By Jake Ricker
Last night, the Lightning took on the Seattle Kraken but were without two of their top defenders in Victor Hedman and JJ Moser. Despite the Injuries the Lightning ended their final game of this west coast road trip with a win. Here is everything we noticed from the Lightning's 5-1 win over the Kraken.
Defense
Victor Hedman and JJ Moser have been two of the Lightning's best defensemen this season. With them out of the lineup, the Lightning looked to guys like Declan Carlile to step up and help fill the void. The First 10 minutes of the first period did not go well, though, and as expected, the Lightning struggled on defense, giving up quality chance after quality chance. However, after those 10 minutes, the Lightning began to settle in, and the entire defense played much better, especially considering their situation. The Lightning held the Kraken to just 22 shots on goal, and with 1 goal scored, it was a solid defensive performance. Still, it was not perfect, with the team surrendering some odd-man rushes and chances where Kraken players got open, but it was solid enough to sucre a big 2 points.
Johansson
Jonas Johansson got off to a bad start this season, with his first three starts leading to at least five goals against. However, Johansson has been much better in his last two games. While tonight he did mishandle the puck a few times he made some huge saves that kept the Lightning in the game early. Johansson finished out the night with 21 saves and just one goal allowed which is a far cry from the numbers he had been putting up before. Johansson has a really hard job backing up Vaislevskiy. Not only are you left with big skates to fill, but you're only playing once or twice a month. Johansson does not need to perfect, but if he can play anywhere close to where he did tonight, the Lightning are in a great spot to secure some big points in games where Vasilevskiy might need some rest.
Guentzel
Jake Guentzel is the player everyone turned to after Stamkos headed to Nashville. While it took a few games, he has really settled in as a member of this team. Guentzel has now scored in six straight games, which is two away from tying the franchise record. Guentzel has a knack for getting to the front of the net and getting open, which is the perfect teammate for somone like Nikita Kucherov, who continues to set up Guentzel beautifully. Guentzel has been fantastic for the Lightning so far this season, and there is no reason to expect that he will slow down anytime soon.
Now the Lightning will head back home as they get set to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM EST on Tuesday.
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