Tampa Bay Lightning Saved Their Season For Now

The Tampa Bay Lightning were one of the best teams in the league during the regular season. They were six minutes away from the brink of elimination until Tyler Johnson saved them.

Johnson scored two goals including the overtime winner, and assisted on the tying goal by Ondrej Palat, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2. The problem for Tampa Bay is they are letting Detroit hang around in the series.

The Red Wings are still very talented with a great mix of veteran leadership, youthful energy and a healthy Pavel Datsyuk. All of the balance up front was hurt by inconsistent goaltending, leading to Mike Babcock giving Petr Mrazek the nod in the series over Jimmy Howard. The offensive power and possession stats all pointed toward the Tampa Bay Lightning winning this series.

Going into Game Five that can still happen, but Mrazek has made the Wings crease more stable and Detroit is playing with a lot of confidence. Even with the loss last night, the defensive job being done on captain Steven Stamkos is reason enough to believe the Wings can win Game Five on the road.

Stamkos needs to be better if the Tampa Bay Lightning expect to put the Red Wings away. Through four games he is a -1 with only two assists on the score sheet. Right now the line of Johnson, Palat and Nikita Kucherov is carrying the load with eight points in the series. If the Wings can keep Stamkos off the score sheet in a seven-game series they have a great chance at upsetting an Eastern Conference favorite.

Stamkos isn’t the only Tampa Bay Lightning player that needs to improve their results. Goaltender Ben Bishop has a save percentage too close to .900 and without Stamkos going the pressure on Bishop and the Lightning defense to clamp down continues to grow.

I picked the Tampa Bay Lightning to win this series and the Stanley Cup. I love their offense, the way they possessed the puck and the defense was getting healthy at the right time. But Game Five on Saturday night at home is a must-win game. The Lightning don’t want to give Detroit two chances to knock them out.

Too many Red Wings players have been in pressure spots and had success for these moments to rattle them. Detroit isn’t as easy an out as I thought they were. I underestimated the health of the Wings and Mrazek’s ability in the playoffs. If the Tampa Bay Lightning do that the Wings will go into Amalie Arena and put the Lightning back into a deep hole for Game Six.

Tyler Johnson gave the Lightning a reprieve last night with his late-game heroics. I expect a faster start from Tampa Bay tomorrow night with strong forechecking to try to jump out to an early lead. Getting Stamkos going early will be a big part of that if the Tampa Bay Lightning hope to go into Joe Louis Arena with a 3-2 series lead.

Next: Throw Out The Numbers For Stanley Cup Playoffs

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