As the Tampa Bay Lightning hit the road for Buffalo, they could do so confidently, knowing that they took care of business at home. After being humbled in Boston on Jan. 6, the Lightning buckled down and won all four games of their home stand to put themselves back in the playoff race. There were some close calls, but the team showed that they still have a winning mentality and the ability to bend but not break when in high-pressure scenarios. How did they get it done, and what is next for the Lightning?
Perbix and Raddysh Got it Done in Overtime
With three minutes remaining in overtime against the Los Angeles Kings, Brandon Hagel passed the puck to Nick Perbix. The defenseman had one man to beat, and he did just that. He got the inside position, put a nice backhanded shot on the net, and ended the game.
Just two nights later, the Lightning found themselves in another overtime situation, this time against the New Jersey Devils. Darren Raddysh anticipated a pass from Nikita Kucherov and slipped away from the defense. Kucherov, as he so often does, put the puck exactly where it needed to be. Raddysh proceeded to call the game by putting an absolute rocket in the back of the net.
The Lightning have had their fair share of trouble with overtime contests so far. In fact, they lost five out of the six games that were decided in overtime this season. Recently, there has been a bit of a shift, and heading into this last home stand, the Lightning had won their previous two overtime games. They were clearly able to hold onto the lessons learned from those wins, as the first two games in the home stand went to overtime, and the Lightning were able to win both of them. That in and of itself is promising, as it does show the team is playing with a winning mentality and is still able to grind out close wins. What makes it better is that the game-winning goals came from those two unlikely sources.
Vasilevskiy Found Some Consistency
It is no secret that Andrei Vasilevskiy has not been himself since getting back into the fold. In mid-December, he had a stretch where he gave up four goals on three separate occasions in the span of just four starts. A month later, while there have not been any incidents quite that extreme, his form has still looked off. All of this is understandable, given the circumstances of his coming back from surgery, but that does not make it any easier for a team that is on the bubble for a playoff spot.
In the home stand, the Lightning did not get the old Vasilevskiy back, but he did enough, and that is a start. He had at least a .900 save percentage in every start, and it was actually the first time this season that he has done that for four straight games. It was also the first time that he had recorded four straight wins this season. Another interesting tidbit is that he only gave up one third-period goal during the homestand. When the games got close or when it was time to shut the door on the opponent, he stepped up. It was not perfect, and it was not always pretty, but he made the big saves when the team needed him to, and he got the job done.
Lightning Blueliners Provided Offense
For much of this season, it has felt like the Lightning offense has been reliant on its top two lines and not much else. At moments, it has honestly seemed as though the whole offense was just Kucherov. That was not the case in the last four games, though, and that is something that needs to continue if the Lightning want to keep climbing closer to a spot in the playoffs. On the homestand, every part of the team got involved in the offense, at least a little bit. The defensemen were no exception. In the past four games, there has been at least one goal from a Lightning defenseman in each of them.
The two most notable goals were, no doubt, the aforementioned game-winners in the first two games of the homestand. That is not where the contributions from the defensemen end, though. In the game against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 13, Victor Hedman got in on the action with a power-play goal to open the scoring. He went on to add to his goal tally when he tied the game in the first period against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Calvin de Haan chipped in, too, when he scored his second goal of the season against the Ducks in the third period to give the Lightning a 4-1 lead and put the game out of reach.
This is a positive sign for the Lightning. The more offense can be spread around, the more likely it is to adapt to the ebbs and flows the team will face over the remainder of the season. More than that, it opens up the game more for the star players and gets the team ready for the playoffs, where everyone has to contribute.
Lightning Depth Forwards Chipped In
When mentioning the offense looking healthier, it would be wrong to forget the contributions of the depth forwards. Without them, the last four games would have played out quite a bit differently, and not for the better. The man who got the Lightning back into the game against the Kings when they were down 0-2 was none other than Tyler Motte, with only his third goal of the season. The game against New Jersey was won largely on the back of two goals from Luke Glendening. Forward Mikey Eyssimont got on the board against the Wild, and Waltteri Merela scored the first goal of his career, which was an absolute beauty at that.
Related: Lightning and Blackhawks Could Be Trade Deadline Partners Again
The Lightning’s Star players, outside of Kucherov, do need to be producing more. But even if they were, there would still be down nights. Performances like these are a necessity for any team that wants to be a contender. It is not that every one of these guys needs to be scoring every night, but if the third and fourth lines as a collective can make a difference on a nightly basis as they have, then that will go a long way toward stealing a few extra wins. In a playoff battle as tight as the one the Lightning are in, that can be the difference. When spring rolls around, if these guys are still doing the same thing and finding ways to help this team, then there is no telling how far they can go. The key, though, is getting the job done on a nightly basis.
What’s Next?
The Lightning are looking forward to another pivotal road trip in which they will take on the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and Philadelphia Flyers. At this time in the season, and with the Lightning being where they are in the standings, all of these games matter. The one to really keep an eye on, though, is the showdown in Motor City on Sunday night when the Lightning take on the Red Wings. This game will serve as a nice double header along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup against the Detroit Lions in the NFL playoffs, but it is a lot more than that.
The Lightning and the Red Wings are neck and neck in the Atlantic Division standings right now. A win would go a long way toward helping the Lightning make up more ground and better position themselves for the playoffs. A loss, on the other hand, would put the playoffs just that much farther out of reach. It might be January, but the playoff race is certainly starting to heat up.