After Wednesday night’s opening five-minute debacle against Toronto, once again, questions are being asked, and rightfully so, about this Tampa Bay Lightning team as the playoffs approach.
Can they play the kind of defense needed for 60 minutes every game to win another Stanley Cup? Can they find success on the road after playing .500 all season?
The Lightning played what may have been their worst five minutes of hockey this season to begin the game against the Maple Leafs, which ultimately cost them a 4-3 overtime loss to Toronto on Wednesday night at Amalie Arena. Jon Cooper just called the first five minutes “Embarrassing.” Nothing else needed to be said.
With a chance to slip into first place in the division with a win, the Bolts looked anything like a well-oiled machine as the Leafs jumped to a 2-0 lead just six minutes into the first period. The Lightning did get their mojo back and made it a game the rest of the way. Nick Perbix scored his 20th goal of the season with just over one minute to play in the period to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The score stayed 2-1 until 50 seconds into the third period when Oliver Bkorkstrand scored his 21st goal on the power play to tie the game at two. Just over one minute later, Toronto would take back the lead at 3-2, as Matthew Knies notched his second of the game for the Maple Leafs. Victor Hedman then scored his 15th goal of the season, a power-play goal, to tie the game at 3-3.
In overtime, Matthew Knies scored the game-winning goal, his third of the night, as the Leafs turned out the lights on the Lightning and won the game 4-3. With the Toronto win, the Lightning were swept by an opponent during the regular season for the first time in 13 seasons.
In one of the season’s most important games with first place and playoff positioning on the line, the Bolts again would fail to close it out. The Lightning are now three points behind Toronto for the division lead and three points ahead of Florida for third place.
The Lightning were playing without Jake Guentzal due to a personal matter. The Kucherov, Point and Guentzal line has been one of the best lines in the NHL this season.
With the playoffs fast approaching, many questions remain about this Lightning team.
The Lightning have four games left in the regular season; three at home against Detroit, Buffalo, and Florida, followed by a road game against the New York Rangers.
The good news is that the Lightning seemed to have found some scoring on the power play. After a brutal 0/10 slump, the Bolts have scored on five of their last eight power play opportunities against the Rangers and Maple Leafs.
A silver lining for the Bolts: After the Maple Leafs went up 2-0, the Lightning played very well and were the better team the rest of the way, outscoring Toronto 3-1 the rest of the game. The Lightning finished the game with 90 shot attempts. However, only 28 of those shots were on goal, and the Maple Leafs had 33 blocked shots.
With the playoffs approaching, the margin of error is getting smaller, and there is no room for error in the playoffs.
Does it matter who the Lightning play in the first round of the playoffs? You will eventually have to beat those teams in front of you in your division to win the Stanley Cup.
Does home-ice advantage matter once the playoffs begin? Victor Hedman talked about that in his post-game press comments. “We want to get home-ice. Best-case scenario, we want to finish first. But for us, we did what we set out to do at the beginning of the year is make the playoffs.”
The Lightning’s concern is that they have played well at home, with a record of 27-8-3, while going just 18-18-4 on the road. The Lightning have played much better at home, going 27-8-3. Thus, getting a home-ice advantage for the first and second rounds is essential.
In the 21-22 season, the Bolts were 0-2-1 against the New York Rangers during the regular season and beat them in the Eastern Conference finals in six games. The Lightning also went 2-2 against the Florida Panthers and eliminated them in the second round.
Then there was 2018-19, when the Lightning won the Presidents Trophy with 62 wins and 128 points but were swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
These next four games will tell us a lot about this Lightning team and give us a good sense of what we can look forward to once the playoffs start.