Tampa Bay Lightning: Room for Improvement

I may be from New York and someone who has attended many New York Rangers games over the years, but in this Eastern Conference Finals matchup I am rooting for the other blue jerseys, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

I can get into the deep reasons for my lack of devotion to the Blueshirts in the past season and a half, about how their management needs to change but never will, how the team is more about “what can you do for me now” than the future, how they have been trading for players past their prime for quite some time, and how they took my heart out of the game by sending Ryan Callahan to the Lightning. But what I really want to focus on is what Tampa needs to do in Game 2 in order to even this series.

Game 1 wasn’t an all-out disaster for the Lightning in that they didn’t lose by a large margin (one goal) and were able to sustain pressure in the offensive zone at times, but it wasn’t pretty. Ben Bishop was a stud, keeping his team in the game, and the power play broke through, but other than that, Tampa needs to improve.

Apr 21, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman (6) looks to get around Detroit Red Wings left wing Henrik Zetterberg (40) in the third period of game three of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Puck control

Anyone who has eyes could have seen that this was the most obvious glitch in Tampa’s game. The turnovers! Man on man, they need to handle the puck better. They didn’t directly lose as a result of their lack of puck control, but it was a factor. If they held onto the puck more, they would have had more chances to create scoring opportunities, test Henrik Lundqvist and score goals. Pure and simple, the team that handles the puck better has a better chance of winning the game.

For parts of the game, it looked like the Lightning were playing hot potato. They were just getting the puck and giving it away as fast as they could—and many of those times they gave it to the wrong person on the ice. Turnovers will happen in every game, but you want to minimize their effect and try as hard as you can to avoid them.

“There’s the times you think you played okay, and you watch the tape and you want to vomit,” Cooper said. “And that was a little bit of how (Saturday) night went. For two periods, I thought we were a little better than we were until I watched the tape. The Rangers played extremely well, but we were stubbing our toe all night. So we were just handing them tickets to the movie, and we were a turnstile and watching them go by. We can’t do that. We can’t be giving pucks away, we can’t be turning them over, we can’t not make them go the 200 feet.” [NBC Sports]

It wasn’t that the Ranges outplayed the Lightning; it was the Lightning gave New York the game.

In reality, the Lightning looked a little lost in the first game. Maybe it had to do with all of the obvious tension and the Callahan-Marty St. Louis storyline. Whatever it was, hopefully it is out of their system now and the team can get back to playing the game it has all season and so far this postseason.

Too many passes

When the Lightning did control the puck, particularly on the power play, they made way, way, way too many passes. They had a great first power play, evening the game at one apiece with a goal, but on the others, the Lightning didn’t test Lundqvist enough.

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Why wouldn’t you shoot? If you’re looking for the perfect opportunity, you are rarely going to find it—especially in the postseason. Getting the puck on net gives you a chance, a chance to score, a chance for your teammate to get to the rebound. And as we have come to learn a chance is all you need.

Tampa Bay is going against a team that has rarely managed to score more than two goals per game this postseason. The Lightning have Tyler Johnson, who leads all players in playoff goals, and the rest of the Triplets line that can find the back of the net. Do they need another reason to put the puck on net? NO! They have the scoring power, while the Rangers still struggle in this area. They need to play to their strengths and that means playing with the puck less and increasing the traffic in front of Lundqvist and the amount of shots he has to face.

Odd-man rushes

Just like Tampa’s turnovers, the team was caught too many times giving New York odd-man rushes. Bishop will only be able to stop so many before New York will break through. So, Tampa has to limit these opportunities. Yes, you want your defense to pinch in, but you don’t want them to get caught.

You want to watch those long stretch passes that equate to football’s Hail Mary. They do work, but not as often as teams would like. Sharp, quick passes work best, especially when they are tape-to-tape.

If the Bolts improve on their puck control and passing in this game, I believe the amount of odd-man rushes will decrease as a result.

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Brian Boyle’s absence

This was a surprise and a hit to Tampa’s lineup. Boyle is a big body and someone who is integral to blocking shots, winning faceoffs and strengthening the team’s penalty kill.

Losing a player like him at this time of the year is no good, especially when his timetable for return is unknown.

“I don’t know,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said when asked about Boyle’s potential availability for Game 2. “I don’t know the answer to that. Honestly, I don’t.” [NHL.com]

Well, that’s not too reassuring.

Boyle does all the little things. He may not be a standout player or someone who consistently produces in the offensive end, but he is a key player on the Lightning. He brings leadership to the locker room, as well as much needed experience.

In these playoffs, Boyle won 53.7 percent of his faceoffs, averaged 15:36 of ice time per game, and led all Lightning forwards with ice time on the penalty kill.

So, without him in the lineup other players are going to have to step up. Just like the Rangers are coping without Mats Zuccarello, Tampa will have to deal with Boyle’s absence.

Ben Bishop’s performance

For Bishop, who is appearing in his first postseason run, the first two rounds were warm ups. Against the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens, Bishop displayed his skill, poise and ability to handle high-pressure situations. Like other goalies in this postseason, Bishop has risen to the occasion, but he will have to continue to rise if he wants to beat the Rangers.

It is not as if the Rangers have proven, at least in this postseason, that they are a high-scoring team. They have rarely been able to break through more than twice in a game. But they are a constant threat and Bishop needs to be aware of them at all times. If he can handle himself like he did in the first two series then I don’t see any reason why the Lightning cannot beat the Rangers.

Lightning coach Cooper said of Bishop:

”When the pressure is at its highest is when he has stood the tallest,” the coach said. ”You look at the four teams left, you’ll probably say that about all the goaltenders. They’ve maybe had their struggles in the series, but at the biggest moments, they became the biggest stars.” [Yahoo Sports]

Bishop has more than proven himself as an outstanding goaltender. Of course in this series, he is going to be compared to Lundqvist, which I’m guessing nine times out of 10 everyone would choose to have Lundqvist in net over Bishop. But really that doesn’t mean much. Lundqvist has won some series, but he has also lost some series. And while the goaltender is the major key to success in the playoffs, so is generating offense. That is where the Rangers have slacked off.

So maybe, if Bishop continues to shine, and his team once again finds a way to produce, the Lightning will be able to make their second-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

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