By Michael Wax
The Lightning finally broke their shutout streak against at over 140 minutes, and hung on to beat the Blackhawks 4-2 on Thursday.
Here's what the lines looked like, with Erik Cernak making his return to the lineup:
Hagel-Point-Kucherov
Stamkos-Cirelli-Paul
Jeannot-Motte-Eyssimont
Watson-Glendening-Merela
Hedman-Perbix
Sergachev-Cernak
de Haan-Raddysh
Johansson in goal.
Here are three things that we noticed from the game.
Star Powered Down
Connor Bedard was the best player on the ice for either team during the teams' meeting at AMALIE Arena last week. Naturally, people would expect Bedard to have another big game against the team he just torched. In response, the Lightning didn't allow Bedard to do anything coming into this one.
The young superstar was held to just one shot on net the entire game. With a Chicago crowd only interested in the play when Bedard got the puck, there were few peaks in volume throughout the night. The Lightning did a great job limiting him to the outside, which they had difficulty doing in the first period of their meeting the week prior. In particular, Sergachev and Cernak did a phenomenal job limiting the young star. That is a defensive pairing most wouldn't mind seeing again.
Next Man Up
For a team that has struggled as much as the Lightning have on defense, Anthony Cirelli has been one of the more dependable offensive forwards and someone who can make a difference with his play in all three zones. That's why when he left in the middle of the second period after being hit in the wrist by a shot from his teammate, concern was undoubtedly warranted for how the Lightning would respond to such an injury.
Even with Cirelli not returning, the Lightning did a great job of limiting Chicago's opportunities on that, especially the dangerous opportunities. In particular, Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Tyler Motte stepped up to provide aid at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill.
It's always important for a team to be able to score if they're going to go on some sort of winning streak. However, if the Lightning can have certain forwards step up in their defensive responsibility, that could go even further in helping the team out. Hopefully, Cirelli won't be too badly hurt, and the Lightning can fortify their defensive game in the future.
Streak Breaker
Heading into this game, the Lightning had been shut out in over 120 minutes, dating back to last week's matchup against these same Blackhawks. Sometimes, your leaders need to step up when times are tough, and the Lightning had just the group to do it after another 20 minutes of being shut out in this one.
Brayden Point got the slump busted in the second period with a power-play deflection of a shot from Victor Hedman, and then a struggling Sergachev picked up his first goal of the year off a shot from the point. With all the talk about Sergachev's defensive play and plus/minus coming into this one, that goal had to feel good.
Even though the Blackhawks tied it early in the third, Victor Hedman made an uncharacteristic play of driving in way beneath where he usually does, going right next to goaltender Peter Mrazek before shoveling a rebound to give the Lightning a permanent lead. Brendan Hagel added the empty netter. These four have been highly crucial to the Lightning's success in the past, and they once again proved how important they were to their success in this game.
Final Thoughts
This game was the game that the Lightning needed coming off of back-to-back shutouts. Although it was a little frustrating seeing them get shut out for another period, their second was excellent and saw them get rewarded. The third period was extremely defensively sound to give them a victory. As we advance, it remains to be seen how the lineup shakes out with the injury to Anthony Cirelli, but the defensive pairings used in this game should probably stay the same, given their success.
The Lightning will take on the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday at AMALIE Arena at 7 PM.
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