On the evening of May 26, 2016, the Tampa Bay Lightning were eliminated in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They join the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues.
When the Lightning entered the playoffs, many never expected them to last very long.
Captain Steven Stamkos was out with a blood clot, which required surgery, and he was not expected to return for one to three months. Their top defenseman, Anton Stralman, suffered a broken fibula in late March, and it was unknown whether he would be making a postseason appearance.
Jonathan Drouin was reluctantly called up from the Bolts AHL-affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. He had off-ice issues with the team and had not impressed head coach Jon Cooper last year. However, he surprised everyone with a show of maturity and growth, and many now believe that the Lightning may have a future without Stamkos.
Wings Get Burned
In the first round of the playoffs, the Lightning faced a familiar foe. The two teams were matched up in the first round of last year’s postseason. However, the Bolts easily dispatched the Red Wings in five games.
The top line of Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, and Nikita Kucherov was a huge factor in defeating the Wings. The Lightning scored 12 goals in the series, and the trio tallied 10 of them. Killorn had the game and series-winning goal in Game 5 to send the Bolts to the second round.
Needless to say, Detroit’s goaltending was a big problem, not the Dallas Stars flaming dumpster fire big, but it made a distinct difference in the series.
When Petr Mrazek struggled late in the regular season, Jimmy Howard stepped up his game and earned the start in the postseason. He only lasted two games, which were both losses. He allowed seven goals for a subpar 3.59 GAA and had a .891 save percentage.
Head coach Jeff Blashill then made the change in net.
The Magic Man was much better than Howard, but he did not have enough magic to lead the Wings to victory. In his three games, he had a shutout (his only win), and allowed four goals for a 1.36 GAA and recorded a .945 save percentage. Although the goaltending improved, it was not enough to get out of the 2-0 hole Mrazek inherited.
The Lightning’s defense was also spectacular, especially considering the loss of Stralman. They were able to kill 24 of the Wings’ 25 power play opportunities. This included two 5-on-3 advantages. Brad Richards had only one goal, the lone power-play goal of the series. His last with the Red Wings as it turns out.
Check Out THW @DLukeNelson Latest on the #Detroit #RedWings Moving on from Richards & Quincey! #NHLPlayoffs https://t.co/IrXDix9H42
— NL KING (@TheNLKing) May 20, 2016
The Bolts also kept captain Henrik Zetterberg, rookie sensation Dylan Larkin, and Darren Helm to one goal each. In fact, no player on the entire roster could score more than one goal, if they scored any at all, in the five-game series. Even veteran Pavel Datsyuk was held scoreless. Tomas Tatar had the most points, with three assists and no goals.
Land Locked the Isles
Just as the Lightning shut down the Red Wings’ offense, they were able to prevent the Isles’ stars from igniting, too. Most notably, captain John Tavares.
In the Islanders’ first round, the captain was a Panther killer. In those six games, he had nine points with five goals and four assists. In the series against the Bolts, Tavares had one goal (the game-winner) and one assist for two points in Game 1. Then, he never got on the scoresheet for the remainder of the series.
On top of shutting down Tavares, Victor Hedman had his best series of the postseason against the Isles. The offensive defenseman had four goals, including the game and series-winner in Game 5, and four assists for eight points. He was a force to be reckoned with.
https://twitter.com/DisgustedNYer/status/729400624186544128
Coach Coop reunited The Triplets to take the first line when he bumped Killorn down to the second line, with Ondrej Palat taking his place. Rounding out that second line was Valtteri Filppula and Drouin. This provided more scoring depth for the Lightning. The three contributed two goals and 11 assists in the five-game-series.
It was in this round that Drouin began to blossom. He netted his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal, which was the game-winner in Game 2, and he tallied four assists. He also had a two-point game in Game 2. Drouin, a.k.a. Replacement Stamkos was clearly making a name for himself. He even showed his mental toughness as he was absolutely rocked by the Isles’ Thomas Hickey late in Game 3.
Thomas Hickey DESTROYS Jonathan Drouin (Game 3 – ECSF 2016) https://t.co/ldNdTZOryg
— irionik rotten (@irionik) May 9, 2016
Drouin returned to set up the game-tying goal in the game, and the Bolts won in overtime.
As in the last round, Ben Bishop continued to stand tall…and not just because he’s 6’7”. Through two series of the postseason, Bishop recorded a .938 save percentage and a 1.89 GAA. He had two shutouts, one in each series.
Coincidentally, both shutouts came in series-clinching games. In fact, this has happened four times in Bishop’s career, which ties him with Hall of Famers Martin Brodeur and Jacques Plante for second in NHL history, just behind Chris Osgood with five.
Penguins Stamp Out the Lightning
Approximately 12:30 into the first period of Game 1, Ben Bishop tried to make an awkward second (and third) save after playing the puck behind the net. The air went out of the building as Bishop went down hard. He could not get up, and it was clear that he was in intense agony.
Bishop had to be stretchered off the ice. Fortunately, the injury to his left knee was not as bad as it first appeared. Tests showed that nothing was broken, but after a few ‘will he, won’t he’ debates, Bishop was ultimately sidelined for the remainder of the series.
Andrei Vasilevskiy entered in relief, and his efforts were somewhat overlooked given the major storyline belonging to the Penguins young netminder, Matt Murray.
Vasilevskiy, in his second season as a backup in Tampa Bay, was stellar for the Lightning (even though he suffered his own blood clot scare like Stamkos early on in the 2015-16 campaign). In his eight games (he replaced Bishop in Game 1 against the Isles as well), he had a 3-4 record, a .925 save percentage, and a 2.76 GAA.
His GAA may leave a bit to be desired, but he was facing a very deep Penguins team with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel.
Goalie love pic.twitter.com/GNCqeNhh2Z
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) May 27, 2016
Vasilevskiy may not be as green (though he is just 21 years of age), or quite as impressive as Murray (who turned 22 during the series), but he was vastly improved from last postseason as a rookie. In those four games played (one start, three in relief), he had a .895 save percentage and a 3.19 GAA.
He remained poised this year and kept the Bolts in contention for a win every night. At a time when the Lightning needed him to play his best, he rose to the challenge.
Another highlight for the Bolts was that Drouin continued to be an offensive force. He was so impressive that Jeremy Roenick of NBCSN stirred up controversy when he recommended that Crosby (who was slumping early) follow Drouin’s work ethic.
In this grueling seven-game series, he netted four goals and one assist for five points. For those keeping score at home, this means replacement Stamkos had five goals and nine assists for 14 points over 17 games played.
Only the topmost of shelves for 27. #PITvsTBL https://t.co/sGInRqQrc0
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 27, 2016
His production has created serious questions as to the future of the team since the captain’s contract expires this summer. It is quite likely that Drouin will become a permanent fixture while Stamkos (who returned for Game 7) may be tearing up the league elsewhere.
Game 2 brought the return of Stralman. He made a big splash in his debut by scoring a goal, but his impact on defense was too little, too late.
The Bolts could not stop the Pens from firing. Sid the Kid, who was silenced for the series against the Caps, re-emerged. He scored three goals, all game-winners, and had two assists for five points. Malkin had a five-game point streak and contributed six points (one goal and five assists). Phil the Thrill thrilled with four goals and two assists for six points as well. Even Nick Bonino had a goal and four assists for five points.
Skillz.https://t.co/6OLOb3ffUA
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 25, 2016
Another bright spot for the Pens is the performance of Bryan Rust. He scored three of the seven goals in the final two games of the series making his series total three goals and three assists for six points.
While it may be easy to say that the Bolts were riddled with injuries, that would be a cop-out. This team overcame adversity and found ways to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals. In the end, their opponent was faster, deeper, and just a little bit better.
Fans are encouraged to express their condolences to the AOSN’s Ben Grieco, a devoted Lightning fan. They may also issue final personal statements below or in the AOSN Forum.
