Lightning Fall victim to Trap Game in Calgary

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e. Two mismatched teams. One (Tampa Bay) fighting for the top spot in their division and the other (Calgary) fighting to stay out of the league cellar. 

Playing the last game of a four game West Coast road trip, the Lightning met the Calgary Flames last night. This is exactly the type of game hockey players know to be a trap game. Two mismatched teams. One (Tampa Bay) fighting for the top spot in their division and the other (Calgary) fighting to stay out of the league cellar. 

The Lightning had won the first three games of this four game road trip including a decisive win on Saturday night in playoff bound Edmonton. All this did was add to the likelihood of the Calgary game being a trap game. 

One definition of the word trap is: a position or situation from which it is difficult or impossible to escape. This is what the Lightning were facing.

Avoid the Trap

Jonas Johansson started in net for the road team since Andrei Vasilevskiy started and won the night before in Edmonton. All this did was make a bigger trap for the Lightning. For some reason, their play in front of their backup goalie has seemed suspect this season. 

Despite having played the night before, the Lightning came out of the gates looking like they had the previous week off. They were winning the puck battles and seemed to dominate the puck possession. This led to the game’s first goal. 

Ryan McDonagh blasted a shot past Calgary’s backup goalie Devin Cooley to give Tampa a 1 - 0 lead. Okay, so maybe the Bolts see the trap and are determined to avoid it and sweep the road trip.

As the opening period was coming to end, the bottom fell out for the Lightning. Failure to get the puck out of their zone led to the tying goal for the Flames. Victor Olafsson received a pass at the left circle and snapped it past Johansson to tie the game at one. A whole 37 seconds later, another misplay in front of Johansson led to Calgary’s second goal by Morgan Frost. J.J. Moser attempted a pass that landed right on the stick of a Calgary player who passed the puck to Frost. 

Just like that, the Lightning were playing catch up and the trap was set.

Clawing Back

A one goal deficit isn’t insurmountable in today’s NHL. Especially for the Lightning, one of the league’s top scoring teams. Just have to avoid the cheese in the trap. Some of that determination we saw in the first few minutes of the game was evident in Tampa’s game.They peppered Cooley with shots but none got past him. Coming out of their zone, former Lightning Blake Coleman fired a pass to Mikael Backlund on the opposite side of the ice. Backlund found himself with about 80 feet of ice between him and Johansson without a Lightning player in sight. Moser, drifted over to the other side of the ice and was late in getting back to his responsibility on the ice. Backlund fired a shot that Johansson had no chance to stop. 

Now down by two and the trap seemed inevitable. If the Lightning can’t score the next goal, the game would be over. But the Lightning battled back. Sure enough, Darren Raddysh blasted a slap shot one timer past Cooley. Fed by Nikita Kucherov, Raddysh’s goal gave the Bolts some life down only 3 - 2 as the second period came to an end.

Get the Points, Avoid the Trap

Entering the final regulation period, the Lightning were down one. Clearly the better team, if they can avoid unforced errors, they have a chance. They were leaving everything on the ice to earn the win and the road trip sweep. 

Outshooting the Flames in the third period led to nothing through the first 15 minutes. Entering desperation time, the best Tampa line in the game came through. Yanni Gourde, Zemgus Girgensons and Pontus Holmberg came through. With relentless forechecking as is their custom. Girgensons won a puck battle which Gourde handled and passed it to Holmberg in front of the Calgary net. Holmberg’s shot hit a Flames defender and the puck knuckled past Cooley to tie the game with a little over four minutes left in regulation.

Hi Ho Hi Ho To Overtime We Go

So often in overtime, the opening face off is critical. Lose it and you may never touch the puck. Win it and you hold all the cards. Calgary won the puck drop. It took them 26 seconds to score the game winning goal. The trap was complete. 

On the upside, the Lightning earned seven of the possible eight points on the completed road trip. They fought back in this game to tie it up and earn the point for the tie. With the Buffalo Sabres also losing in overtime, a Lightning win in Calgary would have brought them to within three points of the Atlantic Division lead with two games in hand. The price of those pesky traps. 

Three Stars

Ryan McDonagh - One goal on his only shot in the game

 Pontus Holmberg - One goal to tie the game late in the third period

 Erik Cernak - no points but was the only Lightning defender with a plus on the +/- and also recorded three hits

What’s Next 

Home cooking for the Lightning as they come home for a seven game homestand. First up, tomorrow night against Minnesota. Puck drops at 7:30 pm.