The score of last night’s 7-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes belies how close the game was until late in the third period. Nevertheless, Tampa Bay had allowed four goals by the halfway point in the game. With Erik Cernak leaving in the second period with an injury, suddenly three of the Lightning’s defensemen—Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta, and Cernak—were out injured.

Just because it was mostly close doesn’t mean the Bolts played well. Andrei Vasilevskiy wasn’t sharp, and offensively and defensively problems arose. When the postseason arrives in April, coach Jon Cooper should play film from last night’s game and highlight these issues.

Shoot the puck to create offense down low
Arizona does a really nice job of eliminating passing lanes. When they get a lead late in the game, the Coyotes clog the neutral zone and force their opponent to dump and chase. This makes them a nightmare opponent for the Lightning, who love to slap the puck around and use the neutral zone as their springboard. The Coyotes required the Lightning to generate offense off the forecheck, but Tampa Bay’s forecheck was inconsistent last night. When the Lightning did force a turnover and initiate the cycle, Arizona succeeded at keeping the Lightning to the perimeter. So how the heck did the Lightning finish the game with a 2.8 expected goals for at 5v5? They manufactured their best chances when they shot the puck in transition, which forced a one-on-one play below the circles.

On all three goals they scored this was true. The first was cued up by an area pass to Blake Coleman, who passed it back to Cameron Gaunce. Gaunce shot the puck wide, and Alex Killorn deftly knocked the puck to Cirelli in front of the net. Both of the Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point goals were galvanized by shots from the top of the circle and the Lightning forwards reacting to the bounces of the puck. On both shot attempts, the Lightning were able to jam in pucks around the paint.

Unfortunately, the Lightning punted on other shots in space and were too eager to pass their way into a prime scoring chance. Their passing into better shot attempts worked in the first period—Steven Stamkos nearly had a goal on an exquisite passing play—but once Arizona’s defense settled in, the passing lanes were hard to come by.

In the postseason, gaps will be tighter on the rush, defensive coverage will be vise-like, and the Lightning will need to shoot from all angles. That’s why the Cirelli goal was especially exciting. Gaunce intentionally shot it wide, and that allowed Killorn to make a play on the carom and expose Derek Stepan’s poor defensive coverage.



When the rush is eliminated and gaps are really tight, the Lightning want to move the puck below the circles. They need to force opponents to defend them around the paint, which means shots from bad angles and long distance, and utilizing jam plays off the goal line. (Point did try to jam a shot off the goal line last night.) Tampa Bay spent too much time passing the puck east-west after the entry, and their ineffectual cycling on the perimeter allowed the Coyotes to stifle their offense at intervals.

What happened to the Bolts’ defense and puck management?
The Lightning have won so many times in the last few months that it seems short-sighted to come down too hard on them here. They were likely due for a poor performance in both of the above, and last night was indeed that.

When Mikhail Sergachev took down Taylor Hall on an odd-man rush, it was because the Coyotes had a four-on-two. Johnson wanted to get the puck on net, but when his shot was blocked and turned into a counterattack, Johnson did not even attempt to provide back pressure. Of the three forwards on the Johnson line, Palat made the most concerted effort to get back in transition, but Yanni Gourde and Johnson were not present to help mitigate the rush chance. This left Sergachev flailing to stop the opportunity, and his penalty on Hall led to Conor Garland’s power play goal.

On the Brad Richardson goal, Braydon Coburn coughed up a puck below the goal line, but instead of sticking with his man in the slot, Gourde let Richardson get a step on him, and Hall was able to slip the puck to him in the middle.



With no McDonagh, Cernak, or Rutta, the Lightning need their forwards to help out as much as possible on breakouts and in the neutral zone regroups. Especially with the likes of Coburn, Luke Schenn, and Gaunce puttering around on retrievals and attempting to lead breakouts, the forwards need to be extra attentive.

Finally, Clayton Keller’s second goal was sparked by a blind turnaround pass by Victor Hedman. Hedman thought Gourde would be higher in the zone and instead of retreating, Hedman challenged Lawson Crouse, hoping to keep the puck in the offensive zone. It didn’t work, as Crouse swatted the puck forward, and Keller beat Kevin Shattenkirk in the foot race to the middle slot.

A cold spell was inevitable, and if this injury bug forces the Lightning to seek defensive help, that’s a good thing. Even in a disheartening loss like last night’s, it is evident how good the forward group is. Coleman seemed to have chemistry with Killorn and Cirelli, and that line nearly potted in two more goals. The forwards can play better defense with effort and focus. It’s that simple. With the trade deadline upon us, it will be interesting to see how the next 24 hours develop.

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