The Lightning have now registered a point in eight consecutive games, as they defeated the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Wednesday night. With Braden Point and Victor Hedman returning from their one-game absences due to lower body injuries, here's how the Lightning stacked up:
Duclair-Point-Kucherov
Stamkos-Cirelli-Hagel
Eyssimont-Paul-Chaffee
Jeannot-Glendening-Motte
Hedman-Raddysh
Dumba-Cernak
Lilleberg-Perbix
Vasilevskiy
Here are three things we noticed from the game:
Rookie Rescue
In a game where Nikita Kucherov is battling David Pasternak, Steven Stamkos is taking on Brad Marchand, and Victor Hedman is in a defensive war with Charlie McAvoy, the ultimate difference makers for the Lightning in this one were... Mitchell Chaffee and Emil Lilleberg?
Yes, two players who don't even have solidified lineup spots were the two most impactful players on the ice for the Lightning in their win against Boston. Lilleberg, in his defensive pairing with Nick Perbix (who was also very good), made life a living hell for the best the Bruins had to offer. They consistently felt like they were given the toughest assignments on the night, and they passed with flying colors.
For a position where it's better if you're unnoticed, Lilleberg received rave reviews from the commentary team on TNT for his willingness to block shots and his smart defensive player always putting the puck in the right places to get a clear. Jon Cooper noticed the same:
Mitchell Chaffee was another player that drew rave reviews from both the broadcast and Coach Cooper. To think that a year ago at this time, Chaffee was in the process of rehabbing a knee injury and didn't know whether or not he would continue playing hockey. Instead, the 26-year-old is one of the better depth scores on a team that is certainly going to need it as the window grows brighter and brighter. Into the past three games, he's replaced Conor Sheary on the third line, and has vastly outplayed the veteran in their consistent swaps. He was rewarded in this one off the break, receiving a nice backhand pass from Nick Paul before finding the puck off the rush and ripping it past Linus Ullmark to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
With all the lineup changes over the past five games or so, it'll be interesting to see if either of these guys makes the playoffs lineup. Lilleberg has been in a constant shuffle with Haydn Fleury and Calvin de Haan, while Chaffee and Sheary have been swapping, as previously mentioned. For both of the young guns, the fact that they had such a good game against those who many would consider to be in the upper echelon of the eastern conference can only do them well, in the eyes of Jon Cooper and the rest of the team.
Didn't Jeannot?
It seems like a bad idea to continuously want to fight Tanner Jeannot. And yet, people are lining up left and right to take on the man.
In this one, Trent Frederic decided that justice needed to be dolled out after a hit that Tanner Jeannot laid. Ultimately, it wasn't even close. Jeannot hit Frederic with one uppercut, and the rest of the fight was essentially just Jeannot continuing to lay the smackdown as Frederic turtled before the referees got between them.
Is Jeannot putting up the amount of points that Lightning that fans are looking for? No. But on a team filled with a very skilled top six, they need players who are going to be able to hold their own and throw their weight around. Neither Barclay Goodrow nor Blake Coleman was put into a role that saw them scoring a ton when they were in a lightning uniform. However, consistent forecheck and willingness to get physical opened up play and gave them opportunities in front of the net to score and their team another way. The next games will be very interesting for Jeannot, seeing that he's mostly healthy now and can hopefully provide some offense while still putting together a physically dominant stretch heading into the playoffs.
Steps Getting Closer
Well, well, well, what do we have here:
Improbably, the Lightning have pulled themselves within two points of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the third spot in the Atlantic division (pictured are conference standings). Thanks to their eight-game point streak, which has seen the team go 7-0-1, coupled with the Leafs going 4-3-1 in their last eight, it has allowed the Lightning to be within game's reach of the Maple Leafs with two more head-to-head matchups. The Lightning might be in this match had they not blown both of their previous games against the Leafs, which saw them with multi-goal leads blown and an eventual loss in overtime.
Should the Lightning pass the Leafs, their opponent would switch from the metro winner to the second-place team in the Atlantic. This means instead of facing the Rangers of the hurricanes, they'd be facing either the Bruins or the Panthers. While the Lightning have had season success against the Bruins, the same can't be said against Florida. It's an exciting matchup over the next ten games to see where the Lightning will slot, as well as who their playoff opponent is going to be.
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