The Lightning sit in serious trouble three games in to the Eastern Conference finals.
Sure, the series sits at a 2-1 advantage for Pittsburgh, far from over. Win the next one and it’s anybody’s series.
Problem is, it feels like it’s the Penguins series to lose and Tampa Bay is fighting for second place in a two-team race.
The Lightning earned the coveted split in the first two games in Pittsburgh to grab home ice advantage away
PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 16: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning tends goal during the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Consol Energy Center on May 16, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
from the Penguins. Tampa Bay lost goaltender Ben Bishop halfway through the first period of the first game, which immediately brought out the dissenters.
No way Tampa Bay was going to win the series without their Vezina Finalist goaltender.
Hard not to think that, of course. Goaltender is the most important position in the sport. If you don’t have good goaltending, you don’t have a good team. Fortunately, the Lightning have a quality backup in highly touted Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 21-year-old former first-round draft pick in 2012, who came in and stopped 25-of-26 shots in relief as Tampa Bay walked away with a victory to open the series.
Here’s the problem, however. The way the Lightning have played in the past two games of the series, Vladislav Tretiak could be in goal and it likely wouldn’t make a difference.
Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper took that analogy one step further after Wednesday’s 4-2 loss in which the Lightning allowed 48 shots on goal.
“You know, we could have Bish and Vasy both playing at the same time, and they might have squeaked a couple in,’’ he said.
Vasilevskiy finished with a playoff franchise record on Wednesday with 44 saves in regulation, but gave up four. In the past two games combined, Vasilevskiy has faced a total of 89 shots.
If that trend continues, this series will end quickly. That is not a sustained formula for success, and Cooper knows it. Pittsburgh has had the puck way too much in the series. When a deep group of forwards with the skill level the Penguins possess has the puck as much as they have to this point in the series, bad things are bound to occur.
“It’s extremely disappointing to give up 48 shots in your home building in a playoff game. That’s unacceptable,’’ Cooper said. “Just got to be better. That’s it.’’
I’m not sure how much better Tampa Bay can be, to be honest.
PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 16: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates after scoring a goal in overtime against Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning to win Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final with a score of 3 to 2 during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Consol Energy Center on May 16, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
In the first two games of the series, the Lightning were one shot away from grabbing a 2-0 series lead. But after Sidney Crosby scored the overtime winner in Game 2, the series was tied.
Despite not playing their best, particularly in the second game, the talk around the Lightning centered on being better. How they knew they were not at their best, and yet felt they could have won both games in Pittsburgh.
They figured to be able to clean up their game a little bit, make adjustments and even things out on the ice. The addition of Anton Stralman, who returned in Game 2, should have helped as well for Game 3 after getting a game under his belt following a seven-week absence due to a fractured fibula.
Instead of improving their game, the Lightning actually looked much, much worse.
The Penguins were the superior team in Game 3, and this after Tampa Bay had a strong start, holding a 7-2 shot advantage through the opening minutes of the game. After failing to capitalize on that early momentum, the Lightning fell back in to familiar habits that started to form in the first two games of the series – turning over too many pucks in the neutral zone and feeing the Penguins transition game.
After that initial burst, the Penguins would go on to outshoot the Lightning 46-21 for the remainder of the game. The outcome could have, and frankly, should have been much worse than the 4-2 result. Vasilevskiy did everything he could to keep his team in the game, but the Penguins proved too much for Tampa Bay to handle. It hasn’t happed by fluke. Pittsburgh is using its quickness to win seemingly every 50/50 puck battle. And on those occasions the Lightning actually have the puck on their stick, the Penguins are able to close down the space so quickly and put the puck carrier under immediate pressure, it leads to a turnover and Pittsburgh is coming right back the other way.
The Lightning can score goals. They know how to defend.
But while Tampa Bay is a team that relies on speed, Pittsburgh is just as fast. The Lightning are a team that relies on their quickness, but Penguins are just as quick. Tampa Bay is a deep team; Pittsburgh might be deeper.
In many ways, as Tyler Johnson said after Game 2, the Penguins and Lightning might be somewhat mirror
TAMPA, FL – MAY 18: Braydon Coburn #55 of the Tampa Bay Lightning collides with Carl Hagelin #62 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on May 18, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
images of each other in the style of play.
On the ice, however, one team looks far superior than the other.
It will be a short series If Tampa Bay continues to allow Pittsburgh to dictate the style of play.
Problem is, I have yet to see anything that tells me the rest of the series won’t have the same look as the past two games. I don’t know if the Lightning will be able to change the narrative that has played out to this point.
But I’ve been wrong before.
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