Lightning lacking a sense of urgency
After a 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks there are a lot of questions about this Lightning team.
The killer instinct and sense of urgency that I wrote about in my season preview has been missing these first two games. How else do you explain being outshot badly in the home opener against the Panthers 43-29 and then outshooting the Canucks 17-6 in the first period and only being able to get one goal.
We saw this lack of a sense of urgency and killer instinct with the Lightning two season ago and it cost the Lightning a playoff spot as the points that were left on the table early in the season could not be recouped later on.
The points you collect in October and November will pay big dividends come March and April when teams are battling for the playoff position.
The high powered offense that we all anticipated seeing night in and night out has been non-existent. The lightning are averaging one goal a game and Nikita Kucherov the best player on the team has just two shots on goal.
It looks as if the Lightning are looking to pass first and shoot second. The Lightning scorers just need to shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. There are too many scorers on this team that are thinking pass first and shoot second. If this trend continues it will be a dsssapointing season in Tampa Bay.
The Lightning are turning the puck over at an alarming rate. 15 giveaways against the Canucks. Mikhail Sergachev had a turnover deep in the defensive zone and Vasilevskiy was able to make the save.
Kucherov gave the puck away in the third period and Vasilevskiy was not able to stop that one and that started a flurry of 4 goals in 8 minutes for the Canucks. Although the final score was 4-1, two of those goals came with Vasilevskiy on the bench as the Lightning went with the 6th attacker.
The PP has yet to get going. The Lightning had the third best PP in the league last season and is off to an 0/8 start this season.
The PK which struggled all of last season has not allowed a PP goal yet this season. That is a good sign as the Lightning PK finished 28th in the league last season.
Another bright spot has been the play of Matthieu Joseph. Joseph has outstanding speed and had 2 shots in the loss to the Canucks. He seems to have a nose for the puck and and always seems to put himself in position to make a play.
The lightning have only played 2 games and are 1-1 on the season. With the Columbus Blue Jackets up next for the Lightning, there is a lot to work on and correct.
