By Jake Ricker
The Lightning took on the New York Rangers last night as they looked to continue their winning streak after punching their ticket to the playoffs. Bellemare and Raddysh would remain in the lineup, while Bogosian and Eyssimont were the healthy scratches. Here are a few things we noticed from the loss.
Sloppy Start
The Lightning initially outshot the Rangers 3-0 early in the first. However, things quickly took a turn for the worse once Steven Stamkos was called for a slashing penalty. The Rangers would soon convert on a shot from the point, giving them a 1-0 lead. Minutes later, the Rangers came in with speed, and the Lightning found themselves out of position, and a quick snapshot made it 2-0. The Rangers kept pushing, and before you knew it, the Rangers created more time and space and fired a shot past Vasilevskiy for a 3-0 lead.
Two of the three goals are probably ones Vasilevskiy wants back, but the Lightning's defense certainly didn't help. It was a frustrating stretch considering how well we have seen the Lightning play over the last week and at the start of this game. Nevertheless, the Lightning had a lot of work to do if they wanted to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
Physical Play And Pushback
The game felt like a playoff game, with the physicality and intensity being high. Nick Paul felt both sides of the physicality, throwing a big hit and taking one himself. There was also a fair share of fights, with Maroon and Colton dropping the mitts. Both Maroon and Colton received extra minors for their fights, but Colton received an instigator keeping him out for the majority of the game.
There was also a big scrum after Alex Killorn pushed Shesterkin when going for a loose puck. However, because the whistle had already blown, the Rangers took objection to it, and multiple scrums quickly broke out. The Lightning did get a goal off the play as Hagel had pushed the puck just over the line on a rebound chance.
The Lightning played well in the second period and were able to pull themselves within one goal by the end of the second after goals from Killorn, Raddysh, and Hagel. They continued to do the same early in the third period, but unfortentalty ran out of gas and could not hold on.
Raddysh
Nick Perbix was a welcomed surprise as he has been one of the top defenders for the Lightning with the losses of players like Ryan McDonough. Darren Raddysh has also started to make his way through the ranks and is starting to make an impact at the NHL level. Raddysh finished this game with one goal (his first as a Bolt), a +/- of 0, 4 SOG, and one hit.
Scoring his first goal was a huge step for Raddysh, who had been playing well but couldn't get one to bounce his way. And while he was only a 0 in the +/- category, it still says a lot about his defensive play considering the Rangers scored six goals. A few weeks ago, we were talking about how Raddysh was getting blow past veteran forwards. There is no doubt he has continued to improve, and with more and more experience, he could become the next Nick Perbix for the Lightning.
Final Thoughts
While the final score make this game look lopsided, it was not like that at all. The Lightning had a bad stretch in the first period, and Vasilevskiy was not on his A game. But for the majority of this game, they played like the better team and nearly came back and won this game.
As mentioned by Hedman and Cooper in the postgame, this match reminded them they can't let bad habits creep back into their game. The Lightning are still playing good overall hockey for the last week and a half, if they can continue that moving forward, they should be just fine for round one of the playoffs.
Three Stars
Media’s three stars
1. Motte (2G)
2. Kreider (2G)
3. Zibanejad (3A)
Our three stars
1. Motte (2G)
2. Kreider (2G)
3. Hagel (1G,1A)
The Lightning's next game will be against the New York Islanders on Thursday, Aprial 6th, at 7:30 PM ET.
Want to start your journalism career by writing about the Tampa Bay Lightning? Send us a message via our contact form located in the upper right-hand corner under the more tab, or send us a message via Twitter to get started.
Comments