Lightning defensive struggles continue
After winning 2/3 of their first pre-season games, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing some alarming tendencies to pop up.
A lack of urgency was evident in the 4-2 loss to Nashville on Sunday night. This is the same mindset that crushed the Lightning’s playoffs hopes last year. It is frustrating to see a team with all this talent just put it on cruise control. The mindset is they can just turn it on whenever they want to and it will be ok. You would think a lesson was learned last season when the Lightning were tied for last place in the Eastern Conference in early February and couldn’t win enough games to secure a playoff spot. One more win and one more point would have secured that playoff spot. From late November through mid February, the Lightning lacked a sense of urgency and went through the motions. That some mind set is rearing its ugly head again.
I know its the pre-season and usually the pre-season record has no bearing on the regular season. But the teams mind-set and style of play can carry over from game to game and right now, I don’t Like what I am seeing.
Last night in the 5-2 loss to the Panthers, the defense was not sharp as we saw in so many games last year. Coach Cooper was not happy after the game and even though the Lightning did some good things during the game, the end result is they allowed five goals and that cannot happen if you want to make a deep playoff run.
These same Florida Panthers will be in Tampa next Friday night to open the NHL season against the Lightning. Last night the Panthers only dressed about half of the players that will be on the final roster then the Lightning will face next Friday night. The Lightning had most of the players that will be on the 23 man roster in uniform Last night.
I have some concerns about this team. The Lightning have loads of talent yet the question has to be asked how hungry is this team to get back to playoffs? Is this team willing to do the little things night in and night out that it takes to get into the playoffs? The whole story is about to unfold beginning next Friday October 6th against the Panthers.
—Rookie defensemen Mikhail Sergachev continues to impress. Paired with Anton Stralman last night, Sergachev is making a strong case to make this team as the 8th defensemen. He is averaging over twenty minutes of ice time per game and has 1 goal and 2 assists.
—The Lightning made another roster move sending 20 year old rookie Alexander Volkov To Syracuse. Volkov turned a lot of heads in camp with his speed and nose for the puck. But with the depth of forwards on the Lightning roster, the feeling was that Volkov would be in a better situation at Syracuse and have a better chance of continuing to develop his game.
