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Point and Joseph Shine in Bolts' Win |
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For a team that has struggled at even strength in its first half dozen games, the seventh contest last night demonstrated improvement from the Lightning’s stars and role players. Tampa Bay badly outplayed Boston at even strength, generating 26 Scoring Chances at 5v5 (the Bruins had 15), by far the most they have manufactured this season. All three Bolts goals in regulation were at even strength.
The Lightning’s penchant for penalties is not only damaging to their success, but also distracting. Tampa Bay surrendered three power play goals to the Bruins in the 4-3 Bolts’ shoot-out victory—and the only reason Boston managed to force overtime was the Bolts’ lack of discipline. Nevertheless, the first line excelled, as did the ancillary forwards. The Lightning defensemen thrived on both ends. The Bolts’ rush was a factor. The Lightning dominated stretches of the game against their divisional foes. Below is a closer look at three of the players.
Brayden Point
When Point is on the ice, he makes life easier for his defensemen. And when life is easier for the Lightning defensemen, opportunities unexpectedly arise.
When Point struck with one second left in the first, his impact could be felt over 200 feet. After 35 seconds in the offensive zone, the Lightning finally ceded the puck to Boston. Bruins forward Charlie Coyle intercepted Victor Hedman’s pass and charged out of his own zone, hoping to create something on the rush. But Point, who was the high F3, sprinted to the perimeter and, together with Hedman, forced Coyle to release the puck right at the blue line, denying a carry-in on the entry.
Despite the confrontation, Point maintained his speed and tracked down the dump-in before Coyle could get there, and under pressure from the Boston forward, Point back-passed it to Hedman. This allowed Hedman to lug the puck to the top of the left circle before caroming a pass to Yanni Gourde, who was just above the blue line in the neutral zone. Gourde proceeded to chip the puck to Point, who had found room down the middle with Bruins defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Zdeno Chara split out too far wide and the Bruins forwards pinned in deep.
But Point’s best play of the night may have been when he didn’t have the puck. On the Kevin Shattenkirk goal that gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead with less than five minutes left in the third, Point ferried the puck out of the defensive zone and slipped it to Stamkos right at the entry to the offensive zone. Point is whip smart, and he proceeded to run some accidentally-on-purpose interference on Chara that opened up the space for Shattenkirk to shoot from the top of the circle.
It was a genius play by a player whose fingerprints were all over the ice.
The Bruins couldn’t slow Point down, and he utilized give-and-go’s to expose Boston’s inability to contain him. Midway through the second period, Point ran a give-and-go with Kucherov where he tried to sneak the puck in under the pad. Point didn’t score, but, as always, he kept his feet moving and easily retrieved the puck after his own shot, quickly moving it back to Hedman at the point.
Point ran another give-and-go with Stamkos with four minutes left in the second, exploding down the weak side and attempting to tuck the puck in glove-side near the post. Point is so fast that he beat Joakim Nordstrom and Zdeno Chara to the low slot and faced little resistance. There was also a sequence in the first period when Point turned the corner on Brandon Carlo and powered the puck from the perimeter to the low slot, nearly stuffing it past Tuukka Rask.
The opportunities on the rush have been more seldom for Kucherov and Stamkos through the first seven games as teams have committed themselves to choking off their speed through the neutral zone as much as possible. This hasn’t been true with Point, and if at this juncture he is the player most equipped to rocket through the neutral zone and strike, Kucherov and Stamkos should be plopping themselves down as waystations so Point can complete the journey. They certainly succeeded in that capacity last night.
His defensive work won’t get enough ink because I don’t have clips, but Point is chasing players down and ripping the puck away from them like a dog after his chew toy. Whether it is sinking low in support or disrupting the opposing transition, Point has been stellar in the defensive end.
The Yanni Gourde Demotion
It’s been a tough start to the season for Yanni Gourde. The forward is goalless through seven games, and after a foolish Interference penalty in the second period that the Bruins’ power play proceeded to convert on, Jon Cooper demoted him to the fourth line, bumping up Carter Verhaeghe in his stead.
Looking at shot attempts and Scoring Chances on the season at 5v5, Gourde is right where he should be: behind the stars, but highly ranked among the role players. But watching Gourde putter around with Luke Witkowski and Patrick Maroon, I couldn’t help but think about the danger of being consigned to Cooper’s doghouse. Last year, J.T. Miller found himself on the fourth line, and while he got bumped up to the third for most of the season (and got first unit time on the power play), he was shipped to Vancouver because the Lightning needed cap room and he was deemed expendable.
The Lightning’s nucleus is secured, but they are going to need to sign Erik Cernak, Mathieu Joseph, Anthony Cirelli, and possibly Mikhail Sergachev. Gourde makes $5.16M and this is the first season of his contract. He has a Full No Trade Clause, but the Lightning are quite adept at getting out of contracts they don’t want. If Gourde falls in Cooper’s estimation behind the other role players, I wonder if the Lightning consider moving him.
Mathieu Joseph
Joseph may be the leading candidate for the Lightning player who has demonstrated the most improvement from last season. The breakaway opportunity he generated with his speed on the penalty kill was vintage Joseph, as he made the speedy David Pastrnak look like he was wearing cement blocks. But it is the growth of Joseph beyond his straight-line speed that has been so impressive.
On his goal, he made a graceful reception with his skate on the Killorn pass and was rewarded with a tap-in. But there were other great plays. With six minutes and change in the second period, the Lightning’s forecheck failed against the Bergeron line and Boston was able to create a three-on-two, but Joseph used his speed to break up the pass from Pastrnak to Marchand.
Joseph’s speed is such an asset. There was a shift in the sequence in the late second period where he used his acceleration to push back McAvoy and set up Cirelli with a one-timer. Then, later in the shift, he used his quickness to track down a dump-in and interrupt the pass McAvoy was trying to make to his teammate. I don’t think Joseph has the same upside as Point, but, like Point, he can use his speed to wreak havoc, whether that be via back pressure or by forcing defensemen to backpedal, opening up lanes for himself or his teammates.
Last night, the Lightning played better than the reigning Eastern conference champs. Point and Joseph buoyed the Bolts, but the new defensive pairings are also working wonders for the Lightning. The breakout looks better, and the puck management was greatly improved. If the Lightning can bring that effort and stay out of the penalty box, they can win the division again.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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