When rummaging through one’s dirty clothes, finding a $20 dollar bill is unexpected and satisfying. Last night’s 7-4 Lightning victory over the Calgary Flames can be dubbed a “found money” game. Despite some appalling lapses in defensive coverage in transition and in its own zone, Tampa Bay was salvaged by its supporting players. Even Steven Stamkos, the lone core player who notched a goal, had the table set for him by some nifty playmaking from role player Chris Kunitz.

Matthew Peca emerged as an important bottom-six player for Tampa Bay, notching five 5v5 Scoring Chances and accruing three points. On Peca’s goal, Flames defenseman Mark Stone was unable to keep a tight gap because of Peca’s speed on the perimeter. It was a soft goal for Flames goaltender Mike Smith. Nevertheless, Peca’s acceleration with the puck is difficult to diffuse, especially for a third-pair defenseman. If Peca can bring that in space, he should be able to gain entry to the zone consistently.

Peca’s puck support was also notable. On Braydon Coburn’s goal, he nearly scored off a shot in the mid-slot after an Alex Killorn entry. He eventually provided the pass to Andrej Sustr, which led to Coburn’s tip in. Peca was similarly engaged in the Cory Conacher game-winning goal. He helped steward the puck out of the defensive zone into the neutral zone, and found Killorn, who gave it back to Peca. His attempt to ring the puck around and get it deep was made in good faith. And while his attempt proved meager, as the puck sputtered forward, it incidentally provided the perfect pass to Conacher. The bottom six aren’t relied on to score, but the hope is that they keep the puck out of their own net and try to sustain pressure. Peca’s thoughtful positioning is a necessary credential for a third or fourth line player.

Killorn had some success carrying the puck against Calgary, but he would be better served letting more adept puck-handlers with more agility assume that duty. Killorn is a player who can make the gritty play along the half wall, like his pass to Peca on the zone exit that led to a goal. But when it comes to the offensive zone, Tampa Bay wants him inside the dots. And lo and behold, both goals came when he was in the low or middle slot.

It is fortunate that Tampa Bay was buoyed by complementary scoring because Calgary forced some ghoulish turnovers and exposed gaps in transition. Maybe the most bizarre moment of the game was when the Flames’ fourth line held the Lightning’s redoubtable Tyler Johnson-Brayden Point-Vladimir Namestikov line hostage, eventually resulting in a Matt Stajan goal.

It was a relatively quiet game for the Point-Johnson duo, although as usual, they were able to access the offensive zone at will with their blinding speed. Stamkos scored, and Cooper’s solution to reinvigorating Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov was to add Chris Kunitz as a fill-in-the-blanks guy, and teamed Namestikov with Johnson and Point. Yanni Gourde was dropped to the third line.

Kucherov and Stamkos were able to drum up more scoring chances in this contest, but watching Kucherov create a shot attempt for himself, and then watching Tampa Bay struggle to retrieve the puck, made me think Cooper is going to have to split up Johnson and Point in the very near future. Their speed, playmaking, and retrieval are just too invaluable and need to be spread out over two lines, so they can jolt Kucherov and Stamkos back to consistent scorers.

Finally, although Hedman is back, the Lightning’s zone exits remain a weakness. Sometimes the Lightning defensemen throw the puck off the glass and out of the zone as a maneuver to create a race for Tampa Bay’s forwards. But at other times, what results is not an indirect pass, but an outlet pass without a receiver because the intended forward is 15 feet higher in the zone. With the defensive corps restored, the Lightning forwards prefer not to sink deep, but if they stretch or fly the zone while their defensive pairing is under duress, sometimes the puck will be intercepted and catapulted into the middle slot, and coverage gets sloppy.

A middle ground must be unearthed. But until it is, opponents will precipitate scoring chances from the breakout. With the Lightning continuing to evolve and adapt, it will be compelling to see what materializes against Vancouver on Saturday.

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