By Michael Wax
The Lightning fell 6-3 to the Calgary Flames, leaving their five-game road trip with a 3-2-0 record, with both losses coming to Alberta teams. Nick Perbix missed his fourth consecutive game with lower-body injury, and Cal Foote would replace Haydn Fleury as the team's sixth defender. Here are a three things we noticed from the loss.
Slow Start
Just like the game against Edmonton, the Lightning struggled mightily out of the gates. Shots in the opening period were 15-4 in favor of Calgary, with many high-danger opportunities arising for the Flames. This shot total didn't even include a wide-open miss by Nazem Kadri, a chance that came off of potentially the worst turnover in Erik Cernak's career. Lightning Insider Erik Erlendsson put it best:
Andrei Vasilevskiy did all he could to keep the Lightning in it, and limited the Flames to just a power play goal in the opening 20. Speaking of the Flames power play...
Undisciplined
Simply put, this game was a bit of a train wreck in terms of officiating. There were five combined minor penalties in the first period alone, along with two fighting majors. The second period saw a calmer frame until a minute and a half less, when all hell broke loose. The Lightning, simply, got goaded into taking bad penalties, leading to more time on the PK and less time in their attempted comeback. Zach Bogosian, in particular, was given an extra minor penalty for needlessly going after MacKenzie Weegar following a Kucherov penalty, Putting the Lightning down 5-on-3 for a full two minutes. While that was killed off, the Lightning have to do a much better job of maintaining composure in these types of games.
Power Play?
The Lightning's power play has been other-worldly this season, its' 27.1% success rate tied for second in the NHL and only behind Edmonton's equally absurd 31.0%. However, the game against Calgary saw barely any push from one of the league's best PP units. Six opportunities, no goals. Not only that, they barely had any shots on net during some golden opportunities. The biggest Flames penalty came when Kadri high-sticked Ian Cole, drawing blood and giving the Lightning four minutes of power play time in a two-goal game. They put up one shot on net, a Perry chance off the rush, In a game to forget, this was certainly the most forgettable aspect.
Three Stars
1. Andersson (CGY)
2. Toffoli (CGY)
3. Dube (CGY)
The Lightning's next game will be against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, January 24, at 7 PM.
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.
コメント