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Hedman’s Promising Return Can’t Slow the Jets |
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Victor Hedman is back, and while the score turned sour for Tampa Bay last night with a 3-1 loss to a very skilled Winnipeg Jets squad, the restoration of the defense was the headline. Hedman returned, and Mikhail Sergachev was back on the second pairing with his guardian, Anton Stralman. The first, and only, goal by the Lightning was indicative of how different the team is when they have monster No. 77 manning the blue line.
With 48 seconds left in the first period, Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers surged forward with the puck in the neutral zone. As he crossed over center ice, he saw defenseman Tyler Myers bolting down the wing, and the Lightning defensemen seemed overcommitted to the left side of the ice. The puck was slung across to Myers, but in a split second, Hedman was suffocating him, stick outstretched to eliminate his passing and shooting lanes. Myers was driven into the corner, dislodged from the puck by Hedman, and suddenly, the puck popped out to Hedman’s defensive partner, Jake Dotchin.
Dotchin claimed the puck, and the rush began the other way. Dotchin passed it back to Hedman, who briskly returned it to Dotchin, despite some light pecking from Ehlers as he lumbered back on defense. The transition defense by Winnipeg had cleared out and was pushed backward by the Lightning forwards, having bypassed the flailing Ehlers.
After the give-and-go, Dotchin crossed the blue line for the entry, where he passed it to Brayden Point. Point was hiding along the inside of the blue line from about 59 feet out. By the time Point controlled possession, two things were unfolding that became conspicuous: Jets forward Mathieu Perreault had fallen on the quelled rush attempt, and was nowhere to be found on transition defense, leaving Winnipeg woefully understaffed; and on the right side, the Lightning had a three-on-two, with Matthew Peca being the extra man Winnipeg had not accounted for. Point zipped the puck to the cutting Peca, who made a nice finesse play from in tight to finish on Jets goaltender Michael Hutchinson.
Hedman casts the Lightning in a new glow. The undue pressure on the forwards is seemingly alleviated as a measure of self-reliance and independence is restored to the back end. The Lightning can look to their defensemen to be more self-sufficient on zone exits because Hedman is a minute-logger who squashes opposing forechecks with his unequaled stride and vision.
The Peca goal demonstrated how a defenseman can lead the entry while the forwards work off the puck. In this brief sequence, the Lightning’s defense zapped their opponent’s transition attempt, transported the puck through the neutral zone, and gained entry into the offensive zone. All the forwards had to do was exploit the numbers advantage that was presented to them in one zone. Hedman is an unnatural luxury, but that abnormality is what makes the Lightning special.
Still, they did lose. The Namestikov-Stamkos-Kucherov line was completely ineffective last night, and concern should be building about their recent unproductivity. All three skaters struggled to gain separation off their entries, and when they did gain possession in the zone, it was tough for them to get clean shot attempts in the home-plate area. Nikita Kucherov’s best looks came off faceoff wins. Kucherov’s best feed came from below the net, but it was to Point when Tampa Bay was in mid-line change.
In contrast, the Point line was flying off neutral-zone regroups with speed, and firing clean shots in scoring areas. Even in the Sergachev-Point set play that sprung a breakaway, Point followed his shot, retrieved it, and passed it to Johnson, who proceeded to rip a shot off the post. (Gourde also had a shot that hit iron after a nice dish from Point.) Last night, Tampa Bay concentrated its best talent on its first two forward lines, albeit without Palat. But if they stash all their talent on half of their forward lines, and Stamkos’s line is contributing nothing, this is a failed strategy.
As dynamic a duo as Point and Tyler Johnson are, I think Cooper should consider breaking them up. The breach that Johnson and Point are able to establish in the opponent’s defense, with and without the puck, make them indispensable playmakers who can generate shots inside the dots and below the circles. If puck transportation and retrieval are lightened for Steven Stamkos and Kucherov, and they have more room to work off the puck while their teammate is driving the puck toward the middle, one would expect them to have a more significant impact. Kucherov has one goal in his last 10 games. Stamkos has one goal in his last 12. That needs to change. Splitting up the team’s two best creators right now, Point and Johnson, and pairing them with Stamkos and Kucherov, seems like the necessary solution.
There is also the issue of faceoffs. The Lightning are 30th in the NHL in faceoff percentage, and it did not go well last night, either. Faceoffs are basically a team stat in that draws are not won and lost solely by the individual at the circle. However, Tampa Bay is getting beaten cleanly far too often – which redirects the culpability back to the man in the circle.
Instead of taking a zero-sum approach, it might be wiser for the center to try to tie up the man and muck it up, so the wingers can come in and help. They are performing so poorly in this area that it is time to desert the current strategy. Last night, a lost faceoff had tangible consequences. On the clinching marker, Yanni Gourde lost a faceoff to Bryan Little in the offensive zone, and a quarter of a minute later, after a soft play along the boards by Sergachev and not-tight-enough checking by Gourde, Little jammed in a shot to put the Jets ahead by two.
Hedman’s return is cause for a hoot and a holler. Maybe the reinstatement of their defensive anchor concludes the cold streaks of Kucherov and Stamkos (although these started before his injury). But if the Lightning are going to find some consistency on the winning side of the ledger, they will need their No. 86 and No. 91 finding the back of the net.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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