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Spurred by Fourth Line, Bolts Blast Jets |
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If asked to name a handful of teams who possess the best chance to topple the Lightning come playoff time, the Winnipeg Jets are included. They have speed, depth and, most importantly, high-end talent. But last night’s tilt between the two teams was very different from their last meeting. Winnipeg was deprived of several important players, but that alone does not explain why they got mauled by the Lightning 5-2. The Lightning showed a fifth gear, dominating the Jets 12-1 in High-Danger Scoring Chances through two periods at 5v5, per naturalstattrick.com. The most noteworthy elements of the game were the Lightning’s ability to strike in controlled, closely supervised situations and their cheerfully chaotic play.
The best of the Lightning in controlled situations
Getting hemmed in the defensive zone is an unavoidable part of hockey. The question is how a team responds when they are under duress. The Steven Stamkos line was undergoing a line change when Brandon Tanev surged into the Lightning defensive zone, initiating an extended spell of territorial time by the Jets’ Bryan Little-Tanev-Andrew Copp line. But the Stamkos line proved focused and dutiful on its rotations and in defensive awareness. The climax of the Jets’ cycle was a long-distance shot by Jacob Trouba that forced a reaction save by Andre Vasilevskiy (who appeared to be screened). But that shot attempt was also the first opportunity for the Lightning to challenge the Jets in a race to the puck and suffocate the offensive-zone pressure. Victor Hedman, Dan Girardi, Steven Stamkos, and Ondrej Palat squeezed the Winnipeg skaters along the boards, which eventually led to the surrender of the puck and gave the Lightning a chance to reset.
At that moment, Yanni Gourde was tip-toeing out of the defensive zone and about to veer toward the middle. When Palat received the pass from Girardi, he connected with Gourde on a stretch pass for a breakaway as Gourde split through the gap between the snoozing Nathan Beaulieu and Trouba.
A line change by the Jets’ forwards had left the neutral zone partly exposed, but the Lightning’s quick-strike attack was enabled by their precision in hobbling an offensive-zone chance in their own end.
The best of the Lightning chaos
I need to give Lightning color analyst Brian Engblom credit where it is due. His two keys to the game were “Win in the Corners” and win with “Four Lines,” both of which seemed extremely prescient as the game progressed. During the Lightning’s most disorderly moments, their depth players used this extemporizing attitude to gin up scoring.
The first goal by the Lightning’s fourth line came off a horrendous line by the third line that left Anthony Cirelli in no man’s land. It was the period of the long change, and the Jets were attacking while Alex Killorn and J.T. Miller were leaving the ice. But a shot attempt by the Jets’ Jack Roslovic on the odd-man rush was blocked by Ryan McDonagh, and Cirelli, who initially tried to leave the ice, ended up providing the outlet pass that would be controlled by Mathieu Joseph for a two-on-one. Joseph’s reception of the pass while keeping stride, and the feed to Adam Erne along with the deft finish, demonstrated the enormous skill level this fourth line possesses.
Fourth lines score, but broadly speaking, they don’t possess the skill to cause any bloodshed in transition quite like that.
What was also fascinating about this game, and about the Lightning in general, is that their margin for error separates them so much from their peers. The Jets’ power-play goal by Blake Wheeler came off a failed Bolts’ pass on an odd-man rush on the penalty kill. But having Andre Vasilevskiy between the pipes, the Lightning are licensed to play a more reckless game than their foes. And more pertinent, this permission to play ultra aggressively applies at even strength, special teams, and across all four lines.
The second goal by the fourth line was also chaotic in the sense that the Lightning transported the puck down the ice and rarely controlled it. It started with Vasilevskiy dithering with the puck behind the net, then finally whipping it up the boards to Patrik Laine. But the Lightning dominated the play around the boards. In this instance, Paquette was nearby to pin Laine to the boards, and Erne would grab the puck and push the play out of the zone. After Erne moved it to the right side, Joseph poked the puck deep to trigger the forecheck. This led to Joseph and Erne digging in as the F1 and F2 below the goal line, while Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele ambled over to provide support. But the puck would be turned over by Scheifele, partly due to Joseph’s pressure, and Paquette would snap the loose puck into the net.
It was the fourth line thriving in the corners and along the boards, and somehow they moved the puck 200 feet while barely possessing it over that distance.
It bears mentioning that the Lightning scored two power plays goal in this game and surrendered zero even-strength goals. Even though all three 5v5 goals came from the second and fourth lines, the Nikita Kucherov line had a +12 Corsi Plus-Minus and collected 10 Scoring Chances while allowing 2. With the Lightning winning at a pace that puts them among the all-time great teams, there haven’t been too many wild oscillations between performances this season. But the ruthless dismantling of the Jets last night, after the bored, disinterested effort against the Bruins, represents about as great a difference in performance as the Lightning have exhibited all season.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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