The Tampa Bay Lightning are officially just one win away, the closest they’ve been since their 2004 triumph, to a Stanley Cup victory. That’s thanks to a 5-4 overtime win over the Dallas Stars last night, which sets up an opportunity to take home the trophy in the second half of the back-to-back set tonight.

In listening to the radio call on my drive down to Banff, watching a bunch of highlights last night, and reviewing the numbers this morning, I’m left with but one feeling: Dallas is going to regret letting this one slip away. Despite being outplayed at even strength, the Stars had a significant opportunity to take advantage of a tired Andrei Vasilevskiy and a quick start. They couldn’t do it, and now find themselves down 3-1 and on the brink of elimination.

Dallas players, fans, and coaches alike were all indignant following Jamie Benn’s overtime penalty, and seemed to blame the officials for their fate in the game. Given that Tampa went three-for-four on the power play during the contest, it’s not hard to see why they weren’t particularly fond of being called for (clear) infractions. From my perspective, the problem with the officiating last night wasn’t that Benn got called in overtime, but rather that the officials tried their hardest to insert themselves into the storyline on both sides. Calling Brayden Point for embellishment right at the end of regulation was comical, as an example. The officiating was bad, but it’s not what cost the Stars this game. The difference between Tampa going three-for-four and Dallas going zero-for-three was a bigger problem that the Stars will need to solve tonight.

In the pregame blog, I mentioned that Tampa’s game plan was simply to get the puck to the Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat trio and just let them to their thing. Quite simply, that game plan saved the day for the Lightning. After Dallas went up 2-0 on three shots early in the first period, it was Point that turned things around for the Lightning at the end of that opening stanza. His light-speed-like first goal turned what would have been a deflating first period into a less-than-desirable-but-still-okay situation. When he batted the puck out of midair early in the second period to knot the game at 2-2, it was hard not to feel like the Lightning would manage to secure a victory. The road to get to that win was long and winding, but the Bolts ultimately arrived at the right destination. If Point hadn't scored that first period goal, it's easy to see a different result.

Speaking of Point and Kucherov: What those two are doing in these playoffs, in terms of offensive production, is historically impressive. With 30 and 32 points respectively, they are moving in the direction of some truly elite company. For Kucherov with 32 points, as per QuantHockey, only one active player has ever delivered a postseason with more production; Evgeni Malkin’s 2008-09 run saw him compile 36 points. Outside of Malkin, there’s just a lot of Wayne Gretzky, Joe Sakic, and Mario Lemieux sitting north of Kucherov on that list.

Kucherov will hopefully only have one more chance to build on those lofty totals, as his Lightning will take to the ice again tonight for Game Five. It’s crazy to think, that after months of bubble action, it could all be over this evening. Earning this final win won’t be easy, though, as Dallas won’t be content to leave the bubble quietly. It’s going to take a great performance, in front of a tired goalie, to get the job done.

As I tweeted last night, my wife was kind enough to book us a lovely dinner reservation tonight to celebrate six years together. It might be a little bit awkward for her to sit there as the third wheel with me and the live stream on my phone.

Thanks for reading!

Join the Discussion: » 11 Comments » Post New Comment

» Steven Stamkos and the Olympics

» Steven Stamkos is Showing Hart

» Victor Hedman is Back

» Lightning, Predators Release Stadium Series Jerseys

» With Nothing Left to Prove, Lightning are Proving Something