When teamwork is cited as the reason for success in sports, the visceral reaction is to think the speaker is full of saccharine. But the resistance to the word teamwork is misguided. It may come across as a cliché, but in reality, hockey is all about relationships, which are the first cousin to teamwork. For a hockey team, relationships should be interwoven in a lattice-like pattern: relationships between player-to-player, players-to-coach, coach-to-management, management-to-player. If you pin down a former player, he will stress the importance of developing a good rapport with the equipment managers and other ancillary staff. When cultivated properly, relationships breed collaboration. Teams can be rich with talent, and fail. The Lightning are not the most talented NHL team ever assembled, but their chemistry and instinct to assist each other are undeniable.

The goals from last night’s 3-2 win over the Bruins reminded me of the art technique Pointillism, in which many dots collectively create a memorable painting. For Tampa Bay, each positive action served a purpose, and in three instances it had the effect of a chain reaction that led to a goal. The Lightning were able to make a very good Bruins team seem skittish, and it is largely because of the way Tampa Bay’s skaters work together.

Fifteen minutes into the first period, the Lightning trailed the Bruins 1-0. But after a won faceoff by Brayden Point in the offensive zone, defenseman Erik Cernak deposited the puck deep in the corner for the Lightning to go to work on the cycle. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy met Point along the boards and pressed him against the glass, and Bruins forward Brad Marchand tottered over to support.

Nevertheless, Point kept his balance, and linemate Tyler Johnson jumped into the fray to try to move the puck out of the scrum and toward the slot. Then things accelerated. McAvoy stepped on the puck and fell, effectively creating an unobstructed avenue to the net for Johnson. No. 9 grabbed the puck and tried to jam it along the near post, and when the puck squirted out through the crease toward Nikita Kucherov, who was the F3, Kucherov tapped the puck toward the low-slot, knowing his teammate would be there. Point whipped around and pelted the puck top corner.



The Lightning never had separation, and were actually outnumbered four-to-three in the low slot when Point took his shot. Tampa Bay certainly didn’t have time to dust the puck off to pass or shoot. But movement is at its most fluid when there is trust. Point knew he would get help from Johnson in the corner. Kucherov understood that, if he loitered toward the far post, the puck would come toward him, and when it did he would want to swat it toward the cutting player in the slot. And Point intuited that, as soon as Johnson went to jam the puck, he needed to rush toward the slot and then one of his linemates would find him.

But those are the Lightning’s stars. They are like cockroaches, adaptable to almost any environment. However, it has been the interactions of the team’s role players in recent games that have made the Lightning look their most formidable. It has become increasingly clear that opponents can never exhale or lose focus, because every Tampa Bay line and combination are a threat to strike.

With the game tied at 1 early in the third period, the Alex Killorn-Anthony Cirelli-Mathieu Joseph line was reunited for an offensive zone faceoff. After spending less than 15 seconds in the Bruins’ end, Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo attempted to transport the puck out of the Bruins’ zone. But facing back pressure from Killorn, Carlo lost control of the puck on his journey out. The puck was seized by Dan Girardi, who tapped an area pass for Killorn on a hopeful Lightning counterattack. Killorn fended off Carlo, and slid the puck between Ryan Donato’s legs as Joseph cut toward the net.



The reactions without the puck on this play are more insightful than what happened with the puck. When Carlo lost control of the puck in his exit of the zone, linemate Jake DeBrusk watched and did nothing, which allowed the much slower Girardi to beat him to the puck. Once it became clear that Girardi would direct the puck into the offensive zone, Killorn broke toward where the puck was going and beat Carlo to the spot. And instead of scurrying toward his linemate in support, Joseph dashed toward the net, understanding the mismatch of having a Bruins forward try to defend him in space. He trusted Killorn would win his puck battle, and that he could easily win his race.

Teamwork is a compound word. It is a composite, two separate words fused together to spit out a unique meaning that stands on its own. As individuals, the Lightning are talented and durable. As a whole, they are overpowering.

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