By Michael Wax
The Tampa Bay Lightning took home their sixth win in a row, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Here are three things we saw from the win:
Sparkplug
Mikey Eyssimont hasn't had the most incredible season, but he will always be one filled with hard work, determination, and a willingness to forecheck. Unfortunately, the results just haven't been there for the third-year Bolt. In this game, he rose to the challenge against a formidable opponent and may have been the Lightning's best forward.
After the Oilers scored a power-play goal to take a 1-0 lead, Eyssimont went to work. Less than 1:20 later, he intercepted a neutral zone pass from Kasperi Kapanen and then passed to himself along the boards as he waited for reinforcements. After crossing the blue line, he fed the puck over to Gage Goncalves, who returned the puck back to Eyssimont in the slot, and Eyssimont’s backhander beat Stuart Skinner to tie the game at one.
That was Eyssimont's first goal since January 9th, but it extended his point streak to three games in a row. Once again, the discussion has centered around the lack of depth scoring for the Lightning, but they've been getting contributions during this winning streak from mostly everyone in the bottom six, Eyssimont included.
Cha-cha-cha-changes
If it ain't broke, don't fix it; At least, that's how the saying goes. Evidently, Jon Cooper doesn't care about these sayings. Even on a five-game winning streak, the Lightning made another roster change, bringing Nick Perbix into the lineup for Cam Atkinson, and the Lightning re-implemented their 11 forwards and seven defensemen strategy.
This worked like a charm. The Oilers had no idea how to deal with these jumbled forward lines, allowing the Lightning to quickly snuff out the Oilers’ opportunities for the entire game. That, coupled with the fact that most of the defensemen on the Lightning’s end were unnoticeable, made for a great pairing that allowed them to shut down two of the best players in the world: Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
The Lightning shouldn't change their lineup every game, but this fluctuation lets them see what works and what doesn't before the trade deadline while continuing to keep their stars on the ice for the most minutes.
2-Man Game
Believe it or not, that was the first time the Lightning had scored on a 5-on-3 for the entire season.
Coming into this game, the Lightning were 0-for-3 on five-on-three opportunities. But with the Oilers taking back-to-back penalties in the second period, the Lightning had the perfect chance to put this game out of reach. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov played a little pitch and catch before Point passed the puck to Captain Victor Hedman. Hedman's shot deflected off the stick of an Oilers defender and past Skinner to give the Lightning a much-needed two-goal lead.
The Lightning played exceptionally well at 5-on-5 in this game, limiting the Oilers' shot opportunities and dangerous chances. But any time you can use your power play to your advantage and take a team out of the game with the man advantage, you need to seize that opportunity.
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