By Michael Wax
After doubts about how the Lightning would fair in their first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bolts came out swinging to win 7-3 on the road and take a 1-0 series lead in the opening round. Here are three things we noticed from the win:
Tone Setters
It's fair to say that the fourth line of Pat Maroon, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, and Corey Perry is not as good as they were last year. A year older, a step slower, what it may be the line had moments of their former glory but had some tough stretches this year. In game one, they showed no such slowing down.
Just 1:18 in, the line caused havoc in the Leafs' zone, and ended with Bellemare putting home a rebound. Every time the Leafs made a push, the fourth line was the one to push right back. And while not directly on that line, Corey Perry's power-play goal gave him a two point night.
Road Power Play
In a regular season in which the Lightning finished third in power play percentage, their road power play left a lot to be desired. In one game, the Lightning changed that narrative real fast.
Nikita Kucherov scored on the power play with just three seconds left in the first period to make it 3-0, and after the Leafs cut the deficit to 3-2, Brayden Point displayed poise and patience to beat out Samsonov and make it 4-2 Lightning. When Michael Bunting was given a five minute major for elbowing Erik Cernak in the head, Corey Perry added on to the power play tally, and Brayden Point beat the second period buzzer for his second goal of the game. Overall, the power play went 4/8, a huge step up for a team that has seen its ups and downs on its road power play.
Injuries
The one dark cloud hanging over this game, however, is the injury bug. With Tanner Jeannot already out of the lineup, the Lightning saw three other players go down. To start the second period, Victor Hedman was not on the bench and after coming back out to test himself briefly, left the game and did not return. Both Mikey Eyssimont and Erik Cernak left the game with head-related injuries and did not return, Eyssimont's coming on an unfortunate landing to a clean hit, and Cernak's on a dirty elbow to the head from Michael Bunting. It remains to be seen if any of those three will be available for game two.
Three Stars
Media’s three stars
1. Perry (TBL) - 1 Goal, 1 Assist
2. Point (TBL) - 2 Goals
3. Kucherov (TBL) - 1 Goal, 2 Assists
Our three stars
1. Point (TBL) - 2 Goals
2. Kucherov (TBL) - 1 Goal, 2 Assists
3. Cole/Raddysh/Perbix/Sergachev (TBL)
The Lightning's last regular season game will be against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, April 13th, at 7:00 PM ET.
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