By Michael Wax
The Lightning have now dropped three straight, all at home, following a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday. With no Erik Cernak due to illness, here's how they stacked up:
Stamkos-Cirelli-Kucherov
Hagel-Point-Chaffee
Eyssimont-Paul-Sheary
Koepke-Glendening-Motte
Hedman-Raddysh
Fleury-Perbix
Lilleberg-de Hann
Vasilevskiy in goal.
Here are our three biggest takeaways:
Signs of Life
In a span of 22 seconds in the third period, the Lightning turned a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 tie. A lot of the little things that happened in those 22 seconds really encapsulated what the Lightning had been looking for in the bottom 6.
It started with a really crucial outlet past from the struggling Conor Sheary, who found Nick Paul in the neutral zone. Paul was able to get a step around Capitals defenseman Ethan Near and use his body to shield the puck before getting the puck past Charlie Lindgren to cut the deficit to one. These two have been struggling mightily this season, Paul in his even-strength production and Sheary in adapting to the Lightning style, so to see them connect on a crucial goal was a welcome sight.
The tying goal came from a really strong pinch into the corner from Nick Perbix, who fought just enough and drew enough defenders over to him to get Tyler Motte a wide-open opportunity in the slot. While these two have been playing quite well this season, it's always nice to see the depth scoring get on the board.
Frustration Mounting
A little over a week ago, the Lightning had started their home stand with a convincing 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche, in which Nikita Kucherov showed everyone why he was in contention for the Hart Trophy. Fast forward to today, and the Lightning are on a three-game losing streak. Thanks to some really poor performances at home. This is. It's an unexpected home slide from a team that has one of the best home records under the Jon Cooper regime, leading the way at a 286-106-35 home record since Cooper was hired, and it all starts from the top.
Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, and Nikita Kucherov have all vastly underperformed their ceilings in these past three games, both on the offensive and defensive side of things. Kucherov, in particular, has been showing off a visible frustration during missed opportunities. With the Lightning scheduled to go on the road starting this weekend, they need their stars to play like stars in order to supplement the bottom six.
Man Down
For a defense that was already losing out on Mikhail Sergachev's services for the rest of the year, Thursday's game was yet another blow to the defensive core. While Erik Cernak missed the game due to an illness, the real problem came in the second period when Haydn Fleury sustained an undisclosed injury following a borderline dirty head from Capitals forward Tom Wilson. With the play going uncalled and Fleury still down on the ice thanks to this hit, the Capitals were able to take advantage and double their lead. Fleury immediately went to the dressing room and was out for the rest of the game, leaving the Lightning with only five defensemen left in order to make their comeback.
The injury bug has once again hit the Lightning at the worst possible time, with Fleury and forward Tanner Jeannot both now out for the foreseeable future as the Lightning's slide continues. The rookies, as they have for much of this past month, will have a larger role in the coming games until the Lightning can get healthy again.
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