With Their Backs Against The Wall, Lightning Need to Come Out Fighting in Game 6
- Mike Smith
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
By Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports
The Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in an all too familiar position headed into Game 6 at the Bell Centre on Friday night: facing early elimination and a trip to the offseason. After a disappointing Game 5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at home on Wednesday night, the Lightning must find a way to put together 60 great minutes of hockey, or spend the next five months wondering 'what could have been.'
Their position is not an enviable one, nor one they or their fans envisioned they would be in at the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs nearly two weeks ago, but here they are: backs against the wall and looking for answers to what plagues them.
Poor defensive and special teams play, unfortunate penalties, struggles in the faceoff circle, and an overall lack of effort in the majority of this Eastern Conference First Round series have the Bolts on the ropes. Montreal looks to deliver the knockout punch Friday at home and move on to the second round.
But not so fast, O Canada! There's still at least one hockey game left to play before you can celebrate eliminating one of the best NHL franchises in recent memory.
Forget Game 5, But Don't Forget the Lessons Learned
Game 5 was supposed to be the Lightning's opportunity to take control of the series. Coming off a huge Game 4 win in Montreal, the odds were in their favor. They had the home ice. They had the hottest player of the playoffs so far in Brandon Hagel. They had tenacity and grit.
Then they had their skates pulled out from underneath them by Brendan Gallagher and the speedy Canadien offense only three minutes into the game.
Dejected and embarrassed by the performance, the Bolts quickly understood that their season was on the brink.
“I just didn't think we executed our game plan, which is sad to be honest," Hagel said. "It's Game 5 in your own building to take the series, and we didn't give a full 60. I mean, that's cliché to say, but it's more the little mistakes that cost us goals, and we’ve got to do a better job at that, especially in those situations.”
“Did I think we had our best game? We clearly did not," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Is it really disappointing to come home and lose? It is. This is something we should take a ton of pride in, dig our heels in, and not accept." "
The Lightning allowed the Canadiens to play subpar and still earn the biggest win of the series. Montreal made mistakes, failed to convert on a four-minute power play, and took dumb penalties, including two delay-of-game calls.
Yet, the Lightning could not get out of their own way to take advantage of the Habs' lackluster performance.
"We didn't get the job done," Tampa Bay forward Corey Perry said. "We pushed, but it wasn't there. It's frustrating in our building, but luckily there's a Game 6.”
"Listen, we had some chances to tie it, and we hit some posts, but I thought we gave ourselves chances to score," Cooper said. "We just didn't. Can we do some things better? There's no question, but the fact that we kept going down, we had to keep chasing the game. That's not a recipe for success.”
The Thought of Another First Round Exit Haunts Lightning
Whether they want to admit it openly or not, the fact that the Lightning are facing a fourth straight first-round exit is haunting their thoughts as they prepare for Game 6.
"I think everyone since day one of training camp probably knew that (another first-round exit) wasn't okay," Hagel said Thursday morning. "So does it suck a little bit that that's the effort we gave last night? Yeah, it does. But it's not over."
Losing to Toronto three years ago and to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, Florida, over the past two years has left a sour taste in the mouths of players and fans that is still ruminating on their palates.
The Lightning must do what it takes to force a Game 7 back in Tampa.
“We've got to drag them back here,” Perry said with a look of determination on his face after Game 5. “You know it’s going to be a hostile environment. It’s loud, but block it out and just go play. We found a way last game there. We've got to do it again.”
Although he didn't make the scoresheet in Game 5, Hagel has been a driving force for Tampa Bay with six goals and an assist. Jake Guentzel has a team-high eight points with two goals and six assists.
However, the team needs to step up as a unit, and that fact is not lost on them.
"We need other guys to score and haven’t been able to do it,” Point said. “It is frustrating. Just got to keep doing the right things and keep working hard.”
Tampa Bay Can Do It, But Will They?
Tampa Bay needs to find the spark that lights a fire under the team and avoid mistakes that put that fire out, as happened several times in their three losses in the series. They have had moments of brilliant hockey; however, the moments of baffling hockey have outweighed that brilliance.
And that fire has to be lit in front of a hostile crowd in the Mecca of Canadian hockey.
“I understand the next game is a potential elimination game, but the last game we played there (Game 4 at the Bell Centre), we lose that one, and we’re down 3-1, (and) you’re really chasing the series,” Cooper said. “They’ve been in that building twice now and have a pretty good feeling of what to expect. How’s it going to go? I can’t say for sure, but I’ll bet we play better than we did (in Game 5).”
Tampa Bay has to come out and dominate the first period of Game 6. They have trailed in every game this series, and a repeat of that may certainly doom them from the start.
The Bolts must understand that the time for talking about playing great hockey is over, and the time to play the brilliant Lightning hockey that got them to the NHL's greatest stage in the first place is here and now.
A win brings the team back home for one more game. A loss ends another season way too soon.
Either way, the Tampa Bay Lightning will only have themselves to celebrate, or to blame.
“When Game 6 is over, we’ll learn a lot about ourselves. This team will learn a lot about themselves," Hagel said. "There isn’t much more to say. You just have to leave it up to us. I think it will show a lot about our team and a lot about who we are as people.”
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