a pretty exciting hockey game that was probably going to go to overtime and get this crowd even more excited. It’s a tough way for us to lose.’’

Cooper was asked about whether or not the play by Engelland should have resulted in a penalty shot, but took the easy way out with is answer.

”To be honest, I didn’t see the last two penalties, so I couldn’t really, they were both at bad angles for me to see,’’ Cooper said. “It’s hard for me to comment after the game on the calls. I disagreed with a few things that went on at the end of the game. Ultimately, we didn’t end up scoring on the power play and they did. That hurt.’’

Postgame notes: Both D Jake Dotchin and C Tyler Johnson missed the game with the flu. Johnson took part in warmup but was unable to play. … Tampa Bay stayed the night in Las Vegas and flew home on Wednesday before hosting Ottawa on Thursday. … Nikita Kucherov recorded his 150th career assists. … Vladislav Namestnikov matched his career high with his 14th goal of the season. … C Brayden Point saw his seven-game scoring streak come to an end. … Tampa Bay fell to 12-2 against Western Conference opponents on the season. … The Lightning had six players log more than 20 minutes of ice time.

My three stars:
1.Golden Knights D Shea Theodore – Game winning goal, three assists

2.Lightning D Victor Hedman – Goal, two assists in 27 minutes

3. Golden Knights C David Perron Three assists

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