Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports activities
What on this planet is up with the Tampa Bay Lightning?
The 2-time champs. 3 hard-fought playoff collection victories. A few the most efficient avid gamers from this technology, with in all probability essentially the most dominant goalie in over a decade.
And they are sitting down 0-2 to the Colorado Avalanche after a 7-0 loss on Saturday evening.
Will the true Tampa Bay Lightning please rise up?
The Avalanche deserve complete credit score — they have completely lighting fixtures out within the collection to this point and they have earned the wins through simply controlling the tempo of play.
However this is not the Lightning we’ve got come to grasp.
Positive, Colorado is a miles harder opponent than Montreal or Dallas relating to Cup combatants. However the workforce that generally did the dominating was once as a substitute the only getting ruled in some way no workforce has finished within the post-season since Tampa become kings of the hockey global.
With the best way they are enjoying, they are only some nights clear of being dethroned.
The Avalanche are enjoying easiest hockey, and the Lightning can not stay up. The only transparent benefit that they had heading into the collection — goaltending — has allow them to down in a large means. 5 aims on 18 pictures is unacceptable at this degree, and Andrei Vasilevskiy must be such a lot higher. However you’ll be able to’t win in case your workforce can not rating, and the Lightning had simply 10 pictures via two classes. So, the workforce that was once smothering their opponent with pace and offensive forecheck was once additionally crushing the defensive sport, and the consequences discuss for themselves.
Brayden Level can get a go as a result of he neglected a month after improving from an damage. However Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat — the pillars of the workforce’s offensive luck within the post-season — have not finished sufficient.
And the breakaways and odd-man rushes were at a degree we are not used to seeing from Tampa. Their protection has been apparently enjoying shorthanded with out if truth be told lacking any person. A gaggle with Victor Hedman — one of the vital highest defensemen on this planet nowadays — has performed poorly.
By way of all accounts, this can be a horrible effort from on the subject of everybody. And they are at the out of doors taking a look in with time ticking down.
The rating in Sport 2 is indicative of Colorado’s in point of fact one-sided supremacy on this collection, however this looks as if a Tampa workforce that is out of fuel. They ruled the second-round collection opposed to Florida, however had tough trips opposed to Toronto and New York to get so far. You’ll’t let a workforce with Colorado’s ability take keep an eye on as a result of they in point of fact will make existence depressing.
Getting back from 0-2 collection deficits are so uncommon. It has took place simply 5 instances, with Boston being the ultimate to take action in 2011. The 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins are the one workforce to do it after the Seventies. However they did simply win 4 directly opposed to the Rangers, so when Tampa hunkers down and performs to their complete talent, they are obviously one of the vital hardest groups within the league to play opposed to.
As soon as a sport will get too a long way out of hand, there is not anything you’ll be able to in reality take out of it. What is the distinction between a 4-0 loss and 7-0 loss? A worse goals-against moderate, however not anything significant. It is all about shaking it off and beginning issues off higher the following sport.
The Lightning are so with regards to tasting dynasty standing. No workforce has received 3 consecutive Stanley Cups within the wage cap technology, and no workforce has finished it for the reason that New York Islanders of the early Eighties.
They are going to want 4 herculean efforts to switch that, and you’ll be able to by no means rely the Tampa Bay Lightning out of a championship collection, however they are residing on borrowed time at this time.
