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Revenge is a Dish Best Served on the Scoreboard |
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If you were to look at the underlying numbers in this series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, you would conclude that the Bolts have been on the wrong side of the play more often than not. If you were to watch the tape from any of the four games to date, you would reach a similar conclusion. Despite that, Tampa Bay has a chance to send the Panthers packing tomorrow night.
The fact that the Lightning have a 3-1 lead in the series really comes down to two factors: (1) Florida’s dismal goaltending, and (2) power play prowess. Per Natural Stat Trick, no team in these playoffs has a worse all-situations save percentage than the Florida Panthers. Natural Stat Trick also shows only the Colorado Avalanche as generating more goals / 60 minutes of power play ice time. When the Lightning get their chances, they’ve been cashing in.
Unfortunately, it looks like both of those Tampa-favoring factors might be thrown for a bit of a loop heading into Game 5.
With both Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger being unable to stop a beachball through four games, the Panthers are reportedly turning to Spencer Knight for this next contest. Knight, one of the most highly-touted goaltending prospects in the game, showed well during limited action this season. He’s a big wildcard.
And, with respect to Tampa’s power play, the main weapon might be out of action. After taking a brutally dirty slash from Anthony Duclair in Game 4, Nikita Kucherov left the ice and did not return. Even though he looks like a shell of himself at five-on-five, Kucherov has been magic on the man advantage with that extra bit of time and space. His nine points through four games lead the entire National Hockey League, which is especially impressive considering Kucherov missed the full season with injury; he’s still just warming up. Unfortunately, the Panthers had no way of stopping him other than to take a cheap shot that removed him from the game. That play seemed to reflect their modus operandi more broadly last time out.
With the Panthers turning up the heat in a nasty way, it would be easy for the Lightning to come out of the gates looking for revenge in this next game. They should do the opposite. While the officials have shown a reluctance to do their job with any degree of competence, this Bolts squad has already proven that they have what it takes to beat the Panthers on the scoreboard. As much as revenge might be enticing, the thought of sending the Panthers back to their usual spring abode – the golf course – is a whole lot more attractive. Jon Cooper’s mission is to keep his team fixated on that goal. Simply put, revenge is a dish best served on the scoreboard.
As always, thanks for reading.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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